Warsaw baseball coach Mike Hepler was joking Monday night that there was no way his team would get the bye in the upcoming Elkhart Memorial Sectional.

It’s a good bet that the Tiger mentor is not sad to be wrong on this one.

Warsaw, which has never had the bye for the tourney at Elkhart Memorial according to Hepler, did receive the bye in the loaded field.

The IHSAA conducted state tournament pairings for prep baseball play this morning. A total of 385 teams are entered statewide in the field for the 47th annual tournament.

Warsaw received a great draw in the six-team Class 4-A field at Memorial, where play begins on May 23. The Tigers will face a struggling Memorial team in the semifinal bye game on May 25.

The other bracket at Memorial has the defending sectional champions and pitching loaded No. 2 Elkhart Central (23-1) playing Concord (15-5) in the opener, followed by a strong Northridge team, who is 18-3, versus Goshen.

Warsaw improved to 11-12 on the season with a big 3-2 NLC win at Concord Monday night. The Tigers split with the Minutemen this season. Warsaw also went 0-2 versus NLC foe Northridge, beat league opponent Goshen twice and lost 4-3 to Central.

The Tigers play at Memorial Thursday in their final NLC game of the regular season. Warsaw whipped Memorial 10-0 in five innings at Warsaw on April 29 as Jason Ferguson pitched a three-hitter for the Tigers.

Wawasee will play Fairfield in the opening game of the Class 3-A West Noble Sectional on May 22. The Warriors, who host the Falcons today (May 14) are 3-15. Fairfield currently sits at 13-3.

Tippecanoe Valley, the defending sectional champion, is also in the field at West Noble. The Vikings face the hosts in a first-round game.

Whitko drew the bye game at the Class 3-A Bellmont Sectional. The No. 8 Wildcats. who are 17-7, will face Eastbrook on May 24. Host Bellmont is the defending champion.

Triton will travel to Culver to play in the seven-team Class 1-A sectional. The Trojans face Michigan City Marquette in a first-round game May 23. South Central is the defending champion.

Regionals, which will include four teams, are set for June 1. Area hosts are LaPorte in Class 4-A, Bellmont in 3-A and Caston in 1-A. Semistate games are June 8 and the State Finals June 14-15 at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

Sectional Pairings
Class 4-A
At Elkhart Memorial
Thursday, May 23
5 p.m.: Elkhart Central vs. Concord; 7:30: Northridge vs. Goshen
Saturday, May 25
11 a.m.: Thursday winners; 1:30: Elkhart Memorial vs. Warsaw
Monday, May 27
Noon: Championship Game

Class 3-A
At West Noble
Wednesday, May 22
5 p.m.: Fairfield vs. Wawasee
Thursday, May 23
5 p.m.: West Noble vs. Tippecanoe Valley
Monday, May 27
9 a.m.: Wednesday winner vs. Thursday winner; 11:30: NorthWood vs. Lakeland;  4:30: Championship Game

At Bellmont
Wednesday, May 22
5:30 p.m.: Mississenewa vs. Heritage; 7:30: Norwell vs. Bellmont
Friday, May 24
5:30 p.m.: Wednesday winners; 7:30: Eastbrook vs. Whitko
Monday, May 27
1 p.m.: Championship Game

Class 1-A
At Culver
Wednesday, May 22
5:30 p.m.: Oregon Davis vs. South Central
Thursday, May 23
5:30 p.m.: Michigan City Marquette vs. Triton
Friday, May 24
5:30 p.m.: Argos vs. Westville
Monday, May 27
10 a.m.: Culver vs. Wednesday winner; 12 p.m.: Thursday winner vs. Friday winner; 5:30: Championship Game