Like the Democratic presidential primaries, the Midwest Conference South Division’s entries in the championship tournament were not decided until the 11th hour. With all four division teams tied after the final games Saturday, Knox, Monmouth, Illinois College and Grinnell met in Monmouth and Galesburg to determine the division representatives through a single elimination tournament. When the dust had settled, Knox was crowned the division winner thanks to a 9-7 win over Monmouth in the championship game ending Monmouth’s seven year reign as the top team in the South. So is coach Roger Sander upset that the Scots’ arch rivals are wearing the South crown?

"We’re in and that’s all that matters right now," said Sander. "It’s the postseason, and we’re all starting over. Records don’t mean anything right now. Anything can happen."

That’s a good thing for Monmouth (9-22) and Knox (11-22) as they prepare for North winner St. Norbert (24-9) and defending MWC champion Ripon (25-8). The Scots meet the Green Knights at Glasgow Field in Monmouth Friday morning at 11 while the Prairie Fire host the Red Hawks at Blodgett Field. The winners of the games will meet at Knox Friday afternoon at 3, the losers play in Monmouth at the same time. The entire Saturday schedule will be played at Knox.

While the South’s qualifiers were up in the air until Sunday afternoon, Ripon and St. Norbert didn’t exactly decide their division winner early, either. Both teams clinched a playoff berth weeks ago, but the divisional winner wasn’t decided until last weekend when St. Norbert swept Ripon on the Red Hawks home field 4-2, 8-2. The Green Knights own a 3-1 season record over the Hawks.

Once considered an area of strength, the Scots experienced some pitching pains this season. The veteran group enters the tournament with a staff ERA over seven, but Sander’s pitchers have shown signs of improvement down the stretch and is returning to the form the veteran coach expected.

"The coaching staff’s main discussion the other day was what rotation to go with," reported Sander. "Brian Chandler has looked pretty solid all year long, starting or coming on in relief, whatever we need. With the jobs Matt Tye and Matt Bourne gave us last weekend, we feel like the staff has come around. Mike Reed has been roughed up a little lately, but without him, we wouldn’t have been in position last week to get to the tournament. He held us together for a long time."

On paper, it looks like an uphill climb for the Scots and the Prairie Fire. The two teams sport the lowest team batting averages in the league at .265 and .261 while St. Norbert and Ripon are ranked 1-2 in team ERA (4.26, 4.50). The Red Hawks and Green Knights also boast the league’s top two batting averages at .335 and .333. But as Sander always says, it just takes timely hitting.

"I’d rather have a guy go 1-for-4 with a key hit than go 1-for-3 with nobody on," said Sander. "Baseball comes down to getting good pitching, good defense and timely hitting. You can have the best averages in the world, but if you don’t get the hit at the right time, what good does it do?"

The Scots’ Jake Bice has been getting the hit at the right time, and a lot of hits. The senior first baseman leads the team with a .383 average and 33 RBIs. Bice hit .625 against conference opponents over the last six games. Knox right fielder Paul Bennett leads the Fire in both categories, boasting a .381 average and 23 RBIs.

Ripon and St. Norbert are swinging big sticks coming into the weekend. The Red Hawks are led offensively by designated hitter Alex Duros with his .411 average and team-high 38 RBIs. Bob Gillespie’s squad boasts five players hitting .300 or better. Tom Winske’s Green Knights feature six players hitting at the .300 mark or better. They’re led by Adam Frost, who hasn’t let any frost collect on his bat, leading the team with a .407 average.

A simple formula for a conference crown, but the way the conference races have shaped up this season there is one burning question. Will any of the four teams actually win it this weekend, or will the Midwest Conference need a tournament to determine the tournament champion?