Cougars have won tournament 8 times,
including last one during 2019 season
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
NEWTON – Alexander Central High is the top seed for the Catawba County Easter Baseball Classic, which returns Monday after two years of not being able to play because of Covid.
Pairings have been released and they were based on winning percentages through games of Tuesday.
Alexander Central was 15-1 at that point and faces No. 8 Newton-Conover (5-9) in the third game at the Legion Fairgrounds Henkel-Alley Field at 4 p.m. on Monday.
COUGARS’ BEST
A look at Alexander Central’s most recent title game wins in the Catawba County Easter Classic:
Year Result
2003 No. 1 AC 1, No. 2 St. Stephens 0
2004 No. 1 AC 11, No. 2 Hickory 1
2005 No. 3 AC 10, No. 1 Mooresville 2
2019 No. 4 AC 7, No. 7 St. Stephens 1
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files
The tournament opens at 11 a.m. with No. 7 West Lincoln (7-10) against No. 2 Fred T. Foard (11-2) before No. 6 Bunker Hill (7-8) battles No. 3 St. Stephens (13-3) at 1:30 p.m.
The last game on Monday is at 6:30 p.m. with No. 5 Hickory (8-6) facing No. 4 Hibriten (10-7).
Admission each day is $7.
The Classic turns 30 this year with Alexander Central the last champion (2019).
The Cougars have a tournament-best eight titles, and they have finished second six times and third once.
Hickory, which has seven tournament titles – the last in 2018 – has finished in the top three the most times (20) while Alexander Central and Bunker Hill have each been in the top three 15 times.
Alexander Central is the only entry to win the Classic in four straight seasons (1992-1995), and the Cougars also won three straight from 2003-2005.
Bunker Hill won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011 while Hickory won in 2017 and again in 2018.
The Cougars won the 2019 tournament as a No. 4 seed, beating No. 7 St. Stephens 7-1 in the championship game.
In the last six events, the top seed has reached the title game only once – No. 2 Hickory beat No. 1 Alexander Central in 2018 – and no No. 1 seed has won the crown.
Seeds for the last six champions have been No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 5, No. 2 and No. 4.
A tournament highlight will include seeing how many wins two head coaches chasing No. 500 for their career can add. David Craft of Hickory had 491 career wins through Wednesday, and Pete Hardee of Alexander Central had 463.
CATAWBA COUNTY EASTER BASEBALL CLASSIC
(All games at Henkel-Alley Field, Legion Fairgrounds)
Monday’s games
Game 1: No. 7 W. Lincoln vs. No. 2 Fred T. Foard, 11 a.m.
Game 2: No. 6 Bunker Hill vs. No. 3 St. Stephens, 1:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 8 Newton-Conover vs. No. 1 Alexander Central, 4 p.m.
Game 4: No. 5 Hickory vs. No. 4 Hibriten, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday’s games
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 11 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, semifinal, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, semifinal, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday’s games
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, third place, 4 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, championship, 6:30 p.m.
