By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
The CIF-Southern Section council voted 46-26 on Thursday to reject a proposal that would have created a double-elimination playoff for high school baseball teams in Divisions 1-4.

If the proposal had passed, the double-elimination tournament would have started in April’s 2012 playoffs, but council members felt travel costs and the increased number of games would have been costly.
In the current format, teams have to win five consecutive games to win a championship. In a double-elimination, it could take as many as 12 games or as few as eight games to win a title.
Northview coach Darren Murphy, who was one of the coaches who helped draft the proposal, wasn’t shocked by Thursday’s outcome.
“The timing wasn’t right,” Murphy said. “The people who are voting are trying to balance budgets and save school’s money, they’re not trying to add something else.
“Maybe in four or five years if the climate is better, we can re-introduce this and give it another try.”
The double-elimination proposal would have required ending the regular season one week early to allow for an extra week of playoffs.
In the double-elimination proposal, once a 32-team field is set, the bracket is broken into four eight-team brackets, with teams seeded one through eight in each bracket.
Each eight-team bracket would play a traditional double-elimination tournament over a two-week period, which would consist of two rounds the first week, and three rounds the second week to determine a champion of each bracket.
The champion from each bracket would advance to the semifinals. The semifinal and championship rounds would have been a best-of-three to determine the champion.
“We still think it’s a great idea,” Murphy said. “But the timing just wasn’t right for it to pass.”