Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Ferndale Wildcats will host Etna in their NorCal opener on Tuesday.

By Ray Hamill — Get ready for a big week of state playoff action in baseball and softball, with four H-DNL teams included in the NorCal tournament brackets.

And three of them will get to host their openers on Tuesday afternoon.

As expected, both the Ferndale baseball and South Fork softball teams have qualified after winning North Coast Section championships last week.

The Del Norte and St. Bernard’s softball teams, each of which lost their NCS finals on Friday, also have been included after receiving at-large berths.

The tournament quarterfinals will take place on Tuesday, with semifinals on Thursday and championship games on Saturday.

The Wildcats received a No. 3 seed in the Division-5 baseball bracket and will host No. 6 Etna at 4 p.m.

And you can expect another big crowd on hand to support the team, as the Cats look to join the 2022 St. Bernard’s Crusaders as the only H-DNL team to ever win a Little 4 title and NCS and NorCal championships in the same year.

That showdown is a rematch of last year’s high-scoring first-round NorCal game at Etna, which the Wildcats lost 9-8.

This year. however, the Lions will have to travel to Ferndale.

The Del Norte girls also received a No. 3 seed in the Division-4 softball bracket and will host No. 6 East Nicolaus from the Sacramento area.

That game also is set for 4 p.m.

The Warriors will be playing in the NorCal playoffs for the the second straight year.

The St. Bernard’s girls will open their NorCal playoffs in San Jose.

The Del Norte girls will host East Nicolaus on Tuesday afternoon.

Two Little 4 teams have been included in the Division-5 softball bracket.

St. Bernard’s received a No. 5 seed and will travel to San Jose to play No. 4 Leigh on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

South Fork is seeded No. 7 and will play No. 2 Los Molinos from just south of Red Bluff.

However, despite being the lower seed the Cubs will get to host the game in Miranda, also on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Both SB and South Fork are in different sides of the draw, setting up the possibility of an all-local NorCal championship game, and wouldn’t be that a perfect way to end what has been an exciting high school sports year for the H-DNL.

Submitted photo – The South Fork girls will play Los Molinas on Tuesday.