Seeding
Ranking teams before bracket play so the strongest are kept apart in the early rounds, usually decided by pool record and a published list of tiebreakers.
Seeding assigns each team a number going into the bracket. The bracket is then built so the one seed and the two seed cannot meet until the final — the whole purpose is to stop the two best teams from colliding in the first round and sending one of them home early.
In a tournament with pool play, seeds come out of the pool results. In a tournament without it, seeds come from whatever the director has: last year's finish, a sanctioning body's ranking, the coaches' own submitted records, or a blind draw. A blind draw is a legitimate choice and it is more honest than a ranking nobody can explain.
The part that causes arguments is never the seeding itself. It is the tiebreaker order, and it is always because the order was not published before the games started. A director who posts the tiebreakers in the rules packet has a procedure. A director who works them out on Saturday afternoon has an argument with three coaches.
Common practice is head-to-head first, then run differential capped at some number per game, then runs allowed, then a coin flip. Every one of those is a choice, not a standard, and they vary by sanctioning body and by event.
Bleacher Notes computes standings and applies the tiebreaker order set for the event, so the seeds are already resolved when pool play ends rather than being worked out by hand at the scoring table.
How is seeding decided in a youth baseball tournament?
Usually by pool-play record, with a published tiebreaker order — commonly head-to-head, then run differential, then runs allowed, then a coin flip — resolving teams that finish level.
Why does the top seed play the bottom seed?
So the strongest teams cannot eliminate each other early. A seeded bracket places the one and two seeds on opposite halves, meaning they can only meet in the final.
Should tiebreakers be published before the tournament?
Yes, in the rules packet. Nearly every seeding dispute comes from a tiebreaker order that was not written down before the games were played.
Let the scorebook keep itself.
Bleacher Notes scores every play from a single spoken sentence, applying these rules for you. In beta now, free for parents.