The 5A baseball playoffs in for major changes in 2014

The high school football playoffs have major changes on the horizon with the arrival of the new select and non-select school postseason divisions. Well, you can also mark down the 5A baseball playoffs for drastic change after last week.

The LHSAA has decided that the second and third rounds of the postseason will no longer be single-elimination. Instead, they'll go to the best two-out-of-three series format.

However, those will be the only two rounds to go that route. The opening round, semifinals and championship game will all remain single-elimination.

Also, under the new format, the second and third-round series will be played at the higher seeds' home stadiums regardless of the other teams' recent travels. Before, even if a team was ranked lower, if they had to travel in the previous round and their higher-seeded opponent didn't, they would get the home game.

As an example, this year, St. Amant would have had to travel to Destrehan in the second round instead of hosting the game. They would have also had to have beaten them twice to get to the next round.

And if they had done so, instead of heading out to Tulane for the eight-team tournament, they would have had to travel to Zachary for another best two-out-of-three series.

With this series format taking place in the quarterfinal round, that means that the eight-team State Baseball Tournament will come to an end. Poor attendance has plagued the event for years now.

Finally, with that tournament gone, it has been decided the semifinals and championship game will be played at a neutral site. Right now, it appears Sulphur's McMurry Park will be the likely destination in 2014.

The park is currently the only bidder for the tournaments with the exception of Southern University--who is trying to get the 2A and 3A tournaments.