Livermore Falls coach Brian Dube looks at the Western Class C baseball playoff seedings as an opportunity for his seventh-seeded Andies.

“This season, we beat (top-seeded) Jay and we beat (No. 4) Monmouth and we beat (No. 8) Mt. Abram and we beat (No. 6) Hall-Dale and we lost to (Western B No. 4) Mountain Valley in 11 innings,” Dube said.

“I think Class C as a whole is wide open,” he added. “Everyone has one good pitcher, and if you draw him that day, you’re in for a hell of a battle.”

Jay coach Chris Bessey agrees. While his Tigers, the two-time defending Western C champions, are the No. 1 seed, he thinks any of the top five teams is worthy of the top spot.

The Tigers were the third seed in 2002, when they won their first state title in school history. Last year, they defended their regional title as a No. 2 seed before bowing to George Stevens Academy in the state championship game.

While the Tigers have been steadily moving up in the seedings during this run, Bessey doesn’t think having the No. 1 ranking makes much of a difference.

“I think the big thing is the bye,” he said. “With the bye, the first playoff game, you’re going to play against a team that’s already played a game, and in most cases, that has already used their ace, which is huge this year because of the lace of pitching depth.”

The Tigers will face the winner of the prelim between No. 8 Mt. Abram and No. 9 Madison. They beat Mt. Abram earlier this week and lost to Madison about three weeks ago.

Western C’s other prelims, scheduled for next Tuesday, include No. 5 Lisbon hosting No. 12 Old Orchard, with the winner traveling to Monmouth, No. 6 Hall-Dale facing No. 11 Boothbay, with the winner there drawing No. 3 Telstar, and No. 7 Livermore taking on No. 10 Wiscasset. Second-seeded St. Dom’s awaits the winner of that contest.

After several years of being accompanied by the likes of Lisbon and Wiscasset, Mountain Valley enters the Western B tournament as the lone Mountain Valley Conference representative this year. The playoffs have always presented the Falcons with a number of unfamiliar opponents, since the region is dominated by Western Maine Conference clubs. But long-time Falcon coach Steve LaPointe is left really scratching his head this year over his team’s 4-5 matchup with Lincoln Academy of the KVAC.

“I don’t know anything about them. I saw a couple of names in the box scores but that was it,” LaPointe said. “At least if it’s a Greely or someone like that, you might have heard something about them or seen one of their guys pitch or something. But this is definitely a complete unknown for us. But I almost like facing an unknown. It’s going to be exciting and fun.”

Defending state champion Oak Hill drew the second seed, and awaits the winner of Tuesday’s prelim between No. 7 Falmouth and No. 10 Poland, which is making its first non-open tournament playoff appearance in team history. Gorham, which lost to Oak Hill in the Western B final last year, is the No. 1 seed. Sixth-seeded Fryeburg will host No. 11 York.

In Class A, defending Eastern A champion Mt. Ararat earned the top seed, edging out Oxford Hills by just over a point in the final Heals. The Vikings will face whoever survives the prelim between No. 7 Gardiner and No. 10 Brunswick. No. 11 Edward Little, which won an extra inning thriller over Mt. Blue during the regular season, will meet the sixth-seeded Cougars again in Tuesday’s prelim. Leavitt secured the 13th and final spot in the bracket and draws No. 5 Cony in a prelim.

In Class D, two-time defending state champion North Yarmouth Academy is the top seed once again. The Panthers will be off until next Saturday, as will No. 2 Buckfield. The Bucks will face the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 3 Richmond and No. 6 Greenville.