The host team took the title for the second time in the three-year history of the tournament, as Rowan County Post 342 ran its winning streak to 25 games and improved to 40-1 with a 7-5 win over Area I champ Wayne County Post 11 (38-8) at Newman Park, on the campus of Catawba College in Salisbury. The championship was a rematch of the winners' bracket final on Monday, August 5, won by Rowan, 7-1. Wayne County coach Doyle Whitfield announced his retirement after the game. He had been with Wayne County for 20 years -- 10 as head coach.
Rowan earlier advanced with wins over North Raleigh Post 297, by a 9-7 count, and over Area II champ Pleasure Island Post 129, 8-7, before downing Wayne in the early morning hours Tuesday to get the day off. Wayne County outlasted Whiteville Post 137, 4-3, then routed Area IV champ Hickory Post 48, 11-1, in seven innings on Sunday before falling to Rowan. Pleasure Island topped Hickory, 15-12, on Tuesday before Wayne sent the Area II champs home with a 7-1 win in the nightcap.
Hickory had advanced to the losers' bracket semifinals by routing Shelby Post 82, 15-3, on Monday in a rematch of the Area IV final, won by Hickory four-games-to-two. Monday's other elimination game was also a rout, with Pleasure Island blasting Burlington-Graham Post 63 by a 12-1 score to leave a final four comprising area champions only.
Following an opening-round loss to Hickory on Saturday (6-5), Burlington-Graham had rebounded Sunday to eliminate Whiteville by a 1-0 score. Shelby kept alive its hopes of defending its 2001 title by ousting North Raleigh, 9-4 (following an 11-1 shellacking by Pleasure Island on Saturday).
Here are scores for the state tournament:
Saturday, August 3
Pleasure Island 11, Shelby 1 (7)
Wayne County 4, Whiteville 3
Hickory 6, Burlington 5
Rowan County 9, North Raleigh 7
Sunday, August 4
Burlington 1, Whiteville 0 (Whiteville eliminated)
Shelby 9, North Raleigh 4 (North Raleigh eliminated)
Wayne County 11, Hickory 1 (7)
Rowan County 8, Pleasure Island 7
Monday, August 5
Pleasure Island 12, Burlington 1 (7) (Burlington eliminated)
Hickory 15, Shelby 3 (7) (Shelby eliminated)
Rowan County 7, Wayne County 1
Tuesday, August 6
Pleasure Island 15, Hickory 12 (Hickory eliminated)
Wayne County 7, Pleasure Island 1 (Pleasure Island eliminated)
Wednesday, August 7
Wayne County vs. Rowan County, 4 p.m.
Wayne County vs. Rowan County, 7 p.m. (if necessary)
Be sure to come back to this site for updates throughout the postseason!
