TODAY’S BLAST FROM THE PAST: Last top seed to win Easter Classic was…

Game-by game results for the 2011 Bunker Hill baseball team, the last top seed to reach (and win) an Easter Classic title.

By CHRIS HOBBS

HobbsDailyReport.com

Generally, the road to the championship game of the Catawba Valley Easter Classic is – at best – bumpy.

As the 27th edition of the tournament begins on Monday at the Legion Fairgrounds Field in Newton, five straight top-seeded teams have failed to advance to the title game.

Fred T. Foard owns the top seed for 2017’s tournament.

Curtis

Curtis

The last No. 1 seed to get to the final (also the last top seed to win it) was a 2011 powerhouse team at Bunker Hill coached by Marty Curtis, who is still guiding the Bears.

Bunker Hill was 20-0 when it entered the Classic and beat Newton-Conover 8-0 in the first round, Fred T. Foard 7-0 in a semifinal and Hickory 11-3 for the title.

After an upset 5-1 loss at Bandys to close the regular-season, the Bears won three straight games by a combined score of 34-6 to win the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A tournament title.

Bunker Hill then faced Starmount in the opening round of the state 2A tournament that season and fell 8-3 at Bunker Hill to finish 26-2 (see pictured list of the Bears’ full season results).

CATAWBA VALLEY EASTER CLASSIC

Top seeds for the Classic since 2000, with team record entering the tournament and the championship game result:

Year    Top seed                                Title game result

2000 Bunker Hill (17-4)               No. 1 Bunker Hill 4, No. 2 St. Stephens 2

2001 St. Stephens (11-2)              No. 4 Newton-Conover 5, No. 6 Foard 0

2002 St. Stephens (10-1)             No. 1 St. Stephens 5, No. 6 Alex Central 3

2003 Alex Central (11-5)             No. 1 Alex Central 1, No. 2 St. Stephens 0

2004 Alex Central (13-0)            No. 1 Alex Central 11, No. 2 Hickory 1, 5 inn.

2005 Mooresville (3-1)               No. 3 Alex Central 10, No. 1 Mooresville 2

2006 Fred T. Foard (13-2)          No. 3 Mooresville 3, No. 1 Foard 2

2007 St. Stephens (10-2)           No. 3 Foard 6, No. 5 Alex Central 5

2008 Mooresville (6-2)             No. 1 Mooresville 6, No. 2 St. Stephens 1

2009 W. Lincoln (12-0)            No. 7 St. Stephens 13, No. 5 Foard 2, 5 inn.

2010 Bunker Hill (12-0)            No. 1 Bunker Hill 5, No. 6 St. Stephens 4

2011 Bunker Hill (20-0)           No. 1 Bunker Hill 11, No. 2 Hickory 3

2012 S. Iredell (8-4)                 No. 2 Hickory 12, No. 5 Maiden 1, 5 inn.

2013 Bunker Hill (8-5)            No. 2 St. Stephens 4, No. 4 W. Caldwell 0

2014 Bunker Hill (14-3)         No. 2 Foard 7, No. 5 Hickory 4

2015 Maiden (10-2)                No 4 Watauga 8, No. 3 Bunker Hill 3

2016 Bunker Hill (9-3)           No. 5 St. Stephens 1, No. 2 Hickory 0

 

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