The WSEM Postseason has seen several formats over the years. For our inaugural season in 2011 we wanted to go big. All eight teams participated in a standard bracket. The first round series were best of three hosted by the higher seed; all games played in one day. The semifinal series were best of five with the first two games hosted by the lower seed, and the final three hosted by the higher seed. The Championship Series was a best of seven, split 2-3-2 with the first and last two games (if necessary) at the higher seed; the middle three games at the lower seed. When we expanded to ten teams for the 2012 season this format was carried over, but with the ninth and tenth seeds left out.
The expectation was that players would be excited about the scale of "big-time playoff wiffleball" and the storylines that could come out of the spread out series. The reality was that many players complained about the number of games and splitting them over multiple days. Some best of five series wound up crammed into a single day with one of the teams opting out of using its home field. Most disastrously, though, was the result in 2012 with the entire Championship Series that year being forfeit. Seeing that this format was not being embraced (9-15 playoff games was an additional ⅓ to ½ of a season, to be fair) the playoffs would be stripped down starting with the 2013 season.
2013 saw the league back at eight teams, and the playoffs even more scaled back. Four teams. Two Rounds. Best of three Semifinals, and a best of five Championship Series. The semifinals were all three games at the higher seed in one day. The Championship Series was two days with the first two games at the lower seed, and the final three (or however many necessary) wrapping up at the higher seed. The maximum number of postseason games in the new format (8) was now lower than the minimum number of possible games (9) in the previous. This smaller, revised format would remain in place through the 2017 with one minor addition. We expanded back to ten teams for the 2014 season, and with that a fifth team was added to the postseason to keep it at 50% of teams involved. The fourth and fifth seeds would meet in a play-in game with the winner immediately advancing to face the one seed that same day. Even with going back to eight teams in 2015 the five team format with the play-in game was kept through the 2017 season when this format was eventually retired.
Replacing the four/five team playoff bracket in 2018 was the Ladder. One game, win and advance to play another. This new postseason format was a complete overhaul, and was implemented with the idea of creating an exciting one-day wiffle event to watch unfold. Every game was a win-or-go-home battle. The day started with the five and six seeds facing off. The winner advanced to play the four seed. The winner of game two advanced to play the three seed. The winner of that game advanced to play the two seed who had been sitting there waiting. It's relatively easy to win one game in a day. Two wins in a day... not too hard. Three wins is starting to stretch it. Four wins is a damn difficult ask. This format made every seeding matter (outside of five/six). If you could finish one seed better, you just made your life that much easier. On top of it all, the ultimate reward for the one seed: they're automatically in the best of three Championship Series, waiting for whichever team survived the Ladder.
If 2020 were a normal year, the Ladder likely would still be here. 2020 is anything but normal, and so like many things this year the postseason is a brand new beast — although maybe not so much as it first seems. At face value a bracket not dissimilar to what was used from 2013-2017 makes a return, but with six teams instead of five. Also, the spirit of the Ladder is maintained with four teams being eliminated in one day to set the Championship matchup. The most foreign concept of the format is that the winners of the first round and semifinals series are decided by aggregate score. Instead of a "best of" format, teams will play a standard two-game series. The team with more runs scored over both games advances. If the total score of the series is tied at the regulation end of the second game, play continues until there is a winner. This format is likely a one-year compromise allowing all teams to participate and giving them more games, while still fitting within the constraints of the shortened season (that, let's face it, could get shut down at any time). The Championship Series is a standard one-day, best of three.
