Want to hear something crazy? We’re only three weeks out from the baseball and softball postseasons beginning.
If it feels like we’ve only just started; welcome to the spring sports season in Michigan.
What’s added to the rush this season is the calendar, with all districts wrapping up before June.
For Northern Michigan squads, teams will be heading all over the place, but there is a chance to catch local tournaments, from across Emmet and Charlevoix Counties, to Otsego, Cheboygan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula.
Baseball regional semifinals and regional finals will again be split up, with the regional finals then followed by quarterfinals that same day. Regional semis and finals for softball will take place at the same site and day.
Below you’ll be able to find where everyone around Northern Michigan will be playing their district games, with matchups announced later this month. Also listed below are regional sites for the district brackets.
BASEBALL DISTRICTS
District final games: Friday or Saturday, May 30-31
Regional semifinals: Wednesday, June 4
Regional finals, quarterfinals: Saturday, June 7
What stands out? Beginning in Division 3, you’ll notice Boyne City Charlevoix and Harbor Springs are all together in baseball, while the Rams drop down to Division 4 in softball. It’s a bracket that really anyone can take with the right kind of day, as everyone in the Mancelona district has had periods of hot and cold.
In Division 2, Petoskey will likely be the favorite in Cheboygan, though they can’t get caught looking ahead after a quarterfinal trip last season.
In Division 4, Harbor Light Christian and East Jordan should roll through their district brackets, but the really interesting one is taking place in Rogers City, where the host Hurons and Inland Lakes are both having great seasons and currently ranked.
DIVISION 1
District 1 – Traverse City
Traverse City Central, Traverse City West, Mount Pleasant, Alpena and Marquette.
Regional sites (1, 2): Traverse City and Cornerstone University.
DIVISION 2
District 34 – Cheboygan
Petoskey, Cheboygan, Gaylord and Grayling.
Regional sites (33, 34): Cheboygan and Petoskey.
District 35 – Big Rapids
Cadillac, Ludington, Big Rapids and Remus Chippewa Hills.
Regional sites (35, 36): Big Rapids and Petoskey.
DIVISION 3
District 67 – Mancelona
Boyne City, Charlevoix, Harbor Springs, Elk Rapids and Mancelona.
District 68 – Kingsley
Benzie Central, Kalkaska, Kingsley, Traverse City Christian and (No. 3) Traverse City St. Francis.
Regional site (67, 68): Kingsley and Traverse City Central
DIVISION 4
District 99 – Rudyard
Brimley, Cedarville, Newberry, Pickford and Rudyard.
District 100 – Mackinaw City
Alanson, Harbor Light Christian, Burt Lake NMCA, Pellston and Mackinaw City.
Regional sites (99, 100): Rudyard and Rudyard.
District 101 – Rogers City
(No. 19) Inland Lakes, Onaway, Posen, (No. 15) Rogers City and Wolverine.
District 102 – Boyne Falls
East Jordan, Bellaire, Boyne Falls, Central Lake and Ellsworth.
Regional sites (101, 102): Rogers City and Rudyard.
District 103 – Johannesburg-Lewiston
Gaylord St. Mary, JoBurg, Atlanta, Hillman and St. Helen Charlton Heston Academy.
Regional sites (103, 104): Johannesburg-Lewiston and Rudyard.
District 105 – Frankfort
(No. 20) Maple City Glen Lake, Frankfort, Lake Leelanau St. Mary and Suttons Bay.
Regional site (105, 106): Frankfort and Central Michigan University.
SOFTBALL DISTRICTS
District final games: Friday or Saturday, May 30-31.
Regionals: Saturday, June 7
What stands out? Well, Division 2 should be interesting. Petoskey will head north to play a tough Escanaba team, one of the top units in the state once again, then Gaylord should come out of the Cadillac district just fine, but the regional round should again bring fireworks. Three top 10 teams between those districts is wild to see.
In Division 3, Elk Rapids and Grayling will be tough to overtake for area teams, but there’s so much power at the plate for Boyne City that they can’t be counted out.
In Division 4, Harbor Springs will try to repeat as a district champ and playing a tough Northern Shores schedule should help. Ranked teams are sprinkled throughout and East Jordan got the unfortunate draw of No. 5 Bellaire within their bracket. For a lot of these, it’ll be interesting to see how the matchups are set up.
DIVISION 1
District 1 – Traverse City
Traverse City Central, Traverse City West, Alpena and Marquette.
Regional site: Holt
DIVISION 2
District 33 – Escanaba
(No. 10) Petoskey, (No. 3) Escanaba, Houghton, Kingsford and Sault Ste. Marie.
District 34 – Cadillac
(No. 1) Gaylord, Cadillac, Gladwin, Ludington and Ogemaw Heights.
Regional (33, 34) site: Alma
DIVISION 3
District 66 – Gladstone
Cheboygan, (No. 4) Gladstone, Manistique and Menominee.
District 67 – Grayling
Boyne City, Charlevoix, (HM) Grayling and Kalkaska.
District 68 – Kingsley
(HM) Elk Rapids, Kingsley, Benzie Central and Traverse City St. Francis.
Regional (66, 67, 68) site: Boyne City
DIVISION 4
District 101 – Pickford
Rudyard, Pickford, Brimley, Cedarville and Newberry.
District 102 – Harbor Springs
Harbor Springs, Harbor Light Christian, Alanson, Mackinaw City, Pellston and St. Ignace.
District 103 – Rogers City
(HM) Inland Lakes, Burt Lake NMCA, Onaway, (HM) Rogers City and Wolverine.
District 104 – Johannesburg-Lewiston
Gaylord St. Mary, JoBurg, (No. 8) Hillman, Atlanta and Posen.
Regional (101, 102, 203, 104) site: Harbor Springs
District 105 – Boyne Falls
East Jordan, (No. 5) Bellaire, Boyne Falls, Central Lake, Ellsworth and Mancelona.
District 106 – Fife Lake Forest Area
Buckley, Forest Area, Mesick, Suttons Bay and lake Leelanau St. Mary.
District 107 – Onekama
Frankfort, Maple City Glen Lake, Bear Lake, Brethren and Onekama.
Regional (105, 106, 107) site: Maple City Glen Lake
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northern Michigan district baseball, softball host sites and bracketed teams
Reporting by Drew Kochanny, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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