Good news for 2025 state baseball tourney

T

tcgobucks

Well-known member
Hadn't seen this before....sorry if it's been posted somewhere. The state semi finals and finals for all 7 divisions will be held in the Akron/Canton area over 3 days.....not spread out over a week and all around the state like basketball. They are using Canal Park, Schnoover Stadium and Thurman Munson Stadium for the semi-finals and all 7 finals will be at Canal Park.

statelinesportsnetwork.net

OHSAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES (February 20, 2025)

The OHSAA continues to hold in place a large financial balance of $18 million…including investments and board designated funds
statelinesportsnetwork.net statelinesportsnetwork.net
 
 
bighawk said:
Not excited about the state tournament being u there. Should be more centrally located.
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Huntington Park was a fantastic venue, but it’s no longer an option. Whether it's due to a lack of interest in hosting or because their minor league team can no longer designate blackout dates to prevent home games from being scheduled (that was the original reason they had to stop hosting), the flexibility to commit to hosting each year just isn't there anymore.

Canal Park is an excellent alternative - and the free parking is much appreciated! Thurman Munson and Kent State are also great facilities and ideal choices, and their close proximity to each other benefits out-of-town teams advancing from the state semifinals. This way, they won’t have to travel across the state on half a day's notice and scramble to prepare for the championship game. Get a hotel so, if you win, you're already in town and ready to go.
 
thePITman said:
Huntington Park was a fantastic venue, but it’s no longer an option. Whether it's due to a lack of interest in hosting or because their minor league team can no longer designate blackout dates to prevent home games from being scheduled (that was the original reason they had to stop hosting), the flexibility to commit to hosting each year just isn't there anymore.

Canal Park is an excellent alternative - and the free parking is much appreciated! Thurman Munson and Kent State are also great facilities and ideal choices, and their close proximity to each other benefits out-of-town teams advancing from the state semifinals. This way, they won’t have to travel across the state on half a day's notice and scramble to prepare for the championship game. Get a hotel so, if you win, you're already in town and ready to go.
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Parking was not free last year.
 
No issues with the state tournament being there. 3 very nice facilities to host.
There are other sports that have state tournaments in other corners of the state as well.

My real worry is District and regional games. There were issues getting fields for 4 divisions, now we have 7.........
The quality of field is going to be substantially lower for a lot of teams. Hell there could be some teams that play on worse fields in the district or regional than their own field. Mason is a perfect example, great field, nice little ball park but in no way big enough spectator wise to hold the D2 regional as it has previous.

Positive of moving the season back is that the NCAA would be in regional play the same weekend as OHSAA regionals. There is not a team in Ohio that will be hosting a regional this year or ever (last was 2001-OSU) before that it was in the 60s. Could very well get all college fields for regional play if they can work it out.
 
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BobcatBomber said:
Parking was not free last year.
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Don't forget that fans are also allowed to park in the parking garage on Bowery Street. My wife and I have parked there every day of the state tournament since it's been in Akron, and we've never had to pay. If you park in the lot on State Street by the Barley House, I believe that's only free on the weekend.
 
thePITman said:
Don't forget that fans are also allowed to park in the parking garage on Bowery Street. My wife and I have parked there every day of the state tournament since it's been in Akron, and we've never had to pay. If you park in the lot on State Street by the Barley House, I believe that's only free on the weekend.
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Good to know, should I find myself there again this year.
 
The city of Columbus should have kept Cooper Stadium and turned it into a venue the small colleges and high schools could have used. With turf it could have been used daily March-August for Baseball.
 
bighawk said:
The city of Columbus should have kept Cooper Stadium and turned it into a venue the small colleges and high schools could have used. With turf it could have been used daily March-August for Baseball.
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Agree! I used to drive past that stadium every day on my way to work when I was in college.
 
Baseballfan20 said:
No issues with the state tournament being there. 3 very nice facilities to host.
There are other sports that have state tournaments in other corners of the state as well.

My real worry is District and regional games. There were issues getting fields for 4 divisions, now we have 7.........
The quality of field is going to be substantially lower for a lot of teams. Hell there could be some teams that play on worse fields in the district or regional than their own field. Mason is a perfect example, great field, nice little ball park but in no way big enough spectator wise to hold the D2 regional as it has previous.

Positive of moving the season back is that the NCAA would be in regional play the same weekend as OHSAA regionals. There is not a team in Ohio that will be hosting a regional this year or ever (last was 2001-OSU) before that it was in the 60s. Could very well get all college fields for regional play if they can work it out.
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That would be awesome if we could see the SWO regional semis and finals at UC (especially since they recruit the heck out of the local boys.) My only complaint about the States being in NEO is that you eliminate the casual fan who would just jump in their car and go to Columbus to watch a day's worth of finals or semifinals. I get why none of the States are centrally located anymore (i.e. lack of faciltiies and the OHSAA/OSU relationship completely destroyed) but it does eliminate the last-minute casuals for almost everything.
 
BASESWIMPARENT said:
That would be awesome if we could see the SWO regional semis and finals at UC (especially since they recruit the heck out of the local boys.) My only complaint about the States being in NEO is that you eliminate the casual fan who would just jump in their car and go to Columbus to watch a day's worth of finals or semifinals. I get why none of the States are centrally located anymore (i.e. lack of faciltiies and the OHSAA/OSU relationship completely destroyed) but it does eliminate the last-minute casuals for almost everything.
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Totally agree. The casual fan gets cheatex with games being played up there. Basically it is only the teams fans who attend. When they were held in Columbus, you would see numerous coaches, casual fans etc
 
ohiocrew said:
With extensive renovations the past few years, Canton City Schools' (McKinley) Munson Stadium has become one of the premier high school baseball parks in Ohio.
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It's the perfect situation. Large, designated parking right next to it. I'm sure they make a KILLING during the summer. Unfortunately only one of the two fields could be used for the Final Four because field #2 has no (or limited) bleachers.
 
Baseballfan20 said:
No issues with the state tournament being there. 3 very nice facilities to host.
There are other sports that have state tournaments in other corners of the state as well.

My real worry is District and regional games. There were issues getting fields for 4 divisions, now we have 7.........
The quality of field is going to be substantially lower for a lot of teams. Hell there could be some teams that play on worse fields in the district or regional than their own field. Mason is a perfect example, great field, nice little ball park but in no way big enough spectator wise to hold the D2 regional as it has previous.

Positive of moving the season back is that the NCAA would be in regional play the same weekend as OHSAA regionals. There is not a team in Ohio that will be hosting a regional this year or ever (last was 2001-OSU) before that it was in the 60s. Could very well get all college fields for regional play if they can work it out.
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They are playing these tournaments on different days as part of the effort to alleviate the site and hosting issues. Also many college fields by that point are hosting weekend tournaments if they are open (players of course only participating if their season has ended).
 
umpire16 said:
They are playing these tournaments on different days as part of the effort to alleviate the site and hosting issues. Also many college fields by that point are hosting weekend tournaments if they are open (players of course only participating if their season has ended).
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Carlton Davidson Stadium in Springfield would make a great postseason location for baseball. Selfishly hoping to see some more games there.
 
CedarBuck92 said:
Carlton Davidson Stadium in Springfield would make a great postseason location for baseball. Selfishly hoping to see some more games there.
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Haven't been on the actual field in a few years but it is usually way better to watch a game there than it is to play on it.
Im surprised that Witt hasnt ponied up some funds to make this a turf field. If they did it would be one of the best places to host in all the state.
 
CedarBuck92 said:
Field is owned by the Parks District no reason for Witt to invest the money.
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They are slowly turfing parts of it. It is on the list of considerations for the southwest District, but I don’t know if it’s being used officially yet. We should know the coming weeks. Witt by that point would be well into to the postseason so they wouldn’t be at home. I do know there is a tournament there the weekend between regionals and state so if it’s open during the week, I would imagine they’ll play there. They usually have games there at some level.
 
bighawk said:
Totally agree. The casual fan gets cheatex with games being played up there. Basically it is only the teams fans who attend. When they were held in Columbus, you would see numerous coaches, casual fans etc
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So there aren't any casual baseball fans in NEO?
 
AllSports12 said:
So there aren't any casual baseball fans in NEO?
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I am sure there are but the casuals in SWO are not driving 3.5 hours to check out the states like they did when they did when the states were in Columbus. I get why, I am just saying. But the facilities in NEO are top notch!
 
BASESWIMPARENT said:
I am sure there are but the casuals in SWO are not driving 3.5 hours to check out the states like they did when they did when the states were in Columbus. I get why, I am just saying. But the facilities in NEO are top notch!
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Why is central Ohio the only place that calls the state tourney "states"? Never understood it lol. It's the state tourney....there is one. There aren't multiples.....which would make it "states". I've wondered this for 50 years. Can someone explain?
 
tcgobucks said:
Why is central Ohio the only place that calls the state tourney "states"? Never understood it lol. It's the state tourney....there is one. There aren't multiples.....which would make it "states". I've wondered this for 50 years. Can someone explain?
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I am not from central Ohio. I am a river rat from Cincy. I am older than 50 and we always called it states because every division was a different tourney. That is my unofficial explanation.
 
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BASEBALL (seven divisions)

June 12-15 at Canal Park in Akron and Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton

Divisional order same as published in 2025 baseball regulations

Thursday, June 12 – Division VII semifinals at Canal Park

Friday, June 13 – Division III and V semifinals at Canal Park; Division II and IV semifinals at Thurman Munson Stadium

Saturday, June 14 – Division VI and I semifinals at Thurman Munson Stadium; Division VII, III, V and II championships at Canal Park

Sunday, June 15 – Division IV, VI and I championships at Canal Park
 
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