In a season marked by parity, several teams have a chance to set themselves apart in the high school baseball playoffs, which begin with the preliminary round on Tuesday.

Messalonskee, Dirigo, Bangor Christian and Buckfield have their sights set on a third consecutive regional title. Dirigo and Bangor Christian hope to go a step further and make history by winning their third state title in a row in Class C and Class D, respectively. The Cougars would be the first Class C team with a threepeat. Bangor Christian would join Southern Aroostook (1987-89) and North Yarmouth Academy (2002-04) as a Class  D dynasty.

Dirigo (13-3) enters the Western C tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Cougars have been the top seed the past two years. This year, that distinction belongs to Mountain Valley Conference champion Monmouth (15-1), which is seeking its first Western C title. The Mustangs won Class D state championships in 1991, 1992 and 2001. They will face the winner of Tuesday’s prelim between No. 8 Carrabec and No. 9 Maranacook in the quarterfinals. Dirigo will face the winner of the 7-10 prelim between Hall-Dale and Traip.

The quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday.

St. Dom’s (12-4), the only team to beat Monmouth this year, is the No. 3 seed, followed by Sacopee Valley (16-0), the only unbeaten team left in the state, then Lisbon (10-6) and Winthrop (10-6). The Ramblers will host No. 11 Old Orchard Beach (6-10) in a Tuesday prelim, with the winner advancing to face St. Dom’s in the quarterfinals. Lisbon hosts No. 12 Madison (5-11) in the other Tuesday prelim, with the winner drawing Sacopee in the quarters.

Bangor (14-2) and Messalonskee (11-5) are the top two seeds in Eastern A. No. 8 Edward Little (7-9) hosts No. 9 Brunswick (8-8) at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Auburn Suburban Little League, with the winner earning a trip to Bangor for the quarterfinals. The Red Eddies and Dragons ended the season tied in Heal Points, but EL earned home field advantage by virtue of its 5-1 win over the Dragons on May 16.

In other quarterfinal action, No. 3 Oxford Hills (11-5) hosts No. 6 Lewiston (8-8). The Blue Devils won the teams’ previous meeting at Gouin Athletic Complex, 6-2, on May 6. No. 5 Mt. Blue (8-8) travels to No. 4 Cony (9-7). The teams split two regular-season meetings.

Both quarterfinal games are scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Lincoln Academy (12-4) leapfrogged Greely (13-3) and Poland (12-4) late in the season to earn the top seed in Western B. Poland still earned a bye to the quarterfinals and will host No. 6 Morse (10-6) Thursday. No. 5 Oak Hill (12-4), the lone Mountain Valley Conference team in the bracket, will try to knock off defending state champion and No. 4 seed York (10-6).

In the preliminary round, No. 7 Gray-New Gloucester (9-7) hosts No. 10 Yarmouth (8-8) on Tuesday. The Patriots won the regular-season contest, 4-1, on May 5. The survivor draws Greely in the quarterfinals.

Buckfield (9-4) is looking to become the first Class D team to win three consecutive regional titles since NYA pulled off four in a row 2002-05. The Bucks won the last two as the top seed, but its the No. 2 seed this year behind Richmond (12-1).

With just seven teams in the bracket, Richmond gets a bye all the way to the semifinals. Buckfield will have to beat No. 7 Greenville (7-7) in the quarterfinals on Thursday to advance. The Bucks swept the Lakers in their May 24 doubleheader, 3-2 and 6-3.