It's late April, which means playoff scenarios aplenty for local baseball and softball teams. That's no different here in Marion, the site of this spring's Class 5A state baseball and softball tournaments. Crittenden County will host 32 teams from four conferences from May 11-13 in an event that will produce a pair of finalists on each diamond. The state finals will be held the following weekend in Conway. Before we get into what it will take for each Marion team to make the state tournament, let's look at the baseball and softball standings before Tuesday night's doubleheaders at Batesville. 5A East baseball standings: Valley View 10-0 MARION 7-3 Batesville 7-3 Greene County Tech 7-3 Searcy 6-4 Paragould 2-8 Nettleton 1-9 W. Memphis 0-10 There's a very remote chance that Marion could win out and win a second straight 5A East title with a lot of help should Valley View lose out, but it's so remote that it's likely not worth discussing here. Now the race for the No. 2 seed will be one for the ages as the Pats are currently in a flat-footed tie with Batesville and Greene County Tech, all with identical 7-3 marks. And as luck would have it, Marion closes out its 2023 schedule with doubleheaders against Batesville and Tech. Win out, and the Pats earn the No. 2 playoff seed outright. Win three of four and it's still possible the Pats finish second. Split the last two or lost three of four, and Marion will be doing some scoreboard watching down the stretch. In Marion's corner to at least qualify for the state tournament is owning the head-to-head tiebreakers against West Memphis, Nettleton, Paragould, and Searcy, though the former three schools have been eliminated from playoff contention. But Marion's doubleheader sweep of Searcy looms very large, as the Pats existing one-game lead over the Lions is essentially now a game and a half since Marion would advance should the two teams finish with the same league mark. Searcy finishes with Greene County Tech and Valley View. Marion baseball controls its own destiny in this season's final two weeks, and that's all you can really ask for. Marion softball has ripped off seven straight wins in league competition, earning the head-to-head tiebreaker over Searcy, Nettleton, Paragould, and West Memphis. The Pats split their doubleheader at Valley View, and the runs could come into play should those clubs wind up tied. Valley View downed Marion 10-5 in the opener before the Pats walked the Blazers off 13-12 in eight innings of the nightcap. But Marion boasts a plus-34 run differential in league action, earning their maximum five points in all but three contests. Valley View is just plus-23 ahead of its final two league doubleheaders at Paragould and home for Searcy. Here are the 5A East softball standings: Greene Co. Tech 10-0 MARION 9-1 Searcy 8-2 Valley View 7-3 Nettleton 2-8 Batesville 2-8 Paragould 1-9 W. Memphis 1-9 We know the four playoff teams from the East, but these teams could all shift in these final four contests. Greene County Tech is in the driver's seat for the conference championship, but the Eagles finish at Searcy and at Marion, the next two teams in the league's pecking order. For Marion to earn its first conference title since 2018, the Pats could make it easy and win their last four conference games at Batesville and home for Tech to earn the outright crown. A split with Tech would keep Marion at No. 2 unless the Eagles drop one to Searcy. We can revisit this next week, but for now, anything is certainly possible.