Newton-Conover, as a No. 8 seed, is in the SD-7 2A tournament semifinals after beating top-seeded East Lincoln despite having no hits.
HobbsDailyReport.com
There were two major surprises on Tuesday night in opening round games of the Southern District 7 Athletic 2A high school baseball tournament, one that was shocking in that the lower seed that won went hitless.
Eighth-seeded Newton-Conover, playing at top-seeded East Lincoln, did not get a hit but won 6-4 to advance to a semifinal on Wednesday night at the Legion Fairgrounds in Newton.
Seventh-seeded Bandys, playing at second-seeded Maiden, scored three runs in the 10th inning to stun the Blue Devils 7-4 and advance to the other Wednesday semifinal at the Legion Fairgrounds.
Bandys led Maiden 3-1 through four innings and stretched that lead to 4-1 through the top of the sixth inning. Maiden tied it at 4, forcing extra innings, with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Trojans scored three in the 10th inning to win. It was their second extra-inning victory this season over Maiden (Bandys 9, Maiden 5 in 10 innings on March 22).
Seventh-seeded Bandys stunned No. 2 Maiden on Tuesday, winning 7-4 in the 10th inning. The Trojans gained their second 10-inning win of the year at Maiden.
On Tuesday, the Trojans had 11 hits and made three errors while the Blue Devils had seven hits and made four errors.
Bandys (7-15) will play at 5 p.m. on Wednesday against either No. 3 Bunker Hill (14-8) or No. 6 Lincolnton (8-11). The Bears and Wolves were to play Tuesday at Bunker Hill and no game report was available by midnight on Tuesday.
Newton-Conover (5-17) faces No. 4 West Caldwell (6-5), a 5-4 first-round winner on Tuesday night at West Caldwell over No. 5 West Lincoln, in a semifinal Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Legion Fairgounds.
The title game is scheduled Friday at 7 p.m. at the Legion Fairgrounds.
Here’s what Tuesday’s results mean for the postseason:
- Although it fell in the opening round, East Lincoln still owns the No. 1 state 2A playoff bid for the conference as a result of winning the regular season.
- The tournament winner will move up in the seedings and take Maiden’s No. 2 spot. The Blue Devils, defending tournament champs, needed to win it again to hold on that No. 2 spot. Since the seeds left are all No. 3 or lower, the tournament winner is going to move ahead of Maiden as far as when it will be seeded for the state playoffs.
- When the brackets are compiled, East Lincoln will be the first team in from the SD-7 2A, then the tournament champion will get in. Maiden’s overall record/overall winning percentage will now factor into when (and if) the Blue Devils enter the bracket. With 12 wins, Maiden should get into the playoffs.
- A mock bracket, developed by The Gaston Gazette prior to Maiden’s loss to Bandys, has the Blue Devils facing Mount Pleasant on the road in the first round. That projection also indicated these first-round games involving SD-7 2A schools – West Lincoln at East Lincoln, Linconton at Forbush and North Surry at Bunker Hill.