It's district tournament time for baseball, softball and soccer, and pairings have been set for the local teams as they begin the march toward a hopeful ending in Murfreesboro for "Spring Fling 2008."
Here is a breakdown of the tournaments involving the local teams:
District 1-A Baseball
The site for this tournament will be Indian Trail Middle School in Johnson City. After a play-in game Friday between Cloudland and Hampton, tourney action begins Monday. North Greene will play Monday at 6 p.m. against University High. Top seed Unaka takes on the Cloudland-Hampton winner in the first game set for 4 p.m.
District 1-A Softball
Cloudland will play at Hampton in an elimination game on Friday, then the four teams remaining in the five-team district will head to Unaka High School for double elimination play beginning Monday.
North Greene is seeded No. 2 and will play No. 3 seed University High Monday at 5 p.m., while top-seed Unaka will take on the Cloudland/Hampton winner at 6:30. Games will continue through Thursday with the championship tilt slated for 5 p.m., with a second, if necessary, game to follow at 6:30.
District 1-AA Baseball
This entire tournament will be played at Elizabethton's Joe O'Brien Field, home of the Elizabethton Twins, and it will begin at noon on Saturday with elimination games.
West Greene, the No. 7 seed, will play No. 2 seed Elizabethton in the noon opener, followed at 2:30 by No. 8 seed South Greene vs. No. 1 seed Unicoi County. Sullivan North and Happy Valley will battle at 5 p.m., with Chuckey-Doak, the No. 3 seed, taking on No. 6 seed Johnson County at 7:30.
The four teams remaining after Saturday will play a double elimination tourney beginning Monday. The finals are set for Thursday night.
District 1-AA Softball
The top four seeds in this tourney will host an elimination game Friday at 5 p.m. Chuckey-Doak is the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 seed West Greene, while South Greene is the No. 4 seed and will host Johnson County. Top seed Unicoi plays Happy Valley and No. 2 seed Elizabethton hosts Sullivan North.
The four teams remaining after Friday will move to Elizabethton High School for tournament play beginning Monday. The finals are set for Thursday night.
District 2-AAA Baseball
Cocke County High School will host this tournament beginning Friday. Greeneville's Greene Devils, the No. 4 seed, takes on the host school, Cocke County, Friday at 5:30. Jefferson County plays Cherokee in the 7:30 p.m. game
Morristown West is No. 1 seed, and Morristown East is No. 2. Both of those teams advance to Saturday's tournament play. The tourney finals are set for Wednesday night.
District 2-AAA Softball
This tourney will be staged at Frank Lorino Park in Morristown. Greeneville, the No. 6 seed, will play Cherokee at 6:30 p.m. Friday, immediately following the Jefferson County vs. Cocke County elimination game.
Morristown East and Morristown West will flip a coin today to determine the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, but both advance to Monday's tourney play. The finals are Thursday night.
District 1-A/AA Soccer
The tournament will be played at school sites with the higher seeds hosting.
No. 2 seed Chuckey-Doak hosts University High on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. while No. 1 seed Elizabethton hosts South Greene.
The winners of the two semifinals will meet on Thursday for the district championship with the highest remaining seed hosting.
District 2-AAA Soccer
The District 2-AAA soccer tournament will be played at Morristown's Burke-Toney Stadium. Greeneville plays Jefferson County on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. followed by Morristown West vs. Morristown East.
The winners of the two semifinals will meet on Thursday for the championship.