On Monday afternoon, the N.C. High School Athletic Association announced the state playoff brackets for baseball.
Three Stanly County teams — West Stanly (2A West region), North Stanly (2A West region) and South Stanly (1A West region) — each received a bid for Tuesday’s first round action in the NCHSAA playoffs.
The second round is slated for Friday, while the best-of-three regional finals series are scheduled for May 21-25 and the best-of-three state championships series are set for May 31-June 1.
West Stanly 9, Piedmont 5
Combining a regular-season title with a tournament title, the West Stanly Colts (19-5, 10-0 Rocky River Conference) defeated the Piedmont Panthers (11-13, 8-2 Rocky River Conference) in the RRC Tournament championship on Friday at Parkwood.
As a No. 7 seed in the state playoffs, the Colts hosted a familiar opponent in the No. 26 Mount Pleasant Tigers (15-10, 6-4 Yadkin Valley Conference) on Tuesday.
West defeated the Tigers 6-2 and are now scheduled for a home Friday matchup with No. 10 East Davidson.
Mount Pleasant 1, North Stanly 0
Despite having the most wins in the county and a YVC regular-season title, the North Stanly Comets (22-4, 10-0 YVC) lost to the Tigers on April 30 in the YVC Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Comets kicked off their state playoff bracket on Tuesday as they hosted the No. 28 Chase Trojans (10-12, 5-7 Mountain Foothills 7).
North escaped past the Trojans in a 2-1 finish and will now host the winner of No. 12 R-S Central/No. 21 Community School of Davidson on Friday.
Union Academy 7, South Stanly 1
On April 30, the South Stanly Bulls (12-10, 6-4 YVC) fell victim to the Union Academy Cardinals (17-7, 6-4 YVC) in the YVC Tournament.
South had finished second in the regular-season standings as a runner-up to North Stanly.
For the first round of the playoffs, the 15th-seeded Bulls hosted the 18th-seeded Polk County Wolverines (11-13, 3-9 Mountain Foothills 7) on Tuesday.
South lost to the Wolverines in a 7-4 final.
Mount Pleasant 11, Gray Stone 1
With just two wins throughout the season, the luck of the Gray Stone Knights (2-15, 2-8 YVC) did not improve in the YVC Tournament as they were bested by the Tigers on April 29.
The Knights finished fifth in their regular-season standings.
Union Academy 24, Albemarle 0
Much like the Knights, a disappointing season for the Albemarle Bulldogs (1-14, 0-10 YVC) also ended in the YVC Tournament as they lost to the Cardinals on April 29.
The Bulldogs finished in last place in their regular-season standings.