FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — It wasn’t the kind of start to a baseball state championship series that J.H. Rose had hoped. For that matter, Cox Mill felt the same way.

The start of the NC High School Athletic Association Class 3-A baseball state title series at J.P. Riddle Stadium in Fayetteville between Rose and Cox Mill was rained out on Friday. The first game of the series was scheduled to be played at 5 pm. but persistent thunderstorms made the field unplayable. The head coaches of both teams inspected the field and agreed with tournament officials and umpires that it was too soggy to play on Friday.

Rose (14-4) and Cox Mill (15-3) will now play Game 1 of the best-of-3 series Saturday at 11 a.m. A second game will be played Saturday at 5 p.m. with a deciding game, if needed, scheduled for Sunday at a time to be determined.

The Class 1-A state title series between Perquimans and East Surry is also being played at the site. The first game of that series is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday with a second game at 5 p.m. The status of that series and whether a deciding third game needs to be played will determine what time Rose plays Sunday.

Officials said games can’t be played on Monday.

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.

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.