The road to McLane Stadium begins in earnest on Tuesday, with those predistrict games that haven’t already been played.
By Saturday night, the remaining field will be down to 128 teams, spread across four divisions. Four days later, it’ll be down to just 64.
Will there be an Oakland County team or two among the final four that’s hashed out four days after that?
There usually is. Last year, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s was the lone representative at McLane for the semis and finals, and the Eaglets could be en route again — if they survive Saturday.
But that’s the fun of all this, isn’t it?
Here’s a look, by district, at who might get out of the first full week of the baseball postseason:
DIVISION 1 DISTRICT 16 HOSTED BY NOVI
Competing schools — No. 6 Detroit Catholic Central, No. 16 Novi, South Lyon, South Lyon East
The breakdown — Novi’s stumbling block to postseason success was getting past its cross-town foe Catholic Central — something it did in the title season in 2023, and again last year. The Wildcats have enough juice to do it again.
The pick — Novi
Novi pinch runner Ryan Burr (center) gets congratulations after scoring the go-ahead run, as the No. 20-ranked Wildcats generated a late rally to beat Salem, 3-0, on Monday, May 11, 2026. (MATTHEW B. MOWERY — MediaNews Group, file)
DISTRICT 20 HOSTED BY LIVONIA STEVENSON
Competing schools — Detroit Mumford, Detroit Renaissance, Farmington, Livonia Stevenson, Redford Thurston
The breakdown — There is no dominant team in the bracket, but a 16-win Farmington team will likely face off with 20-win Stevenson for the title.
The pick — Stevenson
DISTRICT 23 HOSTED BY WARREN MOTT
Competing schools — Berkley, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Warren Cousino
The breakdown — Berkley already got past a predistrict last week, and won this district three seasons ago, but Cousino may have the deepest team.
The pick — Cousino
DISTRICT 24 HOSTED BY BLOOMFIELD HILLS BROTHER RICE
Competing schools — Birmingham Groves, Birmingham Seaholm, No. 1 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, North Farmington, Southfield A&T
The breakdown — Seaholm took two of three from both Groves and North Farmington, but nobody here is going to knock off the Goliath on its home field.
The pick — Brother Rice
Milford’s Mitchel Cottongim (14) slides in safely with a run, as Lakeland catcher Blake Loisel (left) can’t handle the throw. The Mavericks won Game 1 of the three-game Lakes Valley Conference series 7-5 on Monday, May 4, 2026. (MATTHEW B. MOWERY — MediaNews Group)
DISTRICT 25 HOSTED BY MILFORD
Competing schools — Lakeland, Milford, Walled Lake Central, Walled Lake Northern, Walled Lake Western
The breakdown — Lakes Valley Conference co-champs Lakeland and Milford wound up on opposite sides of the bracket, and could revisit a season series that saw the Mavs win by two at Lakeland, and the Eagles win by one and three runs at Milford. But they have to get there.
The pick — Lakeland
DISTRICT 26 HOSTED BY WEST BLOOMFIELD
Competing schools — Bloomfield Hills, Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott, West Bloomfield
The breakdown — The Lakers might be the quietest 26-win team around, but they boast wins over everyone else in this bracket.
The pick — West Bloomfield
DISTRICT 27 HOSTED BY TROY
Competing schools — Auburn Hills Avondale, Troy, Troy Athens, Utica, Utica Ford
The breakdown — The 23-win Troy Athens Redhawks would be the favorites, if you just based it on records, but coach Dan Tallant’s 20-win Ford Falcons already knocked off the tourney host in a predistrict, beat rival Utica early in the season, and survived in the MAC Red.
The pick — Ford
DISTRICT 30 HOSTED BY ROCHESTER ADAMS
Competing schools — Clarkston, Lake Orion, Rochester, No. 4 Rochester Adams, Stoney Creek
The breakdown — Another predistrict win, this one a 2-0 Clarkston shutout of Lake Orion, thanks to the arm of Blake Schneider, will at least mean there’s no postseason rematch between the Dragons and host Adams. The Highlanders swept the three-game series with each of the remaining OAA Red foes.
The pick — Adams
No. 1-ranked Rochester Adams beat No. 3 Oxford, 3-1, on Thursday, May 7, taking the rubber match to win the three-game OAA Red series between the league leaders. (MATTHEW B. MOWERY — MediaNews Group)
DISTRICT 31 HOSTED BY GRAND BLANC
Competing schools — Davison, Grand Blanc, Holly, Lapeer, No. 7 Oxford
The breakdown — The Oxford Wildcats may have pulled a predistrict date with Holly, but they have the horses to be around at the end, too.
The pick — Oxford
DIVISION 2 DISTRICT 57 HOSTED BY MADISON HEIGHTS LAMPHERE
Competing schools — Center Line, Detroit Country Day, Madison Heights Lamphere, Warren Fitzgerald, Warren Lincoln
The breakdown — MAC Gold champion Lamphere is just three seasons removed from back-to-back trips to the regional finals, but before that, Country Day was always the Rams’ roadblock in the postseason.
The pick — Lamphere.
DISTRICT 58 HOSTED BY ORCHARD LAKE ST. MARY’S
Competing schools — Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Clintondale, Macomb Lutheran North, No. 1 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, No. 3 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
The breakdown — Last year, OLSM and NDP played a 3-0 classic in the district finals. Sorta what everyone is expecting this year, too. As good as the Irish are, it’s hard to pick against the Eaglets.
The pick — OLSM
DISTRICT 60 HOSTED BY GOODRICH
Competing schools — Armada, Goodrich, Imlay City, Ortonville Brandon
The breakdown — There are no ranked teams in this group. Goodrich was a middle of the pack team in the Flint Metro League and Brandon finished last in that same league. Armada was sixth in the Blue Water Area Conference and Imlay City eighth. Kind of like throwing a dart at the board. Armada has a coach that has won state championships in the past and just hit his 300th win. That has to count for something.
The pick — Armada
DIVISION 3 DISTRICT 90 HOSTED BY CLAWSON
Competing schools — Clawson, Detroit Communication Media Arts, Detroit Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, Madison Heights Bishop Foley
The breakdown —Half of the losses for MAC Silver champ Clawson came in the first week of the season, against bigger programs. The Trojans will stay hot.
The pick — Clawson
Baseball 2026 district pairings for Oakland County teams
DISTRICT 91 HOSTED BY MARINE CITY
Competing schools —Algonac, Madison Heights Madison, Marine City, New Haven
The Breakdown – Madison won the MAC Bronze Division, Marine City tied for second in the MAC Gold Division, New Haven was second in the MAC Silver Division and Algonac claimed fifth in the Blue Water Area Conference. There’s no pushovers here. Let’s go with the team with the best overall pitching.
Pick — New Haven
DISTRICT 92 HOSTED BY BURTON BENDLE
Competing schools —Almont, Burton Atherton, Burton Bendle, No. 17 Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest
The Breakdown — While Almont was middle-of-the-pack in the BWAC, Atherton and Bendle have had some struggles. It’s hard to pick against a Lutheran Northwest team that is 22-6 and won the MIAC title.
Pick — Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest
DIVISION 4 DISTRICT 125 HOSTED BY AUBURN HILLS OAKLAND CHRISTIAN
Competing schools —Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Capac, Marine City Cardinal Mooney, Memphis, New Haven Merritt Academy
The Breakdown – A grouping of decent teams but no one here is a ranked opponent. Memphis has the most wins at 17-11, followed by Capac (16-8) and Oakland Christian (12-10). Merritt has played less than 15 games and Cardinal Mooney is nine games under five-hundred. Let’s go with the team that has the most wins and see what happens.
Pick — Memphis
DISTRICT 126 HOSTED BY WATERFORD OUR LADY OF THE LAKES
Competing schools — Clarkston Everest Collegiate, No. 11 Royal Oak Shrine, Southfield Christian, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes
The breakdown — The Shrine Knights finished right behind Cranbrook in the CHSL’s Intersectional Division, but were upset in the first round of the league tournament. But they swept the season series with the other CHSL teams in the bracket.
The pick — Shrine