Days of rain last week forced the rescheduling of virtually every spring sport’s postseason schedule. The baseball regular season, which was supposed to end today, has been extended a day to allow teams to get crucial makeup games in. The other boys’ state tournament, lacrosse, opens play Tuesday, with more action set for Saturday.
In girls sports, lacrosse has had its schedule redone since one first-round game, involving St. Mark’s, could not be played over the weekend. Soccer is on track, while softball had its first round moved to Monday.
Track and field, which was supposed to take place Friday and Saturday, is now happening Monday and Tuesday at Dover High School. Tennis also has been shifted, with the final round now scheduled for Thursday at St. Andrew’s School in Middletown.
There are entrance fees to postseason games. The amount varies by round and, in some instances, venue. More information is available at the DIAA website.
Boys
Baseball
Monday
Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security (0-13) at St. Thomas More (0-9), 4 p.m.
Archmere (11-6) at Polytech (10-7), 4:15 p.m.
St. Mark’s (14-3) at Cape Henlopen (15-2), 4:15 p.m. This game, originally scheduled for last Friday, pits two of the top programs in the state against one another. A pitching duel is not out of the question. Both the Spartans and the Vikings have thrown no-hitters this spring.
Tuesday
Delcastle (5-11) at St. Thomas More, 4 p.m.
St. Elizabeth (8-9) at Mount Pleasant (7-9), 4 p.m. The state tournament does not begin until Thursday, but this is like a playoff game for the Vikings. They are sitting at eight wins, and they need to take this one in order to be eligible for the postseason. Mount is in a precarious position as well. The Green Knights, if they defeat Brandywine on Monday, will be playing for postseason eligibility as well.
Thursday
State tournament first-round games. Teams, sites and times to be determined.
Saturday
State tournament second-round games. Teams, sites and times to be determined.
Lacrosse
Tuesday
No. 12 Caravel (12-3) at No. 5 Archmere (12-3), 5 p.m. The Auks enter having won four straight and eight of their last nine, while Caravel went 3-1 against tournament teams during the regular season. The winner meets the winner of Sanford at Cape Henlopen.
Wednesday
No. 16 Smyrna (9-6) at No. 1 Salesianum (12-3), 7 p.m. at Baynard Stadium. The Sals open the defense of the state title at a location they used just once this season. The Sals’ national schedule yielded victories over several highly regarded programs. The winner will meet the survivor of St. Andrew’s at Milford.
Saturday
State tournament quarterfinal-round games. Teams, sites and times to be determined.
Volleyball
Monday
Conrad at Salesianum, 4:30 p.m. This is one semifinal for the New Castle County tournament. The winner of this match takes on the winner of Indian River at Delmarva Christian, also being played today.
Girls sports
Lacrosse
Monday
No. 7 Newark Charter (13-3) vs. No. 2 St. Mark’s (15-0), 4 p.m. at Tower Hill. Rain forced the postponement of this game over the weekend, the only one of the four scheduled first-round matchups that was not played. Expect a lot of offense from two high-octane offenses.
Wednesday
No. 4 Archmere (13-3) vs. No. 1 Cape Henlopen (15-1). Site and time to be announced.
No. 3 Ursuline (14-2) vs. Newark Charter/St. Mark’s winner. Site and time to be announced.
Soccer
Wednesday
No. 8 Cape Henlopen (7-4-1) vs. No. 1 Padua (14-1), 6 p.m. at Dover High School. The eight-team Division I field includes this matchup between the Vikings out of the competitive Henlopen North Conference and Padua, the state’s flagship program the past several years. The winner will play
Thursday
No. 9 Ursuline (8-7-1) vs. No. 1 Tower Hill (13-0), 8 p.m. at Caravel Academy. The Raiders and Hillers meet again in the second round of the 12-team Division II tournament. Ursuline advanced with a win over Delmar on May 19. These teams met in the regular-season finale on May 15, a 5-2 Tower victory. In that game, the Raiders became the only team to manage more than one goal in a match against the Hillers.
Softball
Monday
No. 14 Padua (11-7) vs. No. 3 Delaware Military Academy (15-3), 4 p.m. at Midway Softball Complex. These teams met on April 13, an 8-7 Seahawks win. DMA scored the winning run in the sixth inning in that one. Barring more rain, the 16-team state tournament will be played entirely this week, with quarterfinals on Tuesday, semis on Thursday and final on Saturday.
