Courtesy NCHSAA
BURLINGTON – For the first time in the 2022 playoffs, the Randleman Tigers gave up a run, falling behind Whiteville 3-0 in the first inning of Game 2 of the 2022 2A Baseball State Championship Series. However, the Tigers responded with their signature potent offense, exploding for five runs in the third to surge in front 5-3, a lead they would never relinquish, on their way to a 12-5 Game 2 win and a series sweep.
Whiteville showed they were not intimidated in the first inning of Game 2, jumping on Randleman starter Ryan White for three runs right out of the starting blocks. The Wolfpack got a leadoff single from Bud Baldwin before Luke Oldham reached on an error to put two on with no one out. Ty Lawson then ripped a double to right center to score the first run of the game, series, and of the playoffs against Randleman and give Whiteville a 1-0 lead. Kyler Dowless hit into an RBI groundout to plate Oldham and make it 2-0 before Will Fisher doubled to left to add another run.
The Tigers slapped five runs on the board in the third to take a 5-3 lead. Brooks Brannon got the scoring going with a 2-RBI triple. He finished the game 3 for 5 with three RBIs on his way to earning a selection as the Series’ Most Valuable Player. Later in the third, Seth Way pounded a 2-RBI double down the left field line to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead. They added another run on a two-out RBI single through the right side by Ryan White.
Whiteville chipped at the lead in the bottom of the third, scoring a run on a throwing error to trim the lead to 5-4. The two teams played even until another offensive explosion by Randleman in the sixth. The Tigers ripped of six runs on seven hits in the inning, highlighted by a bases-clearing 3-RBI double by Shelton with two outs in the inning.
Whiteville concluded the season 23-5. The Wolfpack won the Waccamaw 1A/2A Conference with a record of 10-0 in league play, Whiteville won the school’s 14th Regional Championship and appeared in the State Championship Series for the sixth time since 2014.
The win secured Randleman their second-straight State Championship just a year removed from an exciting three-game series with R-S Central that the Tigers closed out with a 4-0 Game 3 win. However, this year’s Randleman team was machine-like and offensively potent. They entered Game 2 of the Championship Series on a string of eight straight shutout wins dating back to the Piedmont Athletic 1A/2A Conference Tournament Final win over Trinity. During that same span, the Tigers had won every game by 10-runs except for the second game of the Regional Final against Community School of Davidson that they won 9-0.
The Tigers finished the season 33-1 with their only loss coming against Catawba Ridge from South Carolina in a Spring Break Tournament. The Tigers won the Piedmont Athletic 1A/2A with a 12-0 record in league play.
