Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — The North Coast Section brackets and seeds for the baseball and softball playoffs were announced early Sunday afternoon, and it brought good news for the H-DNL teams.

As expected, 12 of the 18 league teams were included in the postseason, with four of them receiving a No. 1 seed in their brackets and guaranteed to host their section games as long as they keep winning.

And three of those four will have have an opening-round bye.

In baseball, Big 5 and Charles Lakin Tournament champion McKinleyville is the top-seeded school in Division 2 and will open at home on Wednesday as the Panthers look to continue what has been an impressive season.

The Mack boys, who defeated Eureka 5-1 in Friday night’s Lakin final, will host No. 16 California in their playoff opener, with first pitch set for 5 p.m.

The St. Bernard’s boys also received a No. 1 seed in Division 4 and will have an opening-round bye before playing either No. 8 Arroyo or No. 9 Pinole Valley in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

In softball, meanwhile, both Big 5 champion McKinleyville and Lakin tournament champion Eureka received a top seed and both schools will have an opening-round bye.

The Panthers were placed in the Division-3 field and will play either No. 8 Las Lomas or No. 9 Petaluma in the quarterfinals next weekend, with the date and time yet to be determined.

McKinleyville could potentially face Fortuna in the bracket championship game, if both schools can make it that far.

The Huskies received the No, 2 seed in Division 3 and will also have an opening-round bye, before kicking of their playoff campaign against either No. 7 Cloverdale or No. 10 Freedom next weekend.

The Eureka girls received the top seed in Division 5.

The McKinleiville girls are one of four HDN teams to receive a top seed in their bracket.

The Loggers received the No. 1 seed in Division 5, and they will begin their playoff campaign against either No. 8 San Domenico or No. 9 Hoopa in the quarterfinals next weekend, with a date and time yet to be determined.

The Warriors will travel to San Anselmo to open their playoff campaign against the San Domenico Panthers on Tuesday evening at 5.

Little 4 champion South Fork is also included in the Division-5 bracket.

The Cubs are seeded No. 4 and will open at home against No. 13 Kennedy on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

If the Cubs win their opening two playoffs games, they could face off against either Eureka or Hoopa in the bracket semifinals.

Rounding out the local teams in the softball playoffs are the Del Norte girls, who are seeded No. 4 in Division 4.

The Warriors will get an opening-round home game, facing off against No. 13 Ukiah on Tuesday evening at 5.

In addition to McKinleyville and St. Bernard’s, four other H-DNL baseball teams have been included in the postseason brackets.

Eureka is also in Division 2 and received the No. 15 seed.

If the Loggers are to get a first postseason win since 2015, they will have to do it on the road, traveling to play No. 2 Northgate on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The Del Norte boys will join St. Bernard’s in the Division-4 bracket and the 12 seeds will open on the road at No. 5 Newark Memorial on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Ferndale and South Fork round out the local contingent of playoff teams.

The Wildcats are seeded No. 4 in Division 5, but got an unlucky break after being paired with No. 13 St. Patrick-St. Vincent.

Despite being the higher seed, the Cats will open in the road because the Bruins won their conference tournament and received a home game because of that.

However, if the Cats win, they would play a home quarterfinal.

South Fork, meanwhile, received a 12 seed in Division 6 and will play No. 5 College Prep at Laney College on Wednesday at 5 p.m.