Several local baseball and softball teams put on a show as regular season ends

An incredible few days of postseason and late regular-season action in baseball and softball have allowed a number of Randolph County teams to head into the state tournaments on high notes.

ER baseball

The Eastern Randolph High School baseball team finished third in the Four Rivers Conference regular season, but captured three straight victories to claim the FRC Tournament championship, defeating top-seeded Northwood in the championship game, 11-1.

An early offensive onslaught gave the Wildcats an early lead in the championship game as ER led by nine runs after two innings. 

“It is an awesome feeling for our guys going into the week knowing how much it meant to them and for us,” ER coach Nathan Cockman said. “Going into a tournament that we know is one-and-done like the state tournament is, I could tell they wanted it from the beginning.”

The win was the ninth straight for ER, which will take a 16-11 record into the state 3-A Tournament.

“I don’t know what it is,” Cockman said of having so much success late in the season for a number of years. “I just think it’s hitting your stride and playing good baseball in May.”

The Wildcats have advanced to the regional championship series in two of the past three years.

Bryson Marley earned the win on the mound, giving up one run and two hits with nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Cade McCallum pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief with one strikeout. Maddox Dunn had two hits and three RBIs and Isaiah Batchelor had a hit, two runs and two RBIs. Chance Holdaway added a double, RBI and two runs. 

The Wildcats had advanced with a 7-4 win over No. 6 North Moore in the first round and a surprising 12-3 win over No. 2 Uwharrie Charter Academy in the semifinals. Holdaway had the complete-game win on the mound against UCA and McCallum added four hits with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Holdaway and Batchelor each had three hits.

ER benefitted from four errors and six walks in the opening round against North Moore, falling behind before rallying for the win. Batchelor, Holdaway, Avery Wright and Carlos Cordero provided the hits.

ER was right on the bubble of receiving a first-round bye when the seeds and pairings were announced Monday.

Randleman baseball

The Randleman baseball team earned a pair of lopsided wins over Ledford in Piedmont Athletic Conference regular-season play and kept alive one of the most impressive streaks in NCHSAA history. The two wins moved the Tigers into a share of first place in the PAC standings with Central Davidson and represents the 17th straight season the Tigers have either won outright or shared a regular season baseball conference championship.

RHS posted wins of 13-3 and 15-0 to finish 11-1 in PAC play and 20-4 overall as the state 4-A tournament began. RHS was expected to receive a first-round bye.

“It’s a credit to the kids and all the hard work they put in,” said RHS coach Jake Smith. “Countless hours of trusting their abilities. It’s a credit to the assistant coaches. Everybody understands the expectations and wants to be a part of it.”

The Tigers may not have as many household names as in the past, but there’s no doubt the players worked extremely hard and have earned this prestigious honor.

“The one thing about this team is they know what they do well and they play well together,” Smith said. “Everyone knows their roles. And the ones who have been here are great leaders and the younger guys have stepped up. Our goal every year is to continue to get better from the start of the season and we’ve done that.”

SW Randolph softball

The Southwestern Randolph High School softball team made it known which team is the best team in the FRC with a 17-0 three-inning win over Northwood in the FRC Tournament finals Friday night.

The Cougars erupted for 12 runs on 11 hits in the third inning after grabbing a 5-0 lead after two innings. The two teams battled to a nine-inning contest the last time they played with SWR earning an 8-4 win. 

It wasn’t even close this time.

“We hit the snot out of the ball tonight,” SWR coach Toby Strider said. “This is by far the best hitting team I’ve had as a coach here. We had some seeing-eye hits, but we hit some shots.”

Katelyn West, who pitched a three-inning no-hitter, had three hits, including her 100th regular-season hit, three runs scored and three RBIs. Alyssa Harris and Jada Freeleand each had three hits and Nauticca Parrish and Bristol Marine had two hits each. Chloe Eudy hit a three-run homer in the third to end the game.

“Not much to say except let’s get ready for the playoffs,” Strider said.

SWR, which recorded a 10-0 win over North Moore in the semifinals, was 18-4 and expected to receive a first-round bye in the playoffs.