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State champions were crowned, and Chatham County teams fought to survive in another week of postseason spring sports. Here’s a rundown of how county teams are doing on their quests for state titles as playoff competition heats up:
Boys’ Golf
Seaforth won its first 2A state title at Stonebridge Golf Club in Monroe, North Carolina Tuesday. The Hawks tied with Pine Lake Prep at the end of the second round (both scored 534), and clinched the win on the ensuing playoff hole.
Seaforth sophomore Ty Willoughby won the individual state title with a score of 135. Junior Griffin Ching finished in third place with a score of 142. JT DeLoach and Matthew Ute from Pine Lake Prep received the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Award.
Baseball
No. 7 Seaforth had its first playoff run come to an end in a 6-1 loss to No. 2 Whiteville in the third round of the 2A playoffs. Prior to the loss, Seaforth pulled out a gritty 3-2 win over No. 26 Wallace-Rose Hill in the first round and took down No. 23 West Craven, 4-1, in the second round. No. 25 Northwood, No. 29 Jordan-Matthews and No. 26 Chatham Central (1A) all fell in the first round with the Chargers losing to No. 8 Bunn in 10 innings, 4-3, the Jets losing to No. 4 Midway, 5-0, and the Bears losing to No. 7 Roxboro Community, 3-2. No. 6 Chatham Charter got upset in the second round of the 1A bracket by No. 22 Southside, 1-0.
Softball
Before to Roanoke Rapids, Jordan-Matthews took down No. 26 East Carteret, 6-1, in the first round, and after being down 3-1 in the sixth inning, the Jets beat No. 10 North Johnston, 4-3, in the second round. On the 1A side, No. 6 Chatham Central’s season ended after a 13-3 loss to No. 11 Roxboro Community in the second round, and No. 8 Chatham Charter also lost in the second round to No. 9 East Columbus.
Boys’ Tennis
None of the county’s state singles and doubles qualifiers won state titles over the weekend, but there was some more success from the dual team tournaments.
In the 2A dual team bracket, No. 6 Seaforth lost to No. 14 Research Triangle in the third round, 5-1.
Girls’ soccer
It wasn’t a very competitive first round for the girls’ soccer playoffs. In the 1A bracket No. 2 Woods Charter demolished No. 31 Henderson Collegiate, 17-0. No. 29 Chatham Charter fell to No. 4 Hobbton, 12-0. On the 2A side, No. 4 Seaforth dominated No. 29 Granville Central, 12-0, thanks to six goals each from Sofia Viana and Caitlin Erman (career-highs for both). No. 14 Northwood took down No. 19 Camden County, 3-0, and No. 28 Jordan-Matthews lost to No. 5 East Duplin, 5-2.
Lacrosse
After last week, all of the county’s lacrosse teams have been knocked out of the 1A/2A/3A playoffs. The No. 10 Northwood boys lost to No. 2 Croatan for the second time this season, 14-8, in the third round. Seaforth’s girls, a No. 8 seed, lost to No. 1 Union Pines, 17-2, in the third round, also. With the No. 4 Northwood girls also losing to No. 5 Swansboro, 10-7, in the third round, there won’t be a Battle of Pittsboro for a 1A/2A/3A east semifinal.
Track and Field
In the NCHSAA 1A mideast regional meet, Chatham Charter senior Lucas Smith sprinted away with regional titles in the boys’ 100 meter dash (10.81 seconds), 200 meter dash (21.93) and 400 meter dash (49.14). Woods Charter finished third, Chatham Charter finished seventh and Chatham Central finished 14th in the boys’ team results. In the girls’ results, Chatham Charter finished fifth, Woods Charter came in at sixth and Chatham Central finished 12th.
For the 2A mideast regional meet, Seaforth junior Jack Anstrom owned the boys’ distance events, finishing first in the 3200 meter run (9 minutes, 43 seconds) and the 1600 meter run (4:07.27). In the boys’ results, Seaforth finished first while Northwood tied for 14th with Bunn and Jordan-Matthews finished 17th. Seaforth finished third, Northwood finished fifth and Jordan-Matthews came in eighth place in the girls’ team results.