Unlike basketball which fills out eight team brackets no matter a team’s record and football which does the same with some eight and four-team brackets all these teams had to go .500 or better to qualify.

In that sense, all can be viewed as threats because all are battle-tested, having navigated tough opponents, injuries, Mother Nature and condensed schedules.

Six will reach the state tournaments from the four District 4 fields and the following is a look at those fields.

Williamsport (18-1) is the top seed for the first time since 2018 and has a bye into the District 2-4 Class 6A semifinals. It will host either No. 4 Wilkes-Barre or No. 5 Scranton in Friday’s semifinals at Millionaire Mountain. Wilkes-Barre eliminated Williamsport in last year’s semifinals. No. 2 Hazleton (17-3) has captured seven straight district championships but this will be the first time since 2018 that it is not the top seed.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Chance Quimby takes the mound for South Williamsport during a high school baseball game against Montgomery at Montgomery this year. Montgomery won, 3-0. The two teams meet up in the District 4 Class AA playoffs this week coming up.

Class AAAA

(2 teams, champion

advances)

Well, this one is easy to break down since we go right to the championship. Top-seeded Athens (17-3) and defending champion Montoursville (16-4) collide Thursday at Bowman Field for the crown.

Athens will be out for revenge after Montoursville eliminated it in last year’s semifinals and earned a share of a second straight NTL-I championship. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 games, their lone loss coming against Class AAA top seed Wellsboro in extra innings. Their pitching has been particularly strong down the stretch, allowing just one run in wins against Selinsgrove and Troy. Kamdyn Wheeler threw a three-hit shutout against Selinsgrove and Duncan Thetga and Brady Flynn helped Athens outlast Troy, 2-1 in 10 innings.

Thetga is 6-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 43 innings. Wheeler and Flynn are a combined 8-1. Flynn also hits a team-best .492; Nick Grazul is .446, Zeke Noble .438 and Wheeler .417. Both Athens and Montoursville played Williamsport tough, losing, 4-1 and 5-2, respectively.

Montoursville has been up and down the last few weeks, winning walk-off thrillers against Loyalsock and South Williamsport, but also suffering a surprising 3-2 loss against Danville which cost it a share of the HAC-II title. Still, when Montoursville puts it all together it can be a scary team. Logan Kirby (6-0) has put together a dominant pitching season, while Elijah Eck, Brody Aldenderfer, Zack Neill and Cy Heddings have thrown well when called upon.

The offense has some excellent potential, although it went into a bit of a funk late in the season. The Warriors are an experienced group, returning several starters from last year’s state finalist.

This feels like a coin flip game, but Athens has played better down the stretch, so the Wildcats are the pick to win gold.

Class AAA

(9 teams, top 2 advance)

No. 2 Mount Carmel reached last year’s state final, edging Hughesville, 1-0 for the district championship. Now, those teams meet in the quarterfinals Tuesday, highlighting how deep this field is.

Mount Carmel (16-2) returns a good core from that state finalist and has a quality three-man staff, including Aiden Brokenshire, Lukas Carpenter and Walker McGinley all who average more than a strikeout per inning. The offense also is potent, hitting a collective .415

No. 7 Hughesville (10-10) overcame a series of costly injuries, as well as a 2-5 start, to reach the postseason for the 17th time in 18 seasons. With every game essentially being a playoff contest throughout the last few weeks, Hughesville seems well-equipped to handle a playoff setting. Sophomore Gage Webb has pitched outstanding throughout the season’s second half and the Spartans have been a resilient team, rallying for multiple late-inning wins. Jed Abernatha and Wynter Foglemen have had strong seasons and Landen Puderbach has surged late.

The winner of that game will play either No. 3 Mifflinburg (14-5) or No. 6 Lewisburg (11-9). Mifflinburg won the 4A title two years ago and shared the HAC-III championship with Warrior Run. Kaiden Kmett and Mason Schneck are a strong pitching tandem and four starters are hitting .357 or higher for a team which has doubled last year’s win total.

Lewisburg has made a fabulous two-year turnaround after going winless in 2024. The Green Dragons also rallied from an 0-4 start and won six of their last seven games after dropping to 5-8. Included in that stretch was a thrilling 8-7, eight-inning comeback win against Mifflinburg. Sophomore pitchers Landynn Bieber and Colin Shannon have come on strong and Landen Wagner is one of the field’s top outfielders.

Wellsboro (17-2) won its last 13 games and overtook Mount Carmel in the standings for the first time earlier this week after rallying past Athens, 6-5 in extra innings. The Hornets return several starters from last year’s team which gave Mount Carmel a battle in the quarterfinals and Max Mascho has developed into one of the NTL’s top pitchers. Coen Tennis and Marek Mascho headline a balanced offense and Tennis went 4 for 4 with three doubles in a 10-5 win at Hughesville last Tuesday.

Wellsboro will host either No. 8 Bloomsburg or No. 9 Towanda who play today in the field’s only first round game. Towanda has been in playoff-mode the last two weeks, winning its last four games to qualify. Lucas Vincent is hitting .377 and has scored 21 runs. Bloomsburg tuned up for districts with a quality 5-2 win against Shikellamy and Brayden Holbert has flourished on the mound.

Whoever comes out of that three-team race will play either No. 4 Warrior Run or No. 5 Troy. The Defenders (15-5) were hit hard by adversity and injuries but still rallied to win a share of the HAC-III crown. The nucleus of this team has played in three semifinals and one championship. Griff Harrington and James Keifer have had excellent seasons on the mound and shortstop Cohen Zechman has heated up from the lead-off spot in the last two weeks.

Tournament sleeper–Troy: The Trojans (14-6) won eight of their last 10 games with the lone losses heartbreakers against Athens. Three starters are hitting above .400, including Brenden Gilliland who is at .492 with 23 RBIs. Pitcher Frank Harper is 6-1 with a 2.91 ERA and 51 strikeouts.

Best quarterfinal–Hughesville at Mount Carmel: It’s hard to go wrong with a championship rematch. These teams have played some fiercely competitive games over the years and this one likely will be no different.

Projected semifinals: Troy over Bloomsburg; Mount Carmel over Mifflinburg. Projected final: Mount Carmel over Troy

Class AA

(5 teams, top 2 advance)

Defending champion South Williamsport and Montgomery met in a memorable final at Bowman Field last year and now they meet up again, this time in Wednesday’s semifinals at Millionaire Mountain. That highlights how stacked this field is with these two and top-seeded Southern Columbia all returning most of their starters from last year.

There is a quarterfinal game and that features No. 4 Muncy hosting No. 5 Northwest. Muncy (11-7) rallied in the seventh inning to beat the Rangers, 4-2 earlier this season and produced its most impressive win of the last two seasons Tuesday when it rallied for a 2-1, eight inning win against Warrior Run.

The Indians have dealt with pitching injuries throughout the year, but have received huge lifts from players like Corbyn Gardner, Kase Snyder and Kynton Fish, winning eight of their last 11 games along the way.

Northwest (12-8) started 9-4 and was the only team to beat Mid-Penn East champion Millville in league play, blanking it, 4-0. Garrett Bau threw six shutout innings there and scattered four hits against Muncy. Sophomore Cole Kabalick is hitting a team-best .478 with 22 RBIs.

Southern (14-3) awaits the winner of this one in Wednesday’s semifinals and has regained the form it showed during a 7-0 start. The Tigers then lost three straight games but thundered back down the stretch, highlighting that with blowout wins against Mifflinburg and Mount Carmel, (10-0). This will be a motivated Tigers team after losing last year’s semifinal to South, 7-4 in eight innings and has a strong pitching duo in Levi Everitt and Caden Hopper, both who have 44 strikeouts in 34 1/3 and 31 innings, respectively. The offense is potent with six starters hitting .400 or higher and Hopper at .591 with 20 RBIs.

Montgomery (17-3) blanked South, 3-0 during the regular season, but still likely has revenge on its mind after the Mounties won an exciting championship, 8-6 a year ago. Briar Persing has been nasty all season, going 6-0 with a 0.56 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings. Parker Bennett is hitting .434 with 16 RBIs and Parker Persing .358 with 15 RBIs.

The Raiders made a big statement at midseason when they blanked Montoursville, 3-0 and it also defeated Warrior Run, 2-1.

South (12-7) also is a battle-tested team and its rigorous schedule played a big part in it winning last year’s crown before advancing to the state quarterfinals. The Mounties built momentum for the playoffs in their final game, defeating North Penn-Mansfield, 12-1 as Trace Wertz homered and Garrett Lorson had two hits.

Like Montgomery, South has an elite pitcher in sophomore Cole Gerber who shined last potseason and who has allowed 25 hits in 41 2/3 innings, while striking out 58. Chance Quimby and Kamdyn Bubb also have thrown well and Bubb hits .366 while Quimby is at .350. Jaymes Carpenter hits a team-high .380 with 15 RBIs.

Tournament sleeper–Muncy: The Indians showed what they can do against Warrior Run in their regular season finale. If they build on that performance they could be dangerous.

Best semifinal–South vs. Montgomery: A, it’s the only semifinal set in stone right now and B, it’s a championship rematch. It also likely will be Gerber against Persing, so get the popcorn ready. Honestly, it’s a shame only one of these two will advance but that also is life in District 4 where the competition always is terrific. This one is the epitome of a coin flip game.

Projected demifinals: Southern over Northwest; South over Montgomery. Projected final: Southern over South.

Class A

(4 teams,

champion advances)

Defending champion Cowanesque Valley (16-3) earned the top seed after capturing the NTL-II championship. The Indians return most of last year’s roster and have two seven-game winning streaks this season.

CV plays No. 4 Northeast Bradford (10-9) featuring a dangerous offense, in the semifinals. The Indians feature a deep pitching staff, with either players earning wins. Ayren Morgan and Dave Hess combined for last year’s five-hitter in a championship win against St. John Neumann before throwing well in states as CV reached the quarterfinals. Morgan and Lucas Hamilton both are hitting above .400 and Brody Bruce (.395) surged down the stretch.

No. 2 Millville (17-3) captured the Mid-Penn East championship and has won 10 straight games, highlighting that streak with 7-1 and 7-2 wins against Montgomery and Northwest, respectively. Senior pitcher Curtis Whitmoyer is 5-1 with a 0.62 ERA, allowing 30 hits in 56 innings and striking out 72, while fellow senior Chase Reynolds is 8-0 with a 1.81 ERA and 60 strikeouts. Shane Johnson is hitting a team-best .449 with 21 RBIs.

Tournament sleeper–Benton: The Tigers (10-6) get another shot against rival Millville after losing 2-1 and 10-4 to it during the regular season. Benton closed its year with an impressive 4-3 win against Northwest and Ben Farwell has a 1.91 ERA along with 75 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings. He also is hitting .554, while Cole Sorber is at .386 with 17 RBIs. Benton has just two seniors, so appears built to last as well.

Projected final: Millville over Cowanesque Valley.