Nowhere in high school sports is the single-elimination format scarier for top-ranked teams and their coaches than baseball, the game in which a dancing curveball or a perilous hop can stymie the best on the wrong day.

Easy to understand, then, why one potential quarterfinal matchup in Class C West quickens everyone’s pulse rate ever-so-slightly.

No. 8 St. Dom’s (11-5) hosts No. 9 Madison (8-8) this afternoon in one of five preliminary games involving local schools. If the Saints win — and heck, they’ve made it to the regional title game 11 of the past 12 years — they will take the short ride up Routes 4 and 108 to face No. 1 Dirigo (15-1) on Thursday.

History there? Just a little. Dirigo knocked off St. Dom’s in the 2013 C West final en route to its third state title in four years. St. Dom’s returned the favor in a 2014 semifinal on the Cougars’ home turf.

“It wouldn’t be your typical quarterfinal matchup,” Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer understated.

Thirteen area clubs qualified for the playoffs.

In other Tuesday preliminary action, No. 9 Lewiston (5-11) goes to No. 8 Brunswick (8-8) for a Class A East clash; No. 10 Gray-New Gloucester (7-9) drops in on No. 7 Freeport (8-8) in Class B West; and in Class C West, No. 11 Carrabec (7-9) visits No. 6 Monmouth (9-7) and No. 12 Mountain Valley (7-9) travels to No. 5 Maranacook (9-7).

The Class C bracket is awash in potential rivalry and revenge games. No. 4 Lisbon (12-4) awaits the Mountain Valley-Maranacook winner, with the Dirigo-St.Dom’s/Madison survivor looming.

“Right now I don’t like the bracket I’m in,” Lisbon coach Randy Ridley said. “That’s a tough one. Maranacook, and then St. Dom’s-Dirigo? I know Ryan is not overly thrilled about that possibility.”

Monmouth’s road has an eerily familiar look. The Carrabec prelim is a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal round, which the Mustangs survived, 5-4. If history repeats, they would travel to South Hiram for a Thursday quarterfinal against No. 3 Sacopee Valley (15-1). In the 2014 semifinals, the Hawks scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to stun Monmouth, 8-6, before beating St. Dom’s for the regional title.

No. 2 Winthrop (14-2) also has the potential to see an old nemesis in the quarterfinals. No. 7 Hall-Dale (11-5), which hosts Traip in the prelim, handed the Ramblers one of their two defeats, 10-9, in come-from-behind, walk-off fashion.

And from the delighted-to-be-there department, Mountain Valley makes its first-ever Class C playoff appearance.

The Falcons’ last playoff game was a 2009 Class B semifinal loss at Greely, when multi-sport stars Justin Staires and Matt Laubauskas led the charge.

“We’re really excited about playing Tuesday. We’re where we want to be. We’re there,” Mountain Valley coach Steve LaPointe said. “They’re a great group of seniors. They were able to make the playoffs in every sport this year. Football, soccer they did well, basketball they made it at 9-9, and they did it here. Good year for them. They’ve been able to turn things around, which is really cool.”

Lewiston put it together the final two weeks of the regular season to keep its playoff streak alive. The Blue Devils started 0-6 and 2-9 under first-year coach Andrew Cessario before finding their groove.

Four of their five wins are by one run, including a 4-3 victory over the Dragons in the final game to earn the rubber match. Brunswick beat Lewiston, 6-1, early in the season. The winner will take on top-seeded Bangor (14-2).

In the other two A East quarterfinal games involving tri-county teams, the lower seed already owns a win over the higher seed. Although No. 5 Oxford Hills (9-7) struggled down the stretch, the Vikings won 1-0 at No. 4 Messalonskee in midseason.

No. 2 Edward Little (12-4) lost a 3-2 pitchers’ duel to No. 7 Mt. Blue (7-9) before prevailing 12-5 in the second encounter. The KVAC champion Red Eddies have won 11 of their last 13.

“When we talk about our roles, everybody’s important. They’re believing more and more in that, and it’s paying off by getting those close wins,” EL coach Dave Jordan said.

The winner of Gray-NG/Freeport will advance to a quarterfinal against No. 2 York. The Falcons swept the Patriots during the WMC season, 4-2 and 3-0.

In Class D West, the two local representatives meet in Thursday’s quarterfinals. No. 3 Buckfield (11-5) begins its quest for a fourth consecutive trip to the Western final against No. 6 Rangeley (3-8) at home.

“We’re kind of developing as we go,” Buckfield coach Kyle Rines said. “Obviously we miss having the ace (Jonah Williams) we had last year. We hit pretty well. We’ve been averaging about seven runs.”

Buckfield beat Rangeley twice, 14-7 and 7-1, during EWC play. Rangeley, which reinstated its varsity program this spring after a two-year hiatus, banked victories over fellow tournament teams Forest Hills, Valley and Greenville to get in.

The winner will face either No. 2 Searsport or defending regional champion No. 7 Wiscasset in Saturday’s semis. Richmond is the top seed.

No. 1 seeds from other regions are Portland (Class A West), Old Town (Class B East), Bucksport (Class C East) and Southern Aroostook (Class D East).

koakes@sunjournal.com