By By EUGENE L. TINKLEPAUGH, Staff Writer
Williamston is one win away from a state championship berth. The defensive powerhouse Lady Barons are standing in the way.
The two face off tonight at 7 p.m. for the sectional title, and the winner gets a ticket to Raleigh.
Gates County and Williamston are in the same conference and faced off twice in the regular season.
Today’s game will be the tie-breaker of the two game split. Both teams lost at home.
In the first contest, the Tigers were caged in a 7-2 loss. But when Williamston traveled to Gates, the Tigers eked out a 4-3 win.
In the Barons second-round match-up against the Jamesville Bullets, Gates won 2-0 and dismantled a fence to do it.
Catcher Jalisa Bradley went 1-3 against the Bullets; Amanda Brown, the Barons’ third baseman crashed through a chain-link fence gate to catch a fly foul.
The Tigers beat Camden, Southside and Manteo to advance to the sectional round of the NCHSAA Class 1A state playoffs.
Williamston (17-9) is the top seed in the Atlantic Conference.
Gates County (19-6) is seeded second in the Albemarle Conference. Manteo was seeded first.
Four teams are still alive out of the east. The two sectional winners will go to Raleigh to compete for the regional and state titles.
Returning state champions Pender (24-2) and East Bladen (19-3) will battle for the other east seat in the title hunt.
Junior pitcher Morgan Miller will get the start tonight. Miller is 13-4 on the mound.
The Tiger team consists of three seniors: catcher Hillary Wynne, center fielder Samantha Williams and right fielder Morgan Roberson.
This is the farthest the Tiger seniors have gone in the playoffs in their prep careers.
The last two seasons, Williamston lost in the second round to Jamesville. This season, the Bullets were taken out by Gates in round two.
Hayes said the Tigers focus will stay the same as it has throughout the playoffs.
Hosting the Barons will have one huge advantage, he said.