Three area teams will enter the District 11 playoffs as No. 1 seeds — and with championship aspirations.

Pleasant Valley and Northwestern Lehigh are the top seeds in the Class 5A and 4A softball brackets, respectively, while Tamaqua claimed the No. 1 seed in Class 4A baseball. The Bears and Raiders received byes into the semifinals, while the Tigers will host No. 8 seed Bethlehem Catholic in the quarterfinals. All three are among the favorites to make a deep postseason run.

Pleasant Valley captured the top spot in 5A after a strong regular season. The Bears will face the winner of No. 4 Pottsville and No. 5 Bangor in Friday’s semifinal.

Northwestern has been one of the most consistent softball programs in the area for several years and reached the PIAA semifinals each of the last two seasons. The Tigers will open district play Wednesday against Becahi.

On the baseball side, Tamaqua enters as the top seed in 4A after an impressive showing in the Schuylkill League, winning back-to-back titles. The Blue Raiders will begin their district tournament Sunday.

Another area team primed for a title push is Palmerton, which secured the No. 2 seed in the Class 3A baseball bracket. The Blue Bombers will face No. 7 Palisades in Tuesday’s quarterfinal.

Northwestern Lehigh’s baseball team also earned a top-three seed, slotted at No. 2 in Class 4A behind Tamaqua. Like their softball counterparts, the Tigers have put together another strong campaign, reaching the Colonial League finals. They will await the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup between Saucon Valley and Lehighton.

In Class 1A softball, Marian Catholic is the No. 2 seed and will meet No. 3 Shenandoah Valley in Friday’s semifinal at Blue Mountain.

A total of seven baseball and six area softball teams qualified for districts.

With three No. 1 seeds and several other top-tier contenders, the District 11 playoffs could prove to be a banner postseason for area teams.

A full breakdown of the softball and baseball brackets is listed below.

District 11 Softball Playoffs

Class 1A

Semifinals (May 23)

(1) Tri-Valley vs. (4) Nativity BVM – 6:30 p.m. at Blue Mountain

(2) Marian Catholic vs. (3) Shenandoah Valley – 4:30 p.m. at Blue Mountain

Championship (May 27)

Time & location TBA

Class 2A

Semifinals (May 22)

(1) Williams Valley vs. (4) Mahanoy Area – 6:30 p.m. at Pine Grove

(2) Schuylkill Haven vs. (3) Minersville – 4:30 p.m. at Pine Grove

Championship (May 27)

Time & location TBA

Class 3A

Semifinals (May 22)

(1) Pine Grove vs. (4) Northern Lehigh – 4:30 p.m. at Blue Mountain

(2) Palisades vs. (3) Pen Argyl – 5 p.m. at Patriots Park

Championship (May 28)

Time & location TBA

Class 4A

Quarterfinals (May 21)

(1) Northwestern Lehigh vs. (8) Bethlehem Catholic – 4 p.m. at Northwestern Lehigh

(4) Tamaqua vs. (5) Notre Dame-Green Pond – 4 p.m. at Tamaqua

(3) Blue Mountain vs. (6) Palmerton – 4 p.m. at Blue Mountain

(2) North Schuylkill vs. (7) Saucon Valley – 4 p.m. at North Schuylkill

Semifinals (May 23)

Time & location TBA

Championship (May 28)

Time & location TBA

Class 5A

Quarterfinals (May 20)

(4) Pottsville vs. (5) Bangor – 4:30 p.m. at Pottsville

(1) Pleasant Valley, (3) Pocono Mountain East, and (2) Southern Lehigh received byes

Semifinals (May 23)

Pleasant Valley vs. Pottsville/Bangor winner – Time & location TBA

Pocono Mountain East vs. Southern Lehigh – Time & location TBA

Championship (May 29)

Time & location TBA

Class 6A

First Round (May 19)

(8) Easton vs. (9) East Stroudsburg South – 4 p.m. at Easton

(7) Whitehall vs. (10) Parkland – 4:30 p.m. at Whitehall

Quarterfinals (May 22)

Freedom vs. Easton/ESS winner – at Freedom, TBA

Liberty vs. Stroudsburg – at Liberty, TBA

Emmaus vs. Northampton – at Emmaus, TBA

Nazareth vs. Whitehall/Parkland winner – at Nazareth, TBA

Semifinals (May 27)

Time & location TBA

Championship (May 29)

Time & location TBA

District 11 Baseball Playoffs

Class 1A

Semifinals (May 20)

(1) Nativity BVM vs. (4) Weatherly – 4:30 p.m. at North Schuylkill

(3) Notre Dame East Stroudsburg vs. (2) Moravian Academy – 3:30 p.m. at Easton

Championship (May 24)

Time & location TBA

Class 2A

Quarterfinals (May 21)

(5) Marian Catholic vs. (4) Minersville – 4:30 p.m. at Minersville

(1) Schuylkill Haven, (2) Tri-Valley and (3) Shenandoah Valley received byes

Semifinals (May 25)

Schuylkill Haven vs. Marian/Minersville winner – 7:30 p.m. at Blue Mountain

Shenandoah Valley vs. Tri-Valley – 5 p.m. at Blue Mountain

Championship (May 28)

Time & location TBA

Class 3A

Quarterfinals (May 20)

(5) Pine Grove Area vs. (4) Notre Dame Green Pond – 4:30 p.m. at Notre Dame GP

(3) Salisbury vs. (6) Pen Argyl – 4:30 p.m. at Salisbury

(7) Palisades vs. (2) Palmerton – 4:30 p.m. at Palmerton

(1) Allentown Central Catholic received a bye

Semifinals (May 24)

Allentown Central Catholic vs. Pine Grove/Notre Dame winner - Time & location TBA

Salisbury/Pen Argyl winner vs. Palisades/Palmerton winner - Time & location TBA

Championship (May 27)

Time & location TBA

Class 4A

Quarterfinals (May 21)

(5) Jim Thorpe vs. (4) Bethlehem Catholic – 4:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Catholic

(3) Saucon Valley vs. (6) Lehighton – 4:30 p.m. at Saucon Valley

(1) Tamaqua and (2) Northwestern received byes

Semifinals (May 25)

Tamaqua vs. Jim Thorpe/Bethlehem Catholic winner - Time & location TBA

Northwestern vs. Saucon Valley/Lehighton winner - Time & location TBA

Championship (May 28)

Time & location TBA

Class 5A

Quarterfinals (May 20)

(5) Bangor vs. (4) Blue Mountain – 4:30 p.m. at Blue Mountain

(1) Southern Lehigh, (3) Pocono Mountain East, and (2) Whitehall received byes

Semifinals (May 24)

Pocono Mountain East vs. Whitehall - Time & location TBA

Southern Lehigh vs. Bangor/Blue Mountain winner - Time & location TBA

Championship (May 27)

Time & location TBA

Class 6A

Quarterfinals (May 21)

(1) Parkland vs. (8) Easton – 4 p.m. at Parkland

(5) Stroudsburg vs. (4) Nazareth – 4 p.m. at Nazareth

(3) Freedom vs. (6) Emmaus – 4 p.m. at Freedom

(7) East Stroudsburg South vs. (2) Liberty – 4 p.m. at Liberty

Semifinals (May 25)

Time & location TBA

Championship (May 28)

Time & location TBA