6-22-21 roundup: Prep baseball, Legion baseball, College baseball and Pro baseball
By Richard Walker
Could Reilly Hovis’ Gastonia baseball homecoming give him a shot at the major leagues?

The Toronto Blue Jays think so after signing Hovis off the Gastonia Honey Hunters’ roster of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball on Tuesday.
A 2012 Forestview High graduate who was an ACC champion and an All-ACC pitcher at the University of North Carolina, Hovis is likely to be assigned to one of the Blue Jays top minor league teams. Toronto’s Class AAA team is the Buffalo Bison, its Class AA team is the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and its High Class A team is Vancouver Canadians.
For Gastonia, Hovis was one of the team’s top pitchers with a 1-2 record and 2.96 ERA in six appearances (three starts).
Hovis was a ninth-round draft pick of the Miami Marlins in 2015 and spent four seasons in that organization before being released after playing for Class AA Jacksonville in 2018.
Hovis also becomes the second local product originally signed by the Honey Hunters to get a major league contract; 2007 North Gaston High graduate Jake Buchanan was signed by the California Angels before playing for Gastonia and is currently pitching for Class AAA Salt Lake City.
Legion baseball
Cleveland County 7, Caldwell County 4: Reliever Boone Cartee got the win with 4 2-3 innings of one-hit pitching and Porter Hall (two hits, RBI), Blake Davis (two-run homer), Ryan Emery (RBI) and Cartee (RBI) led the offense for Cleveland County.
Cherryville 9, Maiden 2: Zane Brockman went four innings with six strikeouts for the pitching win and Will Heavner (4-4, 4 RBIs), Brett Mason (2-3, 3 runs), Zach Wilson (2 hits, double) and Cole Irby (2-2) led the Cherryville offense.
Junior Legion baseball
Cherryville 7, Burns 6: Cherryville improved to 5-0 with the road victory.
High school baseball
Here are the full state playoff results and upcoming pairings:
Class 4A
June 15 first round
No. 16 Wilmington Hoggard 5, No. 1 Wake Forest Heritage 4
No. 9 Scotland County 12, No. 8 Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons 8
No. 5 Southern Pines Pinecrest 9, No. 12 Wake Forest 5
No. 4 Fuquay-Varina 6, No. 13 Raleigh Leesville Road 5
No. 11 Wilmington Laney 5, No. 6 Winterville South Central 0
No. 10 Apex Middle Creek 6, No. 7 Raleigh Millbrook 1
No. 15 Purnell Swett 5, No. 2 Hope Mills South View 3
No. 1 Charlotte Providence 2, No. 16 Jamestown Ragsdale 1
No. 8 Lake Norman 3, No. 9 Cary 1
No. 5 Northwest Guilford 12, No. 12 Huntersville Hopewell 6
No. 4 Huntersville Hough 1, No. 13 East Forsyth (10-4) 0
No. 3 Pfafftown Reagan 4, No. 14 Greensboro Grimsley 0
No. 11 Charlotte Myers Park 9, No. 6 Durham Jordan 1
No. 7 Porter Ridge 9, No. 10 Charlotte Kell 5
No. 2 McDowell County 5, No. 15 Charlotte Olympic 1
June 16 first round
No. 3 Wilmington Ashley 2, No. 14 Raleigh Broughton 0
June 17 second round
No. 16 Wilmington Hoggard 5, No. 9 Scotland County 3
No. 4 Fuquay-Varina 11, No. 5 Southern Pines Pinecrest 6
No. 3 Wilmington Ashley 15, No. 11 Wilmington Laney 7
No. 15 Purnell Swett 7, No. 10 Apex Middle Creek 4
No. 1 Charlotte Providence 10, No. 8 Lake Norman 2
No. 5 Northwest Guilford 11, No. 4 Huntersville Hough 4
No. 3 Pfafftown Reagan 5, No. 11 Charlotte Myers Park 4
No. 2 McDowell County 5, No. 7 Porter Ridge 4
June 19 regional semifinals
No. 4 Fuquay-Varina 7, No. 16 Wilmington Hoggard 1
No. 3 Wilmington Ashley 8, No. 15 Purnell Swett 6
No. 1 Charlotte Providence 13, No. 5 Northwest Guilford 3 (5 innings)
No. 3 Pfafftown Reagan 4, No. 2 McDowell County 3
Tuesday’s regional final
No. 3 Pfafftown Reagan 7, No. 1 Charlotte Providence 3
(15-2) at No. 1 Charlotte Providence (15-2)
Wedneday’s regional final
No. 4 Fuquay-Varina (13-3) at No. 3 Wilmington Ashley (14-3)
Friday/Saturday state championship series at TBA
Pfafftown Reagan (16-2) vs. Fuquay-Varina-Wilmington Ashley winner
Class 3A
June 15 first round
No. 1 Northern Guilford 10, No. 16 Fayetteville Cape Fear 0
No. 9 Northern Durham 5, No. 8 Wilson Hunt 3
No. 5 South Brunswick 5, No. 12 Southeast Guilford 1
No. 13 Greenville Rose 7, No. 4 West Johnston 0
No. 3 Greenville Conley 3, No. 14 Jacksonville 0
No. 6 Asheboro 5, No. 11 Orange County 4
No. 7 Fayetteville Sanford 14, No. 10 Cameron Union Pines 6
No. 15 Clayton 9, No. 2 West Carteret 3
No. 16 North Henderson 6, No. 1 Crest 3
No. 9 Concord Cox Mill 9, No. 8 Kings Mountain 4
No. 12 Marvin Ridge 2, No. 5 Northwest Cabarrus 1
No. 4 Skyland Roberson 12, No. 13 Winston-Salem Mount Tabor 0
No. 3 East Rowan 5, No. 14 Western Guilford 4
No. 11 Monroe Sun Valley 7, No. 6 Southwest Guilford 1
No. 7 Waxhaw Cuthbertson 12, No. 10 Asheville 3
No. 2 St. Stephens 3, No. 15 China Grove Carson 2 (8 innings)
June 17 second round
No. 1 Northern Guilford 10, No. 9 Northern Durham 0
No. 13 Greenville Rose 2, No. 5 South Brunswick 1
No. 3 Greenville Conley 4, No. 6 Asheboro 1
No. 15 Clayton 11, No. 7 Fayetteville Sanford 0
No. 9 Concord Cox Mill 12, No. 16 North Henderson 0
No. 4 Skyland Roberson 7, No. 12 Marvin Ridge 6
No. 11 Monroe Sun Valley 5, No. 3 East Rowan 4
No. 2 St. Stephens 5, No. 7 Waxhaw Cuthbertson 1
June 19 regional semifinals
No. 13 Greenville Rose 11, No. 1 Northern Guilford 7
No. 3 Greenville Conley 6, No. 15 Clayton 5
No. 9 Concord Cox Mill 5, No. 4 Skyland Roberson 1
No. 11 Monroe Sun Valley 10, No. 2 St. Stephens 0 (5 innings)
Tuesday’s regional final
No. 13 Greenville Rose 13, No. 3 Greenville Conley 3
Wednesday’s regional final
No. 11 Monroe Sun Valley (14-3) at No. 9 Concord Cox Mill (14-3)
Friday/Saturday state championship series at TBA
Greenville Rose (14-4) vs. Monroe Sun Valley-Concord Cox Mill winner
Class 2A
June 15 first round
No. 16 North Pitt (8-2) 2, No. 1 Mayodan McMichael 1
No. 9 East Bladen 6, No. 8 Croatan 1
No. 5 Roanoke Rapids 7, No. 12 West Craven 3
No. 4 North Lenoir 6, No. 13 Providence Grove 2
No. 14 Whiteville 1, No. 3 Midway 0
No. 6 First Flight 6, No. 11 East Duplin 5
No. 10 Randleman 17, No. 7 Reidsville 0
No. 15 Southwest Onslow 7, No. 2 North Johnston 5
No. 16 Thomasville Ledford 7, No. 1 North Davidson 5
No. 9 East Lincoln 5, No. 8 West Stokes 4
No. 5 West Wilkes 17, No. 12 Foard 2
No. 13 East Bend Forbush 8, No. 4 Bunker Hill 0
No. 14 South Point 7, No. 3 Canton Pisgah 2
No. 6 R-S Central 3, No. 11 North Lincoln 1
No. 10 Oak Grove 3, No. 7 Madison 2
No. 15 South Rowan 6, No. 2 West Stanly 2
June 17 second round
No. 9 East Bladen 13, No. 16 North Pitt 3
No. 4 North Lenoir 6, No. 5 Roanoke Rapids 4
No. 6 First Flight 3, No. 14 Whiteville 2
No. 10 Randleman 10, No. 15 Southwest Onslow 0
No. 9 East Lincoln 11, No. 16 Thomasville Ledford 1 (5 innings)
No. 13 East Bend Forbush 7, No. 5 West Wilkes 4
No. 6 R-S Central 8, No. 14 South Point 3
No. 15 South Rowan 11, No. 10 Oak Grove 0
June 19 regional semifinals
No. 9 East Bladen 5, No. 4 North Lenoir 0
No. 10 Randleman 10, No. 6 First Flight 1
No. 13 East Bend Forbush (11-5) 6, No. 9 East Lincoln 4
No. 6 R-S Central 4, No. 15 South Rowan 3
Tuesday’s regional finals
No. 10 Randleman 10, No. 9 East Bladen 3
(16-1) at No. 9 East Bladen (12-4)
No. 6 R-S Central 8, No. 13 East Bend Forbush 4
(12-5) at No. 6 R-S Central (15-2)
Friday/Saturday state championship series at TBA
Randleman (17-1) vs. R-S Central (16-2)
Class 1A
June 15 first round
No. 1 Perquimans 16, No. 16 Ocracoke 0
No. 9 Hobbton 6, No. 8 East Columbus 0
No. 12 Edenton Holmes 3, No. 5 Roxboro Community 1
No. 4 Bear Grass Charter 2, No. 13 North Duplin 1
No. 3 East Carteret 8, No. 14 West Columbus 5
No. 11 Princeton 5, No. 6 Tarboro 1
No. 10 East Wake Academy 3, No. 7 Rosewood 2
No. 2 Granville Central 4, No. 15 Durham Voyager Academy 1
No. 1 Hayesville 6, No. 16 Huntersville Christ the King 1
No. 8 Mountain Island Charter 3, No. 9 North Stanly 2
No. 12 Lincoln Charter 6, No. 5 Greensboro Cornerstone Charter 0
No. 13 North Moore 8, No. 4 Polk County 7
No. 3 Asheboro Uwharrie Charter 11, No. 14 Chatham Charter 0
No. 11 Murphy 13, No. 6 Boonville Starmount 10
No. 7 Cherryville 6, No. 10 Pine Lake Prep 5
No. 2 East Surry 3, No. 15 Community School of Davidson 2
June 17 second round
No. 1 Perquimans 10, No. 9 Hobbton 0
No. 4 Bear Grass Charter 4, No. 12 Edenton Holmes 0
No. 3 East Carteret 9, No. 11 Princeton 5
No. 2 Granville Central 6, No. 10 East Wake Academy 0
No. 8 Mountain Island Charter 12, No. 1 Hayesville 9
No. 12 Lincoln Charter 12, No. 13 North Moore 7
No. 3 Asheboro Uwharrie Charter 11, No. 11 Murphy 3
No. 2 East Surry 9, No. 7 Cherryville 2
June 19 regional semifinals
No. 1 Perquimans 10, No. 4 Bear Grass Charter 0 (5 innings)
No. 2 Granville Central 6, No. 3 East Carteret 5
No. 8 Mountain Island Charter 4, No. 12 Lincoln Charter 3
No. 2 East Surry 10, No. 3 Asheboro Uwharrie Charter 1
Tuesday’s regional finals
No. 2 Granville Central at No. 1 Perquimans (ppd., Wednesday)
No. 2 East Surry 7, No. 8 Mountain Island Charter 1
Friday/Saturday state championship series at TBA
Granville Central-Perquimans winner vs. East Surry (17-1)
College baseball
Pairings have been set for the upcoming College World Series in Omaha, Neb., where N.C. State will be making its third appearance in the event; The Wolfpack previously advanced to the CWS in 1968 and 2013.
The 2021 CWS pairings:
Saturday’s games
Game 1: N.C. State 10, No. 9 Stanford 4
Game 2: No. 4 Vanderbilt 7, No. 5 Arizona 6 (12 innings)
Sunday’s games
Game 3: Virginia 6, No. 3 Tennessee 0
Game 4: No. 7 Mississippi State 2, No. 2 Texas 1
Monday, June 21
Game 5: Stanford 14, Arizona 5 (Arizona eliminated)
Game 6: N.C. State 1, Vanderbilt 0
Tuesday, June 22
Game 7: Texas 8, Tennessee 4 (Tennessee eliminated)
Game 8: Mississippi State 6, Virginia 5
Wednesday, June 23
Game 9: Stanford (39-16) vs. Vanderbilt (46-16), 7 p.m.
Thursday, June 24
Game 10: Texas (48-16) vs. Virginia (36-26), 7 p.m.
Friday, June 25
Game 11: N.C. State (37-18) vs. Game 9 winner, 2 p.m.
Game 12: Mississippi State (47-16) vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 26
Game 13 (if necessary): 2 p.m.
Game 14 (if necessary): 7 p.m.
Finals (Best-of-3 series)
Game 1: Monday, June 28, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Tuesday, June 29, 7 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Wednesday, June 30, 7 p.m.
Pro baseball
Gastonia’s Tuesday game at Long Island was postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday starting at 6 p.m.