WEIRTON – The Oak Glen softball team is set to defend its West Virginia Class AA state title from last season this week as the postseason is set to get underway. The tournament seeding and pairings were announced Thursday.

The higher seed will host all the games in the regional tournaments with all of the tournaments being double elimination.

The two Hancock County schools are the top two seeds in the Class AA Region 1 Tournament with Weir being the No. 1 seed, while Oak Glen is the No. 2 seed. The Red Riders and the Golden Bears are in different brackets giving each local team a chance at making it down to the state tournament. Weir is in the upper bracket, while Oak Glen is in the lower bracket.

Starting with the upper bracket, No. 4 seed Ravenswood will play No. 5 seed Williamstown in Game 1 today. The winner of that game will play Weir in Game 2 at 6 p.m. Tuesday up at the Roberta “Birdie” DeFrancis Softball Field.

The losers of Game 1 and Game 2 will then meet in an elimination game in Game 3, while the winner of Game 2 will advance to play in Game 4 – the regional final – against the winner of Game 3. If the team from the loser bracket wins Game 4, there will be a deciding Game 5.

Weir advanced to the state tournament last season, however, the Red Riders were not able to capture the state championship in Class AAA.

In the lower bracket, No. 3 seed Doddridge County will open up tournament action against No. 6 seed Tyler Consolidated today in Game 1. The winner of that game will advance to take on Oak Glen Tuesday on the road in Game 2. If Doddridge County wins today, it will play up at Oak Glen at 5:30 p.m., however, if Tyler Consolidated wins, the game against Oak Glen will be at 6 p.m.

The loser of Game 1 will play the loser of Game 2 in an elimination game in Game 3, while the winner of Game 2 will advance to Game 4 – the regional final against the winner of Game 3. If the team from the loser’s bracket wins Game 4, there will be a deciding Game 5.

The other Hancock County school – Madonna – will be competing in the Class A Region 1 Tournament. The Blue Dons are the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Madonna will be competing in the lower bracket in the tournament.

Madonna is scheduled to open the tournament against No. 7 seed Trinity Christian in Game 1 at 5:30 p.m. today at home at Starvaggi Park. The Warriors knocked the Blue Dons out of the postseason last season.

“Trinity Christian is the team that ended our season last year,” Madonna (19-5) head coach Jason Backel said after his team’s win Thursday against Toronto at Michael Simpson Park. “Payback is going to be on our minds, no doubt about it.”

In the other game today, No. 3 seed Ritchie County will take on No. 6 seed Clay-Battelle in Game 2 at home.

The winners of today’s games will meet in Game 3 at the higher seeded team’s field, while the two losers will meet in an elimination game in Game 4. The loser of game 3 will then meet the winner of Game 4 in another elimination game in Game 5. The winner of Game 3 will advance to the regional final in Game 6 against the winner of Game 5. If the team from the loser’s bracket wins Game 6, there will be a deciding Game 7.

Wheeling Central is the top seed in the tournament, and the Maroon Knights are in the upper bracket. Wheeling Central is joined in the bracket by No. 8 seed Magnolia, No. 9 seed Valley, No. 4 seed St. Marys and No. 5 seed Cameron.

Brooke is competing in the Class AAA Region 1 Tournament. The Bruins are the No. 2 seed, and the Green-and-Gold will be competing in the lower bracket.

Grafton – the No. 3 seed – will open up the tournament today in Game 1 against No. 6 seed East Fairmont. The winner of Game 1 will play Brooke in Game 2 at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Brooke, while the loser of Game 1 will play the loser of Game 2 in an elimination game in Game 3. The winners of Game 2 and Game 3 will meet in the regional final in Game 4. If the team from the loser’s bracket wins Game 4, there will be a deciding game 5.

John Marshall is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, and the Monarchs will be competing in the upper bracket. Joining John Marshall in the bracket are No. 4 seed North Marion and No. 5 seed East Fairmont.

There are no local teams in Class AAAA.