Daily Roundup: May 17, 2022

BASEBALL

No. 24 Topsail 2, No. 1 New Hanover 1 (9 innings)

Third round NCHSAA 4A playoffs

***Click here to view a gallery of 40 photos from the action***

Adversity keeps hitting the Topsail baseball team, but the Pirates keep hitting right back.

Senior leader and starting catcher Brycen Coleman was forced to leave the game in the fifth inning with a thumb injury, forcing first-year coach Collin Buete to move players around the diamond.

It didn’t matter, as the Pirates escaped a couple jams and eventually got a game-winning two-out single from Tatum Hayden in the top of the ninth inning to pull off the upset.

Topsail (12-9), which has won eight of its past nine games since starting the season 4-8, is into the fourth round for the first time since 2017. They will travel to No. 13 Fuquay-Varina on Friday night.

“We have 23 baseball players on this team,” Buete said. “I’ve thrown them a lot of curveballs this year by putting them at different positions and different spots in the lineups, but they answer the bell every time.

“From where we were a month ago to where we are today, it’s like night and day, and it’s because they believed in themselves.”

Davis Hartman pitched tremendously for eight innings before reaching the 105-pitch limit. The righty allowed only one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts.

“I knew when I went out and threw up a zero in the first inning it was going to be a good game,” Hartman said. “In my mind, it was only a matter of when we were going to get that big hit. It wasn’t if, it was when.”

He gave way to Cooper Cavanaugh, who was recently cleared to pitch again after undergoing Tommy John surgery. His last appearance before Tuesday night came in the season opener a season ago.

Cavanaugh needed only 14 pitches to record the final three outs and secure the victory.

“The last three or four weeks he’s been throwing simulated games and he finally reached the pitch count number he needed in order to pitch in a game,” Buete said. “He was out here an hour before the game doing his stretches and routines, so I didn’t think twice about sending him in once Davis reached his limit.”

Grady Swinson was hit by a pitch with two outs in the ninth inning. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch and scored on Hayden’s single up the middle.

“I wasn’t hitting so great at the beginning of the game, so I knew I needed to come through,” Hayden said. “I’ve been stepping out, so I just tried to stay through ball and drive it back up the middle.”

The Pirates scored their other run in the first inning on a single from Isaac Henry.

New Hanover (20-5) tied the score in the bottom of the second inning a squeeze bunt from Jack Shearin that allowed Jack Cuba to cross the plate.

The Wildcats stranded a runner on third in the fifth and sixth innings. 

In the ninth, Andrew Jones hit a one-out infield single and stole second base. Sean Smith was intentionally walked.

Jones stole third with two outs, but Smith was late to follow. As he tried to retreat back to first base, Smith was thrown out to end the game.

Smith, Bromley Thornton and Aleck Creech combined to strike out 12 Topsail hitters. Smith had nine in 5 2/3 innings, while Thornton had a pair in his 2 1/3 innings.

No. 2 South Brunswick 4, No. 26 Croatan 1

Third round NCHSAA 3A playoffs

Senior Cameron Burgess struck out 11 batters and allowed only one run on two hits in six innings to send the Cougars into the fourth round of the playoffs for the first time since 1988.

South Brunswick (21-3) will host No. 6 West Carteret on Friday night at 6 p.m.

With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Croatan elected to pitch to junior standout Walker Jenkins with a runner on first base and one out. 

On the second pitch he saw, Jenkins blasted his 10th home run of the season to put the home team in front for good.

Jenkins went 2-for-3, while Aubrey Smith scored twice. 

Smith took over on the mound in the seventh inning and recorded a pair of strikeouts to earn the save.

No. 30 Trask 9, No. 6 South Granville 3

Third round NCHSAA 2A playoffs

One of the most improbable postseason runs in recent memory is still alive thanks in large part to a seven-run top of the fourth inning.

Trask’s (16-9) only other fourth round appearance came in 2008. That year, they suffered a 7-1 loss to county rival Topsail in the 1A bracket.

A two-run single from Benji Faircloth put the visitors up 3-2 in the fourth inning. Nick Johnson followed with an RBI double to double the advantage.

The big inning also featured an RBI single from O’Mariyan Ennis and a bases loaded walk to Matix Wiler.

Ennis went 2-for-4, while Wiler worked three walks. Johnson and Hunter Eason both crossed the plate twice.

Conner Gore tossed a complete game with four strikeouts to earn the victory.

The Titans play at No. 15 North Lenoir on Friday evening.

No. 2 Pinecrest 12, No. 10 Hoggard 2 (5 innings)

Jaxson Croom hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning to give the Vikings an early lead, but the host Patriots scored 12 unanswered runs to earn the mercy-rule victory.

Korbin Pettigrew, Jaxon King and John Mason had the other hits for Hoggard (18-5).

No. 13 South Central 11, No. 21 North Brunswick 1 (6 innings)

Caden Cook belted a solo home run in the third inning for the Scorpions’ lone run in a season-ending road loss.

North Brunswick (13-12) also got a single from Trevor Lucas and Garrett Gore. 

GIRLS SOCCER

No. 1 Coastal Christian 3, No. 4 Cape Fear Academy 0

Semifinals NCISAA 3A playoffs

***Click here to view a gallery of 40 photos from the action***

Senior Elsa Johnson scored a goal in each half to help the top-seeded Centurions shut out their rival and advance to the NCISAA 3A state championship game for the first time in program history.

“The feeling is indescribable,” Johnson said. “We’ve worked so hard for this, and a lot of us are seniors, so it’s just super special.”  

Johnson made a nice move around a defender and buried a shot in the sixth minute to put Coastal Christian (16-4) on top for good.

The lead doubled in the 21st minute when Ariana Pacheco converted a penalty kick.

Johnson’s second goal was a thing of beauty. She volleyed home a cross from Jaeden Earle in the 53rd minute.

Goalkeeper Betsy Wheeler wasn’t challenged much, but she stopped every shot she faced to earn the clean sheet.

The 10 seniors on the Centurions’ roster have elevated the program to great heights. They helped the team reach the third round of the playoffs as freshmen. 

COVID-19 forced their sophomore season to be cut shot, and the group advanced to the semifinals a year ago before suffering a 4-3 loss to Forsyth Country Day School.

Coastal Christian will get a chance at redemption at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when they take on Furies. The match will be played at Forsyth Country Day School. 

“It’s going to super important for our fans to make the trip,” Johnson said. “We’ve loved the support they’ve given us the past two games, and I think it has made a difference in our play.”

Other scores

Boys tennis: No. 2 Cape Fear Academy 5, No. 3 Asheville School 1 (NCISAA Division II semifinals)

Boys lacrosse: No. 2 Cape Fear Academy 8, No. 3 SouthLake Christian Academy 7 (NCISAA Division II semifinals)

 

 

 

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