South Caldwell reached 18 wins on Wednesday night and has won at least that many games 18 times in 20 years.
HobbsDailyReport.com
South Caldwell High won its state 4A baseball playoff opener at home on Wednesday night, beating Greensboro Page 9-2 to gain a shot at reaching the postseason’s third round for the fourth straight season.
The sixth-seeded Spartans (18-5-1) advance to play No. 11 East Forsyth — a 4-3 winner over No. 23 Olympic — in a second round game that must be played by Saturday.
The game will be played in Hudson on a date and time to be determined.
If South Caldwell wins again, it will advance to a third-round game on Tuesday against No. 14 Ardrey Kell or No. 3 Southeast Guilford.
The Spartans’ victory got them to 18 wins for the 17th time in 20 seasons, and they’re chasing a bid into at least the third round for the 12th time since 1984.
No. 2 Lake Norman 1, No. 29 Davie County 0: The red-hot Wildcats (23-3, No. 2 seed) ran their win streak to 10 with a home first-round 4A victory over the 29th-seeded War Eagles.
Lake Norman scored the game’s only run in the sixth inning.
The Wildcats’ second round game is Thursday night (6 p.m.) at home against No. 16 Winston-Salem Reagan, which advanced with a 10-0 win over No. 17 East Mecklenburg.
The game winner goes to Tuesday’s third round to play the winner of No. 27 Mooresville at No. 9 Butler. Lake Norman would play host to the game if it wins on Thursday night.
3A
No. 7 South Rowan 7, No. 5 Hickory 2: Visiting South Rowan doubled the Red Tornadoes in hits, 12-6, and benefitted from two bases-loaded walks to end Hickory’s season.
The Raiders’ No. 6 through No. 9 hitters had nine hits, drove in four runs and scored six of their runs.
Walker Joyce went 2-for-4 for South Rowan with two RBIs and threw a complete game (no walks, 10 strikeouts).
Jarrid Nelson and Dillon Norton each had three hits for the Raiders, who had a four-run sixth inning that featured three hits and two walks by Hickory’s Pierson Hanvey on 3-2 counts with the bags full.
Bryson Stober and Macory Mitchell had two hits each with Mitchell hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning for Hickory while Baylor Pait took the pitching loss, allowing five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
The Raiders now play at top-seeded Ledford.
Hickory has not won a postseason game since beating Weddington in the first game of a best-of-3 series for the West title in 2013.
The Red Tornadoes have dropped five straight postseason games in a row.
No. 17 Concord Robinson 14, No. 16 North Lincoln 1: Visiting Robinson collected 17 hits and broke open a first-round 3A game by scoring four runs in the fifth inning and six in the sixth inning to eliminate the Knights (14-8).
North Lincoln scored its only run in the first inning, pulling within 2-1, and finished with nine hits.
Robinson now travels to play No. 3 South Point in Belmont after the Red Raiders advanced by pounding No. 31 Hickory Ridge 12-2.
No. 2 Marvin Ridge 6, No. 30 Kings Mountain 0: Jake Huchmaner threw a complete game with seven strikes out as Marvin Ridge won a first-round 3A game at home over the Mountaineers (11-14).
Alex Leshock had two hits, one a home run, to lead Marvin Ridge.
Marvin Ridge next plays at home against No. 19 East Rowan, a 7-3 winner over No. 13 North Gaston.
2A
Bunker Hill won its 2A playoff opener on Wednesday night, moving Marty Curtis into his 845th game as head coach of the Bears.
No. 14 Bunker Hill 4, No. 20 Black Mountain Owen 0: The Bears (18-8) ran their win streak to six games, picking up head coach Marty Curtis’ 436th career win, in a first-round 2A game.
It was the seventh shutout win of the year for Bunker Hill’s pitching staff, and the Bears are out of the first round for the first time since 2014 when they won the West 2A title.
A win at No. 4 Franklin – a game that must be played by Saturday – gets Bunker Hill to the third round for the third time in 33 seasons (2010 and 2014).
Curtis has in the Bears in the postseason for the ninth straight year, and his next game will be his 845th as Bunker Hill’s head coach.
No. 16 Draughn 5, No. 18 Parkwood 4: Playing at home in a first-round game, Draughn won its fourth one-run game of the season to advance to the second round.
The Wildcats (14-8, No. 16 seed) go on the road to play top-seeded Forbush next. Forbush advanced by beating No. 32 Madison 9-0 at Forbush.
Draughn won just six games last season and is in the second round for the third time in school history but has never reached the third round.
The game with Forbush will be Draughn’s ninth postseason baseball game in school history.
No. 8 East Lincoln 14, No. 25 Ashe County 1: The Mustangs (14-10) snapped a three-game losing streak by winning their first-round game at home.
They were boosted by an 11-run third inning.
East Lincoln’s next game is at home against No. 8 seed (and defending state 2A champ) East Rutherford (18-6), which advanced with a 14-4 victory oer No. 22 Cramer.
No. 9 West Stanly 10, No. 24 West Lincoln 0: Zack Smith hit two home runs and drove in seven runs and Trent Wilson added three hits as the Colts eliminated the visiting Rebels (111-12, No. 24 seed) in five innings.
West Stanly travels to No. 6 Mountain Heritage for a second round game.
THURSDAY NIGHT
One of Foard’s best baseball seasons continues on Thursday night at 6 p.m. when the Tigers play host to Asheboro in a 3A second round game.
Foard at home: Sixth-seeded Fred T. Foard (18-5) goes for its sixth straight win on Thursday night at 6 p.m., facing No. 12 Asheboro in a second-round 3A game.
The Tigers won their postseason opener on Tuesday at home, 5-2 over No. 28 Cox Mill, and the Comets advanced by beating No. 23 Asheville 3-2.
Foard is making its 14th postseason appearance in 33 seasons and is trying to get past the second round for the fourth time in that span.
If the Tigers beat the Comets, they’ll play a third-round game on Tuesday against No. 19 East Rowan or No. 2 Marvin Ridge.
Foard’s previous second round wins since 1984 were against West Wilkes in 1984 and against North Gaston in 2009 and 2013.
The Tigers played for a state baseball title in the mid- to-late 1970s when Jeff Price was among those in the starting lineup, but they lost all of their third-round games since 1984 – to Alleghany (1984), to North Buncombe (2009) and to Patton (2013).
HISTORICIAL SOURCES: HobbsDailyReport.com files
SECOND ROUND SCHEDULE
(games must be played by Saturday)
2A
No. 12 E. Rutherford at No. 8 E. Lincoln, TBA
No. 16 Draughn at No. 1 Forbush, TBA
No 11 Bunker Hill at No. 4 Franklin, TBA
3A
No. 10 Cuthbertson at No. 8 S. Iredell, TBA
No. 12 Asheboro at No. 6 Foard, Thurs., 6 p.m.
No. 11 Carson at No. 7 Crest, TBA
4A
No. 15 Alex Central at No. 1 Ashv. Roberson, TBA
No. 11 E. Forsyth at N. 6 S. Caldwell, TBA
No. 27 Mooresville at No. 9 Butler, TBA
No. 16 W-S Reagan at No. 2 Lake Norman, Thurs., 6 p.m.