By Ray Hamill — Three of the final eight teams in the North Coast Section Division-4 softball playoffs are from the H-DNL, which leaves open the possibility of an all-local championship game next week.

Those three include the Hoopa Warriors, who continue to be a force in the playoffs after taking care of business in their postseason opener at home against Swett on Wednesday evening.

The Warriors scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth and held on for an 11-5 win.

That victory sets up a quarterfinal showdown for the No. 7 seeds in the bracket against No. 2 Del Norte in Crescent City on Friday night.

Also in Division 4, No. 4 Fortuna will host No. 5 Piedmont in the other side of the bracket on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Hoopa girls, who have won more NCS championships in softball than any other H-DNL school, took full advantage of their opportunities on Wednesday.

They came ready to play and quickly opened up a 4-0 lead after two innings, with senior lead-off hitter Bella Valentine setting the tone in the team’s first at-bat.

Valentine, who was a sophomore on the Warriors’ 2022 NCS championship team, struck out but reached base on a dropped ball and then quickly rounded all the way to third on a wild throw to first base.

She would score moments later on a wild pitch to open the scoring.

However, the visiting Swett girls would not go down easily.

They responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the third to pull within one.

But the Warriors would not be denied and broke open a tight game with seven runs in the fourth on their way to a six-run win.

Check out some of the game highlights and postgame celebrations above, including a big ground-rule double by Kalia Mitchell, as well as two-RBI hits by Valentine and fellow senior Rianna Bain.

Sophomore Monteya Colegrove pitched all seven innings for the win in the circle.

The seven-time NCS champs will have their hands full against the Big 5 champs on Friday night as they try to continue their playoff run in a bracket made up of much larger schools.

The Warriors were moved up a division for the playoffs after winning section titles in 2019 and 2022.

Friday’s game in Crescent City is set for 5 p.m.

Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com