That’s what the postseason is all about, building up momentum so you can play your best when the games mean the most.

And that was a positive formula for many Clark County teams this season.

Indeed, it was the spring of the underdog, or underhawk, or undereagle or underthunder — no matter how awkward that sounds.

The Heritage baseball team knows exactly how cruel the postseason can be. The Timberwolves last year won the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League title only to lose in the district title game and then again in bi-district playoff to get to state.

But this year, the Timberwolves turned the tables on the upsets, beating Skyview, Prairie and then Battle Ground in the championship game to win the district title as the No. 3 seed. Heritage opens the 4A state playoffs at 10 a.m. Saturday against Puyallup in the opening game of the Tacoma Regional at Heidelberg Park.

The Battle Ground baseball team also knows what it’s like to be the underdog. The Tigers opened the league season strong, but a midseason slump threatened their hopes of a league title.

But an incredible rally in an 18-17 win over Prairie propelled Battle Ground to the 4A GSHL title. And even after the Tigers fell to Heritage on Thursday, they bounced back with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat Lake Washington of Kirkland on Saturday to earn the school’s first state playoff berth in baseball in 16 seasons.

Battle Ground will face Kentlake at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Kent Regional of the 4A state playoffs.

No other baseball team has had a bigger Cinderella postseason this spring than the Hockinson Hawks.

Hockinson had to beat Elma in a pigtail game just to get into the 2A district tournament. Once there, the Hawks knocked off third-ranked W.F. West of Chehalis and the beat Aberdeen to reach the district title game.

Hockinson will be looking to bounce back from its title-game loss in the opening game of the Yelm Regional of the 2A state playoffs when the Hawks face Cedarcrest at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Now, usually when underdogs pull off upsets to advance in the playoffs, their Cinderella run ends rather abruptly in the next round of the postseason.

But the Mountain View softball team showed last season that is not always the case. The Thunder captured the 4A district title as the No. 4 seed last season, then used that momentum to advance all the way to the 4A state championship game.

The Thunder are on a similar path this spring, winning another district title this time starting as the No. 3 seed. However, this year’s feat wasn’t as impressive as last year because the 4A GSHL was so competitive this year, it was not a big surprise to see any of the top four teams take the title.

That said, we would not be surprised to see the Evergreen softball team make some noise at the state tournament if the Plainsmen can get past a bi-district playoff game at 2 p.m. Saturday against the No. 3 team from District 2.

The first-year Union softball team got back-to-back shutouts from Lindsay Sasse to reach the 3A district final, and a bloop single was all that stood between the Titans and a district title. Still, Union looks to advance to state by winning a couple of games at the West-Central bi-district tournament in Tacoma on Friday and Saturday, starting with its 2 p.m. opener against Sumner.

In boys soccer, Mountain View will try for something no 4A GSHL team has done since 2002 — win a first-round game in the 4A state playoffs — when the Thunder face Kentwood at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Battle Ground’s District Stadium.

Last season, Hudson’s Bay scored a big upset by beating Columbia River in the district playoffs. But the Eagles’ season ended with a loss in the bi-district playoff.

This season, Bay repeated the upset of league runner-up River on Tuesday, then followed that up with a 2-1 win over Highline of Burien in the bi-district playoff.

On Tuesday, Bay will make its first appearance in the 3A state playoffs when the Eagles travel to play Mercer Island — a state semifinalist two years ago — at 7 p.m.

La Center, the No. 3 seed from District 4, also will be looking for an upset bid when it opens the 1A state playoffs at Charles Wright of Tacoma on Tuesday.

But there’s nothing surprising about seeing Camas in the boys soccer state playoffs. It will be the 10th consecutive appearance at state for the Papermakers when they host Nathan Hale of Seattle in the 3A state playoffs at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator at The Columbian. He can be reached by phone at (360) 735-4538 or e-mail at tim.martinez@columbian.com.