The WIAA spring baseball playoffs got underway Friday night in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 with a few opening round regional contests.

The highlight of opening night of the playoffs was a no-hitter thrown by Kurt Gerham to help No. 6 seed Amery earn a 1-0 win over No. 3 seed St. Croix Falls in Division 2 action.

That sets the table for a full slate of games coming up Tuesday night  which should allow teams that played Friday to feature their aces once again.

They won’t have that same luxury for the regional final, which is set for Thursday, and will force coaches to turn to their No. 2 pitchers.

It’s a good set up, too. This will allow the best “team” to pull through to the sectionals and give that second guy a chance to throw in preparation of next Tuesday’s sectionals with two games set for the day.

BASEBALL BRACKETS

Check out the baseball brackets for the current times and locations for Tuesday night’s regional semifinals and Wednesday night’s regional finals.

SOFTBALL SECTIONALS SET

Be sure to check out the WIAA softball brackets to see the times and locations for Thursday’s sectionals.

Win two games Thursday and teams earn a shot to play at Goodman Diamond in Madison next week.

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BIG GAME HUNTING

It’s playoff time in spring baseball so all games are big, bit these are the ones to keep an extra eye on. With Division 1 getting started and weeding out it’s lesser teams, we’ll only look at Divisions 2, 3 and 4.

1. No. 4 Baldwin-Woodville (17-8) at No. 1 Altoona (21-0), Division 2: The Railroaders are the only undefeated team remaining in the state (No added pressure right?). This will be a good test in the opening round.

2. No. 3 Prescott (18-5) at No. 2 Bloomer (22-3), Division 2: The winner of this game gets the winner of the previously mentioned game. No holding back aces here, which should make both days interesting.

3. No. 3 Colby (17-3) at No. 2 Stratford (20-3), Division 3: With a possible showdown with Marathon going to the winner of this one, overlooking an opponent could be fatal. Colby, the champs of the Cloverbelt-East, and Bill Coker’s Tigers should be a stellar opening matchup.

4. No. 4 Oakfield (11-6) at No. 1 St. Mary’s Springs (15-4), Division 3: Springs won the Wisconsin Flyway Conference and have aspirations to get that taste of losing on the Fox Cities Stadium field out of their mouths with redemption and a return trip.

5. No. 3 Almond-Bancroft (14-9) at No. 2 Green Lake (16-4), Division 4: Pitching has been the strength of the Green Lake team all season. If it shows up here, it won’t have an off day Wednesday either, with  a matchup again either St. Mary Central or Randolph.