PINETOWN — Top-seeded Northside comfortably took care of No. 32-seeded Creswell (4-11), 17-1, on Wednesday in the first round of the NCHSAA 1-A state softball tournament.

The Panthers combined for 16 hits and 16 RBIs on the afternoon, while senior pitcher Kelsey Lang tossed five innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits and recording seven strikeouts.

Junior Kendall Alligood continued her late-season tear, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored and five RBIs. Kelsey Lang also notched three hits and four RBIs at the plate. Junior Mackensi Swain and sophomore Rachel Lang picked up two hits apiece, while Taonya Stanley, Alex Adams, Ashley Paszt, Quortasia Clark, and Whitney Cromwell represented the other five hits.

With the win, Northside improves to 21-0 and will face No. 16-seeded Spring Creek (13-3, 9-3 Carolina) in Round 2 of the 1-A tournament on Saturday. The Gators defeated Pamlico County, 6-1, in the first round.

 

SOUTHSIDE SOFTBALL HELD HITLESS IN ROUND 1 LOSS TO WHITEVILLE

WHITEVILLE — Whiteville’s Malerie Leviner, Ivy Hayes and Lauren Worley combined to throw a five-inning perfect game against Southside on Wednesday in an 11-0, first round victory in the NCHSAA 1-A state softball tournament.

Leviner, a junior, tossed the first two innings, recording five strikeouts, while Hayes, a freshman, pitched one perfect inning. Worley, a senior, closed the game out for the Wolfpack, picking up three strikeouts.

Whiteville combined for 12 hits, nine RBIs and capitalized off two Southside errors.

With the loss, the Seahawks finish the season 6-10 (4-8 Coastal Plains), as the Wolfpack advances to face No. 12-seeded Camden County (15-4, 12-2 Coastal Ten) in Round 2.

 

NORTHSIDE BASEBALL SHUTOUT BY NO. 3 CAMDEN COUNTY

CAMDEN — No. 30-seeded Northside’s season came to a screeching halt on Wednesday with an 8-0 loss to No. 3-seeded Camden County in Round 1 of the NCHSAA state baseball tournament.

Bruins sophomore Ben Cox finished with a game-high three hits, including a triple, while senior Slade Sellers notched one hit and four of the team’s seven RBIs.

With the loss, the Panthers close the season 7-16 (4-8 Coastal Plains). The Bruins will advance to face No. 14-seeded Northwest Halifax (7-4, 6-4 Tar Roanoke) in Round 2.

 

SECOND WEEKEND OF NCHSAA TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS SET

GREENSBORO (NCHSAA) — The second weekend of North Carolina High School Athletic Association track and field championships is set with meets scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

The weekend of competition features 1-A championships for both men and women on Friday, and then on Saturday the 2-A championships will be held, all at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University.

The 3-A and 4-A meets were held last weekend.

Action in the field events will begin at 10 am and running events will start at 11 am. It will be the 95th annual men’s championships and the 44th annual renewal of the women’s event.

Kernersville Bishop McGuinness is the defending women’s 1-A team champion.  The 1-A regional champs last weekend included Camden, Whiteville, North Stokes and Robbinsville.

In the men’s 1-A, North Stokes was the team state champion last year and also won its Midwest Regional last weekend.  Other men’s 1-A regional winners were Lejeune, Rosewood and Murphy.

The defending 2-A champion in the women’s competition is Monroe, which won the 2-A crown last year in its first year in that classification after winning a pair of 1-A titles in 2012 and ‘13. Regional champions last weekend included Currituck, Carrboro, and Hendersonville.  Carrboro should also be a contender since the Jaguars had a string of three straight NCHSAA snapped by Monroe last year.

Tainasha Vines of Bunn has qualified in both the long jump and triple jump from regional competition and won those events at the state last year. Vines was named the Pat Best Memorial Award winner as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Female Athlete of the Year last week at the NCHSAA Annual Meeting.

In the 2-A classification for men, North Brunswick won last year’s state team title and was the top team in the 2-A East Regional last weekend.  Others winning regional titles last weekend were Carrboro, Forest Hills and Claremont Bunker Hill.

Admission to the championships each day is eight dollars.

The Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greensboro Sports Commission are serving as the host city sponsors for the event.