Hobbs Daily Report.com
South Caldwell nipped East Forsyth by a run on Saturday night in Hudson, evening its postseason record in 1-run games over the last 33 years at 11 wins, 11 losses.
South Caldwell High survived on Saturday night, beating visiting East Forsyth 8-7 to reach the third round of the state baseball playoffs for the fourth straight year, fifth time in six seasons and 13th time since 1985.
No additional game details were available from Hudson.
The sixth-seeded Spartans (19-5) advance to play in a third round 4A game that must be completed by Tuesday. They will go to Guilford County to play No. 3 Southeast Guilford (21-4), which beat No. 14 Ardrey Kell 6-2 on Friday night.
Records dating back to 1985 don’t reflect South Caldwell playing a postseason baseball game in Guilford County.
The home victory ran South Caldwell’s record in one-run games this season to 5-1 and — since 1984 — evened the Spartans’ record in such postseason games at 11-11.
If South Caldwell wins in the third round, it will face No. 27 Mooresville (14-12) in Hudson or go to No. 2 Lake Norman (24-3).
Mooresville and Lake Norman, both in the North Piedmont 3A-4A, will play at Lake Norman. Lake Norman swept the Blue Devils in the regular season, winning 8-0 and 7-1.
No. 1 Asheville Roberson 7, No. 15 Alexander Central 1: Leadoff hitter Collin Watts went 4-for-4 and homered three times as the Rams eliminated the Cougars in a second-round 4A game on Saturday night.
Roberson jumped to a 4-0 lead through two innings and ended up with 11 hits that helped it overcome making three errors.
Cougars starter Trae Starnes took the loss, giving up six hits, four runs (all earned) with one walk and one strikeout over 1 2/3 innings.
The Rams held the Cougars to seven hits, including two each by Rhyne Johnson and Tyler Campbell
Watts drove in five runs for Roberson (25-3), which plays a third-round game at home (by Tuesday) against No. 10 North Davidson (22-5).
Alexander Central finished 19-10 after going 13-13 the year and the Cougars have not reached the third round since 2007.
2A
No. 4 Franklin 4, No. 11 Bunker Hill 1: At Franklin, the Bears (18-9) had a six-game win streak halted in a second round game.
Franklin (18-6) scored a run in the third inning and three in the fifth inning. Bunker Hill’s run came in the fourth inning.
The Bears finished 6-6 in road games this season.
Bunker Hill head coach Marty Curtis exits his 34th season guiding the Bears with a career record of 436-409 with eight of his teams since 1997 winning at least 18 games.
Frankin’s next game is at home next week against No. 7 Lake Norman Charter (17-7), which nipped No. 14 Smoky Mountain 3-2 in Huntersville on Saturday.
No. 1 Forbush 1, No. 16 Draughn 0, 8 inn.: The visiting Wildcats suffered their fifth shutout loss of the season and were eliminated in the second round.
Draughn didn’t score for the second time in three games to finish 14-9 and end its sixth postseason bid shy of the third round.
The Wildcats haven’t won a second round game yet, falling to East Rutherford and West Lincoln in their previous chances.
No. 12 East Rutherford 1, No. 8 East Lincoln 0: Winning on the road on Saturday night, the Cavs (19-6) are alive as they defend their state 2A championship.
They’ve won three straight as they head to play South Mountain Athletic 2A-3A rival R-S Central (22-4, No. 2 seed) for the third time this season. That third round game must be played by Tuesday.
The win over the Mustangs (15-10) was the Cavs’ first one-run victory of the season and they’ve now collected five shutout wins.
East Rutherford beat R-S Central 2-1 in the regular season at East Rutherford and the Hilltoppers won 7-1 in Forest City.
No. 2 R-S Central 8, No. 13 Surry Central 0: The Hilltoppers (22-4) won at home on Saturday to set up another battle with Rutherford County rival East Rutherford.
3A
No. 7 Crest 9, No. 11 Carson 5: The Chargers grabbed their 11th straight win, beating Carson at home, and face a top seed in the next round.
Crest (17-6) goes to Ledford (24-3) in the next round after the Panthers nipped No. 18 South Rowan 2-0 on Saturday at Ledford.
No. 10 Cuthbertson at No. 8 South Iredell: Their Saturday game was moved to Monday at 7 p.m. in Troutman because of rain.
Cuthbertson is 20-7 and the Vikings are 17-8, and the winner earns at trip to third-seeded South Point after the Raiders nipped Concord Robinson 5-3 on Saturday.
NOTES
2A
East Rutherford, as a No. 12 seed in the West, is the lowest seed left in that bracket…Last season, the Cavs won a state title after placing fourth in the South Mountain Athletic 2A-3A regular season.
3A
No. 6 Fred T. Foard (19-5) faces a road game in the next round, playing at No. 2 Marvin Ridge (23-5)… The Tigers have been this deep in the bracket three other times since 1984 – falling to Alleghany in 1984, to North Buncombe in 2009 and to Patton in 2013… A win at Marvin Ridge gets Foard to 20 for the first time since it went 25-4 in 2006.
4A
South Caldwell has reached the state baseball playoffs in each of the last 33 seasons, dating back to 1985.
Trivia question: Can you name the first team the Spartans beat in those 1985 playoffs and if they’ve ever met that same school in a postseason baseball game since?