Before the votes were even tallied Wednesday, Ozark Foothills Conference coaches had to face a reality that there very well might be a case for three teams to take the top spot as Neelyville, East Carter and Clearwater were each separated by one game.
Once the votes were read through, it was apparent just who was really the consensus top team entering next week's conference tournament.
With a 16-7 overall record and one loss in conference play to Clearwater, Neelyville received the top-seed vote on four of the six ballots (team's do not vote for themselves). The Tigers will receive a bye during the first round, which is Monday when things kick off at Clearwater High School.
The Tigers (16-7, 4-1 OFC), who haven't been seeded higher than No. 4 the last three seasons, will be looking for their second OFC title in 10 years after knocking off Twin Rivers 7-1 as the No. 1 seed in 2013.
Neelyville will face the winner of Twin Rivers and Naylor in a semifinal Tuesday.
"I think all three of the top seeds are deserving of it but the fact that we've played 23 games against a tough schedule helped us," Neelyville coach Tyler Thompson said. "To get the top seed after some down years says a lot about our players. They've bought into everything and can now reap the benefits of it."
Chaney Trout, who tossed a perfect game earlier this season, leads a Tigers squad that owns four run-rule victories this season and will have a full pitching staff after getting No. 2 pitcher Matt Dollins back from an injury earlier this year.
East Carter and Clearwater received the other first-place votes, but coaches were somewhat split between the two for the second and third seed.
The second seed eventually went to East Carter (14-5, 3-2) and likely came down to the fact the Redbirds, who also receive a first-round bye under the new tournament format, defeated the Tigers on Sept. 21 on the road after rallying for a 10-4 win, and that Clearwater (10-4, 3-1) had played one less conference game entering Wednesday.
"I thought coming into today we still had a good chance at the No. 2 because the conference record was still somewhat in our favor," East Carter coach Scott Henfling said. "They had yet to face Greenville and I think that factored into it a whole lot."
East Carter has the highest winning percentage amongst the six programs and features two veteran pitchers in Drew Asher and Cody Hampton, both of whom have seen the Redbirds come up a run short to Greenville in the 2015 and 2016 title games.
"We're still extremely young with just two seniors and our pitching doesn't go as deep as we're hoping, but we'll come prepared," Henfling said. "They're fired up and ready to go back, especially after the last two losses."
Clearwater was saddled with the third seed despite picking up a 5-4 win over the top-seeded Tigers back on August 25. The Tigers will wrap up the regular season against Greenville (3-9, 1-3) Friday and meet the Bears again four days later in the opening round of the tournament at 6 p.m. Monday.
The Tigers may have the deepest pitching rotation of the bunch with Jesse Holmes, Heath Ayers, Fynn Cooper and Trey Rivas all eating up innings this fall. Offensively, Clearwater is averaging about seven runs per game.
After claiming the top seed in each of the last two seasons, Greenville had the biggest drop, falling down to No. 6. The Bears (3-9, 1-3), however, are coming off their biggest win of the season after Tye Huff tossed a no-hitter to beat East Carter 1-0 Tuesday.
The winner gets East Carter in a semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
A year after letting a 6-3 lead slip with two outs in the semifinals, Twin Rivers (7-11, 2-3) returns as the No. 4 seed with a much younger team. The Royals lost our players to graduation from last spring's district championship team.
Twin Rivers kicks off the tournament against No. 5 Naylor (5-13, 1-4) at 4 p.m.
The Eagles lost to the Royals 6-5 four games into the season and picked up their only conference win against Greenville back on Sept. 14.
The tournament will conclude with the third place game at 4 p.m. followed by the championship at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for students.