2021 N.C. Area IV playoffs begin: Cleveland County, Cherryville Mint HIll are top-seeded teams

By Richard Walker

Cleveland County, Cherryville and Mint Hill are the top-seeded teams as the North Carolina Area IV playoffs begin on Sunday.

Cleveland County and Cherryville shared the Western Division title with 10-4 divisional records and Mint Hill took the Eastern Division title with an 8-2 record.

A late start to the season caused by the lateness of the high school baseball season cost Area IV one team at the start of the season and led many others to be unable to complete full schedules. Another team, Union County, played four league games and said it was unable to play in the postseason.

The loss of Huntersville Post 321and Union County Post 535 from the playoffs means Western Division co-champions – Cleveland County (10-4) and Cherryville (11-5) – get first-round byes. Cleveland County won the tiebreaker for the No. 1 Western Division seed.

The other 14 teams will begin best-of-five series on Sunday – Queen City (5-4) vs. Maiden (6-7), the Gaston Braves (6-6) vs. Caldwell County (5-8), Rutherford County (7-4) vs. Gastonia (2-8), Mint Hill (8-2) vs. Hickory (1-10), Burke County (7-7) vs. Pineville (4-5) and Lincoln County (4-2) vs. Asheville (5-7).

Teams will continue with best-of-five series through the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals that need to be completed by July 25.

The Area IV winner advances to the state tournament hosted by Cherryville from July 28-Aug. 1. As host, Cherryville is guaranteed a state tournament berth. But should Cherryville win the Area IV title, the Area IV runner-up also would advance to a field that includes two teams from Area I, Area II and Area III.

The N.C. state tournament champion advances to the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional at Asheboro’s McCrary Park from Aug. 4-8.

The N.C. state champion is slated to play the Virginia state champion at 4:30 p.m. in its Aug. 4 opener, with host Randolph County facing the New Jersey state champion at 6:30 p.m., in its Aug. 4 opener. (Should Randolph County win the N.C. state tournament in Cherryville, the runner-up will advance and play the Aug. 4 4:30 p.m. game.)

Finally, the Mid-Atlantic Regional champion will be joined by seven other regional champions from across the country for the Aug. 12-17 American Legion World Series at Shelby’s Keeter Stadium at Veterans Field.

Since the coronavirus pandemic cancelled the 2020 season, Cherryville and Mint Hill are repeat divisional winners from 2019; It’s Cherryville’s Area IV-record 23rd regular season championship since Area IV began in 1947 and Mint Hill’s 16th.

Cleveland County’s divisional title is its 17th – and first since 2018.

Here are the full Area IV playoff pairings:

First round: July 4-8 (best-of-5)

Area IV Playoffs: July 4-25

First round: July 4-8 (best-of-5)

West-1 (Cleveland) vs. East-8 (BYE)
BYE

East-4 (Queen City) vs. West-5 (Maiden)
Game 1: July 4 at QC
Game 2: July 5 at M
Game 3: July 6 at QC
Game 4 (if necessary): July 7 at M
Game 5 (if necessary): July 8 at QC

East-2 (Gaston Braves) vs. West-7 (Caldwell)
Game 1: July 4 at GB
Game 2: July 5 at C
Game 3: July 6 at GB
Game 4 (if necessary): July 7 at C
Game 5 (if necessary): July 8 at GB

West-3 (Rutherford) vs. East-6 (Gastonia)
Game 1: July 4 at R (R-S Central)
Game 2: July 5 at G
Game 3: July 6 at R (McNair)
Game 4 (if necessary): July 7 at G
Game 5 (if necessary): July 8 at R (McNair)

East-1 (Mint Hill) vs. West-8 (Hickory)
Game 1: July 4 at M
Game 2: July 5 at H
Game 3: July 6 at M
Game 4 (if necessary): July 7 at H
Game 5 (if necessary): July 8 at M

West-4 (Burke) vs. East-5 (Pineville)
Game 1: July 4 at B
Game 2: July 5 at P
Game 3: July 6 at B
Game 4 (if necessary): July 7 at P
Game 5 (if necessary): July 8 at B

West-2 (Cherryville) vs. East-7 (BYE)
BYE

East-3 (Lincoln) vs. West-6 (Asheville)
Game 1: July 4 at L (East Lincoln)
Game 2: July 5 at A
Game 3: July 6 at L (East Lincoln
Game 4 (if necessary): July 7 at A
Game 5 (if necessary): July 8 at L (East Lincoln)

Quarterfinals: July 9-13 (best-of-5)

West-1 (Cleveland) vs. East-4/West-5
Game 1: July 9
Game 2: July 10
Game 3: July 11
Game 4 (if necessary): July 12
Game 5 (if necessary): July 13

East-2/West-7 vs. West-3/East-6
Game 1: July 9
Game 2: July 10
Game 3: July 11
Game 4 (if necessary): July 12
Game 5 (if necessary): July 13

East-1/West-8 vs. West-4/East-5
Game 1: July 9
Game 2: July 10
Game 3: July 11
Game 4 (if necessary): July 12
Game 5 (if necessary): July 13

West-2 (Cherryville) vs. East-3/West-6
Game 1: July 9
Game 2: July 10
Game 3: July 11
Game 4 (if necessary): July 12
Game 5 (if necessary): July 13

Semifinals: July 14-19 (best-of-5)

West-1/East-4/West-5 vs. East-2/West-7/West-3/East-6
Game 1: July 14
Game 2: July 15
Game 3: July 16
Game 4 (if necessary): July 17
Game 5 (if necessary): July 18
rain date: July 19

East-1/West-8/West-4/East-5 vs. West-2/East-3/West-6
Game 1: July 14
Game 2: July 15
Game 3: July 16
Game 4 (if necessary): July 17
Game 5 (if necessary): July 18
rain date: July 19

Final: July 20-25 (best-of-5)
Game 1: July 20
Game 2: July 21
Game 3: July 22
Game 4 (if necessary): July 23
Game 5 (if necessary): July 24
rain date: July 25