Whiteville Knocks East Rutherfordton for State Title

Whiteville won the third game 3-2 in the state 3A Championships Thursday and brought home its tenth baseball title in school history after a slugfest in Holly Springs.

East Rutherfordton was still smarting after Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Pack in Game 1, and they took Whiteville down in the tenth inning of a 5-4 game in Game 2 of the series Thursday afternoon.

Despite only three hits in Game 3 of the 3A NCHSAA State Baseball Championship Series, the Pack produced three runs to win the title in school history, beating the two-time defending 2-A Champions East Rutherford 3-2 and taking the best of three series.

All the scoring for both teams happened in the third inning, when Colin Hooks, Jake Odham, and Luke McLean touched home plate for the Wolfpack. The Cavaliers responded with two runs in the bottom of the third but that wasn’t enough for East Rutherford.

For Game 2, the Cavaliers came out bunting, playing “Small Ball” with their first three batters in the lineup in the first inning. It produced a Matt Pinkerton run which gave the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.

Jake Odham from Whiteville came across the plate to tie the game at 1-1 after one inning of play. East Rutherford then added another run in the second inning and two more in the top of the seventh to give the Cavaliers a 4-1 advantage going into the bottom of the seventh. Whiteville responded with four hits and three runs from Luke McLean, Colin Hooks, and Jake Odham to tie the game at 4-4 and force extra innings.

The game remained scoreless going into the top of the tenth inning when Malachi Dato sacrificed a fly ball to score Preston Hensen with the winning run in the tenth inning to beat Whiteville. Whiteville failed to score in the bottom of the tenth, giving East Rutherford the Game 2 victory and setting the stage for a do-or-die match Thursday night.

After a quick breather, both teams headed back to the field for the 6:30 matchup.

Among the standouts in the series:

• Senior Layton McLean was voted as the MVP of the series.
• His brother, freshman Luke McLean, owned the mound in Game 1, demolishing the Cavaliers. Luke allowed only four hits and one earned run with nine strikeouts.
• Behind the plate, Briley Tedder caught for 24 innings in 24 hours.