GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — A familiar face is returning to the NC High School Athletic Association state baseball finals.
J.H. Rose beat D.H. Conley, 5-0, Wednesday night in the Class 3-A East Regional final. The Rose baseball program will be seeking its seventh state title under head coach Ronald Vincent, the winningest high school baseball coach in state history, later this week.
Rose has won all but one of its state championships in baseball in Class 4-A and will be participating on the 3-A level for the first time. Rose has state titles in 1975 (Division 1), 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2008, according to the NCHSAA.
Rose (14-4), the No. 13 seed in the 3-A East Regional, will face Cox Mill (15-3), the No. 9 seed in the 3-A West Regional, starting Friday in Fayetteville at J.P. Riddle Stadium. Game 1 will be at 5 p.m. Friday with Game 2 Saturday at 11 a.m. and Game 3, if needed, Saturday at 5 p.m.
Cox Mill beat Sun Valley, 6-4, in Tuesday’s West Regional final.
Tyler Bonds carried a no-hitter against Conley into the sixth inning. The Rampants jumped to a 3-0 lead and tacked on two runs for good measure in the seventh inning on a Conley error and a sacrifice fly.
Rose finished with 10 hits. Bonds pitched a complete game, giving up two hits and striking out seven.
Rose is now 53-36 in 38 state playoff appearances dating back in 1960, according to the NCHSAA.
D.H. Conley, the No. 3 seed in the Class 3-A East Region, finished its season 15-2. Both losses came against J.H. Rose.
Class 3-A East
Third round
No. 13 J.H. Rose 11, No. 1 Northern Guilford 7
No. 3 D.H. Conley 6, No. 15 Clayton 5
Wednesday’s East Regional final
No. 13 J.H. Rose 5, No. 3 D.H. Conley 0
Class 3-A State final (at Burlington Athletic Stadium or J.P. Riddle Stadium, Fayetteville)
Days and times TBA
No. 9 Cox Mill (15-3) vs. No. 13 J.H. Rose (14-4)
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Tuesday’s Class 3-A East Regional baseball final between J.H. Rose and D.H. Conley was postponed due to rain. The weather won’t have anything to do with Wednesday’s game.
The game was scheduled to be played Tuesday but consistent rain washed out the contest. It’s now scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at D.H. Conley High School. The winner advances to the Class 3-A best-of-3 state title series this weekend.
The winner will face Sun Valley, which beat Cox Mill, 11-9, in Tuesday’s West Regional final. The site, dates and times will be released from the NC High School Athletic Association on Wednesday.
D.H. Conley and J.H. Rose each won their NC High School Athletic Association state playoff game on Saturday. Conley held off Clayton, 6-5, while Rose won again on the road, outslugging No. 1 seed and previously unbeaten Northern Guilford, 11-7.
Conley’s win was a dramatic one. The Vikings jumped to a 5-2 lead before Clayton tied it. Then, in the bottom of the seventh inning, Dixon Williams hit a walk-off solo home run to win it for Conley.
Meanwhile, J.H. Rose trailed by five runs before rallying to win its game.
Rose handed Conley its only loss, 4-3, on May 11. Conley came back and won the rematch, 4-1, two days later. Conley has won 11 straight since the loss to Rose.
The Rampants, who lost to C.B. Aycock twice after falling in its rematch with Conley, enters Tuesday’s game on a nine-game win streak.
The other area teams that were still alive in the state playoffs each lost on Saturday: Bear Grass, East Carteret, North Lenoir and First Flight.
