Expanded class system works for some

There’s been no shortage of talk in the last nine months devoted to the positives and negatives of the IHSA expanding to four classes in some sports for the 2007-08 school year. The Elmwood Park softball team would likely cast a vote in approval of four classes. The Tigers won the program’s first sectional title on Saturday with an 8-3 win over Trinity. The chances of Elmwood Park winning a sectional this year, or any time in the future, would be small in a two-class system. The Tigers have a solid program and an excellent coach in Erica Hanrahan. Unfortunately for Elmwood Park, its neighbor to the south is Oak Park-River Forest. The Tigers in the past would be included in a sectional field with an OPRF program which has advanced Downstate the past seven years. There’s no sign of the OPRF program running out of talent any time in the near future. The Tigers competed in Class 3A this spring which is one below the Huskies. Come to think of it, Trinity was also pretty happy to be free of the Huskies. With six freshmen the Tigers could be a player for years to come in the state tournament unless OPRF suddenly drops in enrollment and falls to 3A…not likely.