Five area schools reached the postseason in baseball and softball this spring, including a couple of No. 1 overall seeds. 

Playoff action began last week for Classes 1A-4A for Mississippi High School Activities Association schools, with Caledonia and West Lowndes playing opening-round series. This week sees the start of the playoffs for Classes 5A-7A, featuring New Hope, as well as Midsouth Association of Independent Schools baseball playoffs, featuring Columbus Christian, Heritage and Starkville Academies. 

Caledonia

Both baseball and softball teams won in the opening round of the playoffs last week. 

The Cavaliers baseball team, 14-13, swept its first round matchup against South Pontotoc, winning close games of 6-5 on the road and 2-1 at home to book their place in the next round. They will travel to Itawamba today for Game 1 before returning home for Game 2 on Friday. Both games will start at 6 p.m.

Cavaliers softball continued its dominant run as the No. 1 seed with a sweep of New Albany last week. The red hot bats stayed hot in a 16-3 home win on Thursday before a 14-0 shutout win on the road to close out the series on Friday. 

The team will host Choctaw Central to lead off the next round today at 6 p.m.

Columbus Christian

The Rams baseball team qualified for the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in their district. The Rams will face Lee Academy out of Arkansas in the first round, with the winner going on to face No. 1-seeded Calhoun Academy. 

New Hope

The Trojan baseball and softball teams will begin their playoff campaigns at 4 p.m. Friday with home doubleheaders against Yazoo City. 

Two weeks ago, the Trojan baseball team won its district with a sweep of Clarksdale, securing the No. 1 overall seed in the North State bracket. The Trojans finished 17-11 overall and 9-1 in district play to claim the program’s 29th district championship. 

The Trojan softball team finished second in its district with a 19-7 record overall and 9-1 in district play. New Hope’s only loss came in a series split against No. 1 seed Lafayette. 

The Trojans narrowly lost out to Lafayette on tiebreakers after the final series of the regular season. The Trojans will face Yazoo City as the No. 2 seed from Region 1. 

Heritage Academy

The Patriots, 11-15-1, recovered from a rough start to the season with positive play in their district, taking at least one game from every opponent, including No. 1 Magnolia Heights, and winning series matchups with Pillow, Rossville and Starkville. 

The Patriots reached the playoffs after a season-finale series win over Starkville Academy, securing the No. 4 seed and matching up with No. 1 Lamar. 

Tuesday’s Game 1 was rained out because of weather, and the Patriots will travel to Meridian to open up the series with a doubleheader at the Raiders today, beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Starkville Academy

The Vols finished 18-7 on the year and got into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Class 5A North bracket. The team’s only series losses came against No. 1 seed Magnolia Heights and rivals Heritage. They are matched up with Leake Academy in the opening round. 

The Vols lost Game 1 at Leake on Tuesday, falling 4-3, but will return home for a doubleheader today, needing to win both games to advance to the next round. 

West Lowndes 

The Panthers softball team got into the playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Class 1A Region 4, matching up with No. 1 overall seed Wheeler. Their two region wins came in blowout fashion against Houlka, winning 17-2 at home and 27-0 on the road. 

The Panthers, 3-10 overall, were swept in two games last Thursday, losing 15-0 and 10-0 to Wheeler.