TRINITY — The postseason for high school baseball kicked off for programs across North Carolina this week, with two Trinity-area programs making the 2-A state playoffs.
Trinity came up short in the Piedmont Athletic Conference tournament championship game last week in a 4-0 loss to Randleman. Even as the Tigers took home a tournament title to go along with their regular season championship, the outcome of the season’s final games allowed Trinity to join them as PAC teams to host first-round 2-A playoff games.
With a 15-10 record, Trinity qualified as the No. 16 seed in the 2-A Western Region. The Bulldogs’ righted the ship during last week’s conference tournament, avenging an April 26 loss to Eastern Randolph, which secured the No. 21 seed in the 1-A Western Region.
The squad was scheduled to play their first-round playoff game at home on Tuesday against East Gaston, with the winner of that game set to face the winner of a contest between No. 1 seed Burns and No. 32 Southwestern Randolph. East Gaston entered postseason play with a 13-9 overall record, finishing up at 6-6 in league play, where the Warriors finished fourth in the Southern Piedmont 1-A/2-A standings.
Trinity’s strength of schedule, which was buoyed by a nonconference outing at East Davidson, the 2-A West Region’s No. 7 seed, impressed the NCHSAA enough to grant the Bulldogs that coveted home playoff game. A pair of Bulldog victories over 1-A West No. 2 seed Uwharrie Charter, as well as wins over No. 18 seed Providence Grove, No. 29 seed Wheatmore and No. 32 seed Southwestern Randolph in the 2-A West also helped the cause.
This year’s playoff pairings could facilitate a rematch from last year’s second-round matchup between Trinity and Burns.
Last year’s Trinity squad, which finished the season with a 16-9 record and the No. 19 seed. The Bulldogs hit the road and managed to win three playoff contests over a seven-day span, including an 11-7 victory over Burns, before falling 6-5 to Community School of Davidson in the regional semifinals.
Wheatmore also qualified for the 2023 playoffs with an 8-13 overall record and a 3-9 league mark. The Warriors, who bettered their record with two additional wins from last year, were scheduled to travel to No. 4 seed West Stokes for the first round.
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