NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 1-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME THREE
DAUGHTRY IS MVP AS PRINCETON WINS SERIES OVER EAST SURRY
ZEBULON— Princeton’s Ryan Daughtry was named the Most Valuable Player as his Bulldogs downed East Surry 7-3 in the third and decisive game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 1-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium on Saturday.
Daughtry, a junior, pitched six innings to get the win in the decisive game and also had a run-scoring triple in Princeton’s key three-run third inning. Dustin Pate also drove home two runs with a double in the third.
Princeton increased its lead to 6-1 in the fourth with the help of an RBI single by Daniel Jerrell, a walk, hit batsman and error.
Jeremy Miller led East Surry with two hits in four trips to the plate. Joe Joyce started on the mound for the Cardinals and was relieved by Troy Jessup in the fourth.
Princeton had won Friday night’s opener 7-3, while East Surry forced a third game by taking game two earlier on Saturday by a 4-3 count. The victorious Bulldogs finished the season 25-7 while East had a school-record 26 wins against 10 losses.
In game two, Jordan Jessup recorded his 12th victory of the year for East, which jumped on the Bulldogs for three runs in the first, and senior outfielder Anthony Durham led the Cardinals at the plate with two hits in three trips.
East was in its first state championship series since 1982 while Princeton was in its fifth title series and earned its third state crown to go with championships in 1992 and ’94.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 1-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Five County Stadium, Zebulon
GAME THREE
Princeton 1 0 3 2 0 1 0 – 7 10 0
East Surry 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 — 3 7 2
WP—Ryan Daughtry. LP—Joe Joyce.
GAME TWO
Princeton 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 — 3 7 1
East Surry 3 0 0 0 1 0 x — 4 6 0
WP—Jordan Jessup. LP—Dustin Pate. HR—Pate (P), 4th with one on.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 2-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME THREE
EAST RUTHERFORD BEATS NORTH LENOIR TO CLINCH TITLE
RALEIGH – Seth Baldwin blasted a three-run homer in a huge six-run second inning as East Rutherford defeated North Lenoir 8-1 to clinch the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2-A baseball championship series at Doak Field on the N.C. State campus on Saturday.
The Cavaliers, who won the NCHSAA championship in 2002, ’03 and ’04, stopped North Lenoir’s bid for a third straight state title. East was making its fifth trip to the finals in the last 12 years.
North Lenoir had won the opening game of the best-of-three series on Friday night by 4-0, but East evened it earlier on Saturday with a 3-1`victory in game two.
Senior outfielder Zeke Blanton, who hit safely in all three games of the series and had two hits and an RBI in the clincher, was voted the Most Valuable Player of the championship. He entered the final series with a sizzling .547 batting average.
Michael Milan had three hits in three trips and also scored twice for the Cavaliers, who finished the season 31-2. North Lenoir ended 28-5.
Tyler Smith started on the mound for East after picking up the victory in game two, but faced only two hitters before giving way to Cullen Park, who went the rest of the way and yielded just two hits while fanning eight. John Austin was charged with the loss.
In the second game of the series, Tyler Smith led East at the plate with a pair of hits and also recorded his ninth pitching victory of the year against no losses, allowing just four hits while striking out seven. North Lenoir’s Brandon Sutton (10-1) got the loss.
Blanton had a run-scoring double for the Cavaliers, who also scored a couple of unearned runs.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 2-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Doak Field at Dail Park, North Carolina State University
GAME THREE
North Lenoir 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 3 3
East Rutherford 1 6 1 0 0 0 x — 8 11 0
WP—Cullen Park (6-0). L—John Austin (3-3). HR—Seth Baldwell (ER), 2nd with two one.
GAME TWO
North Lenoir 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 –1 4 2
East Rutherford 2 0 0 0 0 1 x—3 9 0
WP—Tyler Smith (9-0). LP—Brandon Sutton (10-1).
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 3-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME TWO
ROSE IS MVP AS AYCOCK SWEEPS SERIES
RALEIGH – Junior Jay Rose had two hits and drove in three runs to lead Pikeville Charles B. Aycock to a convincing 10-2 decision over Southeast Guilford and a sweep of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3-A baseball championship series on Saturday at Doak Field on the N.C. State campus.
The Golden Falcons had won the opening game Friday night 9-3 and clinched the best of three series in two straight games.
Rose, who had four RBI in the opener, including a three-run homer, was named the Most Valuable Player of the series. His two-run double in the second helped break game two open.
Aycock took command early, with four runs in the first and four in the second, and never looked back.
Garrett Davis and Joseph Toler also had big games for the winners, each collecting three hits in four trips, doubling twice and driving home two runs apiece. Davis also came in to pitch the last two innings after Brandon Price, the winning pitcher, worked the first five. Price allowed only one earned run and struck out six.
Davis, a North Carolina signee, entered the finals batting .460 and was six for eight at the plate in the two games.
Cam Cockman was charged with the loss.
It was Aycock’s second NCHSAA state baseball championship all-time and first since 1974. The Golden Falcons finished the campaign with a 31-4 slate under coach Charles Davis.
Southeast Guilford, which had won 14 of 15 games entering the championship, wound up 23-7 overall.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 3-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME TWO
Doak Field at Dail Park, North Carolina State University
Charles B. Aycock 4 4 0 1 0 1 0 –10 11 1
Southeast Guilford 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 — 2 5 1
WP—Brandon Price (6-2). LP—Cam Cockman (5-1).
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME TWO
SOUTH CALDWELL SWEEPS ASHLEY TO WIN NCHSAA 4-A BASEBALL CROWN
ZEBULON— South Caldwell took advantage of five Wilmington Ashley errors and rolled to a 10-0 victory Saturday to win the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium.
South Caldwell won the series in two straight, with the Spartans scoring a 4-1 Friday night win also with the help of Ashley errors afield. The Saturday game was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.
Madison Bumgarner of South was selected as the championship’s Most Valuable Player. He had a two-run inside-the-park home run in the fifth that ended the game and was also walked twice intentionally, after picking up the pitching victory and striking out 12 in the opener.
Josh Sheehan had a pair of hits for the Spartans, including a double, and drove in two runs, and South’s Brad Chavis had a long three-run home run in the five-run third.
Junior pitcher Jimmy Messer got the victory for South, striking out 11 in his five-inning stint as he improved his record to 15-0. Caleb Long (7-1) was the losing pitcher.
South was the NCHSAA 4-A runner-up last year and won the state championship for the first time since 1982, finishing 31-3 overall. Ashley was in the finals for the first time in the school’s brief six-year history. The Screaming Eagles wound up 24-7.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME TWO
Five County Stadium, Zebulon
Wilmington Ashley 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 5
South Caldwell 1 2 5 0 2 — 10 4 0
Game called due to 10-run rule.
WP—Jimmy Messer (15-0). LP—Caleb Long (7-1). HR—Brad Chavis (SC), 3rd with two on; Madison Bumgarner (SC), 5th with 1 on.
