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AAC Softball Tournament Bracket Released; Johnson Earns No. 1 Seed

tournament preview
April 23, 2026

WALESKA, Ga. - The stage is set for the 2026 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Softball Tournament, and Johnson is the No. 1 seed.

The tournament begins Monday, April 27, and runs through Friday, May 1. The five-day event is being held at the Brickyard Ball Fields in Kingsport, Tenn. (Directions)

Tickets are available and can be purchased by clicking here.

If unable to attend in person, all games will be streamed live online. To watch, click here.

Johnson and Reinhardt are the regular-season co-champions as both finished with a 19-7 conference record. Johnson receives the No. 1 seed since it swept the season series against Reinhardt. The AAC has two automatic berths to the NAIA National Championship Tournament, and Johnson receives one as the regular-season champion and No. 1 seed. The final automatic berth will be awarded to the tournament champion. If Johnson wins the tournament, the second automatic berth will go to the tournament runner-up.

Ten teams advance to the double-elimination tournament. To view the bracket, click here.

Here are the seeds for the tournament:

  1. Johnson (29-16, 19-7 AAC)*
  2. Reinhardt (23-9, 19-7 AAC)*
  3. Brenau (27-15, 18-8 AAC)
  4. Bryan (26-22, 16-10 AAC)
  5. Pikeville (27-13, 15-11 AAC)**
  6. Truett McConnell (26-17, 15-11 AAC)**
  7. Milligan (20-20, 14-12 AAC)***
  8. Columbia International (31-15, 14-12 AAC)***
  9. Spartanburg Methodist (29-16, 12-14 AAC)
  10. Columbia (23-23, 9-17 AAC)****

*-Johnson and Reinhardt tied for the regular-season championship, but Johnson swept the season series from Reinhardt to earn the No. 1 seed.
**-Pikeville swept the season series from Truett McConnell to earn the No. 5 seed.
***-Milligan and Columbia International split their season series and scored the same number of runs (7) against each other. However, Milligan went 2-0 against Johnson, while Columbia International went 0-2 to earn the No. 7 seed.
****-Columbia and Union Commonwealth tied for the No. 10 seed, but Columbia swept the season series to earn the postseason berth.

Here's the complete tournament schedule:

Tournament Schedule

Tournament Schedule
Monday, April 27
Game 1 - No. 8 Columbia International (31-15) vs. No. 9 Spartanburg Methodist (29-16), 11 am
Game 2 - No. 7 Milligan (20-20) vs. No. 10 Columbia (23-23), 1 pm
Game 3 - No. 4 Bryan (26-22) vs. No. 5 Pikeville (27-13), 3 pm
Game 4 - No. 3 Brenau (27-15) vs. No. 6 Truett McConnell (26-17), 5 pm

Tuesday, April 28
Game 5 - Game 2 Loser vs. Game 3 Loser, 11 am
Game 6 - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 1 pm
Game 7 - No. 1 Johnson (29-16 vs. Game 1 Winner, 3 pm
Game 8 - No. 2 Reinhardt (23-9) vs. Game 2 Winner, 5 pm

Wednesday, April 29
Game 9 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser, 11 am
Game 10 - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser, 1 pm
Game 11 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 3 pm
Game 12 - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 5 pm

Thursday, April 30
Game 13 - Game 9 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser, 11 am
Game 14 - Game 10 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser, 1 pm
Game 15 - Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner, 3 pm
Game 16 - Game 13 Winner vs. Game 14 Winner, 5 pm

Friday, May 1
Game 17 - Game 15 Loser vs. Game 16 Winner, 11 am
Game 18 - Championship Game 1 - Game 15 Winner vs. Game 17 Winner, 1 pm
Game 19 - Championship Game 2 - Game 18 Winner vs. Game 18 Loser, 1 hour after Game 18 (if necessary, if it is Game 18 Loser's first loss of the tournament)