End of season bracket is posted

Have you been thinking your calendar for the week of May 16 looked awfully barren? That problem is about to be solved.

With very little fanfare, apparently thinking ESPN would put it on the ticker, West Raleigh posted the end of season tournament brackets today. You can find it here in the download section (right-click "EOS Tourney brackets," then "Save Link As" to save it to your computer, and then you can open it).

Because the standings are still so uncertain, there's not a whole lot we know for sure from the bracket. Some things you can count on:

The Mudcats will definitely have a game on Sunday, May 15. It will start sometime between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. (yep, 7 p.m. on a school night)

Because of tiebreakers, the Mudcats can not finish 8th.

Closing ceremonies are Wednesday, May 25, at 7 p.m. Hope no one wanted to go to school on Thursday! Much like tornadoes, I assume school stops for West Raleigh Baseball. Of course, there is also an "if necessary" (or "necssary" as it is known on the bracket) championship game that same night scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. Should be a really well-played game.

If a champion happens to come through the loser's bracket, which would be an absolutely incredible feat in this bracket setup, they would play seven games in 11 days. The winner of the NCAA College World Series, if it played the maximum amount of games, would play eight games in 11 days.

Presumably, the reason for this scheduling is the exorbitant ESPN rights fees. Look for your cut of the proceeds in the mail soon.