South Caldwell is a win shy of 20 as it travels to face Southeast Guilford in the fourth round of the state 4A playoffs on Tuesday.
HobbsDailyReport.com
Tuesday night is a big one for area teams still alive in the state playoffs, highlighted by South Caldwell High trying to get into the fourth round in baseball in back-to-back seasons.
The sixth-seeded Spartans (19-5) travel to play No. 3 Southeast Guilford (23-4) at 7 p.m.
If South Caldwell wins to reach 20 or more wins for the fourth straight year and 11th time in 12 seasons, it advances to the next round and a game that must be played by Friday.
In a bracket opposite the Spartans are North Piedmont 3A-4A foes Mooresville (14-12, No. 27 seed) and Lake Norman (24-3, No. 2 seed), who play Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Lake Norman.
A South Caldwell-Mooresville game would be played in Hudson, and a South Caldwell-Lake Norman game would be played at Lake Norman.
South Caldwell won its third round game a year ago, beating Lake Norman 2-0 before getting drilled by No. 4 Providence 17-0 in the fourth round.
Other area teams still alive are:
BASEBALL
3A: Sixth-seeded Fred T. Foard (19-5) needs a win on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at No. 2 Marvin Ridge (23-5) to advance.
Foard can reach 20 wins for the first time since 2006 with a third-round victory.
The Tigers have been this deep in the bracket three times in records dating back to 1984 and they’re 0-3 in those games.
With a victory tonight on the road against Marvin Ridge in the third round of the state 3A baseball playoffs, Foard would have 20 wins for the second time since 1998.
A win on the road advances Foard to either a trip to No. 3 South Point (23-5) or a home game against No. 10 Cuthbertson (21-7), depending on the winner of that Tuesday battle in Belmont.
Also on the road on Tuesday is No. 7 Crest (17-6), which goes to top-seeded Ledford (24-3).
The Chargers could get a matchup with No. 5 Asheville Reynolds (17-6) or No. 4 West Rowan (20-6) in the next round.
2A: There’s a huge game in Rutherford County on Tuesday, pitting South Mountain Athletic 2A-3A rivals R-S Central (22-4, No. 2 seed) against East Rutherford (19-6, No. 12 seed) with R-S Central the home team.
The teams met twice in the SMAC 2A-3A regular season, each winning at home (the Cavs 2-1 and the Hilltoppers 7-1).
The winner gets No. 10 Mount Pleasant (18-7) or No. 3 West Davidson (20-6) next.
East Rutherford, after a fourth-place SMAC 2A-3A finish last season, got hot and won the state 2A championship.
SOFTBALL
2A: Draughn (17-6), a No. 14 seed, has a third-round home game on Tuesday at 6 p.m., facing No. 26 South Stokes (14-12).
The Wildcats knocked off a No. 3 seed (Forbush) to earn a third-round matchup with the Sauras, who started their playoff run with a one-run victory over eighth-seeded West Lincoln.
Should Draughn win, it would play a game (by Friday) at No. 6 Parkwood (20-2) or No. 2 West Wilkes (25-1).
The South Mountain Athletic 2A-3A also has fifth-seeded R-S Central (20-2) still playing. The Hilltoppers are headed Tuesday to North Mecklenburg High (5:30 p.m.) to face No. 4 Lake Norman Charter (19-2).
Next up for the winner of that game is the winner of Tuesday’s No. 7 East Davidson (20-5) at No. 1 Madison (23-0) game.
3A: Ninth-seeded West Iredell (14-8) from the North Piedmont 3A-4A is at home Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to face No. 13 Sun Valley (17-6).
The Warriors need a win to set up a fourth-round game (by Friday) with No. 11 Cox Mill (20-4) or No. 2 Ledford (23-2).
4A: Three area teams, all playing on Tuesday night, are still alive.
In Taylorsville, top-seeded Alexander Central (25-3) faces No 5 Southwest Guilford (21-3) at 6 p.m., with the winner drawing No. 3 North Davidson (23-5) or No. 7 South Caldwell (21-6) in the fourth round.
South Caldwell is going to Welcome to face the Black Knights on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s third round game won by North Davidson 9-3 at home.
The Spartans also played the Black Knights in 2015 in a best-of-3 series, falling 6-2 and 2-0.
Alexander Central has gone head-to-head with North Davidson six times in the postseason.
The only previous Cougars-Spartans postseason game (since 1984) came in an opening round game in 2012 and the Cougars won 8-0.
Mooresville (20-3), a No. 10 seed, is headed to Charlotte on Tuesday to play No. 6 Catholic (18-4) at 6:30 p.m.
Next up for the Blue Devils would be No. 11 Davie County (22-4) or N. 2 Richmond County (23-4).
GIRLS SOCCER
The area teams still chasing a state title are Newton-Conover in 2A, Kings Mountain and South Iredell in 3A and Watauga in 4A, with all playing third-round matches on Wednesday.
Fourth-seeded Newton-Conover (16-2-1) faces No. 5 Forbush (19-5-1) in Newton at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
No. 5 Kings Mountain (21-2-0) travels to No. 4 Cox Mill (21-2) for a Wednesday 6:30 p.m. match, and top-seeded South Iredell (20-0-0) is at home Wednesday at 7 p.m. against No. 11 Hickory Ridge (17-4-2).
Watauga (13-2-3, No. 6 seed) faces top-seeded West Forsyth (22-1-1) in Clemmons on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
All fourth round matches must be played by Saturday.
Next up would be No. 7 Lake Norman Charter (17-5-0) or top-seeded Hendersonville (19-1-0) for Newton-Conover.
Kings Mountain would be at home to play No. 8 Waynesville Tuscola (15-7-0) or No. 15 Marvin Ridge (15-5-2), while South Iredell would be home to face No. 6 Weddington (19-2-0) or No. 3 Asheville Reynolds (21-1-2).
A win by Watauga would move the Pioneers opposite No. 9 Asheville Roberson (16-5-1) or No. 4 Myers Park (16-1-2).