Local team gets State Games silver again

Jun. 21—For the second year in a row, the Region 4 team at the State Games of North Carolina high school baseball tournament overcame an early loss and reached the gold medal game. Those who recall the 2022 tournament probably remember that the team never got to play that game due to bad weather, and were then awarded the silver on run differential.

On Saturday, the same scenario played out at UNC Charlotte's Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium, only this time, the weather cooperated and Region 4 got to play Region 7, representing northwestern North Carolina, for the gold. Unfortunately, a four-run eighth inning tiebreaker decided the game in favor of the mountain team, 5-1. The teams were tied 1-1 at the end of the seven-inning regulation contest after Lee County's Luke Sheets had scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Sheets was one of several players and coaches from the area who signed up for the annual summer showcase. Head coach Jarrod Britt of Cape Fear is the head coach of the team, assisted by Lee County's Jevon Wade, Harnett Central's Zach Bingham, and David Reece of Triton. Three of Wade's players were part of this year's team. BJ Brown and Walker McDuffie joined Sheets, and numerous other players from Sandhills Athletic Conference teams also were part of the 20-man squad, including Austin Mooring and Ryan Wallace of Union Pines.

The tournament was contested from Tuesday through Friday, and just like a year ago, there was no one dominant team among the eight taking part. Both of the gold medal finalists reached the game with a 2-1 record in pool play, with both the gold- and bronze-medal finalists determined on tiebreakers. Region 4 opened Tuesday with an 8-3 win over Region 2 (Wilmington-New Bern), but then lost 10-4 Wednesday against Region 8 (Western NC). However, they bounced back with a 7-6 extra-inning win over putative host team Region 6 (Charlotte) on Thursday, in a game where Sheets was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth to force in the winning run. The Lee rising junior drove in three runs without benefit of a hit.

Region 6 had been undefeated in pool play coming in, so the head-to-head win by Region 4 meant they tied at 2-1 atop the pool and Region 4 earned a spot in the gold medal game.

McDuffie started the final for Region 4 and worked the first three innings, allowing an unearned run in the second off a passed ball with two out.

Region 4 struggled with the bat throughout the contest. Brown doubled with one out in the first, but then the team did not collect another hit until Sheets tripled with one out in the seventh. Matthew Perez followed with a sac fly to tie the game.

The State Games baseball tournament was played under a new extra-inning format in which a team starts the extra innings with the bases loaded and one out. The Region 7 team picked up four quick runs on a bases-clearing triple and a sacrifice fly. Region 4 couldn't respond in its own turn and had to settle for the silver.

Tuesday's opener was no contest, as Region 4 scored four times in the bottom of the first, added two in the second and one in the third, and led 7-0 before their opponents could get on the board. McDuffie earned the win for four innings of work in which he allowed two hits, one unearned run and struck out five.

Wednesday's game was a poor performance in which Region 4 had just two hits and committed six errors, and trailed 10-1 before scoring three late runs. They bounced back in Thursday's do-or-die game, which might have resulted in the team being eliminated with no medal chance at all had they lost. Region 4 led 4-1 after three complete, but Region 6 rallied to take a 6-4 lead with four runs in the top of the seventh inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, the first two batters went down, but then Mason Hughes walked and Brown singled. After a passed ball moved both runners up, Pinecrest star Bryant Kimbrell hit a grounder that should have ended the game, but the shortstop booted it and both runners scored.

Kimbrell then got two quick outs in the eighth with the bases loaded, and after the first man in the bottom of the eighth was put out, Sheets was hit and Region 4 had the win.

Brown, Kimbrell, and Aiden Taylor had two hits each and were the only Region 4 players to get a hit in the win. Sheets had his other two RBI on a first-inning groundout and a third-inning sacrifice fly.