HobbsDailyReport.com
STILL ALIVE
Teams still in the running for a state baseball title who play in one of four area leagues:
2A — R-S Central (23-4)
3A — Crest (18-6)
4A — Lake Norman (25-3)
The high school baseball season, at least for Greater Hickory area teams, is complete.
Marvin Ridge nipped visiting Fred T. Foard 3-2 in 3A and Southeast Guilford pounded visiting South Caldwell 10-0 in 4A on Tuesday night in third-round games.
Foard — posting its most wins since 2006 — finished 19-6 while South Caldwell (19-6) fell a win shy of reaching 20 wins for the fourth straight year and 11th time in 12 seasons.
No other game details were available.
Second-seeded Marvin Ridge (24-5) advances to play No. 10 Cuthbertson (22-7) next.
No. 3 Southeast Guilford (24-4) earns a road game at No. 2 Lake Norman (25-3).
All fourth round games must be played by Friday.
In games involving other teams from the Greater Hickory area’s four conferences:
2A
No. 2 R-S Central 3, No. 12 East Rutherford 2: The Hilltoppers beat their South Mountain Athletic 2A-3A rivals for the second time in three games this season to assure the state will have a new 2A champion.
R-S Central ran its home record to 12-1 by winning, and the Hilltoppers have won 11 of their last 12 games.
R-S Central (23-4), a No. 2 seed, meets No. 3 West Davidson (21-6) next in Forest City.
West Davidson advanced Tuesday by beating No. 10 Mount Pleasant 3-1.
If R-S Central wins one more game, it will play a best-of-3 West title series beginning on Tuesday against No. 7 Lake Norman Charter (18-7) or No. 1 Forbush (24-3).
3A
No. 7 Crest 5, No. 1 Ledford 2: At Ledford, the Chargers (18-6) got three hits and two RBIs in support of a strong outing from junior Riley Cheek to advance.
Cheek allowed one earned run over 5 1/3 innings and struck out five as Crest won its 12th straight game.
CJ Mayhue came on to record a save for the Chargers with four strikeouts among the five outs he registered.
A three-run fourth inning helped Crest win.
The Chargers will travel for the fourth round on Friday (7 p.m.), facing fourth-seeded West Rowan (21-6) after the Falcons rallied from seven runs down to beat No. 5 Asheville Reynolds 8-7 in eight innings in Mount Ulla.
If Crest reaches the West title series, best-of-3 starting on Tuesday, it would face No. 10 Cuthbertson (22-7) or No. 2 Marvin Ridge (24-5).
4A
No. 2 Lake Norman 11, No. 27 Mooresville 1: The host Wildcats (25-3) beat the Blue Devils (14-13) for the third time this season, advancing to a fourth round game against No. 3 Southeast Guilford (24-4).
Lake Norman will be at home in the next round.
The teams opposite the Wildcats in the bracket are No. 5 Providence (24-6) and No. 1 Asheville Roberson (26-3).
A best-of-3 West title series is schedule to begin on Tuesday.