HobbsDailyReport.com
LENOIR – Hibriten High’s 5-4 victory at home on Thursday night over South Caldwell in Northwestern 3A-4A baseball did league rival Fred T. Foard a big favor.
The Panthers’ victory in a makeup game left the Spartans at 9-3 in the league (12-3-1 overall), opening idle Foard’s lead over South Caldwell to two games with two conference games to go.
That means the Tigers have locked up at least a co-championship, no matter their outcomes in late April against South Caldwell (April 25 at Foard) or St. Stephens (April 27 at St. Stephens).
A Foard win over South Caldwell on April 25 would secure an outright title for the Tigers, who last year tied Patton for fourth in the conference, both of them finishing eight games back of the Spartans (14-0).
Because they play in a two-classification conference, the Tigers are also already assured the league’s No. 1 state 3A playoff berth via Hibriten’s win on Thursday. The next 3A team in the standings, Hickory, is three games back of Foard with two to go.
South Caldwell is in line to get the top 4A playoff seed, as it is 9-3 in conference games and the only other 4A team in the league, Watauga, is 5-7 with two to go.
Next up for Hibriten (11-6, 7-5, fourth place, a half-game back of Hickory) is the Catawba Valley Easter Classic at the Legion Fairgrounds in Newton. The Panthers are the No. 4 seed, playing a first-round game Monday at 6:30 p.m. against fifth-seeded Hickory.
It will be the second of three meetings this season for the Panthers and the Red Tornadoes. Hickory beat Hibriten 5-2 in Lenoir on March 28 and they have a regular-season game left on April 27 in Hickory.
Thursday’s win pushed Hibriten to at least 11 wins for the fourth time in five seasons. The Panthers went 9-17 a year ago.