By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
The hopes of winning a state baseball championship are still alive for three area baseball teams.
Bear Grass, Plymouth and Mattamuskeet all won their first-round games on Friday. Second-round action of the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-A state playoffs begins tonight.
MANTEO AT
BEAR GRASS
The Bear Grass Bears will be at home. The Tideland Conference champions, who possess a 17-3 record, will play host to the Manteo Redskins.
Bear Grass advanced with a 10-0 thumping of North Edgecombe. Manteo (15-8), ranked fourth in the Impact Baseball Poll, took an 8-2 victory over Jones.
The winner will face either Gates County (18-4), the Tar Roanoke Conference champions, or East Carteret (11-11), the No. 2 seed from the Coastal Plains Conference, in Friday’s district round.
PLYMOUTH AT
PERQUIMANS
The Plymouth Vikings will be on the road to face a familiar foe. Plymouth (16-7) will tangle with the Perquimans Pirates (17-5), both members of the Four Rivers Conference.
The Vikings, the fourth seed from the Four Rivers, posted a 4-0 win over Jamesville in the first round. The Pirates, the top seed in the conference and the second-ranked team in the Impact Baseball Poll, cruised to a 14-1 win over Northampton-East.
The winner will face the survivor between Dixon and Mattamuskeet.
MATTAMUSKEET AT DIXON
The Mattamuskeet Lakers will travel to Dixon to face the Bulldogs. The Lakers (7-6), the third seed from the Tideland Conference, earned a 12-11 win over Kipp Pride in the first round. Dixon (19-4), the Coastal Plains Conference champions and the third-ranked team in the Impact Baseball Poll, picked up a 7-0 victory over Camden.
The winner takes on either Perquimans or Plymouth in the next round.
The third round, called the district round, will be played Friday. Sectional action begins on Tuesday, May 25.
The Eastern finals will be played May 27-29. The state championships will be held June 4-5.
HIGH SCHOOL
BASEBALL
PLAYOFFS
SECOND ROUND
Manteo at Bear Grass
Plymouth at Perquimans
Mattamuskeet at Dixon