Raiders advance in post-season
Published 8:51 pm Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
On Friday Pungo Christian Academy’s soccer and baseball teams hosted quarterfinal matchups in the NCISAA 1A Playoffs.
In soccer, the Raiders faced a familiar foe in Terra Ceia Christian School. The Raiders took a 2 – 0 lead into halftime thanks to goals from Destiney Midgette and Katie Baxter (PK). The Raiders added to their lead with goals from Julia Rouse and Brooklyn Bowes before the Knights answered with a goal of their own to make it 4 – 1. Baxter scored her second goal with just under 10 minutes left to seal a 5-1 victory. Rouse, Baxter and Mia Paniagua had assists in the win while keeper Autumn Gibbs picked up her 13thwin in goal with six saves.
The Lady Raiders advanced to the semifinals and traveled to second seed Oakwood School on Tuesday. The two teams squared off earlier in the year, with the Eagles coming out on top in penalty kicks.
On the diamond, the Raiders played Northeast Academy for the fourth time this season. The Raiders struggled early as Northeast capitalized on Raider errors. Pungo was able to rally in the final three innings thanks to errors from the Eagles and take home a 7 – 4 victory. Conner Sweet, Wells Eagles and Jackson Walker all had two hits in the contest. Jay Askew, Bo Spencer, Austin Garrish, Parker Byrd and Evan Woolard also picked up hits. Woolard earned the pitching win with 2.2 shutout innings and six strikeouts of middle relief. Spencer came on in the final inning, striking out the final batter to pick up the save.
The Raiders advanced to the semifinals on Tuesday against conference rival Lawrence Academy. The Warriors have beaten the Raiders all three times they have played this year, with their most recent defeat coming in the conference championship game just two weeks ago.
Softball had the week off as the top two seeds in the 1A bracket received an automatic bye to the semifinals. They will host Lawrence Academy on Tuesday for a chance to make it back to the state championship for the second year in a row and a third time in the last four seasons. The two teams split during the regular season, with the road team winning in each of the matchups.