Over the next several days area baseball and softball teams will put aside their races for a conference championship to try and win one tournament style.
Five area baseball teams will open their respective Easter tournaments today while several others, including softball teams, will start theirs next week.
Baseball teams from Greene Central, Kinston and North Lenoir will compete in the 30-team Pitt County Classic, while Ayden-Grifton and South Lenoir will once again take part in the 17th-annual Ray Avery Easter Tournament.
South Lenoir’s softball team will head to Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Monday for a three-day event while Parrott Academy’s softball team will host a tournament next Friday.
Here is a breakdown of area baseball teams to this point and a schedule of their games in these tournaments:
Pitt County Classic
Greene Central: The Rams (5-4, 4-2 Eastern Plains 2A) enter the Pitt County Classic today having lost two of their last three games after a 4-2 start, and are currently in second place behind undefeated North Pitt. Greene Central played in this event last year and dropped two of its three games. The Rams will face Riverside Martin (1A) today at 5 p.m. at North Pitt, Washington (3A) at 2:30 p.m. on Monday at North Pitt and Rocky Mount (3A) at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at Guy Smith Stadium in Greenville.
Kinston: The Vikings (2-8, 0-5) return to the field on a three-game losing streak, and are still in search of their first conference win. In the Pitt County Classic a year ago Kinston lost two of three. The Vikings will face Washington (3A) today at noon at North Pitt, Wilson Fike (3A) at 10 a.m. on Monday at Winterville South Central and Amalia County (Va.) at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday at North Pitt.
North Lenoir: The Hawks (3-6, 2-5 Eastern Carolina 3A) enter the Pitt County Classic on somewhat of a hot streak, having won back-to-back games for the first time this season. The road wins at Eastern Wayne and Clayton Cleveland were not only the first two conference games for North Lenoir this season, but also snapped a six-game losing streak. The Hawks, in the Pitt County Classic for the third year in a row, will face Raleigh Sanderson (4A) at 1:15 p.m. today at Guy Smith Stadium, Whiteville (2A) at 5:45 p.m. on Monday at Guy Smith Stadium and Durham Riverside (4A) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Guy Smith Stadium.
Ray Avery Easter Tournament
Ayden-Grifton: The Chargers (8-4, 1-1 Carolina 1A) enter the 17th annual Ray Avery Easter Tournament having won four of their last six games. Ayden-Grifton will open its own tournament tonight at 7 against Bear Grass, play South Lenoir at 4 p.m. on Monday then wrap up things up at 1 p.m. on Tuesday against High Point Andrews.
South Lenoir: The Blue Devils (4-5, 2-4 East Central 2A), last season’s Ray Avery Easter Tournament runners-up, enter the event having lost two of their last three conference games and currently stand in the bottom-half of the league standings. South Lenoir opens the tournament at 1 p.m. today at Ayden-Grifton against Pamlico, will face the Chargers at 4 p.m. on Monday then end the tournament with a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday against Farmville Central.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.