AYDEN—Nate Merritt pitched a complete game as the visiting Wolfpack upset top seed Ayden Grifton 7-3 in baseball Friday night.
The win puts the Pack facing #6 seed Midway (19-7) in a best of three series on Tuesday.
Merritt gave up five hits while striking out seven and only one walk going the distance. In the sixth with the game tied 3-3, Briley Tedder got a two-run base knock with two outs in the top of the sixth inning to start a four-run barrage for Whiteville, which was enough for the win.
The loss ended an 11-game winning streak for the Chargers. Brysen Williams pitched most of the way for the Chargers, going five innings with six strikeouts on two earned runs as Ayden Grifton’s season ends at 23-3.
The Wolfpack will have home field advantage against the Midway (19-7) in the series due to being a higher seed.
Game 1 Tuesday night will be in Legion Stadium at 7 p.m. while Game 2 will be Thursday in Spivey’s Corner at 7 p.m. If a Game 3 is necessary, both teams will return to Whiteville Friday for a 7 p.m. contest. The winner of the series will go on to face the winner of the North Stanley (25-4)/East Rutherford (22-5) series.
Interesting note: Midway played Southeastern Conference foe South Columbus twice in the regular season. The Raiders got the best of the Stallions on March 3 at Midway 9-7 but took it on the chin in Vinegar Hill 6-4 on March 6. Whiteville won both contests against South Columbus this year.
WHITEVILLE 0 0 2 0 1 4 0-7 11 0
AYDEN GRIFTON 0 1 0 0 2 0 0-3 7 1
