It’s no surprise that Riverside Academy and St. Charles Catholic made the softball playoffs.

It may have been a surprise to some, however, that the two rivals will not be vying for the same state title.

After competing against one another for the District 12-2A title, which the Lady Comets won by sweeping the field and taking a 3-0 win over the Lady Rebels, the two teams will go their separate ways for the playoffs.

St. Charles Catholic (23-3) earned a No. 4 seed and will compete for the Division III title against 15 other private schools or schools with select enrollment. The Lady Comets play host to No. 13 seed Thomas Jefferson (12-16) at 4:30 p.m. today.

Riverside Academy (21-7) earned a No. 2 seed and will compete for the Division II title against 15 other private/select schools.

The Lady Rebels will host No. 15 seed Ben Franklin at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Riverside was originally supposed to play Lusher Charter School, but it opted not to play in the postseason and was replaced by Franklin.

Even though the Lady Rebels played a Class 2A schedule throughout the regular season, coach Tamra Regalo said she notified the LHSAA before the season began that her team would play up to Division II for the post-season.

“They gave us the option and we took it,” Regalo said. “We did it to get a better district, but ended up in the same one.”

The move caused a bit of confusion when the brackets were released last week. This is the first year of the LHSAA split brackets, in which private and public schools will compete for different state titles.

A total of 12 champions will be crowned at the year’s state tournament April 28-29 in Sulphur.

Neither team made it last year. They need one win to get there this year.