Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The McKinleyville Panthers will open the NCS playoffs next weekend.
By Ray Hamill — Three H-DNL teams have been handed a top-three seed for the North Coast Section baseball playoffs, including No. 1 Ferndale.
As expected, the Little 4 champion Wildcats received the top seed in Division 6, with conference rival South Fork seeded No. 2 in the same bracket.
The Cats, who won the Little 4 pennant for the first time in 19 years this spring, have an opening-round bye in the seven-team tournament and will host either No. 4 San Francisco Waldorf or No. 5 Making Waves Academy in the semifinals next Saturday.
A victory in that game could set up an all-local championship game, providing the South Fork boys can win their first two playoff games.
The No. 2 Cubs will open against No. 7 Victory Christian Academy in Miranda on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Just one day after their historic first-ever Charles Lakin championship, the McKinleyville boys also received a high seed.
The Panthers, who are ranked No. 1 in NCS Division 4, according to MaxPreps, received the No. 3 seed by the section seeding committee on Saturday and will also have an opening-round bye.
The Mack boys, who are seeking to become the first baseball team in H-DNL history to win a conference title, a Lakin tournament and an NCS championship in the same year, will open the section playoffs against either No. 6 St. Helena or No. 11 Redwood Christian at McKinleyville next Saturday.
Little 4 runner-up St. Bernard’s is seeded No. 7 in the Division-5 bracket and will open at home against No. 10 Technology on Tuesday night at 5 p.m.
The Crusaders are seeking a third straight NCS championship, having won back-to-back titles in Division 6 before being moved up a division this year.
And rounding out the local contingent of playoff teams, the Eureka Loggers have been handed a surprisingly low seed in Division 3.
The Loggers, who lost Friday night’s Lakin tournament championship game against McKinleyville, are ranked No. 4 in their division by MaxPreps but were given a 14 seed in the 15-team bracket.
They will open on the road at No. 3 Alhambra on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
The South Fork Cubs are seeded No. 2 for the Division-6 tournament.
The St. Bernard’s Crusaders
The Eureka Loggers
The Ferndale Wildcats are seeded No. 1 for the postseason.
Categories: baseball, Del Norte, Eureka, Ferndale, McKinleyville, South Fork, St. Bernard's
