Three teams still playing

And the season will be even longer next season as state championship games will be held in baseball and softball.

Here is a look at those Nor Cal regional matchups.

Baseball

Division III

No. 7 James Logan-Union City (18-10) 

at No. 2 Menlo School (20-10), Tuesday 4 p.m.

The Logan Colts won the North Coast Section Division III title as the fifth seed. They beat No. 3 Pittsburg, 7-2 in the final, knocking off No. 1 Las Lomas-Walnut Creek in the semifinals. It was the Colts’ first section crown since winning the NCS DI championship in 2011. The win pushed Logan’s winning streak to eight in a row. The Colts are batting .292 as a team and their pitching staff has an ERA of 2.22.

Menlo, the defending Division IV Nor Cal champ, is a three-time reigning CCS champion, winning their third straight title last week. The Knights are batting .322 as a team, while their pitching staff has a 3.18 ERA.

Division IV

No. 8 Sonoma Valley (16-12) 

at No. 1 Half Moon Bay (20-9), Tuesday at 4 p.m.

HMB athletic director Mike Barragan said he told CIF that his school was willing to host a Nor Cal game. Not only will the Cougars host, they got the No. 1 seed and will be at home as long as they keep playing.

It could be a logistical nightmare, however, if the Cougars beat the Dragons in the Nor Cal opener because Thursday’s semifinal would coincide with Half Moon Bay graduation ceremonies.

But first things first. Sonoma Valley was an underdog in the NCS Division V bracket, earning the No. 7 seed in the 16-team bracket. The Dragons beat No. 2 Healdsburg in the quarterfinals and then knocked off top-seeded Montgomery-Santa Rosa in the championship game, their first NCS title since 2008. The Dragons are batting .314 with an ERA of 2.41.

Half Moon Bay won the school’s first-ever CCS baseball title, beating San Mateo 1-0 in eight innings. The Cougars, riding a 12-game winning streak, are batting .270 with an ERA of 2.05.

Softball

Division V

No. 1 Notre Dame-Belmont (16-11-1) 

vs winner of No. 4 Moreau Catholic-Hayward (16-12)/

No. 5 Chester-Plumas County (20-10), Thursday at 4 p.m.

Not only did the Tigers get the No. 1 seed after winning their first CCS title since 2009, they got a first-round bye. NDB has won seven in a row after giving up just three runs in three CCS playoff games.

Moreau finished second in the Mission Valley Athletic League and went on to win the NCS Division V title as the fifth-seeded knocked Mariners off top-seeded Eureka in the semifinals and No. 2 Acalanes in the final.

Chester, which is east of Red Bluff in Northern California, won the Northern Section Division VI title.

***

With state championships games in baseball and softball coming next year, it will be interesting to see what happens as far as participation goes.

At the beginning of last week, as teams prepared for CCS semifinal games, school administrators had to indicate whether their teams are willing to play in the regional brackets. Normally, at any other time of the high school athletic calendar, it’s a forgone conclusion that teams will play regional tournament games.

But spring sports are a bit different. Guaranteed there are schools and athletes who have already graduated and have graduation vacations planned and, to be honest, there are many families that just want the school year to be over.

And in softball, especially, the summer club season literally started Sunday. So many years I’ve covered CCS softball championships and a lot of post-game chatter is about the club tournaments many are playing in the next day.

Since high school athletes are not allowed to play both school and club ball at the same time, a decision has to be made.

And you see it in the Nor Cal softball regional brackets this season. The top seeds in four of the five brackets received first-round byes because a section champ decided to end their season after winning a title.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.