NCHSAA State 4-A Baseball Championship: South Meck Takes Series

SOUTH MECK WINS 4-A BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

ZEBULON— South Mecklenburg rallied from a 4-0 deficit with seven unanswered runs to take a 7-4 victory in the third and decisive game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A baseball championship series on Saturday afternoon at Five County Stadium.

Brooks Kennedy, Michael Smith and Luke Miller each had two hits in the Sabres 11-hit attack.

Earl Oliver of South Mecklenburg was named the championship series Most Valuable Player. Oliver went the distance on the mound in game two earlier on Saturday, giving up five hits while fanning four and walking two. Fuquay-Varina got a run in the sixth to break a 2-2 deadlock and win the opening game on Friday night, 3-2.

In the decisive game, the Bengals took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Brett Daniels after a couple of hits, and then pushed three across in the second for a 4-0 lead.

But the Sabres stormed back to tie the game with four runs in the second, with the key blow a two-run single by Michael Smith, and then Max Bazin’s RBI single in the third gave South Meck the lead for good at 5-4.

South added a pair of runs in the fourth on a hit batter, a walk, and singles by Miller and Kennedy.

Austin Wynn went the distance on the mound for South and allowed only one earned run, scattering nine hits. Daniels got the loss for Fuquay-Varina, although he paced the Bengals offense with three this in three trips. Lucas Scott and Nick Stuart had two hits apiece for the Bengals.

South Mecklenburg, in its fourth trip to the NCHSAA baseball championships, finished 27-7 overall and won its first state baseball title since 1989. The Bengals, who won the 4-A title in 2002, ended 27-6.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Five County Stadium, Zebulon
Class 4-A: Game Three

                      1  2  3  4  5  6  7  R   H  E
   Fuquay-Varina      1  3  0  0  0  0  0  4   9  2
   South Mecklenburg  0  4  1  2  0  0  x  7  11  2

WP—Austin Wynn
LP—Brett Daniels