By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
Ten area teams will look to keep their state championship dreams alive as playoff action heats up today.
The Washington Pam Pack is one of eight area teams that qualified for the state softball playoffs. First-round action gets started tonight.
Meanwhile, three area baseball teams will play in second-round games this evening.
Baseball
The Northside Panthers, Bear Grass Bears and Jamesville Bullets are the lone area teams still playing in the NCHSAA Class 1-A baseball playoffs. Northside and Bear Grass will be at home tonight, while Jamesville will be on the road.
Northside (11-10) will play host to the Red Barons of Gates County (15-8). The Panthers, the second seed from the Atlantic Conference, advanced with an 18-2 drubbing of Northampton-East. The Red Barons, the third seed from the Albemarle Conference, moved on after shocking Atlantic Conference top seed, Williamston, 4-0 in the first round. The winner will face the survivor between Manteo (23-2), the top seed in the Albemarle Conference, and Dixon (17-7), the second seed from the Coastal Plains Conference, in Friday’s district action.
Bear Grass (16-5) will welcome the Camden Bruins (16-8) into town. The Bears, the top seed from the Tideland Conference, advanced with a 17-2 pummeling of Northampton-West. The Bruins, the second seed from the Albemarle Conference, tripped up Columbia 9-2 in the first round.
Jamesville (12-6) will travel to Louisburg (19-4) to face the Warriors. The Bullets, the second seed from the Tideland Conference, advanced thanks to a 5-4 win in eight innings against Plymouth. Louisburg, the top seed from the Tar Roanoke Conference, blanked Mattamuskeet 8-0 in the first round.
The Bear Grass-Camden winner will battle the Jamesville-Louisburg survivor in district action on Friday.
Softball
Coach Emily Pake guided the Pam Pack (16-2) to a second place finish in the Coastal Conference standings.
Washington will open NCHSAA Class 3-A tournament play at home against the Hunt Warriors (12-10), the fourth seed from the Eastern Carolina Conference. The winner will face the survivor between West Brunswick (10-12), the top seed from the Mideastern Conference, and Western Harnett (8-9), a wild-card entry from the Cape Fear Valley Conference, in Friday’s second round action.
Qualifying for the NCHSAA Class 1-A state softball playoffs were Southside, Northside, Williamston, Jamesville, Bear Grass and Columbia. Earning home playoff games were Williamston, Jamesville and Columbia.
The Pungo Raiders qualified for the NCISAA 1-A state playoffs.
Columbia (11-5), the second seed from the Tideland Conference, got a jump on the playoffs with a 3-0 win over Northside (11-11), the third seed from the Atlantic Conference, on Monday. Kelli Patrick was the winning pitcher as she struck out six and only allowed two hits. She also had a hit and an RBI. Stephanie Holton (one run) and Meredith Reynolds also had hits, while Brittany Puckett and Lacey Bartley drove in runs.
Columbia will take on the survivor between Louisburg (16-6), the Tar Roanoke Conference champions, and Cape Hatteras (9-7), the fourth seed from the Tideland Conference.
Coach John Lohman’s Southside Seahawks (13-5), the second seed from the Atlantic Conference, will play the Northampton-East Rams (10-6), the second seed from the Tar Roanoke Conference. The Rams earned the home playoff game based on seeding priority.
The Williamston Tigers (14-9), the Atlantic Conference champions, will play host to the Camden Bruins (9-10), the third seed from the Albemarle Conference.
The Southside-Northampton-East winner will face the Williamston-Camden survivor in Friday’s second round action.
Coach Richie Ange’s Jamesville Bullets (14-1), the Tideland Conference champions, will play host to the North Edgecome Warriors (6-8), the fourth seed from the Tar Roanoke Conference.
The Bear Grass Bears (12-7), the third seed from the Tideland Conference, will visit the Gates County Red Barons (16-6), the second seed from the Albemarle Conference.
The Jamesville-North Edgecombe winner will take on the Bear Grass-Gates County survivor in second round action.
Also in the bracket, Manteo (19-5), the Albemarle Conference champions, will play wild-card entry North Duplin (7-11), while Coastal Plains second seed Pamlico (8-8) will take on Tar Roanoke third seed Northampton-West (8-7) in first round action. The winners of those two games will square off Friday.
Pungo (14-5) earned the sixth seed for the NCISAA 1-A tournament. The Raiders will visit No. 3 seed (Goldsboro) Wayne Christian School (14-5) in today’s first round game.
The winner will face the survivor between No. 2 seed Lawrence Academy (20-1) and No. 7 seed Northwood Temple Academy (11-5) in second round action Friday at Wayne Christian School.
NCHSAA State Baseball Playoffs
Class 1-A
Second Round
Tuesday
6 p.m. – Camden at Bear Grass
7 p.m. – Gates County at Northside
7 p.m. – Jamesville at Louisburg
District Third round
Friday
7 p.m. – Jamesville-Louisburg winner vs. Bear Grass-Camden winner
7 p.m. – Northside-Gates County winner vs. Manteo-Dixon winner
NCHSAA State Softball Playoffs
Class 3-A
First Round
Tuesday
6:30 p.m. – Hunt at Washington
Class 1-A
First Round
Monday
Columbia 3, Northside 0
Tuesday
5 p.m. – N. Edgecombe at Jamesville
7 p.m. – Southside at Northampton-East
7 p.m. – Camden at Williamston
7 p.m. – Bear Grass at Gates County
NCISAA State Softball Playoffs
Class 1-A
TBA – Pungo at Wayne Christian
NCHSAA State Softball Playoffs
Class 3-A
Second Round
Friday
6:30 p.m. – Washington-Hunt winner vs. West Brunswick-Western Harnett winner
Class 1-A
Second Round
Friday
7 p.m. – Columbia vs. Louisburg-Cape Hatteras winner
7 p.m. – Jamesville-N. Edgecombe winner vs. Bear Grass-Gates County winner
7 p.m. – Southside-Northampton East winner vs. Williamston-Camden winner
NCISAA State Softball Playoffs
Class 1-A
Second Round
Friday
TBA – Pungo-Wayne Christian winner vs. Lawrence Academy-Northwood Temple Academy winner