On a playoff opening day when Heritage and Liberty’s baseball teams had the spotlight on them entering the North Coast Section playoffs, it was Freedom’s baseball and softball teams, along with Heritage softball winning and advancing to quarterfinals.

Here’s a recap on Tuesday’s NCS playoff opening matchups:

College Park 4, Heritage 3 (Final/11 innings)

Heritage baseball was an out away from advancing to the NCS quarterfinals after a gritty performance at College Park. However, an error at second on weird hop on what would have been the final out of the 10th inning allowed the Falcons to tie the game, and then go on to win it an inning later as Patriots reliever Kalil Gray hit College Park’s left-handed hitter TJ Reinhart in the right arm with the bases loaded to walk home the game-winning run.

Following a strong start on the mound by starting pitcher Jace Bernard, junior Logan Nelson kept the Patriots in the game late and in extra innings, turning a double play with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to escape a jam, and keeping the Falcons off of the basepaths in the eighth and ninth innings.

Heritage took a 3-2 lead in the 10th on a sacrifice fly to left by JJ Kinnaird, but College Park rallied against Nelson in the bottom half with the error at second base.

Heritage finishes their season 19-6, a win shy of their 20-win season from a year ago.

The third-seed Falcons made quick work of the new Bay Valley Athletic League champion Lions 8-2 in Brentwood on Tuesday. Foothill jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning against Liberty starter Jake Farr and never looked back, adding a pair of runs in the third inning for a 6-0 lead to all but put the game away.

Farr struggled throughout his 1 ⅔ on the mound, committing a throwing error with two outs in the second inning to give up the first run of the game, then he walked in a run and hit two more batters to add to Foothill’s lead.

The Liberty lineup that looked to be on fire entering the postseason was immediately cooled off by a Foothill pitching staff that kept the Lions in check to just five hits.

Junior Sean Kelly helped Liberty avoid the shutout with an RBI single in the sixth inning to put Liberty on the board 8-1 at the time. Stevie Wellens added one more run in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 8-2.

The Lions end their season 17-8 overall, but more importantly, with their second BVAL title in the last three years.

Freedom 6, James Logan 3 (8 innings)

The 12th-seeded Falcons pulled the extra-innings upset of the fifth-seed James Logan Colts in Union City Tuesday night.

Freedom trailed 3-0 entering the seventh inning. Colton Vick’s RBI single cut the deficit to 3-1. Then with two out, following a single by Devin Carmignani, Landon Clenney’s RBI double tied the game at 3-3, scoring both Vick and Carmignani. 

In extra innings, Isaiah Keys doubled to lead off, then Andrew Borrego bunted to get Keys to third, setting it up for senior Caleb Emmons, whose RBI single scored Keys to give Freedom a 4-3 lead. Dylan DeLauter’s home run to left, scoring him and Emmons helped Freedom put the game away at 6-3 in the eighth inning.

Vick pitched all eight innings in the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks. 

The playoff win is Freedom’s first since 2023, when they defeated Amador Valley on the road 2-0. The Falcons advance to the quarterfinals where they will travel to El Cerrito on Friday at 5 p.m.

Heritage 9, Dougherty Valley 2

Heritage softball is back in the NCS quarterfinals for the first time since 2023 after the Patriots defeated Dougherty Valley 9-2 on Tuesday in San Ramon.

The Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, added a pair of runs in the third and never looked back, even as the Wildcats clawed back to pull within a run 3-2 after the fourth inning. Heritage effectively put the game away in the seventh, scoring five runs in the final frame for the win.

Sophomore Meadow Wachtel went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored, junior Hailey Schultz went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and freshman Vivien Spomer went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in her NCS playoff debut.

Starting pitcher Kylie Garcia allowed two runs and struck out four batters in four innings in the circle, while freshman Malia Davis held the Wildcats to just one hit on three shutout innings of relief.

The win also marked the 300th career win for head coach Ron Rivers, according to Heritage Athletics.

Heritage will travel north to Santa Rosa to take on Maria Carrillo Friday at 5 p.m. in the NCS quarterfinals.

Freedom 14, American Canyon 3

Freedom’s playoff opening win at American Canyon didn’t start perfectly, but it ended with a bang. The Falcons knocked the Wolves out of the playoffs 14-3 on Tuesday, powered by an 11-run seventh inning to ensure that they will advance to the quarterfinals.

Freedom trailed 2-0 after the first inning, but rallied to take the lead with three runs in the fourth inning and never looked back from there. 

Freedom’s lineup was led by the new kids in Oakley as freshmen Riley Moon and Jaiden Proctor each homered in their NCS playoff debuts. Moon went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored, Proctor went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored as nearly the entire lineup had multi-hit days. Terralynn Delauter went 3-for-5 with two RBI, Delaney Zimmer went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Moon also grabbed the complete-game win in the circle, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

The victory sends Freedom all the way up north near the Oregon border to take on top-seed Del Norte in Crescent City Friday at 5 p.m.