Randolph County Post 45 first baseman Josh Meadows makes a catch against Davidson County Post 8 with catcher Grat Dalton looking on in Game 1 of that playoff series. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Randolph County Post 45 is moving on to the semifinals of the Area 3 playoffs and it shapes up as a significant showdown.
Post 45 (21-3) and Rowan County Post 342 (32-3) will match up in a best-of-5 series beginning Thursday night at Catawba College in Salisbury.
Monday night at Lexington, Post 45 won 6-1 vs. Davidson County Post 8 to complete a sweep of the best-of-3 first-round series. Tanner Marsh homered, Connor Adams scored two runs and Samuel Asbill pitched six innings with eight strikeouts without issuing a walk.
Rowan County, which was the South Division regular-season champion, already had a spot in the semifinals based on Foothills Post 123 forfeiting the first-round series.
Randolph County was the second-place team in the North Division.
Post 45 and Post 342 played three times during the regular season, with Randolph County winning the final two of those meetings. Each team had a one-run victory and Post 45 also won 10-5.
Game 2 comes Friday night at McCrary Park in Asheboro with Game 3 back in Salisbury on Saturday night. If necessary, the fourth and fifth games are set for Sunday and Monday, respectively.
Last year, Rowan County defeated Randolph County in the Area 3 final.
In the other semifinals series, High Point-Thomasville Post 87 meets Kannapolis Post 115.
