The American Legion state tournament will have a different look this year.

Instead of Riley Park in Sumter, the tournament will now take place in Columbia at Spirit Communications Park from July 25-27.

Along with a new location, the format will be condensed from an 8-man to a 4-team, double-elimination tournament. The top two teams out of each of the eight Upper and Lower State leagues will qualify for the playoffs.

The top seeds in Leagues III and IV (Midlands Region II) and Leagues VII and VIII (Upstate Region IV) will face the second seeds from those same leagues in a first-round Best-of-Five series.

All the teams will be seeded 1-4 based on the final record with the first seed facing fourth seed and second seed going against the third seed.

The winners of those series will then face off in a Best-of-Five series to determine their respective region champions and representatives in Columbia.

Region I (Coastal) and Region II (Midlands) will open the state tournament against each other, while Region III (Piedmont) will face Region IV (Upstate).

Lexington competes in League III (Orange-burg, Camden, Manning) in the Lower State, while West Columbia and Chapin/Newberry are in League VIII (Aiken, Greenwood) in the Upper State.

S.C. AMERICAN LEGION RANKINGS

1. Inman, 2. Goose Creek/Charleston, 3. Fort Mill, 4. Rock Hill, 5. Camden, 6. Florence, 7. Chapin/Newberry, 8. Greenville, 9. Aiken, 10. Sumter