DEEP RUN — South Lenoir’s softball team has steamrolled its way into the fourth round, but the Blue Devils aren’t alone.
Their opponent has as well.
South Lenoir will put its nine-game win streak and a berth into the regional series on the line today when it travels to West Bladen for a fourth round NCHSAA state 2A playoff game at 6 p.m.
The Blue Devils (21-3) are coming off back-to-back 10-2 wins while the Knights (24-2) have won five straight and have enjoyed a pair of shutouts in the postseason.
The winner gets either South Granville or Wilson Beddingfield in a best-of-three series later this week to determine who will represent the East region in the state championship series at Walnut Creek in Raleigh.
“At this point all the teams are good,” Blue Devils coach Lisa Smith said. “It’s just a matter of who wants it more.”
South Lenoir’s dominating performance against Whiteville on Friday not only matched a season-best streak of nine straight wins, but it showed just how explosive its offense can be.
It was the third game in a row the Blue Devils have reached double digits, and in all they have won their three postseason games by a combined score of 31-7.
South Lenoir is playing with a desire to never lose again.
“We all just want to win really bad,” senior pitcher Taylor Sandlin said. “All it takes is one to get it started, and the rest of us just kind of follow.”
The Knights won their first 20 games of the season before dropping back-to-back games to West Brunswick and Whiteville.
They’ve scored at least 15 runs seven times while winning the Waccamaw 2A/3A Conference ahead of Whiteville, which is who South Lenoir defeated on Friday.
The Blue Devils know they’re dealing with a serious team in West Bladen — which also hails from the same conference as North Brunswick, South Lenoir’s first round opponent.
“(West Bladen) knows a lot about us and we know a lot about them,” Smith said, “but at this point in the season it’s just about which team wants it the most.
“All the preparation in the world won’t help you if you don’t want it bad enough.”
South Lenoir hasn’t been this far in the postseason since 2010, when the regionals were combined with the state championship in a four-team double-elimination tournament.
Now the regionals are a best-of-three series, and the Blue Devils are looking to be one of the two left standing from the East.
But they’re going to have to dig deep to do so.
“It’s all about being focused,” Sandlin said, “and I think we are.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.