Newman secures No. 1 seed in NCS baseball tourney; Cotate area’s highest softball seed

One Sonoma County high school baseball team will have the No. 1 seed in its division, and there will be at least one all-Santa Rosa high schools matchup in Division 3 softball as the North Coast Section Championships start this week.

Cardinal Newman baseball is the No. 1 seed in the NCS Division 3 bracket, and will host Miramonte of Moraga on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Cardinals won the North Bay League Oak tournament title over Carrillo earlier this week and split the NBL league title with Windsor.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, are the No. 2 seed in Division 2 and will play at El Cerrito. Also in Division 2, Petaluma is the No. 3 seed and will host De Anza of El Sobrante. Trojans crosstown-rival Casa Grande is the No. 4 seed and will host Livermore.

“I actually thought all along we would be a three seed. The committee did a good job,” Petaluma coach Scott Osder said. “Luckily, we get at least two home games so we’re happy about that.”

Continuing in Division 2, Ukiah is the No. 9 seed and will play at Vintage. Maria Carrillo is the No. 10 seed and will play at Redwood of Larkspur. Rancho Cotate is the No. 11 seed and will play at Tamalpais. All games will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“It’s a tough bracket. We’re a little bit familiar with everyone, but it’s baseball. Anyone can win. You just have to take it one game at a time,” Osder said.

In the Division 3 bracket, West County will host Alhambra of Martinez. Also, No. 15 Sonoma Valley will play Bishop O’Dowd at Laney College in Oakland on Tuesday. Both games will be at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

In the Division 4 bracket, St. Helena will host Fortuna. In an all-Redwood Empire matchup, Healdsburg will host Middletown. Both games will be Wednesday at 5 p.m.

In Division 5, No. 5 St. Vincent will host No. 12 International. No. 13 Cloverdale will play at No. 4 International of San Francisco. Clear Lake (No. 14) plays No. 3 Branson at the College of Marin. Sonoma Academy as a No. 10-seed will host Stuart Hall at Doyle Park in Santa Rosa. All games start at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

In Division 6, Credo will host San Francisco Waldorf at Goldis Park in Rohnert Park at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Softball

Rancho Cotate is the No. 6 seed in Division 2 softball and will host Alameda. Petaluma will host Alhambra. In an all-Sonoma County matchup, No. 8 Windsor will face No. 9 Casa Grande. Ukiah plays No. 1 seed Livermore. All games are on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

“I’m trying not to think too much into what the seeding means,” Cougars coach Tracey Poueu-Guerrero said. “I’m just excited to be in the tournament and ready to get the girls going.”

The Cougars might face VVAL No. 2 finisher American Canyon if they get past Antioch in their first-round matchup.

“It will be a tough challenge but we’ve also played similar tough challenges this year, also,” she said. “We should focus on our game plan and not get too much out of our game plan.”

In Division 3, Maria Carrillo will host Piner and West County will play at Kennedy of Fremont. Both games will be Wednesday at 5 p.m.

In Division 4, Cardinal Newman is the No. 4 seed and will host Lick-Wilmerding. No. 6 St. Vincent de Paul will host Hercules. Both of those games will be Wednesday at 8 p.m. Cloverdale will host Fortuna on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

“I’m just happy that we get a home game, to be honest,” said Cardinals coach Bill Vreeland, citing that the division and section can have its geographical challenges.

“As a four seed, if we’re successful, we get a second home game.”

In Division 5, No. 2 St. Helena will play the winner of South Fork and Redwood Christian May 20/21. No. 5 Credo has a bye and won’t play until later this week. May 20/21 against Head-Royce. Clear Lake will play Upper Lake later this week in the second round.

In Division 6, No. 1 Point Arena will host No. 4 Tomales and No. 3 Potter Valley will play at No. 4 Laytonville. Both games are on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

For full brackets, visit https://www.cifncs.org/sports/baseball/index or https://www.cifncs.org/sports/softball/index.