Some perennial powers in North Carolina high school baseball will be trying to add hardware to their trophy cases this weekend in the 88th annual North Carolina High School Athletic Association state baseball championship series, with three defending champions back.

The 2-A and 3-A series will get underway on Friday at Doak Field on the campus of North Carolina State University, while the 1-A will start Saturday morning and then the 4-A Saturday afternoon at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, home of the Carolina Mudcats.

East Rutherford (30-2) will be gunning for its third consecutive NCHSAA state 2-A title when the Cavaliers take on Southwest Edgecombe (22-7) in the opening game of that series on Friday at 5 p.m.

Coach Bobby Reynolds has seen his Cavaliers sweep the last two 2-A crowns in two straight games, in 2002 against Greene Central and then last year against East Columbus in a pair of games called after five innings due to the 10-run rule. In fact, the Cavs have not lost a game in May in the last three years and have been pretty successful in the month of June, too.

East Rutherford’s Chad Flack is one of the top players in the state, with 18 home runs thus far this season and a state record 43 round-trippers for his prep career. He is batting .464 and has combined with Stephen Harris (12 homers, 453) to drive in a whopping 99 runs. Chris Whittemore (9-0, 2.45 ERA) and Garland Jones (11-1, 1.67 ERA) are the top hurlers for East.

Southwest Edgecombe (22-7) needed three games to win the Eastern Regional series, beating East Duplin two games to one, in the only one of the eight regional championships that was not a two-game sweep by the winner.

The Cougars make their first appearance in an NCHSAA state baseball series, led by a nucleus of six seniors. Thomas Evans is a big offensive threat, batting a sizzling. .483 and pitcher Jonathan Proctor (10-3, 2.48 ERA) was Player of the Year in the Eastern Plains Conference.

The 3-A series will feature a couple of newcomers to the state baseball finals as West Brunswick (20-8) battles West Rowan (28-3), with the opening game Friday night at 8 p.m.

West Brunswick enters the final with a 10-game winning streak after sweeping Southern Alamance in the regional series. Senior shortstop Brett Hickman was the team’s leading hitter with a .390 regular-season batting average and centerfielder Chris Bland batted .378 with four home runs.

West Rowan will counter with a potent offensive attack led by Craig Beasley (.461 average), Bryan Graham (.438) and Seth Waller (.409, six home runs). Patrick Adams is the top pitcher for the Falcons (10-0, 1.14 ERA) while Wade Moore is 9-1 with a 1.64 earned run average.

At Five County Stadium, Greenville Rose goes after its fourth state 4-A crown in the last eight years. The Rampants, under veteran head coach Ron Vincent, the winningest baseball coach in North Carolina high school history, captured titles in 1997, ‘99 and 2003. Rose beat Charlotte Myers Park two games to one in last year’s finals.

Rose has won 20 consecutive games since going 6-4 in its first 10 outings. The Rampants’ offense is keyed by Justin Hardee (.420) and Mark Letchworth (.391, seven home runs). Garrett Bullock is unbeaten in nine decisions on the mound with a 1.75 ERA and Kevin Hodges has 100 strikeouts in just over 61 innings pitched en route to his 9-1 mark.

Charlotte Independence is led by outfielder Marc Nicholson¹s red-hot .545 average and second baseman Aaron Bray is hitting .447. Daniel Cooke is always a threat when he gets on base, with 37 stolen bases on the season. Robbie Bray is the Patriots’ top pitcher, with a 13-0 mark and outstanding ERA of 0.70.

South Stokes (28-3) has developed a 1-A powerhouse as the Sauras seek their third consecutive NCHSAA title. South will face Princeton (19-8) in the opening game of their best-of-three on Saturday at 11 a.m.

South Stokes is still a young squad with only three seniors on the roster. Nick Conaway, the Northwest 1-A Conference Player of the Year, is the big gun for the Sauras, batting a sizzling .538 with 10 home runs and also sporting an 11-0 mound mark with a 1.78 ERA.

South can score some runs,too, with the Sauras tallying 10 or more runs in 19 of their 31 contests to date.

Princeton has been an interesting story, as the young Bulldogs have come from behind to win an amazing 14 times in their 19 victories. The Bulldogs lost five of six at midseason but have gotten hot at the right time.

Dustin Myers leads Princeton with a .395 average and is also 7-2 on the mound with a 3.28 earned run average.

Event: NCHSAA Baseball Championships

Date: June 11-12, 2004

Sites:

Five County Stadium, Zebulon (1-A, 4-A);

Doak Field, North Carolina State University (2-A, 3-A) First Held: 1914

Admission: $6 per game

Qualifiers: Eastern and Western champions meet for state title in best two-of-three series; 32 schools initially qualified for playoffs in each classification

Defending champions: Greenville Rose (4-A), Gastonia Ashbrook (3-A), East Rutherford (2-A), South Stokes (1-A)

Of Interest: Both East Rutherford and South Stokes are seeking their third consecutive state baseball championships in their respective classifications.

Presenting Sponsors: Raleigh Sports Consortium and Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.