Southside blanked in first round

WHITEVILLE — Dylan Lawson pitched four scoreless innings as Whiteville topped Southside, 5-0, in Wednesday’s first-round baseball playoff contest. Mackenzie Gore and Brooks Baldwin each pitched in relief and helped hang on to the shutout.

The Seahawks were held to three hits in the game and got no more than one in an inning. Hunter Sparks, Will Watson and Chase Nobles each had singles. The Seahawks struck out seven times in the game.

The two-time defending 1-A state champion collected seven hits off of Southside pitcher Paul Radford. Whiteville scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, breaking a scoreless tie, and added three more runs in the sixth.

“I was pleased with the effort our players gave tonight,” coach Kevin McRoy told The News Reporter’s Dan Biser. “Paul threw well and we did a good job of going to the plate and getting some good swings in. I’ve told our guys that we can use this experience to help start building toward next season.”

Lady Mariners oust Lady Seahawks

BEAUFORT — Southside scored twice to open the game with a 2-0 lead, but it quickly evaporated. No. 1 East Carteret responded with four runs in the bottom of the first en route to a 12-2 win, eliminating the Lady Seahawks in the first round.

Gracie Warren was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate. Alyssa McLawhorn, Gloria Valdez and Symone Ruffin each had hits, too.

East Carteret held a 5-2 lead going into the fourth frame when it exploded for five more runs. The Lady Mariners scored twice more in the next stanza to take a 10-run lead and force an early conclusion.

East Carteret had 16 hits in the game. Southside committed no errors, but the powerful Lady Mariners offense proved too much.

Panthers exit early

SEVEN SPRINGS — Spring Creek scored five runs in the second inning en route to a 9-0 win that saw Northside exit the 1-A state baseball playoffs in the first round.

Senior pitcher Will Rouse dominated in his six innings on the mound. He gave up Northside’s only two hits of the game, issued just one walk and fanned four Panthers. Sawyer Smith worked one frame of hitless relief in the win.

On the other side, senior Zach Woolard was worked for five hits and five runs (four earned) in his three innings. Zach Griffin and Chase Sauls split the remainder of the game, combining to allow four runs on three hits.

Spring Creek’s aggressive base running helped drive its offense. The Gators were 6-for-6 on stolen-base attempts. After taking a big lead early on, they scored runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.