by Michael Swisher (@michaelswisher)5/14/2018 9:27:04 AM
posted in: Swisher's Suite | 2,000 views
If you’re a loyal Skordle reader, you know Ben Johnson and myself recently made our picks for the winners of the state slowpitch softball and large-school baseball tournaments.
How’d we do?
Well, with some picks, we looked like geniuses (Ft. Gibson in softball for me…Jones in 3A for Ben). With others, we looked like morons (too many for me to list).
But who did it best?
That’s what I wanted to know, so I came up with a very complex and layered scoring system to award Ben and I for our various picks. It took hours upon hours of formulating, tweaking, testing and more to come up with the scoring system and I finally was able to come up something usable.
Here it is in it’s entirety:
- 3 points if our pick won the title
- 2 points if our pick was the runner-up
- 1 point if our pick reached the semifinal
Yes, it’s a complicated formula, but we don’t do things the easy way at Skordle.
Anywho, here’s how we did:
Softball
Ben was ON FIRE with his first four picks as he correctly tabbed Red Oak, Shattuck, Rattan and Dale to win A, 2A, 3A and 4A, respectively. His picks in the largest two classes weren’t quite as stellar, but both Perkins-Tryon and Broken Bow reached the semifinals, giving him one point in each.
As for myself? I started out hot with my Red Oak pick (I know, big stretch there), but took an “L” with my Binger-Oney pick in Class 2A. The Lady Bobcats got beat in the quarterfinals, which shut me out while Ben picked up three points. Caddo picked me up one point in Class 3A before I picked the winners with Dale and Ft. Gibson in 4A and 5A. Like Ben, I had to settle for a single point with my Broken Bow pick in 6A. Moral of this story? Don’t pick a team solely because you’re little cousin is on the roster. That was the difference.
Ben 14, Swish 11
Baseball
Ben didn’t have quite the early momentum in this one as he got shutout with his 2A pick when Wister knocked off Latta in the first round. He rebounded nicely by picking Jones to win its first-ever title in 3A, which the Longhorns did. His picks for Blanchard (4A) and Westmoore (5A) also looked solid when they reached their respective title games, but both had to settle for the runner-up trophy. In between, his Collinsville guess in 5A picked him up another round number…as in 0.
But I can’t make fun of him because I went with the darkhorse Duncan in 5A and it turns out the Demons were more of a long shot as they were quickly dispensed of by eventual champ Bishop Kelley in the quarterfinals. With 5A being a wash, it came down to the other four classes. I got the early lead when Silo upended Dale to win Class 2A. Although his Jones team beat by Oktaha squad in the 3A finals, I did get two points there. I only picked up one point with Verdigris in 4A before the Cardinals flamed out in the semifinals and I joined Ben in getting two points with my Westmoore pick. In the end, we both picked one winner….but Ben’s two 0’s ultimately doomed him.
Swish 8, Ben 7
Be sure to keep checking out Skordle for more from Ben on those large-school baseball tournaments. And keep up with the latest coaching news and more as the Skordle staff keeps on top of some of the biggest coaching changes around the state.