Postseason play arrives Monday for area high school softball teams, all with the common goal of celebrating a district championship.

Cape Coral hosts the District 4A-11 Tournament at the Northwest Softball Complex off Chiquita Boulevard near Tropicana Parkway.

Lemon Bay, unbeaten in district play, is the odds-on favorite to hoist the championship trophy next Friday night. No. 2 seed Ida Baker (19-3) and No. 3 seed North Fort Myers (15-6) are both capable of knocking off the top-seeded Manta Rays on a given night.

“I think we matched up better with Lemon Bay than the other (district) teams did,” said Mariner coach Donna Coleman. “We had them on the ropes a couple of times. Left the bases loaded and couldn’t come up with the key hit. The thing about Lemon Bay is they have speed in their lineup, more than the rest of us. You can make up for a lot of inadequacies with speed.”

The Tritons (12-8) first have to get past North Fort Myers Tuesday night and probably Baker in the semifinals before the Jekyll-and-Hyde squad can concern themselves with Lemon Bay.

“I never know which team will show up,” said Coleman. “We beat North once and they beat us once. We are capable of winning, but it’s been a battle all year. My team has not played together as a team. They have not jelled as a team. When the good team shows up we can play with anybody.”

The tournament gets under way at 7 p.m. Monday with Estero facing South Fort Myers and Cape Coral facing Cypress Lake. The winners advance to the quarterfinal round Tuesday. Estero or South draw Lemon Bay as their next opponent while Cape or Cypress will go against Baker.

The semifinals are set for 7 p.m. Wednesday and the championship game at 7 p.m. Friday.

In District 3A-12, Bishop Verot is in the driver’s seat for the five-team tournament title.

In just its second varsity season, the Island Coast Gators (8-13) are looking to advance to their first championship game when they play host LaBelle in Tuesday’s semifinals.

“We had a good stretch where we won five or six in a row, but the last couple of games we made a lot of errors,” said Gators first-year coach Tim Loughren. “They only won four games last year and we won eight this year, so that is a step in the right direction.”

The tournament opens Monday when Dunbar and Gateway Charter play for a spot in the semifinals against Bishop Verot. Semifinal winners play for the championship Wednesday at LaBelle.

“Last year the team was a bit lax,” said Loughren. “We tightened up a bit and became more regimented trying to get the girls all on the same page and doing the same things. We’re making progress.”