Maybe, just maybe, the PIAA can admit it made a mistake.

Probably not.

The six-classification format in Pennsylvania high school athletics is likely here to stay.

It may work fine with some sports. It definitely doesn’t work well with all sports.

Karns City’s softball team, for example, had to wait two weeks to play its first playoff game. That wasn’t because of weather.

The Gremlins had no team to play — no one anywhere near them — in their 3A classification. After waiting two weeks, KC had to travel to Windber to play Chestnut Ridge in its first postseason game.

By contrast, Slippery Rock’s baseball team had to win three playoff games just to claim its District 10 Class 4A championship. That’s how many teams are in that district with that similar size of enrollment.

Before taking on Hollidaysburg in Class 5A tourney play Thursday in Slippery Rock, Cathedral Prep had played all of one playoff game in two weeks. That game was against DuBois Area, the lone Class 5A team in District 9.

Cathedral Prep, out of Erie, is the only Class 5A team in District 10. Hollidaysburg was 17-1 this season. The Tigers are one of two 5A teams — joining Central Mountain — in their district.

Because of the PIAA’s increase from four enrollment classifications to six, there are too many instances popping up where there aren’t enough teams to even hold a small playoff tournament in every division in every district.

Hence, the term “subregional” has become prevalent this spring.

When Karns City’s girls defeated Chestnut Ridge, they became District 5/8/9 champions. When Cathedral Prep topped Hollidaysburg, the Ramblers became District 6/8/9/10 champions.

Huh?

Such is the world of the subregional.

These examples alone should indicate there are too many classifications, particularly with the bigger schools.

Class 5A and 6A, at the very least, should be one division. It wouldn’t hurt to put Class 2A and 3A together, either.

In other words, go back to a four-division system and do away with the six.

Even in a district as large as the WPIAL, it could only find 12 schools to fit the 6A classification numbers in football.

This is watered down way too much.

When a team — Karns City softball — has to wait two weeks to play its first playoff game, then have that game be against a school few people in this region have ever heard of, there is a flawed system.

When Karns City can’t play Moniteau in a playoff game in any sport, there is a flawed system.

Here’s hoping this six-classification thing will be looked upon as an experimental move that didn’t work out so well. Maybe we will have a return to a four-classification system that previously worked just fine in this state.

But I doubt it.