NCHSAA 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP—GAME THREE
SOUTH MECK WINS 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP OVER FUQUAY-VARINA
ZEBULON— South Mecklenburg rallied from a 4-0 deficit with seven unanswered runs to take a 7-4 victory in the third and decisive game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium.
Brooks Kennedy, Michael Smith and Luke Miller each had two hits in the Sabres 11-hit attack.
Earl Oliver of South Mecklenburg was named the championship series Most Valuable Player. Oliver went the distance on the mound in game two earlier on Saturday, giving up five hits while fanning four and walking two. Fuquay-Varina got a run in the sixth to break a 2-2 deadlock and win the opening game on Friday night, 3-2.
In the decisive game, the Bengals took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Brett Daniels after a couple of hits, and then pushed three across in the second for a 4-0 lead.
But the Sabres stormed back to tie the game with four runsin the second, with the key blow a two-run single by Michael Smith, and then Max Bazin’s RBI single in the third gave South Meck the lead for good at 5-4.
South added a pair of runs in the fourth on a hit batter, a walk, and singles by Miller and Kennedy.
Austin Wynn went the distance on the mound for South and allowed only one earned run. Daniels got the loss for Fuquay-Varina, although he paced the Bengals offense with three this in three trips. Lucas Scott and Nick Stuart had two hits apiece.
South Mecklenburg, in its fourth trip to the NCHSAA baseball championships, finished 27-7 overall and won its first state baseball title since 1989. The Bengals, who won the 4-A title in 2002, ended 27-6.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Five County Stadium, Zebulon
Class 4-A: Game Three
Fuquay-Varina 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 9 2
South Mecklenburg 0 4 1 2 0 0 x – 7 11 2
WP—Austin Wynn. LP—Brett Daniels.
GAME TWO
SOUTH MECK EVENS 4-A BASEBALL SERIES WITH RALLY IN SEVENTH
ZEBULON— South Mecklenburg pushed across two runs in the bottom of the seventh to rally to nip Fuquay-Varina 2-1 in the second game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium, evening the series.
The decisive game is set for 5 pm today.
Fuquay-Varina scored a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Nick Stuart and led 1-0 on the strength of an outstanding pitching performance by Garrett Suggs. But the Sabres got runners on second and third with no outs in the seventh and the runs were driven in by McKay Wrenn and Alex Wilson to end the game.
Harris Yett was three for three for South Meck.
Earl Oliver went the distance on the mound for South, giving up five hits while fanning four and walking two. Suggs pitched six strong innings for F-V, and Brett Daniels, who came on the seventh, was charged with the loss.
D.J. Burt had two of the Bengals’ five hits.
South Mecklenburg, in its fourth trip to the NCHSAA baseball championships, is now 26-7 overall while the Bengals are 27-5.
Fuquay-Varina got a run in the sixth on Friday night to break a 2-2 deadlock and beat South Meck in the opening game, 3-2.
This is the 97th year for baseball championships in the NCHSAA.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Five County Stadium, Zebulon
Class 4-A: Game Two
Fuquay-Varina 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 5 1
South Mecklenburg 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 – 2 7 1
WP—Earl Oliver. LP—Brett Daniels.
