Playoff Preview: Baseball

Division I baseball coaches are tight-lipped heading into the 2021 New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association Division I Open Tournament.

Even teams scheduled to get the postseason started in first-round action on Monday are claiming their starting pitchers are game-time decisions.

Salem coach Dan Keleher takes his Blue Devils to Windham in the opening round of Division I’s stacked fourth region.

Salem dropped both ends of a regular-season ending home-and-home set with Windham (4-3 and 8-1). Keleher knows his squad has a tough path out of Region 4.

“Well, we open with Windham who we just lost two games to,” Keleher said. “They are solid up and down the lineup, and have strong pitching on top of that.

“If we get past them it’s a game at Londonderry, then Pinkerton or Timberlane. It’s a really strong region.”

Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley, whose Clippers are in a strong region of their own, couldn’t agree more with Keleher’s assessment.

“I think that Pinkerton, Windham, Londonderry, Salem, Timberlane region is the strongest top to bottom,” Hopley said. “That’s going to be a rough one for any of those teams to survive and advance.”

However, Hopley’s squad doesn’t have it too easy either. Region 3 is also loaded with top-tier programs.

Portsmouth will host Spaulding in preliminary round action on Thursday. The other Region 3 prelim on June 3 will be hosted by Winnacunnet. The Warriors await the winner of Monday’s first round matchup of Exeter at Dover.

“We’re OK where we are after the randomization,” Hopley said. “In the overall scheme of things, I think it’s not completely out of whack like coaches in other divisions might think. Maybe from a fan’s perspective, there will be a few matchups happening sooner than they should, but really it’s not too bad overall.”

In Salem’s Region 4 bracket, the winner of that opening game with Windham will travel to Londonderry on June 3, while Pinkerton Academy hosts Timberlane Regional in the region’s other prelim that day.

Londonderry coach Brent Demas likes where his Lancers were slotted.

“We’re really happy with where we are,” Demas said. “I think we’re about where we should be, and I feel good with three capable pitchers all ready to go when I call their number.”

In Region 1, Bedford has home field through the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs and Trinity earned byes into the June 3 prelims.

In May 31 first-round action, Manchester Central hosts Manchester Memorial for a trip to Bedford, while Concord hosts Goffstown for the chance to play Trinity.

In Region 2, Keene opens at Nashua South on May 31, while Merrimack visits Bishop Guertin in the region’s other first rounder that same day. Nashua North will host the Keene-South winner on June 3, while Alvirne welcomes the BG-Merrimack winner to Hudson the same day.

“I think the process is the same for all of us,” Hopley said. “Whether you like the open tournament, or randomized pairings, or regional breakdowns, we all have to make sure we stay focused and are prepared for whatever game and whoever our opponent is on a given day. It’s not going to be an easy trip to the finals for any of us.”

Division II

Home field through the quarters in Division II was randomized to Oyster River in Region 1, Merrimack Valley in Region 2, Milford in Region 3 and Hanover in Region 4.

First round games, taking place on May 31, have Sanborn at Pembroke Academy in Region 1, Kennett at Plymouth in Region 2, Hollis Brookline at Pelham in Region 3, while Lebanon visits Bow and John Stark is at Stevens in Region 4.

Region 1 prelims on June 3 put St. Thomas at Coe-Brown Northwood, and the Sanborn-Pembroke winner in Durham versus OR. Region 2 prelims will be Laconia at Kingswood, and the Kennett-Plymouth winner at Merrimack Valley.

Region 3’s June 3 prelim matchups will be Manchester West traveling to Amherst to face Souhegan, and the HB-Pelham winner visiting Milford. Region 4 prelims consist of ConVal hosting the Lebanon-Bow winner, and Hanover welcoming the Stevens-John Stark winner to town.

Division III

Division III is one of the head scratching brackets this spring. Only half of the eight top two seedings in a traditional tourney went to teams with winning records in the randomized open format.

Region 1 has Newport with the Team 1 designation, giving the Tigers home field through the quarterfinals. They will host a prelim on June 3 against the winner of Monday’s Monadnock at Mascoma first round matchup. The region’s other prelim on June 3 has Fall Mountain at Kearsarge.

Region 2 opens May 31 with Bishop Brady hosting Conant for a shot at Mascenic in the prelims. That prelim is scheduled for June 3 in New Ipswich. The day’s other prelim from Region 2 has Hillsboro-Deering traveling to Hopkinton.

Region 3 has a pair of first round games. White Mountains at Belmont and Inter-Lakes at Newfound kick things off May 31. The winners of those matchups will visit Winnisquam and Berlin, respectively.

Campbell travels to Somersworth May 31 to open Region 4 play. The winner will visit Prospect Mountain in the June 3 prelims, while Gilford hosts Raymond in the days other regional prelim matchup.

Division IV

Much like Division III, the randomizer wasn’t kind to Division IV’s top performers.

Lin-Wood had 13 regular season wins and did get home field through the quarterfinals in Region 3, but a 14-win Sunapee team ended up as Team 5 with nothing but road games in the first two rounds.

Even eight-win teams like Epping, Pittsfield and Newmarket are in slots three, four and five in Region 1 behind three-win programs.

Newmarket opens Region 1 action at Pittsfield on May 31 with a prelim trip to Farmington on the line for June 3. Nute visits Epping in the region’s other first round meeting for a chance to visit Portsmouth Christian in the June 3 prelims.

Region 2 first round matchups put Sunapee at Concord Christian and Derryfield at Wilton-Lyndeborough on May 31. Winners of those contests reach the June 3 prelims at Hinsdale and Franklin, respectively.

Region 3 doesn’t get going until the preliminary round on June 3, as Lin-Wood hosts Lisbon and Profile visits Woodsville.

Region 4 has Littleton at Groveton on May 31 for a trip to Gorham in a June 3 prelim matchup. The region’s other prelim will have Pittsburg-Cannan at Colebrook.