The Watauga High baseball team lost a heartbreaker on Friday night as Weddington High rallied for two runs with two outs in the top of the seventh and nudged WHS 3-2 in the opening round of the Western Playoffs at WHS-High Field.

Losing pitcher Jon Shape, who struck out eight men, struggled with his control and gave up two runs on two hits and three walks in that seventh inning rally by the Warriors. With nobody on and two outs, Shape walked catcher John Mangum, who was down to his final strike, to keep the inning alive. An infield single by Daniel Yelverton put runners on first and second with two outs.

Clay Trasher, who hit a solo home run in the first, was down to his final strike before he produced a run-scoring single that tied the game at 2. Following a walk to
Brad Collins that loaded the bases, Sharpe, who walked five on the night, walked Anthony Boone to force in the eventual winning run.

The Pioneers rallied for two runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Austin Story and a suicide squeeze bunt by Phil Gordon to give WHS a brief 2-1 lead. But the Pioneers, who finish a great season at 17-8, couldn’t hang on. Weddington (12-12) advances on to the second round, where the Warriors will play Ardey Kell on Tuesday. The Knights advanced as they blasted Garinger, 13-2.
In other games, South Caldwell beat Berry Academy, 23-0; and Myers Park eliminated McDowell, 3-0. East Burke and Mount Tabor were rained out. They will play on Saturday.

SOFTBALL: Alexander Central defeated WHS 10-0 in six innings on Friday night in the Northwestern 4A Conference tournament championship game. The Cougars broke a scoreless tie by scoring eight times in the fourth inning. WHS (7-16) will sit and wait. The playoffs pairings come out on Saturday. If WHS gets in, the Pioneers would be a wildcard, and will most likely play Butler or Crest on the road Tuesday.

TENNIS: State Finals in Chapel Hill, Steve Lake of WHS goes 1-1 and is eliminated from the field on Friday. Michael Smith in singles; Kevin Ashline and Brian Geldmeier lose in the opening round in doubles on Friday.