Getting ready for the South Jersey high school baseball and softball season

This week was usually the time that high school baseball and softball teams began practicing, but the schedule has changed this year. In addition, the NJSIAA discontinued the Tournament of Champions. Softball was one of the sports that held the TOC and Haddon Heights was the last winner in 2022.

The seasons in baseball and softball will end earlier this year. Last year the baseball season ended on June 18 with the public school state championships.

Last year the public school softball state championships were staged on June 4 and the TOC championship ended the season on June 10.

Here are the key dates for both seasons.

First practice for pitchers and catchers only – March 13

First team practice: March 16

Opening day: Monday, April 3

State Tournament cutoff: May 17

The public school state tournament begins May 22

The non-public school state tournament begins May 23

Public school sectional finals: June 2

Non-Public sectional finals: June 3

Public school state semifinals: June 5

Non-Public state finals: June 8, Veteran Park, Hamilton

State finals: June 10 at Veterans Park, Hamilton

 

First practice for pitchers and catchers only – March 13

First team practice: March 16

Opening day: Monday, April 3

State Tournament cutoff: May 17

The non-public state tournament begins May 22

The public school state tournament begins May 23

Non-Public sectional finals: June 2

Public school sectional finals: June 3

Public school state semifinals: June 6

Non-Public state finals: June 9 (Ivy Hill Park)

Public school state finals: June 10 (Ivy Hill Park)

 

As for qualifying for the state tournament in baseball and softball, teams will be seeded based on their top 15 games by the May 17 cutoff.

Teams can play 24 regular season games, plus one tournament. Most South Jersey baseball teams will use the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic as their one tournament. That’s because in this year’s expanded 24-team field, a team can play as many as five games.

This year preseason practice is a little later but so is the start of the season, April 3.

With pitchers and catchers reporting on March 13, that gives 20 days to get ready for the season. Is that enough time in baseball?

One South Jersey baseball coach suggested that many pitchers are on throwing programs in the winter and it won’t be difficult for teams with deep staffs.

“We probably need to use three pitchers a game for the first few weeks,” he said.

That would hurt a team that doesn’t have enough pitching depth.

In softball, things are easier since many teams use no more than two pitchers and quite a few depend on one for all their big games.

Either way, baseball and softball season is right around the corner.

And the season will go quickly, lasting as long as 10 weeks and that is for the teams that compete in state championships.