NCHSAA State 3-A Baseball Championship Game 1

TOPSAIL TAKES 5-3 WIN OVER PIEDMONT IN 3-A GAME ONE

ZEBULON – A two-run single in the sixth inning by Clark Cota broke a 3-3 tie and lifted Hampstead Topsail to a 5-3 triumph over Monroe Piedmont on Friday night in the first game of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3-A baseball championship series at Five County Stadium.

Cota, who pitched four innings, and Jake Madole had two hits apiece for Topsail, while Danny Wilson hit safely three times, including a pair of doubles.

Topsail took a 3-0 lead in the third, with key hits a two-run single by Sam Luchansky and an RBI-single by Madole. But Piedmont battled back to tie the game in the fifth on an RBI single by Hunter Jones that scored Colton Greene.

Luchansky was the winning pitcher with Trent Hansley, an East Carolina signee, coming on to get the save in the seventh, striking out the side. David Nash got the loss.

Topsail, making its third appearance in the last seven years in the NCHSAA championships, improved its record to 20-8 while Piedmont slipped to 21-9. Hunter Jones was two for four at the plate for the Panthers.

Game two of the best-of-three is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. This is the 98th year for baseball championships in the NCHSAA. The Raleigh Sports Consortium and Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau serve as host city sponsors for the championship.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Five County Stadium, Zebulon
Class 3-A: Game One

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7   R   H  E
   Hampstead Topsail   0  0  3  0  0  2  0 — 5  11  0
   Monroe Piedmont     0  0  0  1  2  0  0 — 3   3  1

WP — Sam Luchansky.
Save — Trent Hansley.
LP — David Nash.