May 17—SANFORD — Third-seeded Westchester Country Day topped second-seeded Grace Christian of Sanford 4-2 on Tuesday at Grace Christian in the semifinals of the NCISAA 2A baseball playoffs.

The Wildcats, last year's state runners-up, will face fifth-seeded The Burlington School — which toppled top-seeded and defending champion Wayne Country Day 3-2 — in the championship series starting Friday at Truist Point in High Point.

Games will be Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. If necessary, a winner-take-all third game will follow 30 minutes after the end of game 2.

Josh Hammond and Crawford Elrod each homered and drove in two to lead Westchester (15-6), which scored two in the fifth and two in the seventh after trailing 2-0 through two innings. Tate Vogler added two hits, including a double.

Hammond also got the pitching win, striking out eight while allowing just three hits and one walk in seven innings.

EAST DAVIDSON, RANDLEMAN

RANDLEMAN — Seventh-seeded East Davidson fell 7-3 against second-seeded Randleman on Tuesday at Randleman in the third round of the NCHSAA 2A West baseball playoffs. The Golden Eagles finished with a 20-5 record.

LEDFORD, NORTH IREDELL

WALLBURG — Top-seeded Ledford lost 5-4 against 24th-seeded North Iredell on Tuesday at Ledford in the third round of the NCHSAA 3A West baseball playoffs.

Angel Pichardo homered and drove in two runs for the Panthers (20-5). Jadden Rodriguez also had a hit and two RBIs, while Kelvyn Paulino Jr. added a double. Kevin Villaman took the loss despite allowing just one hit and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.

SOFTBALL

HIGH POINT CHRISTIAN, CONCORD ACADEMY

WALLBURG — Top-seeded High Point Christian rolled past fourth Concord Academy 18-2 in five innings Tuesday at Wallburg Baptist Church in the semifinals of the NCISAA 3A softball playoffs.

The Cougars, last year's state champions, will host second-seeded Hickory Grove in the championship series starting Friday. Games will be Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at noon. If necessary, a third game will follow 30 minutes after the end of game 2.

Mary Douglas Hayworth went 3 for 3 with an RBI for HPCA, which led 6-0 before getting an out in the bottom of the first. Hailey Allred had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs. Blakely Bowman also had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.

Lauren Sexton, Laci Jarrell and Maci Burkhart, who doubled, each had a hit and two RBIs as the Cougars tallied 13 hits for the game. Paisley Dixon struck out three in four innings in the circle, while Lexi Hall also struck out three in one inning.

LACROSSE

BISHOP McGUINNESS GIRLS, HICKORY

KERNERSVILLE — Top-seeded Bishop McGuinness beat second-seeded Hickory 16-4 on Tuesday at Bishop in the NCHSAA 1A/2A/3A West girls lacrosse regional championship.

The Villains will face Croatan, the top seed from the East, in the state championship Saturday at 2 p.m. in Durham County Stadium.

Kate Dennen had eight goals and two assists to lead Bishop (16-3). Ella Suire and Kiersten Varner each had three goals and three assists, while Sarah Pulliam and Anna Hoeing each had one goal. Evie Vu chipped in two assists.

Grace Khol (five saves) and Maddie Edwards (six saves) split time in goal.

BISHOP McGUINNESS BOYS, LAKE NORMAN CHARTER

HUNTERSVILLE — Third-seeded Bishop McGuinness fell 19-4 against top-seeded Lake Norman Charter on Tuesday at Lake Norman Charter in the NCHSAA 1A/2A/3A West boys lacrosse regional championship. The Villains finished with a 15-7 record.

BOYS GOLF

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

PINEHURST — Oak Grove posted a top-five team finish to highlight area golfers in the NCHSAA boys golf championships Monday and Tuesday in the Pinehurst area.

The Grizzlies, who were in second after the first day, shot a 309-332 — 641 to finish in fourth place in the 3A championship on Foxfire's Red Fox course.

Lincoln Newton finished in the top 10 individually with a 72-77-149. William McKenzie (T24, 75-81 — 156), Aidan Wilson (T26, 71-86 — 157) and Cooper Barrett (T72, 91-88 — 179) also had solid showing for Oak Grove.

Competing individually across the championships were: Bishop McGuinness' William Grissom (T45, 96-85 — 181) in the 1A championship at Pinehurst No. 6; Wheatmore's Ryan Marshall (T30, 83-77-160) in the 2A championship at Longleaf; Ledford's Jake Bethune (T64, 85-88 — 173) in the 3A championship at Foxfire; and Glenn's Chase McLaughlin (T48, 80-78 — 158) in the 4A championship at Pinehurst No. 8.

Mitchell in the 1A, East Surry in the 2A, Terry Sanford in the 3A and Pinecrest in the 4A won team titles. Mitchell's Connor Warren in the 1A, East Surry's Pennson Badgett in the 2A, Terry Sanford's Ethan Paschal in the 3A and Apex Friendship's Daniel McBrien in the 4A won individual championships.