Lenoir Community College’s run through the Region X tournament is over.
Needing just one win to clinch a berth into the junior college world series, Brunswick C.C. ended the Lancers’ season with a 9-5 win in the NJCAA Division II Region X tournament on Monday night.
The loss ended a string of four straight wins for LCC (34-20), which included an 8-5 win over top-seeded Catawba Valley C.C. earlier on Monday. The Lancers would have had to have defeated Brunswick on Monday then again in a winner-takes-all game this afternoon to have advanced to the NJCAA Division II College World Series in Enid, Okla.
After dropping its first game of the tournament, 2-1, to Pasco-Hernando (Fla.) on Friday, sixth-seeded LCC won four consecutive games in a three-day span to stay alive and survive the loser’s bracket.
During the stretch the Lancers outscored their opponents — Rockingham C.C., Patrick Henry C.C., Pasco-Hernando C.C. and Catawba Valley C.C. — 29-15 after scoring just 32 total runs in its 13 previous games.
LCC last went to the world series in 2010. Brunswick C.C. is the only Region X team the Lancers didn’t defeat this season. They went 0-4 against the Dolphins.
The Free Press will have a story wrapping up LCC's season in Wednesday's edition.