Section VI playoffs begin Friday

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Donnie Jackson and Dunkirk will host Albion in a Section VI baseball prequarterfinal Friday.

Three of the area’s defending champions are No. 1 seeds in this year’s Section VI baseball and softball playoffs.

In softball, Fredonia is the No. 1 seed in Class B1, while in baseball, Gowanda is the No. 1 seed in Class C and North Collins is the top seed in Class D. The Hillbillies won a Class B2 softball title in 2023 before losing the Class B crossover game. The Panthers and Eagles were both baseball champions in their respective classes in 2023 and lost Far West Regional matchups to Rochester’s champions.

In softball, Falconer is also a No. 1 seed in Class B2 while Ellicottville is the No. 1 seed in Class D.

Prequarterfinal action will get underway Friday.

In Class A2 baseball, No. 7 Dunkirk will host No. 10 Albion at Al Stuhlmiller Field. In Class B baseball, No. 2 Fredonia will host No. 15 Cleveland Hill, No. 5 Southwestern will host No. 12 Eden, No. 9 Salamanca will travel to No. 8 Akron, No. 14 Falconer will visit No. 3 Portville and No. 11 Silver Creek/Forestville will travel to No. 6 East Aurora. In Class C baseball, No. 8 Chautauqua Lake will host No. 9 Westfield, No. 7 Cassadaga Valley will host No. 10 Randolph and No. 6 Maple Grove will host No. 11 Cattaraugus-Little Valley.

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Brady Helmer and Fredonia will host Cleveland Hill in a Section VI baseball prequarterfinal Friday.

In Class B1 softball, No. 8 Southwestern will host No. 9 Medina. In Class B2 softball, No. 8 Salamanca will host No. 9 Cleveland Hill. In Class C softball, No. 8 Frewsburg will host No. 9 Maple Grove and No. 7 Cattaraugus-Little Valley will host No. 10 Cassadaga Valley.

There will also be a semifinal taking place Friday as No. 3 Jamestown visits No. 2 Lancaster in Class AAA baseball.

Several quarterfinal softball games will be featured on Saturday’s slate.

In Class B1, the winner of Friday’s Southwestern/Medina game will travel to No. 1 Fredonia. In Class B2 softball, the winner of Friday’s Salamanca/Cleveland Hill game will travel to No. 1 Falconer. In Class C softball, No. 4 Silver Creek will host No. 5 Westfield and No. 3 Gowanda will host No. 6 Randolph, while the winner of Friday’s Frewsburg/Maple Grove game will visit No. 1 Barker and the winner of Friday’s Cattaraugus-Little Valley/Cassadaga Valley game will visit No. 2 Chautauqua Lake. In Class D softball, No. 5 North Collins will travel to No. 4 Panama, No. 7 Pine Valley will travel to No. 2 Franklinville and No. 6 Forestville will travel to No. 3 Clymer/Sherman.

In baseball, Monday will feature Class B quarterfinals before Class C and Class D quarterfinals take the spotlight Tuesday. In Class C, the Chautauqua Lake/Westfield winner will travel to No. 1 Frewsburg, the Cassadaga Valley/Randolph winner will visit No. 2 Gowanda and the Maple Grove/Cattaraugus-Little Valley winner will travel to No. 3 Clymer/Sherman/Panama. In Class D, No. 5 Pine Valley will travel to No. 4 Ellicottville.

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Addison Kota and Gowanda will host Randolph in a Section VI Class C softball quarterfinal Saturday.

No. 1 Ellicottville will not play a playoff game in softball until Wednesday when it hosts the winner of Saturday’s North Collins/Panama game in a Class D semifinal.

A trio of Class D baseball teams will not see postseason action until semifinals Thursday. No. 3 Brocton will travel to No. 2 Franklinville, while No. 1 North Collins will host the Pine Valley/Ellicottville winner that same day.

Also that day, Jamestown will play its first Class AAA softball postseason game when it visits No. 1 Orchard Park for a semifinal.

Fourteen teams opted out of the softball playoffs, including Dunkirk and Brocton. Twelve teams opted out of the baseball playoffs.

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Naomi Muck Fredonia will host the winner of Friday’s Southwestern/Medina game in a Section VI Class B1 softball quarterfinal Saturday.