The baseball and softball season ended last week in Chatham County as all four of the local teams fell in the third round. Here’s a recap of how the remaining teams ended their seasons:
Baseball
In the 2A East bracket, No. 9 Seaforth’s season ended in a 4-3 extra-inning loss to No. 16 SouthWest Edgecombe on May 13.
Tied at 3-3 going into the top of the ninth inning, SouthWest Edgecombe senior Parker Gay tripled to right field and scored the go-ahead run on a single by senior Derrick Davis in the next at-bat.
With another chance to tie or take the lead, Seaforth junior Colin Dorney started the Hawks’ final batting turn with a double to right field. But as he tried to take third base, he was thrown out. Sophomore Duncan Parker reached first on an error in the next at-bat, but Seaforth couldn’t bring him around for the tie. Two straight outs following Parker’s at-bat ended the game.
Sophomore Jack Simpson had a productive night at the plate for Seaforth, going 2 for 4 with a team-high two RBIs. Dorney and junior Jaedyn Rader also notched two hits.
The Hawks, who took their last loss before the postseason on March 28, ended their season with a 19-8 overall record.
In the 1A East playoffs, No. 7 Chatham Charter lost the hits battle to No. 15 Falls Lake, falling 9-1 on May 14.
Falls Lake recorded 11 hits to Chatham Charter’s four. After a four-run fifth inning in which Falls Lake notched five hits, including a three-run homer by junior Jacob Watson, the Firebirds led 6-0.
Eight of the nine batters in Falls Lake’s battling lineup recorded a hit, but only two Knights, juniors Tyner Williams and Jace Young, were able to bat themselves on base.
Falls Lake pitcher Jacob Watson struck out seven batters in the first five innings.
Chatham Charter ended its season with a 15-9 overall record.
Softball
Making its first third round appearance in the 2A East bracket, No. 9 Seaforth’s breakout season came to an end in another nailbiter.
Tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, No. 1 Midway’s Kiley Ives singled to center field and knocked senior Sarah Autry home for a 3-2 walk-off win. That marked the fourth straight Seaforth game to end by a margin of one run and the third walk-off finish in the Hawks’ last four games.
After giving up two runs in the bottom of the second, sophomores Annika Johansson and Emma Grace Hill hit back-to-back singles in the top of the third and tied the game on an error by the Midway defense.
Led by Hill’s pitching in the circle (seven strikeouts), the Hawks held Midway scoreless from the end of the second inning until its final run.
After reaching the most wins in program history, winning its first ever playoff game and winning its first conference tournament title, Seaforth finished its historic season with a 16-7 overall record.
In the 1A East bracket, No. 7 Chatham Central’s dominant season was cut short in a 10-3 loss to No. 2 Roxboro Community on May 13.
After losing to the Bulldogs in last year’s second round, the Bears got the rematch started with three hits and three runs in the top of the first. Up 1-0 with loaded bases and zero outs, Addison Goldston grounded into the shortstop who then made an error on the throw to third and allowed sophomore Chloe Brewer and junior Sallie Oldham score.
However, the Bears didn’t notch another hit until the top of the sixth inning.
“We didn’t stay on the top of the ball,” Chatham Central coach John Warf said. “If we get on the bottom side, anybody can catch pop ups.”
As nothing seemed to go the Bears’ way offensively, they also committed six errors on the defensive side which led to extra runners and scores. Roxboro Community put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore Karlie Barringer tripled to left field and knocked in two runs.
Chatham Central, the undefeated Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference regular season champions, finished its season with a 20-4 record. That’s the most wins for the Bears since winning 23 games in 2013.
“We’ve grown as a team this year, and the girls, they’re still young,” Warf said. “Our mindset was just to go in and play. Leave it all out on the field.”
