Justin-Siena High School’s bid for a Marin County Athletic League Tournament title was halted Friday night by San Marin-Novato, with the Mustangs beating the Braves 5-4 in a semifinal game at Alberts Field in San Rafael.

On Sunday, Justin-Siena got new life.

The Braves (14-10 overall) were awarded an at-large bid by a seeding committee in Walnut Creek and will open the CIF North Coast Section Class A baseball playoffs as the No. 2 seed at home Wednesday at 4 p.m. against No. 7 Cloverdale (17-7), a North Central League I South team.

“Obviously, we feel like it’s a blessing that we got the No. 2 seed, but the No. 2 seed came along with the strength of schedule that we played and in the league that we play in,” said first-year Braves’ coach Scott Wright. Of the 24 regular-season games the Braves have played, 19 of those have been against schools with larger enrollments, such as 2A and 3A teams. They were second in the MCAL’s regular season, going 11-5.

“As far as having a home game, it would appear that it puts us in a very good position to move forward in the tournament. It eliminates the travel and the unfamiliarity of going to a school that we haven’t seen before, a field that we’ve never played on. All those things, it appears to be favorable toward us. Of course, the bottom line is how we go out and how we play catch, how we pitch and how we hit.”

The news was also good for the Calistoga softball team. The Wildcats (11-10), who play in the NCL II South, were installed as the No. 7 seed and after a first-round bye start the NCS Class B playoffs at No. 2 Ferndale Wednesday at 4 p.m. Ferndale (18-6) plays in the Humboldt Del Norte League.

The news wasn’t so good for the Justin-Siena softball team. Coach Trisha Wall’s bid for an at-large spot into the NCS Class A playoffs was denied by a committee.

Justin-Siena has a chance to bounce back from last week’s one-run loss in the league baseball tournament. But in a single-elimination format, there is little margin for mistakes or errors, meaning the Braves will need to be at peak form.

“A very big concern is our playing catch right now,” said Wright. “We can’t afford to give extra outs. We feel very strong that we’ll make that adjustment.”

In other first-round games Wednesday, which all have 4 p.m. starts:

• St. Vincent-Petaluma (18-4), from the NCL I South, is the No. 1 seed and will host No. 8 Willits (12-9), a NCL I North team, at Petaluma High.

• No. 4 Salesian-Richmond (16-8), from the Bay Shore Athletic League, meets No. 5 Lick Wilmerding-San Francisco (18-6), from the Bay Counties League West, at Skyline College-San Bruno.

• No. 3 Berean Christian-Walnut Creek (21-6), from the BCL East, plays No. 6 Head-Royce of Oakland (19-5), a BCL East school, at Diablo Valley College-Pleasant Hill.

“This is the second season,” Wright said. “The second season’s always just a little bit higher level of baseball. We feel good about the bracket, the draws and everything.

“As a coaching staff, we’ve never doubted that we would get to this point. We’ve always felt like we’ve had the athletes. We’ve always felt that these kids have everything it takes to play that final game. We’re very confident that we can keep going and get to that championship game.”

Wins by Justin-Siena and Berean Christian will put the Braves on the road Saturday for a semifinal game at Diablo Valley College at 4 p.m. But a Justin-Siena victory, coupled with a Head-Royce win, will keep the Braves at home Saturday in a 4 p.m. start.

The NCS title game is June 2.

“The respect is definitely there throughout the North Coast Section for the program, and you’ve got to give (former coach) Allen (Rossi) a ton of credit for the last eight years that he was there, that he built that program, the reputation,” said Wright. “We’ve just to keep it going.

“We feel like we got a fortunate draw. We just have to execute and play like we can play. We’re just looking forward to Wednesday.”

The Braves won CIF North Coast Section Class A titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005 under Rossi, a run that distinguished Justin-Siena as among the top schools in the state for baseball. The Braves went a perfect 27-0 in 2005 and also won three Marin County Athletic League titles.

They appeared in five straight section title games and six total under Rossi, who resigned from his job as the Braves’ head coach last year.

Meanwhile, San Marin won the MCAL Tournament Saturday night, edging Sir Francis Drake-San Anselmo, 3-2. It was the Mustangs’ first league title since 1991.