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Jacksonville's Greg Knapp, left, on Friday.
The Daily News / Randy Davey
Baseball first-round roundup
Jacksonville falls 14-1, EDHS, Croatan, Topsail win
Host Jacksonville fell behind early and registered just two hits in a 14-1 loss to South Central on Friday in the first round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.
The Cardinals (7-13) were in the postseason for the second consecutive season after they earned the second seed from the Mideastern 3-A/4-A Conference. South Central, the third seed from the Coastal Conference, improved to 10-14 and will host Southern Wayne in the second round.
This defeat concluded the careers of seniors Gregg Knapp, Erik Erlandson, Josh Littell, Matt Belknap and Jon Childress.
"I couldn't ask for a better group of seniors for my first year at Jacksonville," said Jacksonville head coach David Fleischer. They really did a great job.
"We had a goal of making it back to the playoffs and winning a playoff game and though we came up short, hopefully the seniors will have laid the path for the younger players to see what it takes to get to the next level."
East Duplin 6, Northeastern 3: At Beulaville, East Duplin recovered from a slow start to rally past Northeastern in the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.
The Panthers trailed 3-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning when Josh Albertson led off by reaching on an error and Seth C. Sholar followed with a home run to center field.
"He hit one out when we were taking batting practice," EDHS head coach Kirk Kennedy said of Sholar. "I should've seen it coming."
East Duplin then took the lead with two runs in the fourth.
Seth Sandlin led off with a single, moved to second on a walk then scored on a base hit up the middle by Marc Jones. Seth R. Sholar followed with a fielder's choice that made it 4-3.
"We started off, I thought, sluggish," Kennedy said. "We got down 3-0 ... then Seth C. Sholar hit a home run to get us back 3-2 and that woke us up.
"After that we were the aggressor instead of letting them take it to us."
That was plenty of support for starting pitcher Joshua Kennedy, who picked up the win with four solid innings. Kennedy (10-2) allowed three runs on five hits, struck out three and walked two.
"Joshua always gives me a solid start," Coach Kennedy said. "Him being a senior I thought he deserved the starting nod. He throws strikes and that's what you want."
Brett Kennedy finished for his first save of the year. He pitched three innings of one-hit ball and struck out three against two walks.
"Brett, that's the first time he's come in and closed a game," Coach Kennedy said. "He did an outstanding job coming in and throwing strikes."
Jones went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run, Seth C. Sholar finished 1-for-2 with the home run, two runs and two RBIs and Seth Sandlin went 2-for-3 with two runs. Kyle Williams added a hit.
"We put the bat on the ball ... that's all I could ask for," Coach Kennedy said. "The guys that got hit, got hits when we had runners on base."
The Panthers (16-8), the No. 2 seed from the East Central Conference, advances to visit Whiteville Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Northeastern, the No. 3 seed from the Northeastern Coastal Conference, finished 12-8.
Northeastern 210 000 0 - 3 6 2
East Duplin 020 202 x - 6 6 1
WP-J. Kennedy (10-2) 4 IP, 5 H, 3 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 3 R, 3 ER. LP-Ryan Cook CG 2 K, 1 BB, 6 R, 5 ER. S-B. Kennedy (1) 3 IP, 1 H, 3 K, 2 BB. LEADING HITTERS-NE: Barrington 2-4, Wilkins 1-3, RBI, Paris 1-2, HR; Vargas 1-1. ED: Jones 2-3, 2 RBIs, run; S.C. Sholar 1-2, HR, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Sandlin 2-3, 2 runs; Williams 1-2. RECORDS-NE: 12-8, season completed. ED: 16-8, at Whiteville Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Topsail 14, West Columbus 7: At Hampstead, West Columbus made Topsail nervous at first, but the Pirates came storming back for a victory in the first round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs.
Down 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Topsail racked up 10 runs. Leading the way was Casey Justice, who went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and had four RBIs on the evening.
Topsail starting pitcher Thomas Jones allowed five runs through five innings, but he settled down to strike out 11 batters and earn the win.
Jones went 3-for-3 with two RBIs while John Morris went 2-for-4 with a double. Kyle Toukatly and Dan Redinger each went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Pirates.
Topsail, the runner-up out of the Coastal Plains Conference, will travel to Teachey to face Wallace-Rose Hill on Tuesday in the second round.
W. Columbus 001 310 2 - 7 7 1
Topsail 000 3(10)1 x - 14 15 4
WP-Jones (5-2) 6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 11 K, 3 BB. LP-Austin Lee 0 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 K, 2 BB. S-Brock Jaeger (1). LEADING HITTERS-WC: Kenyarta Smith 1-3, HR; Timothy Brown 2-4, 2B, RBI; Truman Bereen 2-4. T: Justice 3-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Jones 3-3, 2 RBIs; Morris 2-4, 2B; Toukatly 2-4, RBI; Redinger 2-4, RBI. RECORDS-T: 19-6, at Wallace-Rose Hill Tuesday.
Croatan 3, Fairmont 1: At Fairmont, pitchers Aaron Stull and Michael Bass combined for 23 strikeouts, but it was Stull's two RBIs that lifted Croatan past Fairmont in the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.
"Both pitchers pitched well," said Croatan head coach Scott Shutts. "They both threw good pitches and got outs."
Stull made it tough for Fairmont's batters by allowing only three hits and one run in seven innings. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate.
"He had big night," Shutts said. "He had two hits and 12 strikeouts. Doing that in the playoffs is big."
The Cougars will have to wait until today to find out who they will face. Southwest and First Flight will play at 3 p.m. after inclement weather postponed Friday's game.
"We've been working hard since February," Schutts said. "We got to relax and trust our talent. We have to trust our skills."
Matt Stewart went 2-for-3 for Croatan.
Croatan 002 100 0 - 3 7 2
Fairmont 000 010 0 - 1 3 1
WP-Stull (5-5) CG, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 12 K, 4 BB. LP-Michael Bass CG, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 11 K, 3 BB. LEADING HITTERS-Cro: Stull 2-4, 2 RBIs; Stewart 2-3; F: Colton Barnhill 1-3, run. RECORDS-Cro.: 13-9, winner Southwest/First Flight Tuesday.
Wallace-Rose Hill 4, Jones Senior 1: At Teachey, Jones Senior's season came to an end Thursday following a loss to Wallace-Rose Hill in the first round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs.
The Trojans mustered just two hits and the team plated its only run when Robbie Scott scored in the sixth inning. Scott had drawn a walk, stole second and later scored on an error. Kyle Smith and Mathew Sutton each had a hit for Jones Senior (9-13), a wild card from the Coastal Plains Conference.
Ruffin Koonce suffered the loss after scattering nine hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out four. Wallace-Rose Hill (12-11), the top seed from the Super Six 1-A Conference, scored three second-inning runs following an error.
W-RH 000 001 0 - 1 2 1
Jones Senior 030 010 x - 4 9 2
