It has been a whirlwind season with the late snow and rainy weather, but the playoffs for high school baseball and softball are here.
Teams have worked hard to get themselves positioned for a playoff bid.
In Class C, the Houlton Shiretowners as of Tuesday’s Heal Points are the fifth seed with 68.7500 tourney index points behind No. 1 Bucksport (12-2) with 101.5625 points; No. 2 Washington Academy (12-4) with 100.3348 points; No. 3 Mattanawcook Academy (12-3) with 72.488 points; and No. 4 George Stevens (11-4) with 72.1261 points.
The Shiretowners will host Mattanawcook Academy today at 4:30 p.m. in their last regular-season game.
Rounding out the playoff contenders in Class C are: No. 6, Lee Academy (9-7) with 61.7188 points; No. 7 Orono (8-7) with 55.8594 points; No. 8 Narraguagus (9-5) with 44.8023 points; No. 9 Penquis Valley (6-8) with 40.0595 points; No. 10 Calais (5-11) with 35.3385 points; and No. 11 Central (4-11) with 32.2545 points.
If Houlton stays within the top five teams in Class C, they will bypass the preliminary game with a bye and go straight into the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The Houlton Lady Shires are ranked 12th in Class C with a 6-7 record, as the top 10 teams qualify for playoffs.
In Class D boys action, the Southern Aroostook Warriors are the top-ranked team with a 13-1 record and 88.0357 points. The top 13 teams qualify for the playoffs.
In second is Bangor Christian (14-1) with 75.2586 points; No. 3, Washburn (11-1) with 67.9464 points; No. 4 Limestone/MSSM (7-6) with 61.3520; No. 5 Shead (11-3) with 53.8690 points; No. 6 Penobscot Valley (7-6) with 51.5774; No. 7 Woodland (9-6) with 50.2046 points; No. 8 Stearns (9-7) with 48.6049; No. 9 Fort Fairfield (8-5) with 48.1548; No. 10 Wisdom (7-8) with 35.8092; No. 11 Hodgdon (8-8) with 33.7556; No. 12 Katahdin (3-10) with 21.8197; and No. 13 Ashland (5-11) with 18.4375 points.
The East Grand/GHCA boys finished 18th with a 3-9 record.
With the Warriors ranked first, they will receive a bye to the Class D quarterfinals on Thursday, June 12 with the winner of the No. 8 and No. 9 preliminary teams.
The Hawks and Cougars will both be involved in preliminary games on Tuesday, June 10. The No. 11 Hawks will face the No. 6 PVHS Howlers and the No. 12 Cougars will face No. Shead if the current standings hold true.
The East Grand/GHCA girls are currently ranked sixth in the Class D rankings with a 9-5 record and 50.0149 tournament points. They are behind No. 1 Limestone/MSSM (14-0) with 98.2917 points; No. 2 PVHS (14-0) with 92.8181 points; No. 3 Washburn (10-3) with 69.4980 points; No. 4 Ashland (11-5) with 63.0469 points; and No. 5 Fort Fairfield (8-6) with 52.1528 points.
Rounding out the top 14 qualifying teams are: No. 7 Machias (9-5) with 44.9702 points; No. 8 Stearns (9-7) 42.0573 points; No. 9 Deer-Isle Stonington (9-4) with 36.9792 points; No. 10 CAHS (7-8) with 36.8025 points; No. 11 SACS (5-10) with 29.5759 points; No. 12 Katahdin (5-8-1) with 20 points; No. 13 Bangor Christian (3-12) with 15.7552 points and No. 14 Schenck (2-12) with 12.5000 points.
Hodgdon finishes 16th with a 2-14 record.
If the standings hold, the EG/GHCA girls will meet Southern Aroostook in next Tuesday’s preliminary game, while Katahdin will meet Fort Fairfield.
