High school baseball: Medina gets strong tournament draw; Highland gets fourth seed in D-II

Though baseball is the most unpredictable high school sport, top-seeded Medina picked up a strong draw when the tournament brackets were released. The Bees (16-3), who have won seven straight, open Division I, Northeast 1 play against No. 16 Cleveland Heights (4-15) on May 27. The winner gets No. 7 Perrysburg (14-6) or No. 13 Berea-Midpark (5-15) two days later at North Ridgeville. Should the opponent be the Yellow Jackets, it would represent a matchup of last season's regional final won 3-2 by Perrysburg that was played over two days due to rain. Elsewhere in D-I, 10th-seeded Brunswick (8-10) will travel to No. 3 GlenOak (14-6) for a May 27 Northeast 3 semifinal. The winner plays No. 2 Strongsville (14-4) or No. 9 Canton McKinley (11-9) at North Ridgeville on May 29. In D-II, Highland (12-2) earned the fourth seed and will host No. 28 Massillon Perry (5-13) in a Northeast 1 semifinal on May 26. The district final is two days later at Struthers. Meanwhile, Wadsworth (10-7) is the 12th seed out of the Northeast 2 bracket and hosts No. 30 Warren Harding (4-14) on May 26. Top-seeded Lakewood (20-0) is heavily favored to be the opponent two days later at in the final Mentor. Buckeye (14-8) was the ninth seed in D-III and opens at home in a Northeast 6 quarterfinal against No. 17 Rocky River (8-7). No. 3 Padua Franciscan (16-2) is the top seed in the bracket whose final will be at Twinsburg on May 28. In D-IV, 13th-seeded Cloverleaf (10-9) will host a Northeast 2 quarterfinal against No. 25 Ravenna (6-14) on May 21. The winner plays No. 7 Field (13-3) or No. 28 Villa Angela-St. Joseph (6-10) on May 26, while the final is May 28 at Louisville. Lorain County League leader and eighth-seeded Black River (12-7) kicks off D-V, Northeast 3 action May 22 at home against No. 15 Norwayne (8-11) on May 22. The district final is May 29 at Mentor. Much-improved Medina Christian (7-3) is the 11th seed in D-VII and hosts No. 21 Open Door Christian (1-3) in a Northeast 2 quarterfinal on May 22. The district final is May 29 at New Middletown Springfield. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Tournament schedule (All games at 5 p.m., unless noted) Division I, Northeast 1 May 27 — Cleveland Heights at Medina, Berea-Midpark at Perrysburg. May 29 — District final at North Ridgeville, 2 p.m. Division I, Northeast 3 May 27 — Canton McKinley at Strongsville, Brunswick at GlenOak. May 29 — District final at North Ridgeville, 5 p.m. Division II, Northeast 1 May 21 — Solon at North Olmsted. May 26 — North Olmsted/Solon winner at Massillon, Massillon Perry at Highland. May 28 — District final at Struthers, 2 p.m. Division II, Northeast 2 May 26 — Rhodes at Lakewood, Warren Harding at Wadsworth. May 28 — District final at Mentor. Division III, Northeast 6 May 21 — Cleveland JFK at Padua Franciscan, Copley at Geneva, Cuyahoga Falls at Alliance, Rocky River at Buckeye. May 26 — Padua Franciscan/JFK winner vs. Copley/Geneva winner, Alliance/Cuyahoga Falls winner vs. Rocky River/Buckeye winner. May 28 — District final at Twinsburg. Division IV, Northeast 2 May 20 — Conneaut at Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. May 21 — Villa Angela-St. Joseph at Field, Ravenna at Cloverleaf, Lincoln-West at Holy Name. May 26 — Field-VASJ winner vs. Cloverleaf/Ravenna winner, Holy Name/Lincoln-West winner vs. Cardinal Mooney/Conneaut winner. May 28 — District final at Louisville. Division V, Northeast 3 May 22 — Clearview at Chagrin Falls, Norwayne at Black River, Burton Berkshire at Ravenna Southeast. May 27 — Chagrin Falls/Clearview winner at Tuslaw, Black River/Norwayne winner vs. Berkshire/Southeast winner. May 29 — District final at Mentor. Division VII, Northeast 2 May 22 — Lordstown at Warren JFK, Open Door Christian at Medina Christian, Bristolville Bristol at Kinsman Badger, Salinesville Southern at Columbiana Heartland Christian. May 27 — Warren JFK/Lordstown winner vs. Open Door Christian/Medina Christian winner, Badger/Bristol winner vs. Heartland Christian/Southern winner. May 29 — District final at New Middletown Springfield.