6-11-21 roundup: College baseball, Legion baseball, Prep baseball
By Richard Walker
Wingate wasn’t just satisfied with making its first NCAA Division II World Series.
The Bulldogs’ fourth straight win at the event at the USA National Training Complex in Cary – an 8-7, 11-inning thriller over Angelo State – will give the school the chance to play for a national championship on Saturday.
Wingate (38-13) will play the winner of Saturday morning’s Central Missouri-Tampa game for the national championship at 2 p.m..
Former Crest standout Logan McNeely continued his hot hitting with four hits in six plate appearances and two RBIs for the Bulldogs, who scored their winning run on a sacrifice fly by Jed Bryant.
A 2017 Crest graduate, McNeely had 11 hits in 22 at-bats in five NCAA Division II World Series games; He is the leading hitter in the World Series.
Austin Mitchell (2018 North Gaston graduate) and Brent Walls (Cherryville 2020) also are on the Wingate roster.
Here are the pairings and results for NCAA Division II World Series:
June 5 games
Game 1 – No. 5 Tampa 7, No. 4 Trevecca Nazarene 6 (10 innings)
Game 2 – No. 1 Central Missouri 9, No. 8 Northwest Nazarene 3
June 6 games
Game 3 – No. 3 Angelo State 6, No. 6 Wingate 2
Game 4 – No. 2 Seton Hill 4, No. 7 Southern New Hampshire 3
June 7 games
Game 5 – Northwest Nazarence 9, Trevecca Nazarene 3
Game 6 – Central Missouri 8, Tampa 4
June 8 games
Game 7 – Wingate 3, Southern New Hampshire 2
Game 8 – Angelo State 9, Seton Hill 4
June 9 games
Game 9 – Wingate 5, Seton Hill 1
Game 10 – Tampa 5, Northwest Nazarene 2
June 10 game
Game 11 – Wingate 5, Angelo State 4
Friday’s games
Game 12 – Tampa 8, Central Missouri 1
Game 13 – Wingate 8, Angelo State 7 (11 innings)
Saturday, June 12
Game 14 – Central Missouri vs. Tampa, 10 a.m.
Championship game: Wingate vs. Central Missouri-Tampa winner, 2 p.m.
Legion baseball
Divisional play in North Carolina Area IV begins on Saturday with three games – Burke County at Caldwell County, the Gaston Braves visit Queen City and Hickory visits Maiden.
Play is being resumed for the first time since 2019 as last season was cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Gastonia opens its season on Sunday at Queen City.
Cherryville has already played two non-division games – splitting a pair of contests with Rock Hill, S.C. last weekend – and opens its divisional schedule on Wednesday at Hickory.
Lincoln County opens its season on Thursday at the Gaston Braves.
Cleveland County is the last team to open its schedule with a June 20 game at Hickory.
High school baseball
Due to inclement weather across the state for much of the week, the N.C. High School Athletic Association will be postponed the release of next week’s state playoff pairings until Sunday.
Here’s Friday’s results:
East Rutherford 12, Shelby 2
Lake Norman Charter 9, West Lincoln 8
Maiden 6, Lincolnton 5
Here are local high school baseball standings through Friday’s games unless noted (x-) with conference record first followed by overall record:
BIG SOUTH 3A
Crest 12-0, 12-0
Kings Mountain 10-2, 11-3
Forestview 7-5, 9-5
North Gaston 7-5, 8-6
Cramer 4-8, 6-8
Ashbrook 2-10, 2-12
Huss 0-12, 1-12
SOUTHWESTERN 2A
R-S Central 11-1, 12-2
South Point 9-3, 10-4
East Rutherford 7-5, 8-5
Chase 6-6, 8-6
East Gaston 5-7, 6-8
Burns 3-9, 4-10
Shelby 1-11, 1-13
SOUTH FORK 2A
East Lincoln 13-1, 13-1
North Lincoln 11-3, 11-3
Lk Norman Charter 10-4, 10-4
Maiden 9-5, 9-5
Bandys 6-8, 6-8
Lincolnton 4-10, 4-10
West Lincoln 2-12, 2-12
Newton-Conover 1-13, 1-13
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A
Cherryville 11-1, 13-1
x-Lincoln Charter 11-1, 12-1
Christ the King 8-4, 9-5
Highland Tech 5-7, 6-7
Thomas Jefferson 5-7, 6-8
Bessemer City 2-10, 2-12
Piedmont CC 0-12, 0-12
PAC 7 2A
Pine Lake Prep 10-2, 11-2
Mtn Isl Charter 10-2, 10-2
Comm Sch Davidson 9-3, 10-3
Union Academy 7-5, 8-5
Bradford Prep 4-8, 4-10
Langtree Charter 2-10, 2-11
Queen’s Grant 0-12, 1-13
College baseball
Two Carolinas teams won regionals last weekend to advance to this weekend’s Super Regionals. The full 16-team super regionals pairings and schedule follows:
N.C. State at No. 1 Arkansas
Game 1: Arkansas 21-2 (Arkansas leads series 1-0)
Game 2: Saturday, 3 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, 6 p.m.
South Florida at No. 2 Texas
Game 1: Saturday, 9 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, 9 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, 4 or 7 p.m.
LSU at No. 3 Tennessee
Game 1: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, Noon or 3 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, 4 or 7 p.m.
No. 13 East Carolina at No. 4 Vanderbilt
Game 1: Vanderbilt 2-0 (Vanderbilt leads series 1-0)
Game 2: Saturday, noon
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, 1 p.m.
No. 12 Ole Miss at No. 5 Arizona
Game 1: Friday, late
Game 2: Saturday, 10 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, 9 p.m.
Dallas Baptist vs. Virginia (at Columbia, S.C.)
Game 1: Saturday, Noon
Game 2: Sunday, Noon
Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, 1 p.m.
No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Mississippi State
Game 1: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, 6 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, 7 p.m.
No. 9 Stanford at No. 8 Texas Tech
Game 1: Stanford 15-3 (Stanford leads series 1-0)
Game 2: Saturday, 3 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, 3 p.m.
Pro baseball
The Gastonia Honey Hunters’ three-game Atlantic League of Professional Baseball series opener on Friday night at Lexington was postponed due to inclement weather.
The Honey Hunters, winners of four straight to improve to 7-5 on the season, will play a doubleheader at Lexington on Saturday.