HobbsDailyReport.com
South Caldwell High, which finished third last season in Northwestern 3A-4A softball, will do no worse than share the league title this time around.
The Spartans won a makeup game at Hibriten 4-3 on Thursday and that, coupled with Freedom beating Fred T. Foard 8-6 in Morganton, locked the Spartans in to at least win a co-championship.
The Northwestern 3A-4A plays a 14-game schedule with South Caldwell now 11-0, followed by Foard at 9-3 and Freedom at 7-4.
If head coach Casey Justice’s Spartans were to drop their last three league games – at Foard, at home against Freedom and at home against Watauga – Foard could win out and share the conference title with the Spartans.
If South Caldwell beats Foard on April 25 at Foard, it wins an outright conference title.
Freedom 8, Foard 6: At Freedom, the Patriots beat the Tigers to move within 1 ½ games of Foard in the battle for second place in the Northwestern 3A-4A.
Freedom is just ahead of St. Stephens and Hibriten, both 6-6, in the conference race.
SOUTHERN DISTRICT 7 ATHLETIC 2A
Maiden 9, West Lincoln 7: At Maiden, the Blue Devils helped shake up the conference standings by beating the Rebels, who came into the game alone in second place.
Maiden’s win left West Lincoln at 8-3 in the league, still a game back of league-leading East Lincoln, and the Blue Devils, 8-4 in the conference, share third place with Bunker Hill.
Bunker Hill 13, Bandys 1: At Bandys, the Bears won handily after scoring six runs in the first inning and three more in the second inning.
Bunker Hill is 8-4 in the league and the Trojans, dropping to 3-8, are in sixth place.
SOUTH MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC 2A-3A
R-S Central 8, Chase 3: At Chase, the Hilltoppers won to reach 11-1 in the conference and stay atop the standings.
R-S Central has a three-game lead over Crest as the SMAC 2A-3A heads toward completing a 16-game schedule.
NORTH PIEDMONT 3A-4A
Alexander Central 4, Mooresville 3: See separate post with game details.
Lake Norman 11, North Iredell 6: At North Iredell, the Wildcats won and are a half-game behind Alexander Central.
The top three spots in the conference are held by its 4A teams – Alexander Central, Lake Norman and Mooresville.