Brackets released for 2024 Robeson County Slugfest

LUMBERTON — The Public Schools of Robeson County released brackets for the upcoming Robeson County Slugfest baseball and softball tournaments at a preview luncheon held Tuesday.

The Slugfest will be played beginning Saturday, with games also on Monday and Tuesday, at Lumberton High School. This is the 30th edition of the Slugfest for baseball and the 13th for softball.

Baseball

The baseball tournament will open with defending champion Fairmont facing Hoke County at 10 a.m. Saturday. North Brunswick will face St. Pauls in the second quarterfinal at 1 p.m., Red Springs and Purnell Swett will meet in an in-county dual at 4 p.m. and host Lumberton will take on Heide Trask in the day one nightcap at 7 p.m.

Monday’s action will begin with consolation round games; the Hoke County-Fairmont loser will face the North Brunswick-St. Pauls loser at 10 a.m., and the Red Springs-Purnell Swett loser will take on the Heide Trask-Lumberton loser at 1 p.m.

Semifinals will take place through the second half of Monday’s action. The Hoke County-Fairmont winner will meet the North Brunswick-St. Pauls winner at 4 p.m., and the Red Springs-Purnell Swett victor will face the Heide Trask-Lumberton winner at 7 p.m.

The two consolation-round winners will play a fifth-place game at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The semifinal losers will play for third place at 4 p.m. before the semifinal winners will play in the championship game at 7 p.m.

Softball

An in-county matchup will begin the softball Slugfest, with Red Springs facing Purnell Swett at 10 a.m. on Saturday. East Columbus will face Fairmont at 1 p.m., Hoke County takes on St. Pauls at 4 p.m. and North Brunswick faces tournament host and 2023 runner-up Lumberton at 7 p.m.

South Brunswick, the 2023 champion, is not in the field.

Consolation-round games will be played on Monday, with the Red Springs-Purnell Swett loser playing against the East Columbus-Fairmont loser at 10 a.m. and the Hoke County-St. Pauls loser meeting the North Brunswick-Lumberton loser at 1 p.m.

Monday’s semifinals will match up the Red Springs-Purnell Swett winner and the East Columbus-Fairmont winner at 4 p.m., and the Hoke County-St. Pauls winner will meet the North Brunswick-Lumberton winner at 7 p.m.

Like the baseball bracket, the fifth-place game will be played at 1 p.m. Tuesday between the consolation-round winners, the third-place game at 4 p.m. between the semifinal losers and the championship game at 7 p.m. between the semifinal winners.