Pairings for the 1A state baseball and softball playoffs will be announced Monday by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
But Polk County squads already have a good idea of where and whom they’ll play in Tuesday’s first-round games.
Both PolkSports and HighSchoolOT.com project that the Polk baseball team will receive the 14th seed in the 1A West bracket and will host 19th-seeded Starmount in the opening round.
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Both sites also project that the Wolverine softball squad will be seeded 19th in the 1A West field and will travel to 14th-seeded South Stokes for its opener.
The Wolverine baseball squad finished 11-13. But its RPI is the 10th highest in the 1A West field. Once the 10 teams seeded as a conference champion are placed, Polk will be the fourth highest remaining team, thereby earniing its 14th overall seed. It will be the first home playoff game for the Wolverines since 2021.
Starmount finished the regular season with an 11-10 record. The Rams had four all-conference selections – Hayden Royal, Wade Pfaff, Tristan Blevins and Cody Hernandez. Royal is one of two seniors on the team.
The winner of Tuesday’s expected matchup is projected to face the winner of No. 3 Christ The King vs. No. 30 Bishop McGuinness.
Polk County’s softball squad finished with a 10-12 record. The Wolverines were a win away from a .500 season record, and would have been seeded as a conference champion with that mark. One win would have boosted the Wolverines to the 10th overall seed and a home playoff game.
Instead, Polk is projected to travel to South Stokes to face the 15-8 Sauras. South Stokes built its record in large part thanks to an offense averaging nine runs per game.
The Sauras are led by Rebecca Amos, the Northwest 1A Conference Player of the Year and a Winthrop University signee. Four other South Stokes players earned all-conference honors – Ryleigh Pinnix, Makena Flinchum, Olivia Martin and Marissa Crandall.
The winner of Tuesday’s projected matchup is expected to face either No. 3 Robbinsville or No. 30 Mitchell.
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