UNC Pembroke, Belmont Abbey advance to Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship final
GASTONIA, N.C. – The championship game of the 2024 Conference Carolinas Baseball Championship, is set following three games on Sunday. UNC Pembroke came through the winners’ bracket, defeating Belmont Abbey Sunday morning while Belmont Abbey came back late to upset Mount Olive and set up a rematch in Monday's championship game.
Fourth seed UNC Pembroke jumped ahead of seventh seed Belmont Abbey with a pair of runs in the first inning as Kody O’Connor drove in one before scoring on a Will Hood single. The Crusaders responded with a pair of runs on a Connor Tucker double in the third inning. However, the Braves had an answer with a run-scoring groundout in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead.
A Carter DuHaime run-scoring single for Belmont Abbey in the top of the fourth knotted the score at 3-3. Mount Olive responded again, regaining a 4-3 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth and took a 5-3 lead on a double steal in the fifth. Belmont Abbey pulled within 5-4 with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, but UNC Pembroke closed out the game to take the 5-4 victory.
Eighth seed Erskine took a 1-0 lead on the second pitch of the game as Josean Sanchez home run. A David Hernandez single scored Tyler Smith in the second, extending the Erskine lead to 2-0. Dylan Jeffries cut the Mount Olive deficit in half with a home run in the fifth before a two-run blast from David Cucci gave Mount Olive a 3-2 lead. The Flying Fleet regained a 5-3 lead with three runs in the sixth, two on a Carlos Gonzalez single.
Mount Olive fought back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to even the score at 5-5. Lane McLean drove in the first run before a Cucci infield single evened the tally. Vito Patierno gave Mount Olive a 6-5 lead when he scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning. Erskine put the tying run on third with one out in the ninth, but Andrew Ledbetter got the final two outs, giving Mount Olive the 6-5 win.
Mount Olive then faced Belmont Abbey in another elimination game that saw both teams tally one run in each of the first two innings. The Trojans took a 6-2 lead with four runs in the third inning as Patierno ripped a leadoff home run and two more on a Mike Kenney single. The Mount Olive lead grew to 7-2 when the Trojans scored one run in the top of the eighth.
However, the Belmont Abbey offense got going in the bottom of the eighth as a bases loaded walk, single and hit by pitch pulled the Crusaders within two. Caleb Burr then ripped a single that scored two and evened the score at 7-7. Jake Craddock retired the side in order in the ninth before Landon Hahn started a one-out rally with an infield single. Following another single, Todd Velotta dropped a single to center field, scoring Hahn and giving Belmont Abbey the 8-7 win.
UNC Pembroke will take on Belmont Abbey at 10:00 a.m. If Belmont Abbey wins that contest, there will be a winner-take-all contest to follow.
To see the updated bracket for the championship and to learn more, please visit
here.