Cedar Rapids Prairie appears to be in good shape to grab a No.1 seed for the Class 4A substate baseball tournament that begins July 19.

The Hawks (17-6) have been grouped in Substate No.3 with Xavier (14-9), Cedar Falls (13-8), Marshalltown (9-10), Waterloo West (5-16) and Waterloo East (2-18).

The seedings deadline is June 29, so Prairie has a fairly comfortable lead with one week left for a team to build its resume. The seedings will be based on a team's record as of June 29, or they will be based on a team's first 30 games.

The Kennedy Cougars have a history of earning No.1 seeds in substate tournaments, but it will not happen this year. Kennedy (10-8) has been placed in Substate No.6 with No.2 Iowa City West, which has a 19-3 record and has already clinched the No.1 spot.

Linn-Mar (13-11), Iowa City High (11-11), Washington (9-10) and Jefferson (6-17) also are grouped with Kennedy and Iowa City West.

The No.1 seed is important, because it could lead to a bye in the second round of the substate tournament. The tournament will begin with the No.1 seed facing No.6, No.2 vs. No.5, and No.3 vs. No.4. The highest remaining seed will get the second-round bye and host the substate finals.

The Class 4A substate pairings will be posted the week of July 1.

The Marion Indians (11-8) have been placed in a Class 3A substate with Anamosa, Davenport Assumption, DeWitt Central, Maquoketa, Solon, Dubuque Wahlert and West Delaware. Maquoketa and Solon will serve as district hosts.

The Class 3A district pairings will be posted the week of July 1.

Cedar Valley Christian has been placed in a Class 1A district with Calamus-Wheatland, Central City, Lisbon, Bellevue Marquette, Midland, Preston, Prince of Peace and Springville. The Class 1A district pairings will be posted the week of June 24.