Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Hoopa players and coaches celebrate their playoff win on Wednesday.

By Ray Hamill — Seven of the 13 local teams to qualify for the baseball and softball playoffs remain in the chase for a North Coast Section championship heading into the weekend quarterfinals.

And four of them will host their next games on Friday evening.

In baseball, Arcata and St. Bernard’s remaining contention in Division 5, but they are the last two H-DNL teams still going in the sport.

The Tigers, who are seeded No. 2, will host No. 10 De Anza, while No. 3 St. Bernard’s will host No. 6 Miramonte, which got the better of Hoopa in Tuesday’s opening round.

Those two games are set for 5 p.m. on Friday and if both H-DNL schools win they would play each other in the semifinal round next week.

The Tigers defeated Ygnacio Valley 15-0 in their playoff opener on Tuesday, while the Crusaders beat Piner 3-1.

In softball, meanwhile, five league teams remain in the chase, including top seeds Del Norte and McKinleyville, each of which received an opening-round bye.

The Warriors are in Division 3 and will host No. 9 Freedom after the Falcons defeated American Canyon 14-3 in their playoff opener.

The Panthers are in Division 5 and will host No. 8 Clear Lake after the Cardinals edged Albany 6-5 in their playoff opener.

Both games involving the top seeds will also take place on Friday at 5 p.m.

The three other local softball teams still playing — Hoopa, South Fork and Ferndale — will all travel for their quarterfinals, including two who will play on Saturday.

Fresh off a breakthrough playoff win in the Division-6 bracket on Tuesday, the Ferndale girls will play at No. 1 Kelseyville on Friday evening at 5.

The No. 9 Wildcats defeated Point Arena 18-8 on Tuesday for their first NCS postseason win in eight years.

Also in Division 6, the Hoopa girls will play at No. 2 St. Vincent de Paul on Saturday afternoon at 1.

The No. 7 Warriors comfortably took care of business in their opener, defeating San Domenico 9-1 on Wednesday.

The South Fork girls, who have won three of the past four section tournaments they have played in, are seeded No. 5 in Division 5.

After a dominating 20-3 over Hercules on Wednesday, the Cubs will travel to play No. 4 Miramonte on Saturday at 1 p.m.

If South Fork and McKinleyville both win their quarterfinals, they would meet in an all-local semifinal next week.