The Class B state tournament field will be set after a coaches vote on Thursday morning. Coaches rank the teams 1-7 (not including their own team) and the composite results are used to seed teams 1-5. Teams 6-8 are assigned via a random draw.
This is an extremely difficult field to assess and it is hard to project how each coach sees the field. Nonetheless, here is our best guess. We seeded them out teams 1-8 as if we had a vote.
1. May-Port-CG (17-2)
The Patriots have the best resume in Class B. Their only losses are to No. 1 Class A Minot (2-1) and surging Class B Central Cass (9-8). They are 6-1 against Class B state participants including a win over Beulah and two wins over Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark. May-Port-CG cruised to the Region 2 championship.
Region 2 Champion
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 1
2. Beulah (18-6)
The Miners are the defending state champions and possibly have the best win of anyone in Class B with a win over a top Class A team in Dickinson. Beulah went 4-1 against Class B state tournament participants this season and 15-1 against Class B with their lone loss to May-Port-CG.
Region 4 Champion
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 3
3. Central Cass (17-6)
The Squirrels have surged late in the season and made a run to the Region 1 title game where they eventually fell to Kindred-Richland 6-5 in 8 innings. Central Cass defeated the Vikings three times earlier in the season. CC is 6-2 vs. Class B state tournament participants and those came to Thompson and Kindred-Richland. They are the only Class B team to beat May-Port-CG this year.
Region 1 Runner Up
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 2
4. Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark (20-4)
The Lakers are the only 20 win team in Class B and they are 2-4 against state tournament participants in the class. Three of those losses are to May-Port-CG and Beulah. The other was to Renville County, who they defeated in the region tournament. They are the Region 3 champions and have a 16-5 victory over Kindred-Richland under their belts.
Region 3 Champion
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 7
5. Thompson (17-8)
The Tommies are 3-3 against the state tournament field, but all three losses come to Region 2 foe May-Port-CG. Overall, Thompson is 16-4 against Class B. Their only non-May-Port-CG loss was to a solid Bottineau team. Thompson also boasts wins over both Central Cass and Kindred-Richland.
Region 2 Runner Up
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 5
6. Kindred-Richland (18-6)
The Vikings finally knocked off Central Cass for the first time in four tries in the Region 1 title game. They are 4-6 against state tournament participants including wins over both Velva-Drake/Anamoose and Renville County. Thirteen of their 24 games came against Region 1 foes, where only Central Cass and Kindred-Richland finished with a record above .500.
Region 1 Champion
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 4
7. Renville County (19-3)
Renville County finished runner up in Region 4 and has the second most wins amongst state tournament qualifiers. They are 3-3 against state tournament qualifiers. Their first loss of the season came at Midseason Madness vs. Kindred-Richland and that was followed with a 28-0 loss to Central Cass. Dropping the region title game probably keeps Renville out of the top 5.
Region 3 Runner Up
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 6
Velva-Drake/Anamoose (13-9)
The Aggies snuck into the state tournament with a 12-11 win over Heart River in a state qualifier. The finished the season 0-8 vs. state tournament participants.
Region 4 Runner Up
Final Coaches Poll Ranking: 9
