Cox Mill, R-S Central fall in state title series to close out NCHSAA season
Cox Mill fell short of winning its first state baseball championship Sunday, on the final day of the high school sports season in North Carolina.
The Chargers fell to J.H. Rose 9-4, losing the best-of-three Class 3A title series in two games.
It was the seventh state baseball title for J.H. Rose, a Greenville school whose coach, Ron Vincent, has more career victories than any other baseball coach in North Carolina prep history.
It was the Rampants’ first state title since 2008, however.
Meanwhile, R-S Central lost the decisive third game of the 2A championship series late Saturday night, falling 4-0 to Randleman in a no-hitter.
And Perquimans swept two games Sunday against East Surry and won the state’s 1A baseball crown.
Cox Mill falls
The Chargers (16-5) got off to a big start Sunday against J.H. Rose (16-4), building a 3-0 lead after three innings. Kyle Cassell hit a solo home run in the second inning, and Jake Oehler’s RBI single highlighted a two-run third inning.
But the Rampants scored nine of the remaining 10 runs in the game, played at Terry Sanford High in Fayetteville.
J.H. Rose notched five runs in the top of the fourth inning, taking the lead on a Cole Watkins RBI single. Cox Mill tied the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth on a Connor Welker run.
But the Rampants pulled ahead to stay on Grayson Myrick’s two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning.
J.H. Rose won its final 12 games of the season.
Cox Mill had won seven in a row before falling twice in the championship series.
No-hitter stops R-S Central
Randleman’s Ryan White was unhittable Saturday night, firing a no-hitter in the Tigers’ 4-0 victory over R-S Central in Burlington.
The Hilltoppers (17-4), playing in the state finals for the second time in school history, had forced a third game by winning 2-1 earlier Saturday in Game 2.
White walked two and struck out 11, as the Tigers (19-2) won their second state baseball title in school history.
Randleman scored all its runs in the bottom of the third inning. The key hit was a bases-loaded single by Hunter Atkins that scored two runs.
Perquimans rules in 1A
Perquimans swept East Surry in two games Sunday at South View High in Fayetteville and captured the 1A state baseball championship.
The Pirates won the first game 5-4 in 10 innings, then rallied past East Surry 7-4 in Game 2. The teams had planned to play a third game Sunday, had East Surry won the second contest.
It was the third state title for Perquimans, but the first since 1963. The star of that team was Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter.
The first game of the series started Saturday at Riddle Stadium in Fayetteville but was halted by rain in the third inning, with Perquimans leading 2-1. The game was resumed Sunday afternoon at nearby South View High.
East Surry’s Luke Bowman smacked a two-run double in the fifth inning, giving his team a 4-3 lead. But Perquimans tied the game in the sixth, scoring on an error. The Pirates’ winning run in the bottom of the 10th came on a Jackson Russell single.
In the second game, Perquimans (18-2) broke a 4-4 tie by scoring three times in the top of the sixth inning. East Surry finished 17-3.