Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — The H-DNL postseason Charles Lakin Tournament will get under way on May 12 in baseball and softball.

And this year sees a return to the Arcata Ball Park for the baseball tourney, while the softball tournament will take place around the corner at the Arcata Sports Complex.

Six teams will qualify for both tournaments, three each from the Big 5 and Little 4.

Heading into the final week of conference play, five of the six baseball spots have already been decided, with McKinleyville, Eureka, Del Norte, St. Bernard’s and Ferndale having already punched their ticket.

As Little 4 champions, St. Bernard’s is guaranteed a No. 1 seed, while Ferndale clinched a No. 2 seed with a victory over Hoopa on Thursday.

The order of seeds in the Big 5 is still undetermined heading in a pair of Saturday doubleheaders.

In softball, South Fork, Hoopa and Ferndale have all qualified, with the Cubs having already secured the conference’s No. 1 seed because of their head-to-head record against Hoopa.

Hoopa will be a No. 2 seed and Ferndale a No. 3.

Four of the Big 5 schools — McKinleyville, Fortuna, Del Norte and Eureka — are still battling for the three conference tournament spots.

In addition to the return to the Arcata Ball Park — last year the ball park was undergoing renovation in May — other changes to the tournaments this year include moving the softball championship game up to 3:30 p.m. because of scheduling conflicts later in the day at the Arcata Sports Complex.

In the event of a tie in the conference standings, the higher seed will be determined by head-to-head records, and if there is still a tie, then a coin flip.

Opening day in both tournaments will see the Big 5 No. 2 seed play the Little 4 No. 3 seed, and vice versa.

Those games will be played on Tuesday at both venues, with the baseball games set for 4 and 7 p.m. and the softball games set for 5 and 7 p.m.

The semifinals will take place two days later on Thursday, May 14, while the championship games will take place the following day, with the baseball decider set for 7 p.m.

The four No. 1 seeds will begin tournament play in the semifinal rounds.

Higher seeds will be the home team for all games.

No school passes will be accepted for tournament games, and only HDN League and NCS Section passes will be honored.

Admission to the games will the same as regular HDN prices, $10 and $5.