STANLY COUNTY — High schools within Stanly County were well represented in the recent baseball and softball tournament championships for both the Rocky River Conference and Yadkin Valley Conference on May 5.
West Stanly’s baseball and softball teams each won their respective RRC Tournament championship games, while South Stanly’s softball team won the YVC Tournament title. The Bulls’ baseball team finished as a runner-up.
The Colts baseball team (22-3, 11-0 RRC) defeated Parkwood (11-14, 7-4 RRC) with a 21-0 victory to become the RRC Tournament champions. Increasing its winning streak to 24 games, the Colts softball team (23-1, 10-0 RRC) — the reigning 2A state champions — bested Anson (11-11, 6-4 RRC) with a 6-1 finish in its own title game.
Both the West baseball and softball teams earned the RRC regular season title with undefeated records, combining for a 21-0 showing for the 2023 season.
Going forward beyond conference play into the NCHSAA state playoffs, West’s teams accounted for two of the eight different Stanly teams that received tournament bids starting with Tuesday’s first round, which was after press time.
In the 2A brackets, the fifth-seeded Colts baseball team hosted No. 28 West Lincoln (12-13, 8-6 Catawba Valley), while the fourth-seeded Colts softball team hosted No. 29 Randleman (7-15, 4-8 Piedmont), both on Tuesday.
South Stanly’s two squads also carry momentum into the state tournaments.
The Bulls baseball team (12-11, 6-6 YVC) won in the first two rounds of the YVC tournament before falling 4-3 to Mount Pleasant (15-8, 9-3 YVC) in the championship round. The No. 16 Bulls hosted No. 17 Swain County (10-9, 9-3 Smoky Mountain) in the opening round of the 1A state playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Bulls softball team (21-3, 12-0 YVC) — the reigning 1A champions — used a 12-1 showing to defeat Mount Pleasant (14-10, 7-5 YVC) in the YVC championship before hosting No. 31 North Rowan (5-8, 4-8 Central Carolina) as a No. 2 seed in the state playoffs.
Four other Stanly County teams were included in the state tournaments.
The No. 10 North Stanly baseball team (15-10, 10-2 YVC) hosted No. 23 Shelby (12-11, 7-5 Southern Piedmont) in the 2A bracket, while the No. 23 North Stanly softball team (12-12, 6-6 YVC) faced a familiar road opponent in No. 10 Mount Pleasant (14-10, 7-5 YVC).
Additionally, No. 25 Gray Stone baseball (7-12, 2-10 YVC) traveled to eighth-seeded Corvian Community (13-7, 6-1 Metro Eight) in the 1A bracket, while the No. 17 Gray Stone softball team (10-9, 5-7 YVC) was hosted by No. 16 Draughn (19-4, 10-2 Western Highlands).
The second round of playoff action for both baseball and softball is set for May 12.