Daily Roundup: May 20, 2022

BASEBALL

No. 2 South Brunswick 13, No. 6 West Carteret 1 (5 innings)

Fourth round NCHSAA 3A playoffs

***Click here to view a gallery of 35 photos from the action***

South Brunswick’s Patrick Boldt has been in and out of the batting lineup throughout the season.

Even when he wasn’t hitting, the sophomore catcher played an important role in helping the Cougars earn a share of the Mideastern Conference title with his stellar defense.

Boldt saw his name on the lineup card in the No. 9 spot Friday night against West Carteret in the fourth round of the 3A playoffs, and he made the most of his opportunity.

With his team trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, Boldt drilled a full-count fastball over the center field fence for a three-run homer run, which also happened to be the first of his career.

“It meant a lot to be back in the lineup and producing for my team,” Boldt said.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for him, because he’s such a hard worker,” South Brunswick coach Mike Anderson added. “Even though we were DHing for him there for a while, he was continuously in the hitting facility before or after practice trying to get better.”

South Brunswick pulled away for good with a 10-run fourth inning to reach the best-of-3 3A East Regional Series. 

The Cougars will host No. 13 South Central in Games 1 and 3 (if necessary). Game 2 will be played in Winterville. The dates and times for all three games are still to be determined.

It’s the deepest postseason run for the program since going 29-0 and claiming the 2A state title in 1988. 

“This has been building year in and year out,” said Anderson, who inherited a team that went 5-14 in 2013. “I can’t say enough about the group of players we have that came in and wanted to win, especially this senior group.

“They want to go out with a bang, and regardless of what happens now they already have.”

Senior ace Aubrey Smith was dominant as usually on the mound. He allowed only one run on three hits with four strikeouts to improve to 10-1 with a 1.86 ERA.

Smith also finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, triple and four RBIs. He cleared the bases with a triple off the fence in the fourth inning to increase the lead to 13-1.

Shelton Bocook had a single, two walks and three runs scored. Courtesy runner Alex Sanchez crossed the plate twice.

No. 13 Fuquay-Varina 12, No. 24 Topsail 2 (6 innings)

Fourth round NCHSAA 3A playoffs

The Pirates saw their terrific postseason run come to a close against the defending 4A state champions.

It didn’t look like Topsail (12-10) would even qualify for the playoffs after getting off to a 4-8 start, but wins in five of their final six regular season games got them in.

Victories over Gray’s Creek (2-0) and Rolesville (5-2) gave Topsail another shot at Mideastern Conference foe New Hanover in the third round.

Led by senior pitcher Davis Hartman, the Pirates pulled off a 2-1 upset over the top-seeded Wildcats on Tuesday night to reach the fourth round.

On Friday, they weren’t able to generate much offense against Fuquay-Varina pitchers HL Smith and Carson Veasey. Smith had seven strikeouts in four innings, while Veasey struck out five batters in his two innings.

Ryan Garmendiz and Jacob Holland scored Topsail’s runs.

No. 15 North Lenoir 3, No. 30 Trask 1

Fourth round NCHSAA 2A playoffs

After pulling off three straight road victories, the Titans suffered a season-ending loss.

Trask (16-10) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. O’Mariyan Ennis singled with one out and eventually scored on an error. 

North Lenoir evened the score in the fourth inning, and then took the lead for good on a solo home run from Matthew Hill with two outs in the fifth.

Isaac Turner took the loss despite pitching a terrific game. He allowed only three hits and struck out five batters in a complete game.

The Titans loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning, but a double play ended the game.

GIRLS TRACK & FIELD

NCHSAA 3A State Championship

In her final high school race, North Brunswick senior Rachel Kemp finished fifth in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:47.12.

South Brunswick’s Ellie Harrington also competed in the 3,200 and placed ninth in 12:35.58.

Jasmine Colwell of North Brunswick had a throw of 34-4 in shot put to finish ninth.

NCHSAA 2A State Championship

Junior Aisley Heath of Trask had three top-15 finishes.

She placed eight in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:52.97. Heath was 11th in the 800 in 2:33.10. She also ran the second leg on the 4×400 relay, which finished 14th in 4:40.69.

Joining Heath were Maria Cahill, Jayden Hoffman and Willow Nixon.

The Titans also got a 14th-place finish in discus from freshman Ty’nyia Wells. Her best throw was 78-0.

BOYS TRACK & FIELD

NCHSAA 3A State Championship

North Brunswick junior Brandon Moody was the lone area participant, and he finished ninth in shot put with a throw of 44-7.

NCHSAA 2A State Championship

The Trask 4×800 relay team of John Roberts, Edgar Ramirez Luna, Kyle Moore and Derek Lopez finished seventh with a time of 8:52.26.

Roberts was the team’s lone individual participant. He was 12th in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:27.94.

 

 

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