With the baseball and softball regular seasons coming to a close, it’s time to take a look at how the Chagrin Valley Conference title races could shake out.
BASEBALL
Chagrin Division
1. Hawken 6-2
1. Perry 6-2
3. Orange 5-3
4. Beachwood 3-5
5. Chagrin Falls 2-6
5. West Geauga 2-6
Three teams remain in the hunt to win the Chagrin Division title.
Hawken and Perry are locked in a first-place tie with identical 6-2 records. The Hawks and Pirates split their season series and each has two conference games remaining.
Perry closes out its conference slate against Orange while Hawken will play West Geauga.
If both the Hawks and Pirates win out, they’ll share the conference title.
Orange isn’t out of it yet as the Lions earned a split with Hawken and closes out its conference schedule with two games against Perry next week. The Lions can win the conference title outright with a sweep over the Pirates and two West Geauga wins over Hawken.
Lake Division
1. Madison 7-1
2. Geneva 6-2
3. Jefferson 3-4
3. Lakeside 3-4
5. Edgewood 3-5
6. Conneaut 1-7
Madison controls its own destiny here as the Blue Streaks are one game ahead of defending champion Geneva after earning a split with the Eagles earlier this season. The Blue Streaks close out their conference slate against 3-4 Lakeside while the Eagles finish off their CVC schedule with two games against Conneaut.
Madison needs just one win to earn a share of the title but the Blue Streaks can win it outright with a sweep of the Dragons or a split and at least one more Geneva loss.
Geneva needs to sweep the Spartans and they’ll need to root for the Dragons to take at least one game from Madison to earn a share of the title.
Metro Division
1. Independence 5-1
2. Lutheran West 6-2
3. Fairview 3-3
4. Brooklyn 1-5
5. Cuyahoga Heights 1-5
After completing a sweep of defending champion Lutheran West, Independence controls its own destiny here.
The Blue Devils can clinch a share of the title with a win over Fairview next week and they can win it outright with a sweep of the Warriors.
Lutheran West’s fate lies in the hands of Fairview sweeping Independence. The Longhorns already have completed their conference schedule and now need the Warriors to sweep the Blue Devils to earn their second straight title. An Independence win eliminates the Longhorns from contention as the lone tiebreaker is the head-to-head results, which Independence clinched with its sweep.
Valley Division
1. Berkshire 7-1
2. Kirtland 8-2
3. Cardinal 6-4
4. Wickliffe 5-4
5. Grand Valley 4-6
6. Crestwood 2-6
7. Harvey 0-9
Kirtland is the defending Valley Division champion, but the Hornets need some help if they’re going to defend their title.
Berkshire and Kirtland split their season series earlier this week, leaving the Badgers a game ahead of the Hornets with four games left to play.
The Badgers have two games left against rival Cardinal, which split with Kirtland, and they also have makeup games left with Wickliffe and Harvey.
Berkshire can make it easy by sweeping all four games, but one slip up and the Hornets could earn a share of the title, provided they take care of business in their final two league games against 0-9 Harvey.
Cardinal and Wickliffe aren’t out of the hunt yet, but both teams need a lot of help to win a title.
Cardinal must sweep Berkshire and also hope for the Badgers to lose one of their other two remaining games. The Huskies also need Kirtland to lose twice to Harvey.
Wickliffe is in a similar position as the Blue Devils need to beat Berkshire and take two from Crestwood, and then hope for both Berkshire and Kirtland to lose out.
SOFTBALL
Chagrin Division
1. West Geauga 8-0
2. Beachwood 4-2
3. Chagrin Falls 4-3
4. Harvey 3-4
5. Orange 2-5
6. Hawken 0-7
West Geauga can lock up its conference title with a win over Harvey on Wednesday. A loss would set up a head-to-head matchup with second-place Beachwood on May 10, but that game might not matter if the Bison don’t take care of business in their other three remaining conference games against Orange and two against Chagrin Falls.
Lake Division
1. Madison 7-2
1. Edgewood 7-2
3. Perry 7-3
4. Jefferson 6-3
5. Geneva 6-5
6. Conneaut 2-10
7. Lakeside 0-10
Break out your calculator as there are many different scenarios in play before the conference title can be determined.
Madison and Edgewood are on a collision course as both teams have three remaining conference games left to play including two head-to-head games—one at Edgewood on May 10, and another makeup game to be played at Madison.
Obviously, those head-to-head matchups will go a long way in determining the conference champion.
In addition to its two games left against Madison, Edgewood also has one game remaining against 0-10 Lakeside, and Madison plays Jefferson on May 2.
Perry and Jefferson remain in the hunt but need some help as they both have three conference losses. Perry closes out its conference schedule with games against Jefferson and Lakeside while Jefferson can help its cause with two games against Madison and another against Geneva.
At 6-5, Geneva has one game remaining against Jefferson. Although the Eagles aren’t out of the discussion, they do need plenty of help from conference rivals to rise to the top.
Metro Division
1. Independence 6-0
2. Cuyahoga Heights 4-2
3. Fairview 2-3
4. Lutheran West 2-4
5. Trinity 0-5
Independence snapped a string of shared conference titles with Cuyahoga Heights by earning the season sweep of the Red Wolves and locking up the conference title with two league games remaining.
Valley Division
1. Wickliffe 9-0
2. Berkshire 5-2
3. Crestwood 4-3
4. Cardinal 3-6
5. Grand Valley 2-6
6. Kirtland 1-7
Wickliffe clinched the Valley Division title and needs a win over Crestwood on Thursday to close out its conference schedule unbeaten.
