With the seedings official and matchups set, it's time to delve into the District 11 baseball brackets.
The tournament will open with four first-round games today -- three in Class 4A and one in Class 2A. The busiest day of the tournament will follow when the quarterfinals are held Tuesday.
Who will make it to Coca-Cola Park for next week's title games? What teams could surprise?
Let's take a peak.
Class 4A: Mountain Valley Conference champion Pleasant Valley and Lehigh Valley Conference champion Easton own the top two seeds and sit on opposite sides of the draw. Count on one of them not making it to next week.
This is the sixth year of the Class 4A baseball bracket. In the first five years, we've never had a 1-2 matchup in the final.
No MVC team has won a District 11 4A baseball title, but Pleasant Valley could change that. The Bears have good pitching depth and a top player in Pat Kregeloh, the MVC MVP.
No. 3 seed Parkland, No. 4 Liberty and No. 5 Nazareth all rate as threats to win because they have at least one top-flight starter, a must come playoff time. The Liberty-Nazareth quarterfinal may be the best early matchup, with Colin Gotzon and Karl Keglovits likely squaring off.
The teams seeded sixth or lower will have to win three games in four days to reach next week's 4A title game, but beware of No. 8 Whitehall. The Zephyrs have knocked off the top seed each of the past two seasons and would get a crack at Pleasant Valley should they beat No. 9 Bangor today.
The pick: I've said all season Parkland has the best 1-2 pitching combo in Casey Cooperman and Matt Smith. I'm sticking with the Trojans to repeat by beating Pleasant Valley in the title game.
Class 3A: Schuylkill League champion and No. 1 Blue Mountain has a huge advantage in this bracket, as it has a bye into the semifinals. The other six teams will play quarterfinal games Tuesday.
Central Catholic won its final regular-season game against Pocono Mountain West, allowing it to hop Bethlehem Catholic for the No. 3 seed. Central Catholic now has a more favorable draw, facing No. 6 Northwestern in the quarterfinals rather than No. 5 Saucon Valley, No. 4 Bethlehem Catholic's opponent. No. 2 Lehighton and No. 7 Pottsville will meet in the other quarterfinals.
The pick: Central Catholic ace David Rosenberger threw well down the stretch and could make two starts in the tournament. His presence and a deep lineup will help the Vikings down Lehighton in the semifinals and then Blue Mountain in the title game.
Class 2A: Colonial League champion Northern Lehigh has the top seed and rolls into the tournament pitching as well as anyone. Led by Joe Seremula and Eric Snyder, the Bulldogs have allowed nine runs over their last six games and have won eight of their last nine games overall.
Northern Lehigh won't have it easy, though. It could face North Schuylkill, which beat it during the regular season, in the quarterfinals. No. 2 Schuylkill Haven, No. 3 Pen Argyl and No. 5 Notre Dame all could give the Bulldogs trouble at some point in the tournament.
The pick: I'm going with the chalk and taking Northern Lehigh over Schuylkill Haven.
Class A: Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg and Pius X are the top two seeds and have byes into the semifinals. That gives them an edge on the four other teams in this bracket, as they will have the chance to use just one starter to win the title.
No. 3 Williams Valley, which went 19-2, could also be a factor.
The pick: Again, I'll stick with the chalk and take Notre Dame to beat Pius in the title game.
DISTRICT 11 BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Today's first-round matchups (all games scheduled for 4:30 p.m.)
CLASS 4A
No. 9 Bangor at No. 8 Whitehall
No. 11 Pocono Mountain West at No. 6 Stroudsburg
No. 10 Pocono Mountain East at No. 7 Emmaus
CLASS 2A
No. 9 Minersville at No. 8 North Schuylkill
Tuesday's first-round matchups (all games scheduled for 4:30 p.m.)
CLASS 4A
Bangor/Whitehall winner at No. 1 Pleasant Valley
No. 5 Nazareth at No. 4 Liberty
Pocono Mountain West/Stroudsburg winner at No. 3 Parkland
Pocono Mountain East/Emmaus winner at No. 2 Easton
CLASS 3A
No. 5 Saucon Valley at No. 4 Bethlehem Catholic
No. 6 Northwestern at No. 3 Central Catholic
No. 7 Pottsville at No. 2 Lehighton
CLASS 2A
North Schuylkill/Minersville winner at No. 1 Northern Lehigh
No. 5 Notre Dame-Green Pond at No. 4 Pine Grove
No. 6 Catasauqua at No. 3 Pen Argyl
No. 7 Panther Valley at No. 2 Schuylkill Haven
CLASS A
No. 5 Marian Catholic at No. 4 Tri-Valley
From The Morning Call
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