NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME TWO
ARDREY KELL BLANKS SANDERSON TO SWEEP 4-A SERIES
RALEIGH – Junior Ryan Butler pitched a complete game four-hit shutout as Charlotte Ardrey Kell banked Raleigh Sanderson 1-0 on Saturday afternoon to sweep the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series at Doak Field on the campus of N.C. State.
Butler’s performance earned him the Most Valuable Player award for the championship. Ardrey Kell had opened the series on Friday night with a 9-5 victory over the Spartans.
The only run of the game came in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Stetson which scored Alex Bartolomeo, who had singled. Bartolomeo had two hits in three trips for the Knights.
Charles Wolfe, the Cap Seven Conference Player of the Year, had a single and double in four trips to the plate to lead Sanderson and also stole a base, but the Spartans just could not break through. Sanderson left nine runners on base in the game and in the second inning had three walks and a single but failed to score when Ardrey Kell turned a double play.
Max Gagnon of Sanderson pitched well himself, allowing just four hits, but was tagged with the loss.
The Knights wound up 27-8 overall and won their first NCHSAA baseball title in just the school’s third year of existence. Last year Ardrey Kell lost to Greenville Rose in the finals. Sanderson, which finished third in the Cap Seven but was hot down the stretch, ended its season 19-13.
The Raleigh Sports Consortium and Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau are serving as host city sponsors for this championship series. Wendy’s is the presenting sponsor of the NCHSAA sports program.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES—GAME TWO
Doak Field, N.C. State University
Raleigh Sanderson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 0
Charlotte Ardrey Kell 1 0 0 0 0 0 x – 1 4 2
WP—Ryan Butler. LP—Max Gagnon (6-2).
