Prep softball | High school softball teams set to begin NCS play midweek

The North Coast Section playoffs that begin with first-round action Tuesday and Wednesday are packed with six Humboldt-Del Norte squads, with another spot that easily could've been taken by a squad that had scheduling conflicts.

The top-line competitor is a McKinleyville team that earned a No. 1 seed in Division 3 and a bye through to Friday-Saturday second-round action against the winner of Las Lomas and Petaluma. The Panthers were helped this season by the solid work of McKennah Sargeant in the circle, winner of numerous games, and power from up and down the lineup.

Cabella Carper did some solid work both slugging and getting on base, Jacey Parker and Leili Guerrero had some timely runs batted in, and Sargeant contributed hugely at the dish. Liana Stumpf also had solid hitting numbers to go with Addison White for a squad that finished on top of the Big Five at 9-3. Josie Dowd held down the catcher's spot for the Panthers.

Fortuna was also seeded in the Division 3 bracket at No. 2, with a bye through to a quarterfinal Fri-Sat against either Cloverdale or Freedom. The Panthers and Huskies both earned their seeds despite dropping games to a Eureka squad that is surging at the right time and won the Charlie Lakin Tournament.

The Huskies finished at 8-4 in a contentious Big Five Conference and were paced at the plate by catcher Evalynn Little, who posted MVP numbers, hitting over .500 with seven home runs. Hailee Thompson and Olivia Hayes also hit over .400 for Fortuna on the season.

Isabel Sanchez was the multi-dimensional star for the Huskies, winning most of their games in the circle with sterling strikeout numbers and also leading the squad in runs scored.

Del Norte was seeded No. 4 in the Division 4 bracket, with the Warriors having finished third place in conference but unable to take part in the Lakin Tournament due to scheduling conflicts. Del Norte was 15-9 on the year (7-5 Big Five), and relied on the pitching of sophomore starter Addi Whitford. Bliss Blackburn, Bella Arriola, and Deja Travis also starred for a team that made the most of a year in which they replaced most of their starters.

The Eureka squad that made a three-game run through the Lakin Tournament for the championship sees itself seeded No. 1 in Division 5, with a bye through to the quarterfinals against San Domenico or Hoopa Valley. The Loggers have benefited from the presence of Mackenze Wolff, a junior, in the circle, especially en route to the Lakin crown. Eureka got senior leadership and solid batting from Bailey Brown (.417 batting average) and Macy Secor (.396) and Megan Secor.

Senior Tiffany Harris and junior Violla Kingsang also contributed at the plate for the Loggers, who went 12-12 on the season (6-6 Big Five Conference).

South Fork earned the No. 4 seed in the Division 5 bracket and a first-round home date Wednesday with No. 13 Kennedy. They were led in the circle by Mackenzie Coleman and Leila Coleman, but did the majority of their work at the plate, which helped when their primary pitcher was felled by injury.

Hailey Shepherd hit over .500 and slugged seven home runs for the Cubs, while Mackenzie Coleman also hit over .500 and Molly Perkins chipped in at the plate as well.

South Fork took the Little Four title with a record of 15-9 (10-2 conference).

Finally, No. 9 seed Hoopa Valley travels to No. 8 San Domenico on Tuesday. The Warriors had a solid 17-8 record on the year and finished just behind South Fork at 9-3 in conference.

Rikki Lipscomb led the team with a batting average over .400 and an on-base percentage over .450. Monteya Colegrove, though, was the team's star, posting a .88 earned run average and also a .390 on-base percentage at the dish. Seniors Angela Hern and Tsisna McCovey were also big for Hoopa.

Ferndale's softball team was unable to compete in postseason play due to a scheduled U.S. History trip to the East Coast for many of their players. The Wildcats finished at 14-9 (5-7 league play) and were buoyed by the pitching of Olivia Gossi and the nine-homer season of Madison Gossi at the plate. Abagail Gossi and Tinnley Pidgeon were also major contributors in the hitting department for the Wildcats.

Ken McCanless can be reached at 707-441-0526.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 2:06 PM.