Southwest Louisiana will have plenty of teams to root for in the high school baseball and softball state playoffs, but only one of the 55 teams that qualified for the postseason earned a coveted top seed.

Sam Houston claimed the No. 1 seed in Non-select Division I after the Louisiana High School Athletic Association released the softball playoff brackets on Wednesday. Baseball pairings were released on Tuesday.

“I’m excited to get going in the new part of the season,” Sam Houston head coach Beth Domingue said. “I like how it’s like a refresh. Now everybody’s equal, and we’re all going to war here. I’m excited for this group.”

Sam Houston (26-2) is one of six area teams that will host in the regional round after a first-round bye, along with Non-select Division II No. 6 Iowa (24-10), Division III No. 6 Kinder (16-5), Division IV No. 5 Oakdale (15-8), Select Division III No. 7 St. Louis Catholic (12-7) and Class C No. 7 Starks (13-5). Oakdale was the lone area team that made it to the state tournament last season.

It is the Broncos’ third No. 1 seed since power rankings began in 2008, Domingue wants her team focused on the end goal, a run to the state tournament in Sulphur, May 2-3.

“I’ve been telling the girls all season, it doesn’t matter,” Domingue said. “None of those numbers matter until May 3rd. That’s when those numbers matter.”

The Broncos know the top seed is not a free pass to a state championship. The last time they were No. 1 they lost in the quarterfinals in 2019. In their final season in Class 4A in 2011, they used the top seed to win the first of three consecutive state championships. Sam Houston won titles in 2012, ’13 and ’15 as the Nos. 8, 19 and 5 seed, respectively.

“We’ve done it from every end of the bracket,” Domingue said. “It’s anybody’s game. It’s a whole new season. It’s go time.”

The Broncos have been on cruise control since the second week of the season as they built a 24-game win streak with their powerful offense. Sam Houston has hit 51 home runs. Aubrey Portie (13), Layla Landry (12) and Carolina Eidson (11) have combined for 36 home runs.

“We’ve done some pretty cool things this season besides just winning,” Domingue said. “We’ve come back and won some games.

“They weren’t all easy wins. I think the scores make it seem like they weren’t. We had to fight back and had some adversity during the season. So that was cool to have to deal with that and come out on top.”

The bi-district round of the playoffs begins today.

Area Pairings Bi-district
Non-select
Division I
No. 23 Northshore (18-13) at No. 10 Sulphur (17-12), 4 p.m. Friday.
No. 26 Barbe (16-16) at No. 7 Walker (19-8), 11 a.m. Friday.
Division II
No. 24 A.J. Ellender (7-13) at No. 9 Jennings (13-9), 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
No. 18 DeRidder (14-17) at No.15 Albany (15-14), 6 p.m. Thursday.
Division III
No. 23 Ville Platte (7-9) at No. 10 South Beauregard (15-15), 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
No. 19 Westlake (14-11) at No. 14 Mamou (11-15), 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Division IV
No. 25 East Iberville (5-14) at No. 8 Grand Lake (15-13), 5 p.m. Thursday.
No. 24 Lakeview (2-22) at No. 9 DeQuincy (15-14), 5 p.m. Thursday.
No. 23 Homer (7-8) at No. 10 Lake Arthur (13-8), 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
No. 22 East Beauregard (7-18) at No. 11 Welsh (10-10), 6:30 p.m. Thursday
No. 21 Vinton (7-17) at No. 12 Merryville (15-11), 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
No. 19 Basile (9-10) at No. 13 Haynesville (12-6), 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Select
Division II
No. 19 Peabody (6-17) at No. 15 Leesville (10-12), 6 p.m. Thursday.
Division III
No. 21 St. Thomas Aquinas (9-15) at No. 12 Rosepine (14-13), 5 p.m. Thursday.
Class B
No. 20 Glenmora (12-17) at No. 13 Fairview (8-8), 5 p.m. Thursday
No. 20 Lacassine (11-6) at No. 13 Weston (6-14), 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Class C
No. 18 Hornbeck (6-9) at No. 15 Hackberry (9-7), 5 p.m. Thursday.
No. 20 South Cameron (9-9) at No. 13 Evans (9-12), 5 p.m. Thursday.
Regionals
Non-select
Division I
No. 17 Haughton/No. 16 Natchitoches Central winner at No. 1 Sam Houston (26-2)
Division II
No. 11 North Vermilion/No. 22 Breaux Bridge winner at No. 6 Iowa (24-10)
Division III
No. 11 Caldwell Parish/No. 22 Erath winner at No. 6 Kinder (16-5)
Division IV
No. 12 Merryville/No. 21 Vinton winner at No. 5 Oakdale (15-8)
Select
Division III
No. 10 Pope John Paul II/No. 23 Beekman Charter winner at No. 7 St. Louis Catholic (12-7)
Class B
No. 11 Bell City (8-8) at No. 6 Zwolle, 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Class C
No. 10 Georgetown at No. 7 Starks (13-5), 5 p.m. Tuesday.