High school baseball, softball and soccer teams across South Alabama will see a significant change to their postseason path starting next school year, after the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Central Board of Control voted to move all three sports from area-based playoffs to a regional format.
Under the current setup, teams compete in area tournaments, with only the top two finishers in each area advancing to the next round of the playoffs. Beginning next season, the top four teams in regional standings will qualify for postseason play instead, a shift that will send more teams into the playoff bracket and change how coaches approach scheduling and seeding down the stretch of the regular season.
The change is expected to affect dozens of programs in Mobile, Baldwin and the surrounding counties that compete in AHSAA-sanctioned baseball, softball and soccer, giving more teams a path to the postseason while also increasing the number of games required to reach a state championship.
The board also approved the addition of a new member school to the AHSAA. Pike Liberal Arts School, a Troy institution that has competed in the Alabama Independent School Association, will join the AHSAA next school year and will be eligible to compete for state championships in every sport except football. Because of the timing of the school’s membership, its football program will not be eligible for a state title until the 2024-25 school year. Pike Liberal Arts has fielded one of the top-ranked baseball programs in AISA competition in recent seasons, and its arrival adds a new competitor to whichever classification the AHSAA ultimately assigns the school based on enrollment.
Several other rule changes were approved during the same meeting. In football, the board adopted a National Federation of State High School Associations recommendation to widen the team boxes along the sidelines, extending them from the 20-yard line to the 20-yard line rather than from 25-yard line to 25-yard line as they were last season, giving coaching staffs and players more room to operate during games.
Bowling programs will also see a format change. Regular-season matches will now consist of one traditional round along with three Baker-format matches, replacing last season’s best-of-seven Baker match structure.
The Legislative Council additionally passed a change to the AHSAA’s summer practice rules, striking the requirement that college or university camps attended outside the standard three-week practice window be located in-state. Under the revised rule, a school team may still participate in up to two total days at a college or university camp beyond the allowable three weeks, but those camps are no longer restricted to Alabama schools.
Board members also received an update on basketball postseason planning, including discussion of possible future regional tournament sites, though no final decisions were announced.