While seven combined baseball and softball high school teams from Stanly County received a bid to play in their respective N.C. High School Athletic Association state playoffs, just a pair of those seven remain in contention at this point.
North Stanly’s baseball and softball teams are the two remaining squads representing the county.
After a fourth round set for Friday, the best-of-three “final four” regional series are scheduled for May 21-25 and the best-of-three state championships series are set for May 31-June 1.
Baseball
Three baseball teams — the West Stanly Colts (2A West region), North Stanly Comets (2A West region) and South Stanly Bulls (1A West region) — each received a bid for last week’s first-round action in the NCHSAA playoffs.
No. 7 West (20-6) and No. 5 North (23-4) advanced to the third round, while No. 15 South (12-10) made an early exit in a first-round 7-4 home loss to No. 18 Polk County (11-14) on May 7.
The Colts defeated the No. 26 Mount Pleasant Tigers (15-10) 6-2 at home in the first round on May 7.
West then bested No. 10 East Davidson (19-6) in a 5-2 home finish, but saw its post-season come to an end in a 11-1 road loss to No. 2 East Rutherford (24-1) on Tuesday.
In the first round, the Comets knocked off No. 28 Chase (10-12) in a 2-1 home finish. North then got past No. 21 Community School of Davidson (12-9) with a 4-1 score at home and is set to travel to No. 4 Forbush (25-2) on Wednesday.
Softball
Four Stanly County softball teams had their first-round state playoff action last week: the West Stanly Colts (2A West region), South Stanly Bulls (1A West region), North Stanly Comets (2A West region) and Gray Stone Knights (1A West region).
No. 8 West (19-10) and No. 3 South (14-6) were both defeated in the third round, while No. 2 North (18-3-1) is set for its third-round matchup against No. 23 Madison (13-7) on Thursday.
No. 20 Gray Stone (5-12) lost 2-0 to No. 13 Murphy (13-6) in the first round.
The Comets defeated No. 31 East Burke (10-14) at home 11-1 and followed that up with a 7-0 home victory over No. 15 Bandys, leading North to its upcoming third-round opponent in the Patriots on Thursday.
The Colts eclipsed No. 25 East Davidson (14-8) and No. 24 West Caldwell (14-11) in back-to-back 12-0 home victories in the first two rounds, but fell victim to undefeated top-seed West Wilkes (21-0) in a 2-1 third-round road loss.
In three consecutive home matchups, the Bulls topped the 30th-seeded Hayesville (1-16) in the first round, defeated No. 14 Elkin (17-8) 5-3 in the second round, and then was blanked 14-0 by No. 11 Union Academy (17-7) in a third-round upset on Monday.