NCHSAA 2-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP—GAME ONE
BIG INNING FOR PIEDMONT LIFTS PANTHERS TO WIN IN FIRST GAME OF 2-A SERIES
ZEBULON— Piedmont exploded for seven runs in the top of the fourth inning and coasted to a 9-3 triumph over North Brunswick on Friday in the opening game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium.
Cameron Price led Piedmont with three hits, three runs scored and three runs batted in. He had a single, double and triple in four trips to the plate. Hunter Purser also had three hits for the winners, and Colby Barnette hit safely twice.
Price had a triple in the big fourth that drove home a run as the Panthers collected a triple, double, three singles and a walk in the frame.
North Brunswick took a 3-1 lead with three in the bottom of the first, with a double by Shak Graham driving home two.
Corey Sikes went the route on the mound for Piedmont, scattering five hits in improving his mound mark to 10-0 on the season. Shelton Perkins, who was knocked out of the game in the seven-run fourth, got the loss for North Brunswick, his third in 11 decisions.
Davon Perkins had two of North’s five hits.
Piedmont is back in the NCHSAA baseball finals for the third time but the first time since 1984. The Panthers are now 29-3 overall while North Brunswick is 17-12. The Scorpions are in the championship series for the first time since 1996.
Game two of the best-of-three is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday. 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 2-A: Game One
Monroe Piedmont 1 0 1 7 0 0 0—9 11 0
North Brunswick 3 0 0 0 0 0 x—3 5 3
WP—Corey Sikes (10-0). LP—Shelton Perkins (8-3).
NCHSAA 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP—GAME ONE
BISSETTE GETS PITCHING VICTORY AS FUQUAY-VARINARALLIES TO WIN 4-A OPENER OVER SOUTH MECKLENBURG 3-2
ZEBULON—Pitcher Jordan Bissette limited South Mecklenburg to three hits and Fuquay-Varina broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the sixth to post a 3-2 triumph in the opening game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium.
Bissette improved his record to 8-1 on the season while Max Bazin (9-2) was charged with the loss.
South opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first, with Michael Smith getting a key RBI double and Earl Oliver an RBI single in the inning. Garrett Suggs of Fuquay-Varina answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1. Bissette then shut the door on the Sabres the rest of the way.
Brian Mitchell led off the sixth for Fuquay-Varina with a double and later scored on a South error.
D.J. Burt went two for two officially and scored a run for the Bengals while Nick Stuart also had two hits for the winners, who improved their record to 27-4 overall.
South Mecklenburg, in its fourth trip to the NCHSAA baseball championships, dropped to 25-8.
Game two of the best-of-three is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. 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 One
South Mecklenburg 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 3 4
Fuquay-Varina 1 0 0 0 1 1 x – 3 8 2
WP—Jordan Bissette (8-1). LP—Max Bazin (9-2). HR—Garrett Suggs, Fuquay-Varina.
