Baseball: Playoff predictions, top players, team favorites, upset alerts
The N.C. High School Athletic Association baseball playoffs begin Tuesday with opening round games. The winners advance to Friday's second round.
In this playoff preview we hand out bracket superlatives, give four favorites and one dark horse for each bracket half, and even make championship predictions (that we're sure nobody will have any problem with and will be shocked if any of them don't pan out, right?).
We also listed the top 10 players in each bracket half. Many of these players are candidates for our all-state teams that are released a few weeks after the regular season. There's a first, second, and third team of 25 players each, plus an honorable mention team of 50.
Quick links
- Preseason Watch List (Insider)
- Class of 2024 recruits
- End-of-regular-season rankings
- Last year's 4A title (T.C. Roberson over Wake Forest)
- Last year's 3A title (West Henderson over J.H. Rose)
- Last year's 2A title (Burns over South Granville)
- Last year's 1A title (Uwharrie Charter over North Moore)
- Last year's all-state team
- Last year's final rankings
Enjoy the rest of this column below:
4A East breakdown
Bracket Superlatives
Best first-round matchup — (20) Fuquay-Varina going to (13) Topsail is a coin flip game that could have big latter-round implications.
Best chance at a first-round upset — (25) Apex Friendship has the arms to win a round against anyone, even (8) Holly Springs.
The hardest road — (2) Wake Forest could run acrosse Corinth Holders, Hoggard, or Middle Creek (or two of the three) before getting to the fourth round!
The easiest road — It's not "easy" in the traditional sense, but (4) Pinecrest has the door open to make a run.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (3) D.H. Conley
Favorite #2 — (1) Ashley
Favorite #3 — (2) Wake Forest
Favorite #4 — (6) Broughton
Dark horse — (10) Hoggard
Our top 10 players in the bracket
- Jett Music, Corinth Holders
- Sam Harris, Broughton
- Riley Williams, D.H. Conley
- Briggs McKenzie, Corinth Holders
- Bryant Kimbrell, Pinecrest
- Ian Williams, Wake Forest
- Collins Black, Cary
- Jake Cackovic, Holly Springs
- Nate Hollenbeck, Rolesville
- Carson Crider, Wake Forest
4A West breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — (21) Hough at (12) West Forsyth is so much tougher for both sides than the seeds indicate. Hough's RPI was brought down by the lower end of its conference, but it's one of the best programs in Mecklenburg County.
Best chance at a first-round upset — (22) Davie County has the talent to get a big win at (11) Watauga.
The hardest road — (4) Reagan gets some titans of the sport in rounds two and three.
The easiest road — (3) Myers Park has a fairly good draw until round four.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) T.C. Roberson
Favorite #2 — (2) Cuthbertson
Favorite #3 — (4) Reagan
Favorite #4 — (5) Providence
Dark horse — (18) Marvin Ridge
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Micah Simpson, T.C. Roberson
- Jaxon Matthews, Hough
- Caden Davidson, T.C. Roberson
- Coy James, Davie County
- Maddox Greene, Watauga
- Tristan Potts, Cuthbertson
- Blaize Johnson, Northwest Guilford
- Brady Thompson, Providence
- Cam Bagwell, South Mecklenburg
- Tyler Howe, Hopewell
3A East breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — Throw out the win-loss records, (24) South Johnston at (9) Lee County is bound to be a good one.
Best chance at a first-round upset — (25) Triton got no love from RPI, but is still good enough to win at (8) South Brunswick.
The hardest road — (4) Terry Sanford has some tough ones to get to a regional final, potentially meeting Williams or Southern Wayne in round two and one of four possible Central Carolina Conference teams in round three.
The easiest road — (2) West Johnston has a decent path to the third and fourth round, though nothing's ever easy in a single-round elimination format in baseball.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) J.H. Rose
Favorite #2 — (3) Cape Fear
Favorite #3 — (2) West Johnston
Favorite #4 — (5) Southern Alamance
Dark horse — (13) Williams
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Andrew Wallen, J.H. Rose
- Walker McDuffie, Lee County
- Tate Jones, Williams
- Mason Hughes, Cape Fear
- Jackson Hood, West Johnston
- B.J. Brown, Lee County
- Kellen Smith, South Johnston
- Kolby Jarman, West Johnston
- Ethan Plesser, Cape Fear
- Aiden Taylor Harnett Central
3A West breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — (19) West Rowan at (14) Kings Mountain is about as good as it gets from teams who didn't win their respective (and tough) conferences.
Best chance at a first-round upset — (29) Crest at (4) South Point is one of those first-round conference rematches that seems primed for an upset.
The hardest road — (3) North Davidson has nothing easy, and you can argue even its first-round draw is hard.
The easiest road — (1) East Rowan has the lineup to make quick work of a lot of teams on its side of the bracket.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) East Rowan
Favorite #2 — (2) West Henderson
Favorite #3 — (3) North Davidson
Favorite #4 — (11) Ledford
Dark horse — (11) Le
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Truitt Manuel, West Henderson
- Cobb Hightower, East Rowan
- Jackson Lyda, West Henderson
- Kelvyn Paulino Jr., Ledford
- Jadden Rodriguqz, Ledford
- Sean Jenkins, Fred T. Foard
- McCall Henderson, East Rowan
- Walker Fox, Pisgah
- Justin Mabe, North Davidson
- Patrick Blee, South Point
2A East breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — (17) Clinton at (16) South Lenoir lives up to the classic 16-17 contest.
Best chance at a first-round upset — It's not an upset if Franklin Academy loses, so let me go with (24) Nash Central at (9) Princeton.
The hardest road — (3) North Lenoir might have to take on Ayden-Grifton in round two and possibly South Granville in round three!
The easiest road — (1) Greene Central has some decent potential matchups until the fourth round.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) Greene Central
Favorite #2 — (2) Whiteville
Favorite #3 — (6) South Granville
Favorite #4 — (3) North Lenoir
Dark horse — (14) Ayden-Grifton
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Braden Burress, Greene Central
- John McLamb, Midway
- Austin Hardy, Greene Central
- Maddox Bass, Holmes
- Ashton Hammonds, Whiteville
- Trey Williford, Farmville Central
- Colby Lewis, Nash Central
- Brendan Chamberlain, South Granville
- Tate Whitehead, Southwest Onslow
- Tanner Goodwin, East Carteret
2A West breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — It might be cliche, but going with a 16-17 matchup here also: (17) East Surry at (16) McMichael.
Best chance at a first-round upset — Might not be many on this side of the bracket — but should (9) Bandys watch out for (24) East Gaston?
The hardest road — (4) Forbush gets no breaks after a likely-but-not-guaranteed first round win.
The easiest road — (2) East Rutherford wouldn't have to play Randleman or Morehead until the fourth round and is opposite from Burns, Bandys, North Stanly, Forbush, and R-S Central.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) Burns
Favorite #2 — (3) Morehead
Favorite #3 — (5) North Stanly
Favorite #4 — (2) East Rutherford
Dark horse — (12) R-S Central
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Anderson Nance, Morehead
- Marshall McGowan, Burns
- Cole Smith, North Stanly
- Gavin Maines, Forbush
- Drake Purvis, Randleman
- Seth Way, Randleman
- Ben Mauney, Burns
- Drew Yelton, R-S Central
- Landon Mowery, Trinity
- Alex Robinson, Bandys
1A East breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — (21) North Duplin at (12) Perquimans is probably not the answer you expected, but it could pay off in a big way.
Best chance at a first-round upset — (27) West Columbus has an arm that can take down (6) Chatham Charter.
The hardest road — (3) Northside of Beaufort County could get Chatham Charter in round three or Roxboro Community or East Bladen in the fourth round.
The easiest road — (1) Bear Grass Charter has smooth sailing until round four.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (1) Bear Grass Charter
Favorite #2 — (3) Northside of Beaufort County
Favorite #3 — (7) Roxboro Community
Favorite #4 — (6) Chatham Charter
Dark horse — (13) Voyager Academy
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Michael Gurganus, Bear Grass Charter
- Maddux Thach, Perquimans
- Aidan Allred, Chatham Charter
- Carver Pleasant, Roxboro Community
- Ethan Mathewson, West Columbus
- Deandre Sellers, Wilson Prep
- Austin Duff, North Duplin
- Brayden Dealto, Clover Garden
- Carrick Ryan, Voyager Academy
- Jake Futrell, East Bladen
1A West breakdown
Bracket superlatives
Best first-round matchup — (18) Polk County going to (15) South Stanly is a fantastic first-round 1A game.
Best chance at a first-round upset — (21) South Stokes at (12) Bishop McGuinness should be a good one that can go either way.
The hardest road — (4) Draughn has tougher potential second and third round matchups because they missed on those "soft 1-seeds" that other teams got.
The easiest road — (3) Christ the King has a decent path all the way until round four.
Four favorites and a dark horse
Favorite #1 — (2) Uwharrie Charter
Favorite #2 — (3) Christ the King
Favorite #3 — (4) Draughn
Favorite #4 — (1) Mount Airy
Dark horse — (15) South Stanly
Top 10 players in the bracket
- Tate Jensen, Draughn
- Gunnar Alm, Polk County
- Kamden Hawks, Mount Airy
- Maddox Nelson South Stokes
- C.J. Burleson, Mountain Heritage
- Brock Bumgardner, Cherryville
- Jake Hunter, Uwharrie Charter
- Brison George, Mount Airy
- A.J. Mackey, Mitchell
- Travail Barnes, Thomasville
Championship and regional final predictions
Locations, dates named for NCHSAA spring sports state championships
NCHSAA
4A East: (3) D.H. Conley over (1) Ashley
4A West: (1) T.C. Roberson over (2) Cuthbertson
4A championship: T.C. Roberson over D.H. Conley
3A East: (1) J.H. Rose over (3) Cape Fear
3A West: (1) East Rowan over (1) J.H. Rose
3A championship: East Rowan over
2A East: (1) Greene Central over (3) North Lenoir
2A West: (1) Burns over (3) Morehead
2A championship: Burns over Greene Central
1A East: (1) Bear Grass Charter over (3) Northside of Beaufort County
1A West: (2) Uwharrie Charter over (1) Mount Airy
1A championship: Uwharrie Charter over Bear Grass Charter
NCISAA
4A: (3) Metrolina Christian over (1) Wesleyan Christian
3A: (3) Greensboro Day over (1) Grace Christian of Sanford
2A: (1) Wayne Country Day over (3) Rocky Mount Academy
1A: (2) Kerr-Vance over (1) Lawrence Academy
