When And Where?

The high school baseball playoffs begin Friday and at this point all we know for sure is Hunt and Rocky Mount will be home while Nash Central and Fike will travel in the first round.The past several years the 1st round has been the only game played the first week and it will either be Tuesday or Wednesday before the NCHSAA releases the playoff brackets.  I am sure today just about every team will know who they play and will start setting up times to play. Here's all I can tell you right now.

Hunt the #1 Seed from the Big East will host the #5 from the Coastal.  #2 Rocky Mount will host the Coastal #3.  Nash Central as the Big East #3 will travel to the Northeastern Coastal #1 while Fike at #4 in the Big East will travel to the #1 from the Cape Fear.

Playing only once this week you can bet that every team will pitch the best pitcher they have in the opening round. Rocky Mount will get a number three team from the Coastal.  Don't say well they can't have nothing finishing third.  Just suppose they have a Tyler King like the #3 team from our league Nash Central has. Rocky Mount has not produced many runs per game and have totally depended on pitching to get them second place.  So if they run into a fire baller they won't score many runs.  But, when you look at the Big East this year that is every team in this conference.  As soon as we know who and where we will pass along where and when our teams will be playing.

Despite not playing this weekend North Carolina held on to the top spot in the RPI ratings.  Virginia is 3rd, Florida State 5th and N C State 7th.  There is still two weeks to play in the regular season of college baseball but for the first time ever N C State stands  in the ratings at this point good enough should they win a Regional they could host a Super Regional for the first time.  That has become old hat for Carolina but in Raleigh they want to host one.

They have a mid week game with UNC Wilmington this week who is rated 27th in the RPI.  This game is so important to N C State that they have saved their normal Sunday starter  for this game because if they want a Super Regional they can't afford any losses outside of the conference.  Should they get by UNCW they have Florida State this weekend and that is a battle for first in the division.

Jim Valvano said once that the more you win the more important the next game is.  Remember last weekend series with Carolina was the most important  in a long while for the Wolfpack.  This up coming week might be the biggest week as far as important in the history of the program.