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Baseball playoffs in full swing
Jacksonville hosts South Central today
The NCHSAA baseball playoffs will be in full swing today as three of the nine qualifying area teams will host first-round contests.
Jacksonville (7-12), the second seed from the Mideastern 3-A/4-A Conference, will welcome South Central (9-14) with first pitch slated for 7 p.m.
The Cardinals are in the state 3-A playoffs for the second consecutive season but enter the postseason having lost to rival White Oak 9-5 on Tuesday. Jacksonville looks to rebound when it battles a South Central squad that is the third seed from the Coastal 3-A/4-A Conference.
East Duplin (15-8) will host Northeastern (12-7) in the first round of the 2-A playoffs. The Panthers are the second seed from the East Central 2-A Conference and will be playing a Northeastern club that is the third seed from the Northeastern Coastal Conference.
Topsail is the other local team at home tonight. The Pirates (17-6), the second seed from the Coastal Plains Conference, welcome West Columbus (11-12), the second seed from the Southeastern Conference.
Coastal Plains 1-A Conference champion Dixon hosted its first-round playoff game against Hobbton on Thursday. The Bulldogs lost 3-0.
Meanwhile, Croatan (12-9) travels to Fairmont (14-7) for the opening round. The Cougars are the third-seeded ECC team and will be battling a team that is the second seed from the Northeastern Coastal Conference.
Southwest (14-8) returns to the playoffs after a 13-year absence and will visit First Flight (21-0). The Stallions are the fifth ECC seed while First Flight is the champion from the Northeastern Coastal Conference.
"We are extremely excited," said Stallions head coach David McLeod. "What an honor to represent the conference."
Southwest will be battling a First Flight team ranked No. 1 in the latest Impactbaseball.com 2-A poll.
"We have talked all year about not getting ahead of ourselves," McLeod said.
Jones Senior (9-12), a wildcard from the Coastal Plains Conference, travels to Wallace-Rose Hill (11-11), the top seed from the Super Six Conference. East Carteret (8-11), the CPC's fourth seed, visits East Columbus (12-8), the top seed from the Waccamaw.
West Carteret (10-11), the fourth seed from the Coastal Conference is on the round in the 3-A playoffs and will visit West Brunswick (18-6), the top seed from the Mideastern Conference.
