One of Kentucky high school sports’ best traditions will be making a return in 2024 following action by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association this month.
Both baseball and softball state tournaments were approved to return to their previous formats with the region tournaments to be held the week of Memorial Day.
In 2016, the KHSAA moved the state baseball tournament to a two-weekend format. In 2019, they voted to include a one-game semi-state round that was grouped by geography and only brought eight teams to a state tournament in Lexington. This came two years after the KHSAA changed the state softball tournament format from double-elimination to single-elimination.
After the 2020 spring sports season was canceled due to COVID-19, the KHSAA returned to the traditional 16-team bracketed state baseball tournament held in Lexington. However, the state baseball and softball tournaments overlapped with state tournaments for tennis and track and field which sometimes made hotel accommodations tricky to find.
The KHSAA said the return to having region tournaments the week of Memorial Day will drive the remainder of the championship scheduling.
Another product of COVID-19 — virtual learning days by schools — has meant fewer school districts are holding graduation after Memorial Day. In the past, schools had to create a fluid region tournament schedule depending on when surviving teams were holding their baccalaureate and graduation ceremonies. Virtual learning days — most often used for snow and weather days — replace the past practice of tacking on days to the end of the school year and means school years are ending earlier.
Opening region tournament play with four games on Memorial Day assured three things — no school in session, no graduation ceremonies, and no work for most people which meant more fans in the stands.
Both the baseball and softball regular seasons will continue to start nine weeks prior to district postseason competition and include a maximum of 36 games.
