The North Carolina American Legion Area IV baseball playoffs begin on Saturday. First round contests are a best three-out-of-five series. Burke County Post 21 received a five seed in the west division of Area IV, while Caldwell County Post 29 is a number six seed and Hickory Post 48 is a seven seed.

Burke County will open the playoffs taking on the number four seed in the east division of Area IV, Matthews. Game one of the series is Saturday at Matthews. Game two will be at Burke County on Sunday and game three is at Matthews Monday evening. If needed, game four would be held at Burke County on Tuesday and game five would be hosted by Matthews on Wednesday. The winner of the series would get Cleveland County, the number one seed in the west who received a first round bye.

Caldwell County will face off against the Gaston Braves, the number three seed in the east. Game one of the series Saturday is at Gaston. Game two will be hosted by Burke County on Sunday. Game three shifts back to Gaston on Monday. If necessary, game four will be hosted by Caldwell County on Tuesday and game five, if needed, would be held at Gaston. The winner of the series will face west seed number two, Cherryville who also received a first round bye.

Finally, Hickory will face east number two seed Mint Hill. Saturday is game one of the series at Mint Hill. Game two will be held at Hickory on Sunday and game three is back at Mint Hill on Monday. If a game four is necessary, Hickory would host on Tuesday and game five would be held at Mint Hill. The winner of the series would moved to the second round to take on the winner of west number three seed Asheville or east number six seed Gastonia.