Ripon Christian has been awarded the top seed for its defense of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI baseball playoffs.
It begins next Tuesday with higher-seeded teams getting to host opening-round contests, and the remainder of the postseason for Division VI takes place at a neutral site that has yet to be determined.
Higher divisions shift to neutral sites in the third round on Saturday, May 18 when they become double-elimination tournaments. The finals are on May 27.
Second-seeded Sierra and No. 6 Manteca also get home games for Division III, and No. 13 Ripon starts on the road in Division IV.
Southern Athletic League co-champion Ripon Christian (17-6) is matched with No. 8 Millennium (11-13) of Tracy. The Knights may get a chance to settle their score with rival Mariposa (21-2), which has the other claim to the SAL title after the two teams split in the regular season. Third-place SAL club Waterford (13-11) is the No. 5 seed in the bracket.
Sierra (20-3-1), which rolled to an undefeated finish in the Valley Oak League under first-year Travis Thomson, gets a familiar first-round opponent in No. 15 Golden Valley (9-17), which the Timberwolves defeated 6-1 on March 9.
Manteca (15-10) can potentially have a rematch with its crosstown rivals if both clubs win their first two games. The Buffaloes welcome Western Athletic Conference runner-up Beyer (16-10), which edged out Sierra in the winners-bracket semifinal last year and stunned top-seeded Christian Brothers 3-2 for the Division III championship.
Also in Division III is fellow VOL member Oakdale (17-8), seeded fifth. Top-seeded Buhach Colony (21-5) has a 4-0 win over Sierra, which beat No. 3 Atwater (23-4), 5-2.
Ripon (11-12) sneaks into the postseason despite dropping its final four regular-season contests to Livingston and Hughson, the top two teams in the Trans-Valley League. The Indians get a tough draw in Division IV where they square off with No. 4 seed and VOL runner-up Central Catholic (14-11) in Modesto.
Topping the bracket in Division IV are WAC champion Los Banos (24-1) and No. 2 Casa Roble (19-6). They both start with first-round byes.