The NORCO legion playoffs kickoff this week with defending champion Bath looking to make it back-to-back title campaigns.

The playoff brackets officially came out Sunday night following the completion of the Hellertown-Freemansburg contest, which decided the final seed in the eight-team tournament.

Hellertown won the contest over Freemansburg 11-3 to win the division, grab the eighth seed and send Freemansburg packing for the summer.

Bath (14-6), on the other hand, enters the tournament as the third-seed and takes on sixth-seeded East Stroudsburg (13-7) in the best of three series opener.

Head coach Gene Sostarecz and company lost to East Stroudsburg 1-0 early this season when Bath was missing seven starters in the lineup.

Sostarecz hopes things go differently this week, as they look to put themselves back in position to win NORCO and make a run at regionals.

"We had a rough stretch during the season where we were missing guys and lost a few games, but we still have very high hopes for this team," said Sostarecz. "Pitching is going to be key for us, but we have all our guys now and we've been able to get some timely hits."

The Birches (16-4) have the top-seed in this year's tournament, as they take on Hellertown (10-10) in the opening round.

Kemp Post (14-5-1) and Nazareth (11-7-2) square off in the two-seven matchup, while Northampton (13-6-1) and Nazareth (13-7) are the four-five pairing.

All games started on Tuesday and run consecutively on Wednesday and Thursday (if necessary).

Matt Leon will get the starting nod for Bath in the opener, as all the games of the first round series will be played at Bath, since East Stroudsburg doesn't have a home field.

Sostarecz hopes that home field advantage, along with his team peaking and experience can be the momentum they need to carry themselves through the playoffs.

"We have most of the team back from last year, so the experience these guys have from that championship is valuable," he said. "They know what it takes to win and this is when it all starts."