The eight teams  that snatched  first-round byes in the Division I state softball tournament -- Mountain Ridge, Cienega, Basha, Gilbert, Mesa Mountain View, Red Mountain, Marana and Horizon -- can congratulate themselves.Hopefully, they did that Thursday when brackets were officially announced and have put that bit of euphoria behind them.

That's because there will be no easy games when they take the field Tuesday April 30 in the round of 16. Their foes that day will not be pushovers -- even the deep, double-digit seeds in the high to mid-teens. That's how good the field is as play in the D-I state tourney opens Saturday (April 27) morning at 10:15 at sites in the Valley and Tucson. Saturday's first round and Tuesday's second round are elimination rounds. 

Here's a glance at Saturday's eight matchups and who the winner of each faces on April 30 in the round of 16:

No. 17 Perry at No. 16 Corona del Sol:  Perry is the more well-rounded team with above average pitching and a potent offense. But Corona employs a dominating pitcher in McKenna Isenberg. Isenberg is one of the hardest throwers in the tournament and tossed four shutouts in the last month. Her only loss in that span was 2-0 to Gilbert. Perry likely wins if it puts up three runs or more, which the Pumas are capable of with Laynee Gomez, Jillian Leslie and Devon Ryan to name a few. The first week of the season Perry battered Isenberg in a 9-4 win at the Lion Country Classic hosted by Red Mountain.That was two months ago. The winner gets top-seed Mountain Ridge. Mountain Ridge may feel it deserved better for being No. 1, but this is one of the tougher draws a No. 1 could get in its first game. Mountain Ridge beat Corona and Isenberg, 2-1, in late March at the Desert Mountain Invite.. 

No. 18 Cibola at No. 15 Tucson High: Cibola dominated play in Yuma -- which was the bulk of its schedule facing Kofa, Yuma, San Luis and Gila Ridge. Cibola lost to Xavier, Desert Ridge, Centennial and Sunnyside -- all D-I state qualifiers in games that weren't close. Tucson faced a more diverse schedule and the third-toughest, according to the power-ranking formula. The winner takes on No. 2 Cienega. The bet here is Tucson beating Cibola to advance. Tucson has faced Cienega twice this season and gave the Bobcats good games, losing 8-3 and 9-7. The 9-7 loss came earlier this week.

No. 19 Buena at No. 14 Chaparral: Both schools have a winning history in the sport. Chaparral may have the upper hand in this meeting with Dallas McBride in the circle and a good lineup of hitters 1 through 9. Buena had trouble beatiing top teams with an 0-6 record vs. state tournament qualifiers. Chaparral picked up wins over Desert Mountain and Horizon, lost to each of those teams and lost a pair of games -- one close -- to Basha. The winner gets No. 3 Basha. Chaparral and Basha met in the Desert Mountain tourney and Basha prevailed in a slugfest, 11-10 and later 11-0 in a game McBride did not pitch in. 

No. 20 Desert Vista at No. 13 Xavier Prep: Both schools have played a lot of teams that qualified for state with decent success. Desert Vista has faced only one state qualifier in the last month -- Highland -- and dropped that game, 6-1. Desert Vsita needs ace Dani Block to be on her game and is likely to face Xavier freshman Karlee Johnson, fresh off a 2-1 loss to Horizon Whover prevails could have a hard time in the second round. The winner gets No. 4 Gilbert, a very good offensive team that is pitching better of late, but been erratic at times defensively. Desert Vista or Xavier would welcome a low-scoring game in matching up with Gilbert.

No. 21 Willow Canyon at No. 13 Sunnyside: A good matchup for Sunnyside. Sunnyside is more battle-tested and playing at home should be a welcome advantage in a mid-morning game. Willow Canyon's schedule was light on contenders with losses to Mountain Ridge, Centennial (2) and a win over SDO. Willow Canyon had the third-lowest averge opponent rating of any D-I state qualifier. Only Cibola and Kofa are lower. The winner faces No. 5 Mesa Mountain View, which can beat any team with its ace Val Kaff. Mountain View blanked Sunnyside last week, 5-0, in Tucson.

No. 22 Sandra Day O'Connor at No. 12 Centennial: These teams are familiar with one another, having met earlier this month. Centennial won a high-scoring affair, 12-7. Sandra Day O'Connor played a competitive schedule, but in six power-ranking games against D-I state qualifiers was 0-6. Centennial has endured a strange season with three players getting injured in rear-end traffic collisions (none their fault) that shelved those players for extended periods. Paige Mills missed a month, Brittany Bland (six weeks) and Karina Ojeda (two weeks and still out). Centennial gave Mountain Ridge a tight game last week to prepare for state, coming away with a 6-5 loss. The SDO-Centennial winner meets No. 6 and three-time defending champ Red Mountain. A tough draw for either without a dominant pitcher performance to slow down Red Mountain's bats and its ace, Bre Macha. Red Mountain has blasted 40 home runs this season. Five players have hit between four and eight round-trippers.

No. 23 Highland at No. 10 Desert Ridge: Highland is  a severe underdog at state. The Hawks snuck in to postseason by upending Basha on the final day of the regular season and is the only team in D-I to qualify for state with a sub-.500 power-ranking record (8-10). Highland's advancement to state is due in great part to facing Basha, Desert Ridge, Perry, Gilbert and Red Mountain twice each and amassing the fourth-best average opponent rating of  8.4315. Translated that means the Hawks played a brutal schedule. Only Desert Ridge, Basha and Tucson had higher average opponent ratings of the state qualifiers. Desert Ridge is a team flying under the radar among the top 10. The Jaguars handed Red Mountain two losses, clipped Basha once and faced Mesa Mountain View, Gilbert, Perry and Highland twice each. Desert Ridge wins  with pitching and defense. The Desert Ridge-Highland winner will take to the road to face No. 7 Marana, which enjoyed its best season in many years and features a powerful (home run) lineup. Marana belted 33 homers this season with Hannah McCoy (12) and Sierra Cuestas (11) leading the way.

No. 24 Kofa at No. 9 Desert Mountain: Kofa qualified by virtue of an automatic bid (No. 27) and will have to prove it earned it by beating Desert Mountain. Kofa was the fourth-best team in Section 1 of Division I and by rule that got the Kings a ticket to state no matter their power-ranking. Kofa will face a proven pitcher in the Wolves' Andy Wellins. If Desert Mountain can avoid overlooking Kofa, expect the Wolves to win this one and advance to meet No. 8 Horizon in the second round. If that happens, does Desert Mountain have an edge having beaten Horizon twice in the regular season, including once last week?