By Ray Hamill — As excepted, the Eureka Loggers will open the North Coast Section playoffs in front of a home crowd after clinching this year’s Pacific League championship last week.
The Loggers, who edged rival Arcata for the league title, which was their second straight, are one of five local teams to qualify for the playoffs and one of three to open at home this week.
Redwood League co-champs Ferndale and St. Bernard’s also have qualified for the postseason tournaments, along with the Arcata and Del Norte girls, who finished second and third, respectively, in the Pacific League.
The Eureka girls have been placed in the Division-3 bracket and received the No. 7 seed.
The Loggers, who are 26-6, will open against No. 10 Petaluma (13-10) on Tuesday night, with game time set for 7 p.m.
The Arcata girls are included in the Division-4 bracket.
They received the No. 11 seed and will open on the road in Alameda at No. 6 Encinal on Wednesday night, also at 7.
The Tigers are 16-13, while the Jets are 13-12.
Two H-DNL teams have been included in the Division-5 bracket.
The Del Norte Warriors received the top seed for the tournament and will open at home on Tuesday night.
Del Norte (14-14) will play No. 16 seed Richmond (5-9) at 7.
The St. Bernard’s girls also have been placed in the Division-5 bracket and received the No. 11 seed.
After losing a Redwood League playoff game against Ferndale to decide which of the two schools received the league’s automatic bid, the Crusaders will open on the road.
SB (12-18-1) will play No. 6 Healdsburg (10-20) on Tuesday night at 7.
Rounding out the local contingent of teams to make the postseason, the Ferndale Wildcats will play in the Division-6 tournament.
The Cats received the No. 3 seed and will have an opening-round bye, before playing either No. 6 Mendocino or No. 11 Fremont Christian on Saturday.
