By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
Coach Keith Boyd and his Northside Panthers will make a nearly three-hour trek to Dunn to face a team they aren’t too familiar with in the opening round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Class 1A state playoffs.
Northside (13-10), the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic Conference, will play at Midway at 6 p.m. Friday. The Raiders (14-7) are the No. 2 seed from the Super Six Conference.
Northside is joined in the 1A playoffs by Williamston, Bear Grass, Roanoke, Jamesville, Plymouth and Columbia.
The Panthers, coming off a senior night win against Southside, have put together a couple solid practices heading into tournament action.
Boyd said he’ll be leaning on his seniors — William Rushton, Colby Mason, Aaron McKinney, Sonny Robbins and Ethan Coltrain, during tournament play. Rushton will get the start on the hill for Northside on Friday.
The Raiders, whose streak of three straight regular-season conference titles came to an end this year, won the Super Six conference tournament with a 2-0 win over Hobbton. Coach Jason Fussell saw pitcher Gibby Allen pitch a complete game, allowing just five hits and striking out 10 batters.
The Northside-Midway winner will face the survivor between Dixon (15-8), the top seed from the Coastal Plains Conference, and Hobbton (7-15), the fourth seed in the Super Six Conference, in second-round play Tuesday.
In other 1A playoff games Friday, Williamston, Bear Grass and Jamesville will be at home, while Roanoke, Plymouth and Columbia will be on the road.
Coach Hank Tice’s Williamston Tigers (15-7), ranked fifth in the latest Impact Baseball Poll, will play host to the Cape Hatteras Hurricanes (10-10). Williamston is the top seed from the Atlantic Conference and Cape Hatteras is the third seed out of the Tideland Conference.
The winner will face the survivor between Albemarle Conference No. 2 seed and sixth-ranked Perquimans (13-8) and North Edgecombe (6-7), the No. 4 seed in the Tar Roanoke Conference.
The Bear Grass Bears (10-7), the No. 2 seed from the Tideland Conference, will welcome the Roanoke Redskins (4-18), the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Conference, into town. The victor will take on the winner between seventh-ranked Gates County (15-5), the Tar Roanoke top seed, and Manteo (12-9), the No. 3 seed from the Albemarle Conference.
The Jamesville Bullets (16-2), the top seed from the Tideland Conference, will play host to the Plymouth Vikings (10-11), a wild-card entry out of the Albemarle Conference. Friday’s winner will battle the survivor between Carolina Conference No. 2 seed Princeton (13-10) and Northampton-East (9-12), the No. 3 seed in the Tar Roanoke Conference.
The Columbia Wildcats (7-10), the No. 4 seed in the Tideland Conference, will travel to Camden to face the Bruins (13-7), the Albemarle Conference top seed. The winner will face the survivor between Louisburg (18-4), the Tar Roanoke No. 2 seed, and Super Six Conference No. 3 seed Lakewood (6-13).
NCHSAA Class 1A State Baseball Playoffs
First Round
6 p.m. – Northside at Midway
6 p.m. – Cape Hatteras at Williamston
6 p.m. – Roanoke at Bear Grass
6 p.m. – Plymouth at Jamesville
6 p.m. – Columbia at Camden
TENNIS
The Washington Pam Pack will be home for the second round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Class 3A Dual Team tennis tournament.
Washington (9-7) opened tournament play with a 9-0 blanking of Currituck. The Pack, the No. 2 seed out of the Coastal Conference, will play host to Eastern Wayne (13-5) on Tuesday.
The Warriors, the No. 2 seed from the Eastern Carolina Conference, picked up a 7-2 win over White Oak in the first round.
The winner will take on the survivor between Charles B. Aycock (19-2), the top seed from the Eastern Carolina Conference, and Coastal Conference top seed D.H. Conley (15-4) in the third round.
Bear Grass saw its season come to a close with a first-round loss Tuesday. The Bears fell 5-4 to North Johnston.
The Terra Ceia Knights won the Tarheel Independent Conference tournament on Tuesday.
Terra Ceia finished with a 338, followed by Lawrence Academy (340) and Northeast (343).
Northeast’s Justin Barnes earned medalist honors.
Payne Snow paced Terra Ceia with an 80. Also scoring for the Knights were Wayne Woolard, Andrew Darkow and Forrest Howell, who all carded an 86.
Grant Gelderman (91) also played for the Knights.
The Knights will play in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 1A state tournament Monday and Tuesday at the Hyland Hills Golf Club in Pinehurst.