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Coach Wilmer Carabello's Coventry Comets will travel to Louisville after receiving a bye in the opening round of the Canton Division II Sectional/District baseball tournament.

The softball postseason tournament trail begins next week, but along with the excitement of teams trying to make a run to Firestone Stadium in early June is an equally compelling Portage Trail Conference Metro Division race that includes four teams within two losses of each other.

Thanks to an emerging offense and the development of Quartni Whited as another pitcher, joining junior Gabby Lessak, the Springfield Spartans (10-4, 7-2) are alone in first place halfway through their conference schedule.  Springfield swept Field to start league play before dropping a game to Kent Roosevelt, but the Spartansstill  have one major test still ahead of them.

Springfield will meet Southeast (6-3, 7-2) next week, weather permitting, in a two-game confrontation that could go a long way to determining this season’s Metro champion. If the Spartans can sweep the Pirates, then they will be in control for the season’s last few games -- that is, assuming Springfield can handle business against Ravenna and Coventry to end this week.

While Southeast and Springfield are battling next week, another series that means just as much to the title chase will be unfolding at the same time. The aforementioned Falcons (11-5, 8-2) have won 10 of their last 11 games after starting the year unusually slow, but once again find themselves in the thick of the Metro race.

Field will meet Kent Roosevelt (8-7, 6-2) in a game that gives both schools a chance to stay alive in the race. The Rough Riders will be hoping for the Pirates to pull off a sweep of the Spartans, while a split will benefit the Falcons the most.

More softball: A tournament glimpse

At last Sunday's tournament draws, four Metro teams earned first-round byes, guaranteeing them a place in sectional championship games. Highlighting the opening-round action is a meeting between Crestwood and Ravenna in Mantua in the Alliance Division II Sectional/District. There winner will face Springfield for a chance to advance to the district semifinals.

Also in the Alliance Sectional/Dstrict are the Coventry Comets, who will host Canal Fulton Northwest in the first round.  If the Comets win, then they will meet Field in a sectional championship game. The Falcons just got done sweeping the Comets this week in league play.

If both sides of the bracket keep winning, then there’s potential for an all-Metro Division district championship game with Crestwood, Ravenna and Springfield on the top half, and Field and Coventry on the bottom half.

The Norton Panthers are the lone team from the Metro in the Akron Division II Sectional/District.  The Panthers received a bye and will face a fellow SportsInk.com school in either St. Vincent-St. Mary or Revere.

The final Metro team with a bye is Southeast, which will meet the winner of a Hubbard-Struthers first-round game next week.

Kent Roosevelt, the lone Division I team in the PTC, will host Firestone in the first round.  The winner of that contest meets Nordonia for a sectional title the next night.

Baseball: Ravenna in control of division race

The Ravenna Ravens (9-4, 6-2) baseball team is technically only a half-game ahead of second place Field (12-4, 6-3), but is really in control of the Metro Ravenna has series left on its conference schedule with Norton, Southeast and Springfield, the three teams at the bottom of the division.

On the other hand, the Falcons still have to face tough challengers in Kent Roosevelt and Crestwood.

Barring a slipup by the Ravens,.they are in position to become the conference champions.

With the league race somewhat on the backburner, it is time to turn our attention to the postseason tournaments.

Ravenna drew a bye in the opening round of the Struthers Division II Sectional/District and will welcome either Metro division rival Southeast or Salem in a sectional championship game. Meanwhile, Crestwood will travel to Beloit West Branch in its opening game in the same tourney. If the Red Devils win, then they advance to face Niles McKinley.

In the Canton Division II Sectional/District, both Field and Coventry drew first-round byes. The Comets will travel to Louisville for a sectional title game, while the Falcons get the winner of Navarre Fairless and Alliance Marlington.

In the same sectional/district, Springfield will take on Kenmore for the right to face a very good team in Tallmage.

The final Division II team from the Metro Division, Norton, will travel all the way to Parma to take on Padua Franciscan, with the winner meeting Highland from the in the sectional championship round.

Finally, Kent will travel to Nordonia for its sectional title contest.

Signings: Rough Riders moving on

Roosevelt seniors Taylor Wise and Morgan Mason recently signed to play their respective sports in college.  Wise, a two-time state meet qualifier, will be moving on to Lehigh University to compete in sprints for the Pennsylvania school.  Wise was a two-time State Meet competitor for the Rough Riders.

Morgan, a football team captain, has signed with Occidental College in Los Angeles to play linebacker.

Track: Conference championship around the bend

After last spring’s boys championship for Southeast, three different schools from the Metro have won boys and girls titles. When the conference meet kicks off next Wednesday at Ravenna, will a fourth team win its first crown, or will one of the conference’s mainstays take home the trophies again?

Field, Crestwood and Southeast have each won a boys championship, with the Red Devils taking three straight from 2007-09.  On the girls side, Crestwood and reigning champion Kent have each captured two championships, while Ravenna won one title.