Sierra (16-5) will have to wait until next season to get another crack at its Valley Oak League rivals.

That’s because the rest of the VOL’s qualifiers have moved up a division for the playoffs. Teams are now divided into enrollment-based brackets, with few exceptions. In past seasons, each league was assigned to a specific division.

 The good news for the Timberwolves is that they get to avoid some of the section heavyweights that compete in Division III, including cross-town nemesis East Union (24-2), though it wasn’t received as good news initially.

“I think the girls were hoping to be in Division III,” first-year Sierra head coach Vic DeAnda said. “We’re real confident in ourselves going into the playoffs and we thought we had a great shot at taking sections.

“The great thing for us is that it’s an advantage having played in the VOL, which to me is one of the toughest to play in.”

Sierra is the No. 5 seed in Division IV and is matched up with No. 4 Union Mine (17-5), champion of the Sierra Valley Conference. There are nine teams in this division with Vista del Lago (18-7), Casa Roble (16-7) and Lindhurst (25-2) representing the top three seeds in that order. With the exception of the No. 8-9 out-bracket game between Liberty Ranch and Dixon, all games will take place in Stockton at Arnaiz Softball Complex. The opening round is set for next Thursday, May 14.

“We can’t take anybody for granted,” DeAnda said. “We have to go out there and just play our game. Hopefully we’ll come out of it with another section title.”

Sierra garnered two of the past four SJS Division IV titles and finished third last season. The defending Division IV champion and runner-up are now in Division III.

VOL champion East Union, which lost to league foe Oakdale in last year’s D-IV finale, is seeded second in the loaded Division III bracket and will square off with No. 15 American Canyon (14-12) at the Sacramento Softball Complex next Tuesday. No. 8 Manteca (15-8) meets No. 9 Christian Brothers (15-10) in what is believed to be the Buffaloes’ first postseason appearance in 21 years. Oakdale (20-8) checks in with the fifth seed.

Pioneer (22-2) and Ponderosa (21-3) are seeded first and third, respectively. Pioneer edged East Union 6-5 in eighth innings in an Albie Aware Cancer Foundation Game on March 28. Pioneer, East Union and Ponderosa are among the top five best overall teams in the section, according to the MaxPreps computer rankings.

Ripon (19-6) is placed in Division V with small-school heavy hitters such as top-seeded Hughson (18-0) and No. 2 Bear River (20-6). Hughson is the four-time defending champion in this division, while Bear River has five total with four coming in succession (2007-10) in Division IV. No. 3 Ripon opens with No. 6 Calaveras (19-8) next Wednesday at Arnaiz Softball Complex.

All first-round contests in Divisions III-V are win-or-go-home situations before shifting to a double-elimination format.