The District 2 baseball and softball tournaments are set and six Wyoming Valley Conference teams enter as the top seed over 12 different brackets. Softball play begins Monday and baseball opens on Tuesday with the final champions scheduled to be crowned on May 29.
Leading the way for the WVC are four baseball top seeds — Pittston Area (5A), Wyoming Area (4A), Holy Redeemer (2A) and MMI Prep (A) — while two softball squads in Tunkhannock (4A) and Lake-Lehman (3A) are No. 1.
SOFTBALL
• In the District 2/4 Class 6A subregional, three WVC teams will be in action on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
No. 3 Hazleton Area will host No. 6 Wyoming Valley West, with the winner advancing to take on West Scranton. No. 5 Wilkes-Barre Area, meanwhile will travel to No. 4 Scranton with a spot in the semifinals against No. 1 Williamsport on the line.
• The Class 5A bracket also pulls in from District 4 as No. 3 Pittston Area hosts No. 6 Shikellamy in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. North Pocono will host the winner in the semifinals.
The round will also feature No. 4 Crestwood at home against No. 5 Delaware Valley. Top seed Abington Heights awaits the winner.
• In 4A, play begins on Monday with some all-WVC matchups. Tunkhannock hosts No. 8 Nanticoke Area and No. 4 Wyoming Area will host No. 5 Dallas. Monday’s action also includes No. 6 Berwick and No. 7 Hanover Area hitting the road to face Wallenpaupack and Valley View, respectively.
• Lake-Lehman is the lone WVC team in the 3A bracket and will await the winner of Monday’s Western Wayne at Riverside game in Wednesday’s semifinals.
• Holy Redeemer is in the 2A field with six Lackawanna schools as the No. 3 seed. The Royals host Lackawanna Trail in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. A win over the Lions would land them against Dunmore or Mountain View in the semifinals.
• No WVC teams are in the four-team Class A tournament, which opens Wednesday.
BASEBALL
• Hazleton Area enters the Class 6A subregional with a bye as the No. 2 seed. The Cougars will await the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between No. 3 Wyoming Valley West and No. 6 Delaware Valley.
Tuesday’s other quarterfinal pits No. 4 Wilkes-Barre Area against No. 5 Scranton. The winner then gets top seed Williamsport out of District 4.
• The 5A tournament begins Tuesday and No. 3 Dallas will be on the diamond, hosting No. 6 West Scranton. Up next on that side of the bracket is No. 2 Wallenpaupack.
The other quarterfinal features North Pocono at Abington Heights with the No. 1 Patriots playing the winner in Friday’s semifinals.
• Class 4A has a full eight-team bracket that starts play Tuesday with four WVC vs. Lackawanna matchups. Both finalists will qualify for the state tournament.
Wyoming Area will open against No. 8 Valley View and look for a win that would pit the Warriors against either No. 4 Hanover Area or No. 5 Honesdale.
The other side of the bracket sees No. 6 Crestwood heading to No. 3 Scranton Prep for a game at Connell Park, as well as No. 7 Berwick making a long trip to face No. 2 Mid Valley.
• Lake-Lehman is the lone WVC team in the 3A tournament, checking in as the No. 2 seed. Up first is a Tuesday quarterfinal game at home against No. 7 Carbondale.
The Black Knights would get a second home game with a win, facing either No. 3 Dunmore or No. 6 Western Wayne on Thursday. Riverside is the top seed and has a bye.
• Another eight-team field is set to begin Tuesday in Class 2A, though only the champ will go on to states.
The top-seeded Royals get to host No. 8 Holy Cross first, looking to take on the winner of No. 4 Wyoming Seminary and No. 5 Old Forge.
The other half is made up of four Lackawanna squads with Elk Lake as the No. 2 seed.
• Because there are only three Class A teams in the district, No. 1 MMI Prep already has a berth in the championship and will have to wait another week to play.
The lone semifinal will pit Forest City at Susquehanna on Thursday. The title game is secheduled for May 26.
Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.