If you’re looking for Schuylkill League teams in the District 11 baseball and softball playoffs, start at the top of the brackets.
Five area squads — three baseball and two softball — have earned No. 1 seeds for the tournaments, which start Monday.
District 11 released the pairings late Friday and Saturday.
In baseball, Schuylkill League champion Pottsville (18-4) is the No. 1 seed in Class AAA. Schuylkill League Division II winner Schuylkill Haven (18-3) tops the Class AA field, while Schuylkill League Division III titlist Marian (17-3) stands atop the Class A bracket.
Parkland (22-1) is the top seed in Class AAAA, which contains no Schuylkill League baseball teams.
In softball, Schuylkill League Division II champ Tri-Valley (19-2) gained the No. 1 seed in Class A.
Schuylkill Division I wild card and league runner-up Tamaqua (17-6) is the top-seeded team in Class AA.
Colonial League champion Southern Lehigh (19-3) is the top seed in Class AAA. Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champ Parkland (22-1) ranks No. 1 in Class AAAA, with Schuylkill League champion Pottsville (18-5) jumping from No. 7 to No. 2 in the final ratings.
In all, 22 Schuylkill League teams — 11 in baseball and 11 in softball — will be vying for district gold and berths in the state tournament.
Let’s take a closer look at each tournament:
Baseball
The schedule begins Monday with round-of-16 games in Class AAAA. The quarterfinals will be Wednesday and the semifinals (in a switch) Saturday this season. The finals will be held May 26-27 at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, home of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
In Class A, four of the five entrants are from the Schuylkill League. In addition to top-seeded Marian, No. 5 Shenandoah Valley (9-11) will visit No. 4 Tri-Valley (12-8) in the quarterfinals, with No. 3 Nativity (13-7) taking on No. 2 Pius X (11-7) in the semifinals. Marian gets a bye into the final four.
Four more local teams populate the Class AA field, with top-seeded Schuylkill Haven receiving a bye into the semifinals.
Quarterfinal matchups have No. 5 Pine Grove (12-8) at No. 4 Salisbury (12-9), No. 6 Minersville (15-5) at No. 3 Notre Dame-Green Pond (14-7) and No. 7 Catasauqua (10-10) at No. 2 North Schuylkill (14-6).
Class AAA has more Schuylkill League flavor as three Division I rivals square off.
With eight teams in the field, everybody has a quarterfinal game. They are: No. 8 Palmerton (10-10) at Pottsville, No. 5 Tamaqua (13-7) at No. 4 Northwestern Lehigh (16-7), No. 6 Palisades at No. 3 Blue Mountain (17-5) and No. 7 Southern Lehigh (12-8) at No. 2 Saucon Valley (18-4).
The defending champions are Parkland (AAAA), Tamaqua (AAA), Notre Dame-Green Pond (AA) and Schuylkill Haven (A).
Softball
The schedule is a bit staggered. Classes AAAA and AA, which have more than nine qualifiers apiece, will hold first-round games Tuesday and quarterfinals Thursday this week. The semifinals will be May 26 and the championship games May 28.
In Classes AAA and A, which have less than nine qualifiers, the schedule is moved forward. Quarterfinals are Tuesday and semifinals Thursday this week. Championship games will be held May 26.
Class A is a Schuylkill- League-only field, with No. 5 Mahanoy Area (11-9) visiting No. 4 Marian (14-7) in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Top-seeded Tri-Valley gets the winner, with No. 3 Minersville (14-6) and No. 2 Williams Valley (18-2) tangling in the other semifinal.
In Class AA, top-seeded Tamaqua awaits the winner of the No. 9 Schuylkill Haven (10-10) at No. 8 Notre Dame-Green Pond (11-9) game in the quarterfinals.
Other quarterfinal matchups are No. 5 Northern Lehigh (13-7) at No. 4 North Schuylkill (13-7), No. 6 Pine Grove (13-7) at No. 3 Pen Argyl (15-7) and No. 7 Catasauqua (13-9) at No. 2 Palmerton (14-7).
The only Schuylkill League entrant in Class AAA is fifth-seeded Blue Mountain (10-10), which travels to No. 4 Northwestern Lehigh (11-9) in the quarterfinals. The winner gets Southern Lehigh.
No. 3 Bangor (16-6) meets No. 2 Bethlehem Catholic (13-7) in the other semifinal.
In Class AAAA, Pottsville gets a bye into the quarterfinals and awaits the winner of the No. 10 Pocono Mountain East (10-9) at No. 7 Northampton (14-8) first-round game.
Other first-round games have No. 9 Emmaus (10-10) at No. 8 Whitehall (11-10) and No. 11 Stroudsburg (9-11) at No. 6 Pleasant Valley (14-7).
No. 5 Freedom (13-7) visits No. 4 Liberty (17-5) in another quarterfinal, while Parkland and No. 3 Easton (15-6) get byes into the quarters.
The defending champions are Parkland (AAAA), Bethlehem Catholic (AAA), Pen Argyl (AA) and Minersville (A).
District 11 No. 1 seeds
BASEBALL
· Class AAAA — Parkland (22-1)
· Class AAA — Pottsville (18-4)
· Class AA — Sch. Haven (18-3)
· Class A — Marian (17-3)
SOFTBALL
· Class AAAA — Parkland (22-1)
· Class AAA — So. Lehigh (19-3)
· Class AA — Tamaqua (17-6)
· Class A — Tri-Valley (19-2)