Baseball: Is it time to change playoff format?

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Discussions have been held by the Southern Section baseball advisory committee about creating a new playoff format that would no longer rely on elimination after one defeat.

Among the ideas would be best two-out-of-three series each playoff weekend. The big question is whether the change should be made for Division I only or include other divisions.

‘It’s intriguing,’ Encino Crespi Coach Scott Muckey said.

The San Diego Section and Sac-Joaquin Section already use a form of double-elimination in their playoffs.

No formal proposal has been made, but I think it’s time to look at creating a new format, particularly in Division I, where teams have become so good and the quality of pitching has been elevated so high that a single game can result in a team’s elimination despite a season of success.

Since college and the major leagues use more than one game to decide championships, why not in high school? There’s discussion about tinkering with the schedule to create enough time to have playoff series. I think it’s worth debating.

-- Eric Sondheimer