No. 1 seed
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
NEWTON – As the top seed, Fred T. Foard High’s baseball team gets its next challenge when the 27th annual Catawba Valley Easter Classic opens Monday at the Legion Fairgrounds.
A No. 1 seed hasn’t advanced to the championship game of the tournament since Bunker Hill beat second-seeded Hickory to win the crown in 2011.
No. 2 seed
Since then, the six championship battles have been: a 5 versus 2, 4 vs. 2, 5 vs. 2, 4 vs. 3 — and last year — fifth-seeded St. Stephens edged second-seeded Hickory 1-0 to win the tournament.
Head coach Channon Vogel’s Tigers (12-3-1) are the No. 1 tournament seed for the first time since 2006, when they got to the final and were beaten 3-2 by third-seeded Mooresville.
Foard’s 2017 tournament opener is the third game of the opening round, a 4 p.m. start against No.8 Newton-Conover on Monday.
No. 3 seed
Foard enters the Classic riding a seven-game win streak and atop the Northwestern 3A-4A standings.
No. 4 seed
The Tigers last won the tournament in 2014 as a No. 2 seed by beating fifth-seeded Hickory 7-4.
TIDBITS
- Bunker Hill and Alexander Central, with 11-6 records through Wednesday, were tied for the No. 2 seed. The Bears won No. 2 in a draw.
- West Lincoln and Hibriten were not in last year’s field; they are replacing Maiden and West Caldwell, with Maiden heading to Myrtle Beach, S.C., next week to play in the Mingo Bay Classic.
- Alexander Central leads the field with seven Classic titles, followed by Hickory with five and Bunker Hill and St. Stephens with four each.
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No. 5 seed
Four schools in this year’s field have posted top three finishes 10 or more times – Hickory 17, Bunker Hill 14, Alexander Central 12 and St. Stephens 11 with Foard next at 7.
- In recent Classic finals, St. Stephens is the lowest seed to win it – as a No. 5 last year and as a No. 7 in 2009 (beat No.5 Foard 13-5.
- Since 2000, the top-seeded team has won the title just seven times.
No. 7 seed