We have 48 teams still in the tournament. This round features seeds from 17-42 plus the six survivors of the first round. The 1-16 seeds are still idle until third-round play.
Here are the pairings in bracket order, which is also the order of how they’ll be played:
Oregon vs. Rhode Island (winner plays Texas)
Arkansas vs. Twin States (winner plays Georgia)
Illinois vs. Venezuela (winner plays Michigan)
Nebraska vs. Virginia (winner plays New York)
Louisiana vs. Maine (winner plays North Carolina)
West Virginia vs. Colorado (winner plays Tennessee)
Maryland vs. Europe (winner plays Ohio)
Indiana vs. Mississippi (winner plays Missouri)
Kentucky vs. Canada (winner plays Iowa)
Wisconsin vs. Dakota (winner plays Washington)
Panama Plus vs. Minnesota (winner plays Japan)
Massachusetts vs. Alaska/Hawaii (winner plays Puerto Rico)
Florida vs. Yellowstone (winner plays Pennsylvania)
Oklahoma vs. Connecticut (winner plays Alabama)
New Jersey vs. Dominican Republic (winner plays California)
Cuba vs. District of Columbia (winner plays South Carolina)
We have some interesting “groupings” down the road, if the teams make it that far. For instance, Texas and New York, two of the favorites to win the whole thing way back when we started talking about it, would meet in the quarterfinals. Same with Pennsylvania and California. The “middle” looks more wide open with Ohio and Japan as the best seeds there.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. The first series of Round 2 matches two states, Oregon and Rhode Island, who probably haven’t played each other a whole lot in anything. Neither squad has especially strong pitching, and the winner has the unenviable task of tackling Texas. Based on their seedings it’s 32 vs. 33, so it should be as tight as any series we’ve had yet. And we go to best-of-seven for the rest of the way.
Base instincts 