HobbsDailyReport.com
SPARTANS VS. FORSYTH COUNTY
A look at South Caldwell High’s postseason baseball results since 1984 when facing a team from Forsyth County:
Year Round Opp./Result
1985 1 W. Forsyth, W 10-0
1991 1 W-S Glenn, L 0-8
1995 3 W-S Glenn, L 1-9
2006 Semis N. Forsyth, L 4-8
N. Forsyth, W 1-0
N. Forsyth, W 3-1
2008 2 Mt. Tabor, W 9-0
2015 2 W. Forsyth, W 3-2
2016 1 W-S Reagan, W 4-0
2 W. Forsyth, W 11-1
2017 1 E. Forsyth, W 8-7
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files
Trent Black allowed just two hits and reliever Daniel Dye got the final out via a strikeout on Friday night, leading South Caldwell High past visiting Greensboro Grimsley 3-0 in a second round state 4A baseball playoff game.
Black walked four and struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings before giving way to Dye as the fifth-seeded Spartans (23-3) gained their 49th postseason win since 1984.
PARHAM
South Caldwell goes for career win No. 397 for head coach Jeff Parham, now in his 18th season, when it plays at home in the third round against No. 13 West Forsyth (22-6), a 5-4 winner at No. 4 Pinecrest in the second round.
West Forsyth and South Caldwell must play their third round game by Tuesday.
Greensboro Grimsley, a No. 12 seed, finished 13-12.
The only Whirlies hits on Friday were a single by Will Caviness and a double by Nile Harris, and Jake Bloss took a loss after pitching 5 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits, three runs (two earned), walked five and struck out five.
Austin Reynor, South Caldwell’s leadoff hitter, had two of their hits. Owen Foxx and Tyler Wike each had a hit and Austin Blevins and Kenin Anderson drove in runs for the Spartans.
South Caldwell scored a run in the first inning and two in the sixth inning.
Black threw 108 pitchers, 65 of them for strikes, and the Spartans reached 23 wins for the fifth time in seven seasons.
This is South Caldwell’s fifth straight trip to at least the third round. They got to the fourth round in 2016 and were eliminated in the third round in 2017, 2015 and 2014.
The Spartans will battle West Forsyth for the third time in four seasons and fourth time since 1984. They beat the Titans in 1985 (first round) and in the second round in 2015 and 2016.
Salisbury 6, Hibriten 1
Right-hander Griffin Myers threw a complete game, allowing three hits and striking out eight, as the No. 22 Hornets (17-10) beat visiting Hibriten in a second round 2A game.
Myers walked one and hit two batters but otherwise stayed in control to eliminate the 27th-seeded Panthers (12-11), who made five errors.
Left-hander Houston Lawing took the loss for Hibriten, which led 1-0 early when Matthew Walker scored on a wild pitch.
Salisbury went up 3-1 in the third inning when a blooper into the outfield was misplayed and later led 5-1 after run-scoring hits by Blaine Shellhorn and Parker Lippard (batting No. 8 and No. 9 in the batting order).
Brad Schmertler had two hits for Hibriten.
Salisbury travels in the third round, playing at the winner of Saturday’s No. 14 Franklin (16-7) at No. 3 North Davidson (20-4) game.
Smoky Mountain 6, Lincolnton 5
No. 4 Smoky Mountain needed a late rally to slip past No. 20 Lincolnton (12-9) in a second round 2A game.
Lane Hoover had two hits and drove in three runs for the Wolves while Robbie Cowie added two hits and an RBI.
Karson Williams threw 61/3 innings for Lincolnton, which trailed 3-0 through two innings.
The Wolves closed within 3-1 with a run in the fifth inning and went up 5-3 with four runs in the sixth inning.
Smoky Mountain (20-3) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win.
Next up for Smoky Mountain is a third-round game at home, facing the winner of Saturday’s No. 12 South Point (16-9) at No. 5 Forbush (21-5) game.
North Lincoln 17, Fred T. Foard 4, 5 inn.
The top-seeded Knights (23-2) ran their win streak to 16 games with their highest-scoring game of the season, eliminating visiting Fred T. Foard (12-10, N. 16 seed) in the 2A bracket.
North Lincoln’s losses this season are 11-3 at Forestview in a season-opener and 6-5 at Bandys on March 27, after which the Knights started their current win streak.
North Lincoln is 10-0 at home this season after scoring double-figure runs for the third time this season. The Knights’ previous high was in a 12-2 win at West Lincoln.
Next up for North Lincoln is a home third-round game that must be played by Tuesday, and it will be against Saturday’s 7 p.m. game, No. 24 Mount Pleasant (17-11) at No. 8 West Wilkes (21-4).
SOFTBALL
Alexander Central 8, South Iredell 6
Chesney Millsaps went 2-for-5 with five RBIs and threw a complete game for her 22nd win of the season as the third-seeded Cougars (22-5) advanced in the 3A bracket.
Visiting South Iredell, a No. 19 seeded, finished 14-11.
Alexander Central leadoff hitter Lanie Goforth went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs and Kelsea Dejarnette added two hits.
The Vikings outhit the Cougars 10-9, getting two each from Kelby Goodrum and Abbey Goodrum. Abbey Goodrum drove in three runs and Holly Deal drove in two.
Ashton Dagenhart gave up nine hits in six innings, plus eight earned runs, and walked four and struck out none to take a loss for South Iredell.
Alexander Central gained a 3-0 lead after one inning and was up 4-3 until the Vikings scored three runs in the top of the third inning.
The Cougar opened an 8-3 lead with a four-run fourth inning.
Alexander Central will be at home for a third-round game that must be played by Tuesday, facing No. 6 Crest (23-3). The Chargers advanced by beating No. 22 Northern Guilford 10-0 on Crest on Friday.
North Lincoln 15, Canton Pisgah 14
After leading by three runs early and trailing by six late in a 2A game, the Knights scored seven runs in their final at-bat to advance.
North Lincoln (18-4) next plays No. 13 Bunker Hill (14-6) in a third-round game at North Lincoln that must be played by Tuesday.
Bunker Hill reached the third round for the first time since 1984 by winning 11-2 at No. 4 Maiden on Friday night.
The third round winner would very likely be on the road for the fourth round, as the remaining seeds in that half of the bracket heading into Saturday’s games are No. 17 South Rowan, No. 9 R-S Central, No. 8 North Davidson and No. 1 West Stanly.
Fred T. Foard 3, East Lincoln 2
The third-seeded Tigers (19-3) nipped the visiting Mustangs (15-7, No. 19 seed) to reach the third round in 2A.
It’s Foard’s first trip to the third round since 2013 when it beat Franklin before being eliminated in the next round by Enka.
Foard’s third round foe will be No. 11 Brevard (19-3) or No. 6 Madison (20-0), and the game will be at Foard and must be played by Tuesday.
The Tigers have not Madison in brackets dating back to 1984, and they last met Brevard in the second round of the 3A bracket in 1992, winning 6-5.
South Caldwell 8, McDowell 6
The second-seeded Spartans (24-2) eliminated conference foe McDowell (16-8) in Hudson, advancing to a third-round game against No. 10 West Forsyth in 4A.
West Forsyth will visit South Caldwell in a game that must be played by Tuesday.
No game details were available.
South Caldwell, which had a first-round bye, reaches the third round for the fifth straight season. The Spartans lost to Lake Norman in the third round in 2014, lost in the West 4A title series to North Davidson in 2015 and to the Knights in the third round in 2016 and 2017.
The teams left in the same side of the West bracket as the Spartans are No. 6 Northwest Guilford (18-4) and No. 3 Mooresville (21-4).
GIRLS SOCCER
Northern Guilford 2, Hickory 1
Visiting Northern Guilford, a No. 10 seed, eliminated the seventh-seeded Red Tornadoes (16-5-0) in a 3A second round match.
All of the scoring came in the second half.
Foard match postponed
A second-round 2A match between No. 14 Fred T. Foard (15-4-2) and No. 3 Hendersonville (15-1-1) at Hendersonville was postponed by rain.
The Tigers’ match is scheduled Saturday at 4 p.m., with the winner advancing to next play No. 11 South Point (15-4-0) or No. 6 R-S Central (16-3-0), who also play Saturday.