Latest playoff projections, RPI rankings for Midlands baseball teams
With the high school sports spring season starting to wind down, it’s time to take a look at playoff scenarios for Midlands baseball teams and MaxPreps RPI rankings that will be used for playoff standings.
Class 5A
Region 4: Lexington (8-2) won the region and earned a first-round bye in the 5A Division I Upper State playoffs. River Bluff (6-4) is alone in second place for now. Dutch Fork (6-3) and Chapin (6-3) are right behind and play their last region games on Monday. DF plays Irmo (3-6) and Chapin plays White Knoll (0-9).
If there is a three-way tie for second River Bluff would finish fourth. DF and Chapin would be decided by a tiebreaker. Chapin is guaranteed a will have a first-round bye in the 5A Division II playoffs.
Region 5: Blythewood (9-2) has won the region, clinched a first-round bye and has a good chance to be the No. 1 overall seed in the 5A Division I Upper State. West Florence (7-3) can clinch second with wins over Westwood (4-6) next week. Lugoff-Elgin (6-4) is third and Sumter (5-5) is fourth. Spring Valley (4-6) is sixth. SV plays L-E next week. Ridge View (0-11) rounds out the standings.
Class 4A
Region 3: AC Flora (8-1) can wrap up the region with a win in one of its final three regular-season games. Lancaster (7-3) is in second place and will finish up its region schedule next week. Camden (7-3) is in third place, York (5-4) in fourth and Dreher (4-6) in fifth. South Pointe (3-8) is sixth and Richland Northeast (0-9) in seventh.
Region 4: Gilbert (13-1) has clinched the No. 1 seed and Airport (12-1) will be second. North Augusta (7-7) is third followed by Brookland-Cayce (6-6) and Gray Collegiate (6-8) Aiken (5-8) is fifth, followed by South Aiken (3-9) and Midland Valley (1-13).
Class 3A
Region 4: Fox Creek has wrapped up the region with second place going between Swansea and Newberry. Swansea leads by a game, but the two teams play twice next week. Silver Bluff will finish fourth and Keenan fifth.
Class 2A
Region 2: Batesburg-Leesville (9-1) won the region title. Ninety-Six (7-3) is second and Saluda (6-4) is third. Storm Thurmond is fourth. American Leadership (1-8) is fifth and Pelion (0-9) sixth. The two teams play on Monday.
Region 3: Mid-Carolina (8-0) has wrapped up the region title. Clinton (6-2) is second and Chester (4-4) third. Fairfield Central (3-5) is fourth and Eau Claire (2-6) fifth.
SCISA 4A
Region 1: Ben Lippen wins the region by defeating Hammond on Friday. If Ben Lippen loses and Cardinal Newman defeats Heathwood Hall, CN is region champion. Hammond is in third followed by Augusta Christian, Northside Christian and Heathwood Hall.
SCHSL MaxPreps RPI Standings
Here are the latest MaxPreps RPI standings (as of Thursday morning), which will determine seeding for the Class 4A and 5A playoffs.
The RPI is based 50% on your winning percentage, 40% on your opponents’ winning percentage and 10% on your opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage.
Using the RPI rankings in 5A Division I and II, region champions will be seeded first in the playoffs followed by second-, third- and fourth-place finishers. All non-automatic qualifiers would make up the rest of the bracket based on MaxPreps’ RPI standings.
In both 5A divisions, 12 teams make the bracket in the upper and lower state with top four seeds in each bracket getting byes. Seeds five through 12 in the Upper and Lower State will play best-of-three series in the first round with the winners being paired in four four-team districts. The winner of the districts advance to best-of-three Upper and Lower State championship
For the Class 4A playoffs, there will be 16 teams in the upper state and 16 in the lower state. As an example, the region champions in Upper and Lower State will be seeded based on RPI. The same goes for second place and so on. Class 4A used 1-16 seeding the past two years but didn’t use an RPI formula.
There will be four four-team districts in the Upper and Lower State with the winners of the district advancing to four-team Upper and Lower State championship round. It will be the best-of-three series for Upper/Lower semifinals and championship.
Class 5A Division I
Upper State: Blythewood 0.698634; Dutch Fork 0.657419; Lexington 0.657026; Dorman 0.656108; River Bluff 0.648319; JL Mann 0.590919; Clover 0.588936; Byrnes 0.555941; Boiling Springs 0.554052; Mauldin 0.498301; Spartanburg 0.450435; Wade Hampton 0.447319; Rock Hill 0.384157
Lower State: James Island 0.755512; Stratford 0.720164; Fort Dorchester 0.655734; Summerville 0.645732; Wando 0.606317; Carolina Forest 0.581455; Sumter 0.549171; Cane Bay 0.532852; Ashley Ridge 0.505854; West Ashley 0.475793; Spring Valley 0.469204; Ridge View 0.325961; Stall 0.305667
Class 5A Division II
Upper State: Indian Land 0.686725; TL Hanna 0.671708; Fort Mill 0.658805; Catawba Ridge 0.622740; Eastside 0.578368; Hillcrest 0.551482; Nation Ford 0.527102; Riverside 0.522398; Greenwood 0.497480; Easley 0.497480; Northwestern 0.492547; Woodmont 0.468159; Gaffney 0.413955; Greenville 0.365199
Lower State: Chapin 0.685441; West Florence 0.676244; North Myrtle Beach 0.662594; Lucy Beckham 0.567543; Conway 0.550403; Berkeley 0.541602; Irmo 0.541056; Lugoff-Elgin 0.532250; St. James 0.503816; Westwood 0.459723; Myrtle Beach 0.427124; White Knoll 0.397463; Goose Creek 0.365199; Socastee 0.348210
Class 4A
Upper State: Fountain Inn 0.678393; Seneca 0.667212; AC Flora 0.648922; Daniel 0.644939; Westside 0.595942; Laurens 0.592529; Wren 0.590476; Camden 0.533220; Greer 0.532087; Blue Ridge 0.492141; York 0.483258; Lancaster 0.475541; Emerald 0.473778; Travelers Rest 0.421865; Dreher 0.378630; Pickens 0.359266; Midland Valley 0.356033; South Pointe 0.349923; Berea 0.327119; Richland Northeast; Southside 0.211492
Lower State: Gilbert 0.680768; Airport 0.657065; Hartsville 0.644667; Bishop England 0.595843; South Florence 0.586147; May River 0.579515; Bluffton 0.535175; Camden 0.533220; Beaufort 0.497568; North Augusta 0.472488; South Aiken 0.469457; Aiken 0.468881; Gray Collegiate 0.465730; Wilson 0.464643; Brookland-Cayce 0.442522; Hilton Head Island 0.415091; Lakewood 0.392464; Darlington 0.385519; Lower Richland 0.328915; Colleton County 0.317195; Crestwood 0.203015
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 5:20 PM.
