By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Baseball and softball pairings for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state playoffs feature a rematch for a couple of area teams and several opening-round home assignments.
The playoffs are scheduled to begin Tuesday with first-round games. Second-round games come Thursday or Friday. This all leads to the state finals May 31-June 1.
Here’s a look at pairings:
BASEBALL
Class 3-A
Southern Alamance (15-6) is the highest seed out of the Central 3-A Conference at No. 5 with a home game vs. county and league rival Eastern Alamance (8-15), which is seeded No. 28. The winner takes on one of two Central 3-A Conference teams – No. 12 seed Orange (17-5) or No. 21 seed Cedar Ridge (12-10).
Williams (17-5) is seeded No. 13 with a home game against No. 20 seed Southern Wayne (14-8).
Western Alamance (9-15) is in the field at No. 30, meaning a visit to third-seeded Cape Fear (23-4).
Class 2-A
No Alamance County teams qualified.
Class 1-A
Clover Garden (15-5), as the No. 14 seed, visits No. 19 seed Oxford Prep (14-6). The game vs. Oxford Prep will be played at Eastern Alamance (with Clover Garden the designated home team).
River Mill (9-11) is seeded 29th, going to fourth-seeded East Wake Academy (13-4).
North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association
Two-time reigning state champion The Burlington School (12-9) and Burlington Christian Academy (16-5-1) received first-round byes in Class 2-A.
TBS has a second-round game against Salam Baptist (7-9) or Hickory Christian (10-3) on Thursday.
Unseeded BCA has a Wednesday date at seventh-seeded Wayne Christian (8-7) in Goldsboro.
SOFTBALL
Class 3-A
No. 3 seed Southern Alamance (18-4), co-champion of the Central 3-A Conference, is home vs. No. 30 seed Franklinton (5-9).
Eastern Alamance (14-8), which shared the conference title, is seeded No. 15 and will be home vs. No. 18 seed Croatan (12-9).
Western Alamance (6-14), the 2023 state runner-up, holds the No. 26 seed and has a trip to No. 7 seed Dixon (19-4).
Class 2-A
No Alamance County teams qualified.
Class 1-A
As the No. 23 seed, Clover Garden (10-8) goes to No. 10 seed Falls Lake (12-8-1).
