High school baseball: Locals split opening games of title series

Local high school baseball teams went 1-for-2 in Friday night's opening games of the state high school baseball championships.

In 2A, top-seeded Greene Central rolled past Burns, 2-0, with the same balance of dominant pitching and timely hitting that carried them to the finals.

The Rams (28-1) can finish off the dream in Saturday's 11 a.m. Game 2 in the best-of-three series.

In 3A, South Central battled into the ninth inning against East Rowan before seeing its 13-game winning streak come to an end in a 3-2 Game 1 loss.

SC (24-5) now faces elimination in Saturday's 11 a.m. Game 2.

The if-necessary third game in each series would be played following Game 2.

Greene Central 2, Burns 0

Rams starter Austin Hardy outdueled Burns ace Colby Putnam to put GC in the driver's seat in the 2A final series at Burlington Athletic Stadium.

Greene Central broke a scoreless impasse in the top of the fourth inning when the game's first run crossed following a fielder's choice and a throwing error.

Hardy was dominant, authoring Greene Central's 13th shutout win of the season.

Hardy's strikeout in the sixth inning stranded the potential tying run on second base to keep it 1-0.

Braden Burress, a likely choice to start on the hill in Game 2, delivered the knockout punch in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI single to bring the game to its final score.

Defending state champ Burns (31-2) grounded into a double play to end a final rally, and the game, in the bottom of the seventh.

East Rowan 3, South Central 2 (9 inn.)

The Falcons lost their first game since April 10th at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs and face elimination on Saturday morning.

East Rowan (32-2) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, but the Falcons rebounded to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth. Brody Brannan roped an RBI double and the second run came home on a Marcus Byrd grounder to tie the score.

The score stayed there until the Mustangs walked it off with a run in the bottom of the ninth on a bases-loaded walk.

South Central out-hit East Rowan 8-5 but committed a pair of fielding errors.