MADISON TOWNSHIP — The road to the district softball championship runs through Madison.
The Rams earned the No. 1 seed in the 10-team Division II Willard district during Sunday’s tournament draw.
Madison (14-4) took a first-round bye and will host either No. 8 Norwalk or No. 5 Sandusky Perkins in the sectional final at 5 p.m. May 12. The Truckers (8-10) and Pirates (6-6) meet at 5 p.m. May 9 at Perkins.
Ontario (14-4) picked up the No. 3 seed and will host ninth-seeded Vermilion at 5 p.m. May 12 in the sectional title game. Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Shelby (11-7) will visit No. 4 Clyde (12-8) at 5 p.m. May 12 for a sectional title.
No. 7 Lexington will host No. 10 Mansfield Senior in a sectional semifinal at 5 p.m. May 9. The winner will travel to second-seeded Bellevue for the sectional final at 5 p.m. May 12.
Division I
Ashland is the lone Division I team in north central Ohio. The 11th-seeded Arrows will host No. 17 Sandusky in a sectional semifinal game at 5 p.m. May 8. The winner will travel to No. 3 Perrysburg for a sectional final at 5 p.m. May 10.
Division III
Colonel Crawford earned the No. 3 seed I the Division III Shelby district field and took a first-round bye. The Eagles will host either No. 5 Clear Fork (11-6) or No. 6 Crestview (10-6) at 5 p.m. May 12 in the sectional championship game. The Colts will host the Cougars at 5 p.m. May 9.
In the top half of the bracket, eighth-seeded Bucyrus (7-10) will host No, 12 Willard (1-13) in a sectional semifinal at 5 p.m. May 9. The winner takes on top-seeded Huron at 5 p.m. May 12.
No. 10 seed Galion (6-10) will host No, 11 Western Reserve (3-12-1) at 5 p.m. May 9 in the sectional semifinals. The winner visits No. 4 Upper Sandusky (13-6) at 5 p.m. May 12.
Also in Division III, Hillsdale (12-4) earned the No. 3 seed in the Wellington district and took a first-round bye. The Falcons will host either No. 14 Columbia or No. 21 Warrensville Heights in a sectional final game at 5 p.m. May 11.
In the Creston district, eighth-seeded Loudonville will host No. 10 Black River in a sectional championship game at 5 p.m. May 11. No. 11 Mapleton will host No. 19 Orrville in a sectional semifinal at 5 p.m. May 9.
Division IV
Plymouth (8-8) was the highest-seeded area team in the Division IV Galion district field. The fourth-seeded Big Red (8-8) will host No. 8 Crestline in a sectional final at 5 p.m. May 11.
Fifth-seeded Lucas will host No. 7 Norwalk St. Paul in a sectional semifinal game at 5 p.m. May 8. Sixth-seeded Buckeye Central will host No. 10 Mansfield Christian at 5 p.m. May 8.
I have covered high school sports in Richland County since 2000. Email him at curt@richlandsource.com or follow him on Twitter: Follow @curtjconrad on twitter.
