The postseason is officially set to kick off for Athol High School’s baseball and softball teams.
The seeds and brackets for the upcoming Western Mass. Tournaments were released Tuesday night at Greenfield High School, and both teams open their postseason runs this week.
Athol’s baseball team qualified in the WMass Div. III field, earning the 11th seed after finishing 10-10 overall and placing second in the Hampshire League East Division. Athol will travel to sixth-seeded Southwick-Tolland Regional High School Friday night at 7 for a first-round matchup. Athol won four of its final six games of the season to get into the tournament, the only two losses to Division II team Salem High School. Southwick, meanwhile, went 1-6 down the stretch and limps into the tournament.
Thanks to a late-season run, the Athol softball team played its way into the WMass Div. II field and earned the No. 8 seed when the brackets were released Tuesday night.
The Red Raiders (12-8) will host a Div. II first round game Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. against ninth-seeded Palmer High School (14-6). The winner advances for a Monday night quarterfinal meeting with top-seeded Greenfield High School (16-2), the co-champions of the Franklin County League along with Turners Falls High School. The Thunder is the No. 1 seed in the Div. III field.
Athol and Palmer did not meet during the regular season. Both teams enter Thursday’s game playing well, as the Panthers won their final five games of the season and the Red Raiders captured six of their final seven games.