The NCHSAA finalized their state baseball playoff brackets Sunday evening, and Coach Grant Pait’s East Bladen Eagles (9-4) will travel to Newport to battle unbeaten Croatan (14-0) in their Class 2A opener. The game is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The unbeaten Cougars received the No. 8 seed in the Class 2A East and have outscored their opponents by an average margin of 15-3. Of course, included in those numbers are romps past Lejeune of 32-0 and 40-2.
Croatan edged Class 1A No. 3 seed East Carteret 9-8 in 9 innings in their regular season finale. Other key wins were 9-6 at East Carteret, 10-4 and 16-8 over No. 15 Class 2A seed Southwest Onslow and 4-0 and 13-7 over Dixon.
Six-three junior Sam Hoy has starred down the stretch for the Cougars, batting 3-for-4 with a double, and 3 runs batted in while closing out an 11-2 win over Heide Trask with 4.2 innings of 1-run relief. Hoy batted 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs in a 15-0 win over Richlands and knocked in 5 runs with a home run and a single in the 16-8 win over Southwest.
Other notable performances for Coach Josh Shaffer’s Cougars included: senior Matt Lasater’s 5-for-5 performance that included a double, a triple and 3 runs scored in the win over Richlands; junior Owen Bellamy’s 3-for-4 game against Southwest Onslow that included a home run, a double, 4 runs scored and 4 RBIs.
The Eagle pitching staff features senior righthander Zach Meares who has posted a 5-0 record with a 0.21 earned run average. Meares fired a 1-hitter with 14 strikeouts in a key 5-0 victory over No. 14 Class 2A seed Whiteville and pitched a no-hitter in a 14-0 win over No. 14 Class 1A seed West Columbus.
Meares pitched a 3-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a 3-1 victory at East Columbus that secured the Eagles’ No. 1 playoff seed and has struck out 62 batters in 33 innings. Senior Lefredrick Wooten has struck out 23 batters in 19.1 innings and pitched a 6-hitter and struck out 9 batters in a 12-3 win at South Columbus.
The Eagles have won 7 of their last 8 games and are led at the plate by senior first baseman Jacob Priest, who is batting .436 with 17 hits, 12 runs scored and 9 RBIs. Meares is hitting .409 with a team-high 18 hits, 15 runs scored and 11 RBIs. Senior Rasean McKoy is batting .405 with 15 hits, 10 RBIs, 9 runs scored and a team-high 9 stolen bases.
Senior catcher Brady Hollingsworth sports a .333 batting average with 11 hits, 11 RBIs, 3 doubles and a home run. Wooten is hitting .311 with 14 hits, 15 runs scored, 8 RBIs, 3 doubles and 3 triples. Senior Drew Sholar bats .265 with a team-high 12 RBIs, 10 runs scored, 2 doubles and a triple.
Other first round playoff games involving Three Rivers Conference teams include:
Whiteville (9-4) at Midway (13-1)
Hobbton (9-2) at East Columbus (9-3)
West Columbus (7-6) at East Carteret (11-3)
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