In something of a surprise, Willow Glen, not St. Francis, earned the No. 1 seed in the Central Coast Section Open Division softball playoffs that begin Saturday.

The Rams are hardly an undeserving top seed. Willow Glen finished the regular season 26-0, including a 14-0 mark in Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division play.

To solidify things, Willow Glen picked up some key nonleague wins, the most significant of which was a 10-3 victory over Valley Christian at home on April 15.

That nonleague triumph may be the biggest reason the Rams were slotted ahead of St. Francis.

St. Francis (24-3) split its two meetings with Valley this year in West Catholic Athletic League play. St. Francis won 9-2 at home on April 30, but the Lancers dropped a 9-7 loss to the Warriors just three days ago.

The loss to VC was St. Francis’ only defeat to a Bay Area team this season.

“With all the good teams out there, it’s an honor to be the No. 1 seed,” said Willow Glen coach Don Spingola, whose team will open the playoffs at home against eighth-seeded Archbishop Mitty. “These young ladies have competed all season against some of the Bay Area’s best teams, and have continued to win one way or another. This No. 1 seed is well-deserved.”St. Francis, which hosts seventh-seeded Los Gatos in its opening-round game Saturday, is currently the No. 1 team in the San Francisco Metro MaxPreps rankings, with an overall rating of 31.04 and strength of schedule rating of 17.8.

Willow Glen’s overall rating is 28.92, and the Rams’ strength of schedule rating is 12.4.

Spingola said the Rams have a group of people who calculate metrics that mimic the CCS selection criteria. Willow Glen was close to St. Francis before Valley Christian’s win on Friday, and after the Warriors topped the Lancers, Willow Glen was confident it would be the top seed.

Nevertheless, if both teams take care of business, the only difference will be which team gets the last at-bat. The Open final is scheduled to be played on May 31 at a neutral site, either West Valley College or San Jose City College, negating a potential home-field advantage that would come with earning the higher seed.

BASEBALL: SERRA TOP TEAM

It wasn’t a surprise to see Serra as the team atop the CCS Division I baseball bracket.

The Padres have been excellent all year, posting an overall record of 23-6. They earned the No. 1 seed in the WCAL tournament and beat No. 8 Archbishop Riordan 3-0 in the first round.

No. 5 Bellarmine emerged as an interloper in the second round, upsetting Serra 1-0. The Bells went on to win the tournament, beating No. 2 Valley Christian 3-1 the next day.

But Serra’s overall strong regular season won out as the Padres will open the playoffs at home Saturday against eighth-seeded Palma. Serra finished 12-2 in the WCAL, clearing Valley Christian by two games in the league standings.

Along the way, the Padres notched big wins over every WCAL heavyweight at least once. Serra split its first two WCAL series with St. Francis and Valley Christian, then swept St. Ignatius the following week.

The Padres went on to sweep Mitty and beat nonleague foe Benicia, a strong North Coast Section squad, 9-4, at the Boras Classic.

SOFTBALL: TOP STORYLINES

That’s not the only intrigue in the Open bracket. Aforementioned Valley Christian pulled down the No. 5 seed in the Open tournament and could make some noise in the bottom of the bracket.

But the Warriors will have to first get past No. 4 Capuchino, which has had an excellent close to the season and is currently MaxPreps’ No. 3 rated team in the San Francisco metro area.

On the other side of the Open bracket, an all-Pacific Coast Athletic League matchup between No. 6 Salinas and No. 3 Monterey will decide who advances to face the winner between St. Francis and Los Gatos.

In the Division I bracket, Live Oak was rewarded with the top seed after a stellar 23-2 regular season. Other strong contenders in the division include No. 2 Gilroy, also from the BVAL, and No. 4 King’s Academy, which has wins over Valley Christian, Gilroy and Capuchino on its resume.

BASEBALL: TOP STORYLINES

Will it be a WCAL school winning Division I, or is there an opening for one of the other schools?

The WCAL has been the dominant conference in CCS baseball for generations, but there are not Catholic schools alone in the D-I bracket.

Los Gatos is the No. 3 seed in the Division I field and will host No. 6 Bellarmine in the first round Saturday.

The Bells showed they can beat any team in the WCAL during their thrilling run to the league tournament title. Will the Wildcats be able to keep them at bay?

The only other non-WCAL team in Division I is No. 7 Soquel, which brings a 25-1 record to the table. But the Knights have a tall task in the opening round — they must travel to San Jose and face No. 2 Valley Christian at noon on Saturday.

The Division II bracket features another one of the best non-WCAL teams, Leigh, as its top seed. Other strong Bay Area programs represented in D-II include No. 2 Menlo-Atherton, No. 5 Wilcox and No. 4 Archbishop Mitty, which had a down year at 13-14 but is always a talented threat.

SOFTBALL: WHO CAN MAKE A SURPRISE RUN?

Capuchino has been as hot as any team in the Bay Area down the stretch. The No. 4 Mustangs have a tall task ahead to get to the final, with matchups against Valley Christian and likely Willow Glen looming.

But Cap has been dominant of late. The Mustangs have not lost since April 26, and that was to non-Bay Area opponent Calaveras.

Strictly against Bay Area teams, Cap has not lost since falling 2-1 to Hillsdale on April 8, a stretch of 13 consecutive wins.

Another Peninsula Athletic League team, Mills, could make noise in the Division I bracket. The Vikings (21-3-1), who enjoyed a near-perfect season (9-1) in league play, were seeded No. 6 in the D-I tournament. Their first-round opponent, No. 3 Saratoga, is 19-2 but ranks outside the top 50 in MaxPreps’ San Francisco metro rankings. Saratoga comes in at No. 55, while Mills is No. 7.

BASEBALL: WHO CAN MAKE A SURPRISE RUN?

Why not Bellarmine? The Bells already ran to the WCAL tournament championship with wins over St. Francis, Serra and Valley Christian on consecutive days.

Bellarmine lines up first against Los Gatos and would then be on track to meet Soquel or Valley Christian. Serra and St. Francis, if they make it through, are waiting on the other side of the bracket.

In Division II, No. 5 Wilcox spoiled Los Gatos’ perfect league season with a win last week. Could the Chargers play spoiler in the D-II bracket?