For the second year in a row, Granada has earned the top seed in the North Coast Section Division I baseball playoffs.

The Livermore school isn’t as dominant as it was last year, but the Matadors have won when it mattered most.

Granada (21-5, 11-2) dominated the East Bay Athletic League playoffs, shutting out San Ramon Valley 6-0 and beating De La Salle 6-1. The Matadors have notched wins over College Park, Cardinal Newman, Pittsburg, Liberty and James Logan, boasting one of the most dynamic pitching staffs in the Bay Area.

Despite not having USC commit Jake Sekany for most of the season, Tyler Kennedy, Alex Piscotty, Mason Ravera and Logan Robinson lead a staff that has allowed fewer than two runs per game this year.

Arizona-bound catcher Tommy Brown, Pacific commit Peyton Richards and Fresno State signee Mikey Boyd are the stars of Granada’s lineup, which has scored 139 runs on the season (5.3 per game).Although seeded No. 1, Granada’s path to a second consecutive NCS title won’t be easy. The Matadors will host 16th-seeded San Ramon Valley to open the playoffs. Should seeds hold, Granada would have to play another EBAL foe – No. 8 Dublin – in the second round.

SOFTBALL: MEET THE TOP TEAM

In a field as talented as the North Coast Section’s Division I bracket, Liberty has separated itself as the top team heading into the playoffs.

The Lions won 12 straight games to end the regular season and captured the Bay Valley Athletic League title with ease as they outscored their league opponents 131-10 across 10 games. Liberty (20-4, 10-0) also has non-league wins over Granada, College Park, Castro Valley, Archbishop Mitty and California.

Now, the Brentwood school will be looking to win its first NCS title since 1997.

Weber State-bound junior Kaitlyn Macias has had a monster season. She leads Liberty in batting average (.516), on-base percentage (.548), slugging percentage (1.063) and RBIs (35). In the circle, she’s been just as dominant as she boasts a 0.88 ERA and is undefeated through five starts.

Macias has formed a dynamic pitching duo with Illinois State commit Kate Skinner. The junior totaled 158 strikeouts through 16 starts this season with an ERA of 1.67.

Talented hitters such as Isabella Rice, Taylor Jennings and Madison Tuttle round out a lineup that averages 8.5 runs per game.

Since only 14 teams qualified for the Division I playoffs, Liberty along with No. 2 seed Livermore has an opening-round bye. The Lions will play the winner of a first-round game between Vintage and San Marin in the quarterfinals.

BASEBALL: TOP STORYLINES

De La Salle was awarded the No. 2 seed and will host No. 15 Pittsburg. The Spartans will be looking to capture their seventh NCS title in the past eight years that the playoffs have been contested … De La Salle is led by Oklahoma commit Alec Blair and EBAL player of the year Tyler Spangler. The Concord school is hoping to avenge its 1-0 loss to Granada in last year’s NCS championship game that spanned two days, two fields, two cities and two counties. … College Park won the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division and was awarded the fifth seed in Division I. The Falcons will host Heritage in the first round. College Park, led by shortstop Vincent “Tino” Vassell and pitcher James Voorhies, got hot at the end of the season, winning six of its final seven games. If seeds hold, College Park will travel to No. 4 Windsor in the quarterfinals. … Though Castro Valley drew a tough opponent in No. 7 Petaluma, the Trojans will have home-field advantage in their opening-round game because they finished first in their league. … Washington-Fremont got the short end of the stick in terms of travel. The Huskies, who were placed in Division III, will have to make the five-hour, 300-mile trek to Eureka for their first-round game.

SOFTBALL: TOP STORYLINES

A potential Livermore-Granada second-round matchup could happen should the Matadors upset No. 7 seed Alameda on the road. The crosstown rivals split their two-game series this spring, with Livermore defeating Granada 4-1 in the East Bay Athletic League regular-season finale. … In Division II, the bracket’s top three teams – Cardinal Newman, Carondelet and James Logan – all received byes into the second round. Carondelet got hot in league play, winning the EBAL’s regular-season title. The young team is led by all-league sophomore Angela Gates, who leads Carondelet in batting average (.508), home runs (three) and slugging percentage (.862). … After winning the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division crown, Clayton Valley will host San Ramon Valley despite being the lower seed. The Ugly Eagles won nine of their last 11 games to end the regular season. San Ramon Valley is seeking its first-ever NCS title. … Last year’s Division I champion, Amador Valley, did not qualify for this year’s NCS playoffs. The Dons came out of nowhere to win an NCS and NorCal Division I title last season, but did not have a .500 record overall, in league play or in their base division this spring. They needed to be .500 in just one of those categories to qualify.