ASHEBORO – Defending Class 1-A state champion Uwharrie Charter Academy was on the verge of elimination before scoring in three straight innings Friday night to survive.
The Eagles pulled out a 4-3, eight-inning victory against visiting Christ the King in the fourth round of the state playoffs.
That puts second-seeded UCA (24-5) back in the best-of-3 West Region finals against top-seeded Mount Airy, which edged visiting Cherryville 4-2 on Friday night.
Jose Ramirez drove in the winning run in the eighth inning.
The Eagles trailed 3-1 before plating a run in the sixth and then benefitting from a seventh-inning error on third-seeded Christ the King to tie the game.
Brett Smith and Logun Wilkins handled the UCA pitching.
Class 2-A
Wednesday night at Eden, sixth-seeded Randleman fell 1-0 to third-seeded Eden Morehead in a third-round game of the state playoffs.
It’s the second year in a row that the Tigers were ousted by Eden Morehead, though last year’s game was in the fourth round at Randleman.
The Tigers (21-6) managed only two hits in the rematch. Anderson Nance struck out 13 Randleman batters in a game postponed one night by rain.
Seth Way was the losing pitcher despite throwing a four-hitter with two walks and 11 strikeouts.
