Area 3 Playoffs Thread

Don't ever expect an area commissioners to do anything that makes sense, and then be pleasantly surprised when they do.

 

I think Bob does a SUPER job in Area I

 

Does it get any better than a two-out, walk-off, game seven bomb? Quite an end to a great series between two solid, well-coached teams. The stuff Legion Baseball is made of. Hats off to both teams - South played as well down the stretch and in the playoffs as any team in Area III, and Randolph of course has been good all year, and rebounded nicely from being down 0 - 2, and 2 - 3.

 

Game 7

One of the best games you could ever see. Neither team played nervous and it was one to remember. Justin Yow started things for Randolph with a solo bomb to make it 1-0 early. After several missed opportunities against Randolph starter Ben Bunting, South finally capitalized in the 5th with a 2 run double by Justin Lane. Bunting answered in the 6th with a solo homer of his own to tie it at 2. Jonathon Basinger put South back ahead with a solo blast in the 8th. However, Randolph quickly answered with an RBI single by Stephen Davis in the bottom of the inning. In the 9th, Walker Snow delivered a 2 out RBI single to score Daniel Wagner and give South a 4-3 advantage. South then turned to Rudy Brown in the bottom of the 9th. The leadoff batter reached and advanced to second on Bunting's sac bunt. Brown induced Josh Hohn to fly out to center and the runner at second faked to third to draw a throw. The throw bounced off the SR 3rd baseman and into the bleachers, and the runner at second was awarded 3rd and home to tie it at 4. One pitch later, Randolph's Neil Pritchard ended the game and the series with a walk-off homer to left-center. This was a classic example of 2 teams leaving everything on the field for a berth in the state tournament.

Randolph advances to play Rowan in the Area III championship; it was originally said that they will forfeit game 1 of a best of 7 series and play games 2 and 3 in Asheboro. However, the Salisbury Post is reporting that the series has been reduced to a best of 5 series and game 1 will be played Sunday in Asheboro. Don't hold me to that. Just telling you what i read. Although they fell short, South earned a lot of respect from a lot of people who didn't believe they had a chance in this series.

 

Wow! Talk about a 'rip your guts out' moment. This is the classic example of 2 teams who didn't deserve to lose.

Congrats to Randolph. South Rowan, you proved your merit. No reason to hang your heads today.

 

It is being reported the same in the Asheboro paper. Maybe folks thought a little about it after leaving McCrary. Either way RC gets a badly needed day off. Congrats to South Rowan. That is a gritty team.

 

Actually Bob Beason is the Area 3 commissioner and yes he's done a good job,,, this final series can be reduced to 5 games or fewer because it is only for a trophy and seeding purposes in Garner. The semifinal series was the one that needed to go 7 games because of its importance to the teams who qualified.

Rowan and Randolph should be a good series. A rested Rowan team with great pitching,,,,,,,, but Randolph is swinging the bats well right now. Hope to see some of you at Newman Park this week.

 

I don't have a problem with our commissioner. I'm just going by experience with the knuckleheads we've had.

 

Rowan and Randolph split during the regular season with Rowan winning at home and Randolph winning at home. Rowan held a 10-5 lead in that game and a 10-8 lead going into the 9th inning before Randolph eventually won via a Ben Bunting walk-off granny. These are two really good teams who are going to represent Area III well in the state tourney. I think Rowan will win the series because of their stellar starting pitching (& relief) but Randolph is certainly capable. Cy Young should start game 1 for Rowan. I'm not sure who will be going for Randolph. Somebody could help me out if they know. Anyways I hope to see some posters at McCrary Park Sunday night and at Newman Park Monday.

 

these are quite possibly the two best teams in all of north carolina and i really hope they dont wear themselves out beating up on each other