LAKE COUNTY >> No team is hotter entering the North Coast Section Division IV baseball playoffs than Middletown High School and the Mustangs, winners of eight straight, were rewarded with the No. 1 seed on Sunday during the North Coast Section at-large and seeding meeting.
Middletown (18-3) and No. 2 seed McKinleyville (13-9) both have first-round byes as the Division IV playoffs open with first-round games on Wednesday. Middletown will host the winner of a first-round game between No. 8 St. Patrick-St. Vincent (15-6) of Vallejo and No. 9 El Molino (13-9) of Forestville on Saturday at a time to be determined at Wes Martin Field in Middletown.
Kelseyville, fourth in the NCL I standings and 10-11 overall this season, is the No. 11 seed in the 14-team field and will hit the road Wednesday to play Redwood Christian at 7 p.m. at San Leandro Ballpark.
A third team out of the NCL I, runner-up Fort Bragg (16-5) is the No. 3 seed and opens at home Wednesday against No. 14 Swett (11-11) of Crockett.
While Middletown and Kelseyville are Lake County’s two entrants in the Division IV playoffs, a third county team, Clear Lake (10-11), pulled down the No. 10 seed in the 16-team Division V playoffs, which begin Tuesday. Clear Lake visits a familiar foe in first-round action as it travels to Cloverdale to play the Eagles (13-7) at 5 p.m. at City Park. The two teams split their league meetings, the Eagles winning 7-2 at Lakeport and the Cardinals winning 1-0 at Cloverdale. Cloverdale is the No. 7 seed.
No Lake County team has won a sectional championship since Clear Lake last did it in 1998.
Division IV
Besides Middletown, McKinleyville and Fort Bragg, other top seeds in the Division IV field are No. 4 Piedmont (16-5) and No. 5 Arcata (14-10), No. 6 Redwood Christian (17-7), No. 7 Del Norte (13-11) and No. 8 St. Patrick-St. Vincent.
Middletown beat McKinleyville twice during non-league play and also went 1-1 against Fort Bragg, El Molino and Kelseyville. The Mustangs beat Swett 7-6 in last year’s opening round before falling 12-2 to St. Patrick-St. Vincent in the quarterfinals.
Kelseyville reached the Division IV semifinals in 2016 and last season, losing to Arcata 2-1 two years ago and 4-0 to St. Joseph Notre Dame last year.
Quarterfinal-round games are Saturday, semifinals are May 30 and finals are June 1-2.
Division V
The top seeds in the Division V field are No. 1 St. Vincent (23-0) of Petluma, No. 2 Branson (13-10) of Ross, No. 3 St. Bernard’s (17-3), No. 4 Fremont Christian (21-4), No. 5, Athenian (14-4) of Danville, No. 6 Berean Christian (16-8) of Walnut Creek, No. 7 Cloverdale and No. 8 Ferndale (14-8).
If Clear Lake beats Cloverdale in first-round action Tuesday, the Cardinals will play the winner of Branson vs. No. 15 Head-Royce (6-14) on Friday at the home site of the highest surviving seed.
Quarterfinal-round games are Friday, semifinals are May 29 and finals are June 1-2.
