It's almost not even a surprise any more.A double-digit seed - possibly lower than 20th - comes out of nowhere and crashes the District 3 Class AAA quarterfinals. Ho hum. What else is knew?
Nothing really, except this year there's a slew of low seeds that have reached the quarterfinal round of the 3-AAA tournament.
Locally, there's No. 13 Trinity. Before this year, the Shamrocks were an average team in Class AA that hadn't won a playoff game since 2005. Suddenly, with a potent offense and a 1-2 pitching punch of A.J. Weaver and Mike Hnatuck, the Shamrocks are the real deal following a 3-2 win over fourth-seeded and defending 3-AAA champion Muhlenberg at George Field in Reading on Monday.
Then there's Palmyra, a 22-seed that has followed the path of last year's 22-seed, West Perry, into the quarters after a shocking 2-1 win over reigning 3-AA king Lancaster Catholic.
Those two are surprising enough but maybe the biggest shock is No. 16 Manheim Central chasing top seed Northeastern. Throw in No. 10 Twin Valley and what we have is a final eight comprised of four double-digit seeds.
It's been wild so far but Thursday's quarterfinal round could be even more insane. A PIAA bracket change effective this year has the top four finishers in 3-AAA advancing to the state tournament. Essentially, a win Thursday guarantees the semifinalists at least three more games. If that's not reason enough to go full bore, we don't know what is.
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