Sussex Central High will go into the DIAA softball state tournament as the top seed in the 37-team bracket that was determined this afternoon.

Fourteen Henlopen Conference teams, as well as Delmarva Christian, are in the field for the tourney. Every team in the state had the option of playing in this year’s tournament after last spring’s season was canceled by the pandemic.

The tournament starts on Tuesday with five play-in games. The rest of the field plays their first-round games on either Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.

Smyrna, which won the last two state titles — in 2018 and ‘19 — is seeded fifth. Henlopen schools have won the state crown four out of the last five seasons.

SOFTBALL

DIAA state tournament

Play-in round

Tuesday, May 18

33-Woodbridge (5-11) at 32-Milford (2-16)

36-Christiana (5-7) at 29-Archmere (6-12)

37-Newark (3-10) at 28-St. Elizabeth (7-11)

34-Hodgson (4-12) at 33-Polytech (2-15)

35-Brandywine (8-10) at 30-M.O.T. Charter (3-10)

First round

Wednesday, May 19

Games start at 4 p.m.

24-Indian River (6-11) at 9-Appoquinimink (13-5)

25-Conrad (9-8) at 8-Red Lion Christian (11-5)

20-Wilmington Charter (10-8) at 13-St. Mark’s (13-5)

21-Newark Charter (10-8) at 12-Concord (11-5)

23-Sussex Academy (8-6) at 10-Delmarva Christian (11-5)

26-St. Georges (5-12) at 7-Caesar Rodney (15-3)

19-Seaford (10-7) at 14-William Penn (13-5)

27-Mt. Pleasant (4-14) at 6-Sussex Tech (12-5)

Thursday, May 20

Woodbridge/Milford at 1-Sussex Central (17-1)

17-Cape Henlopen (10-8) at 16-Padua (9-9)

Christiana/Archmere at 4-Laurel (15-4)

Newark/St. Eliz at 5-Smyrna (12-7)

Polytech/Hodgson at 2-Delaware Military (15-2)

18-Lake Forest (10-7) at 15-Delmar (10-8)

Brandywine/M.O.T. Charter at 3-Caravel (14-4)

22-Dover (8-10) at 11-Middletown (13-4)

Second round

Saturday, May 22

Times and sites TBA

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, May 25

Times and sites TBA

Semifinals

Thursday, May 27

Times and sites TBA

Finals

Saturday, May 29

At Caravel, TBA