Ron, quit calling it the State Tournament. It is the ASA Region 9 Championships. Region 9 encompasses Ohio and WV. Just because many of the WV teams don't show up and it looks like only Ohio teams are playing doesn't change the ASA given name for the tournament. Your an ASA official you should know better.
CGS there is no state tournament for fastpitch in Ohio. There could be if Howard Honiker, the Region 9 Commissioner wanted there to be but he doesn't. Based upon attendence at these tournaments I can understand why he doesn't.
ASA awards each Region with 2 berths to the ASA Nationals. It also awards 1 berth per Region that is an open qualifer to any team in the US who hasn't already qualified. It is commonly referred to as an ASA NIT Berth. Metro's like Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati may also garner additional berths based upon fast pitch teams registered. Metro Commissioners can award those berths as they see fit. If they don't award the berth they can turn the berth into the Regional Commissioner who can then award them as he sees fit. Mr. Honiker and his local commissioners have tournaments set up around the state to award these berths. Local commissioners and or associations can bid on hosting these tournaments, just like they do on a national level. Many, as you can tell by this thread, are confused as to who are eligible to play in these tournaments. The reality is you should check the ASA website under tournaments to see how to qualify.
The reality is that there is not enough interest in playing in these qualifiers to hold several tournaments to award the berths, so they hold 1 tournament in each age group and generally add in any Metro berths to award anywhere from 2 -5 berths, depending on age group. On occassion you may have a change based upon accommidating public demand, but those are exceptions not the rule.