By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Delani Straughan pitched her second consecutive shutout as host Eastern Alamance defeated ninth-seeded Harnett Central 2-0 in the Class 3-A second round in the softball state playoffs Friday night.
Eighth-seeded Eastern (19-7) was to visit top-seeded Southern Nash (23-0), which topped No. 17 seed Orange 6-4 in the second round, in Wednesday’s third round. The game was postponed from Tuesday.
Straughan held Harnett Central (18-5) to three hits and two walks while striking out four. The Eagles scored both runs in the first inning on Olivia Foster’s single. Edie Stewart had a single and walked twice for Eastern.
- Western Alamance managed only one hit – a double by Addison Beal – in a 5-0 loss at second-seeded Scotland (25-1) in the second round Friday.
Avery Stutts struck out 13 Western batters. Beal took the pitching loss for the No. 18 seed Warriors (12-11).
- No. 23 seed Southern Alamance’s season ended with a 17-7 loss at seventh-seeded Cape Fear in the second round. It matched the most runs allowed this season by the Patriots (12-15), who led 7-6 before the Colts tied the score in the bottom of second and went ahead with three third-inning runs.
- In Class 2-A, sixth-seeded South Lenoir dispatched No. 22 seed Southeast Alamance 13-6 in the second round Friday night.
The Stallions (12-12) led 5-0 going to the bottom of the third inning but couldn’t hang on. After going ahead 6-5, South Lenoir notched seven sixth-inning runs. Tatum Shelton had a home run and Katie Lloyd, Addison Reich and Brooke Hardister joined Shelton with two hits for Southeast.
- In Class 1-A, No. 10 seed Clover Garden was eliminated with a13-6 loss at seventh-seeded Chatham Central. The Grizzlies ended the season with a 12-6 record.
