As a softball season progresses, most teams are involved in a variety of tournaments. Ultimately, the goal of a high school softball teams is to win an end-of-season elimination tournament, either for a conference or state title. There also may be participation in holiday or invitational tournaments that can take on a variety of formats.
Round-Robin Tournaments
A round-robin tournament gives every team the chance to play every other team in the tournament at least once. This normally works best in a four- or six-team format. In a round robin, teams will usually play at least two games per day and once each team has faced every other teams, the two teams that compiled the best records will earn a spot in the final. If two teams finish tied for second, the tiebreaker is how they did in their head-to-head meeting, with the winner of that game advancing to the final.
Single-Elimination Tournament
This is the format used in most championship situations. Single-elimination tournaments involve seeding, with the top-ranked team getting the No. 1 seed. That team will face the lowest seed in the tournament. After each game, the winning team moves on to the next round. The team keeps on advancing in the tournament and eliminating opponents as long as it wins. Usually, this type of tournament works best when there are multiples of eight teams. With that format, a state tournament could go from 128 teams in the first round to 64 in the second round to 32 in the third to 16 in the fourth. The process continues to divide by two with each passing round until there are only two teams left and they play for the championship.
Double-Elimination Tournament
This is one of the most popular formats used in softball tournaments. Many coaches like it because it gives their team a second opportunity if they happen to lose a game early in the tournament. The format is set up the same as the single elimination tournament. However, when a team loses, it is not eliminated. It goes over to the second side of the tournament bracket where it is joined by other teams that have lost. Eventually, the team that emerges from the original bracket will play the team that emerges from the loser's side of the bracket. Those teams will meet for the championship. If the team that was in the winner's side of the bracket wins the first championship round game, it wins the tournament because it is the opponent's second loss. If the team from the loser's side of the bracket wins, a second game is played for the title. The team that wins that game is the champion because it is the opponent's second loss.
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