File photo – The South Fork Cubs

By Ray Hamill — The story of the North Coast Section playoffs so far for the H-DNL has been the play of the Little 4 softball teams.

On Wednesday, conference champs South Fork rolled to a 20-3 win over Hercules in the Division-5 bracket, while Hoopa cruised to a 9-1 win over San Domenico in Division-6 action.

The two wins follow the Ferndale Wildcats’ first playoff win in eight years on Tuesday.

For the rest of the H-DNL, however, it hasn’t been as much fun.

Of the other eight league programs in action over the past two days, only the Arcata and St. Bernard’s baseball teams won their opening-round games.

On Wednesday, in the baseball playoffs, Ferndale fell 9-0 at Moreau Catholic and McKinleyville lost 2-1 at Amador Valley.

Those losses follow Tuesday defeats for the Eureka, Del Norte and Hoopa boys.

In softball action on Wednesday, meanwhile, Fortuna lost 11-0 at Benicia.

The remaining local teams in the NCS playoffs include Arcata and St. Bernard’s in baseball and Hoopa, Ferndale, South Fork, McKinleyville and Del Norte in softball, with the latter two both receiving top seeds and opening-round byes in their brackets.

After an outstanding regular season that saw them end a 35-year wait for a Little 4 championship, the South Fork girls carried that form into the postseason, winning their Division-5 opener against Hercules in Miranda.

Freshman Leila Coleman struck out nine and walked just two on her way to the victory as the circle, and she got plenty of offensive support as the Cubs scored 14 runs in the opening two innings to quickly take control.

File photo

“The girls played great all the way around today,” South Fork head coach Lisa Todd said. “Leila did a great job pitching and it was our best hitting game so far.”

Leila and her older sister, sophomore Mackenzie, led the way at the plate, along with freshman Calleigh Smith.

Leila finished 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and four RBIs, while Mackenzie was 3-for-3 with a walk and five RBIs.

Smith also as 3-for-4 with a triple, a double and two RBIs.

“I’m proud of them, and all their hard work is paying off,” Todd said of her players.

Kendall Kercher and Molly Perkins both also made some noise at the plate and each finished 2-for-3 with a walk, with Kercher also driving in a run.

Makenzie Brewer also was 1-for-1 with an RBI and displayed her patience at the plate with three walks.

The No. 5 seeds will play their quarterfinal at No. 4 Miramonte on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Fortuna girls, who surprisingly ended up in the Division-2 bracket, fell at the first hurdle, losing at No. 5 Benicia.

Panthers pitcher Alana Robinson threw a two-hitter for the win in the circle, walking one and striking out seven.

Hailee Thompson had a double in the top of the first for the No. 12 Huskies and Sophia Castillo added a single in the fifth.

Isabel Sanchez, who had an outstanding all-around season for the Charles Lakin tournament champs, got the start in the circle but had trouble finding the strike zone.

Sanchez allowed five hits and eight walks and struck out three.

File photo – Isabel Sanchez

Seven of the eight players who were walked would end up scoring.

Senior Myra Hayes closed out the game and gave up two hits and three walks and struck out four.

Despite the loss, it was a memorable season for the Huskies, who won the Lakin tournament for the first time in eight years and finished runners-up in the Big 5.

They will miss their three graduating seniors next year — Hayes, Mariah Bravo and Faith Helms — but will return a talented roster and should be the early favorites to win the Big 5 in 2026.

Fortuna closed out the season 22-4.

And speaking of teams who inexplicably ended up in a higher division than expected for the NCS playoffs, the Ferndale Wildcats lost their opening game in the Division-4 bracket.

The Cats were seeded No. 12 — ranked seven spots ahead of Little 4 champion St. Bernard’s, who won three of four games against them during the regular season but somehow ended up in a lower division for NCS — and had to travel for their playoff opener against No. 5 Moreau Catholic.

Jonah Anderson and Tanner Pidgeon had Ferndale’s only two hits of the game, while Prescott Langer took the loss on the mound.

“It wasn’t the outcome we had hoped for at the beginning of the year, but sometimes that’s just the hand you get dealt,” Ferndale head Justin Andersen said. “The biggest takeaway is it’s sad to see the three seniors go.”

The senior class includes Anderson, Jarrett Smith and Parker Prior and al three of them left their mark on the program, including winning a conference and NCS championship double a year ago.

“They’ve contributed to the program ever since they showed up as freshmen four years ago,” Andersen said. “They accomplished a whole lot while they’ve been here.

“I’m extremely grateful to them and their families, and everything they’ve done for the program.”

Smith, who was injured for the stretch run of the season, made an appearance on Wednesday, playing one inning on defense and getting a final high school at-bat.

And with a very talented junior class and some very good freshmen with the program, the Wildcats should continue to be very competitive next season.

“We’ve got a good group, so I’m looking forward to see what they’re capable of in the future,” Andersen said.

File photo – Parker Prior