JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — After the Carolina Stingers took two from the Tennessee Tornado last night, they eliminated the rest of the Southern Division from the playoff race, thus clinching the No. 4 seed in this week’s tournament here.
The Stingers (19-22), who ended their season on a four-game road winning streak, are now out of reach of the Carolina Chaos, who stand at 17-23 with just two games to play. They still have to play, however, because they figure in the final seeding decision between the Lake Norman Copperheads (23-16) and Morganton Aggies (24-18).
Lake Norman has to lose both of their last games, one tonight at Asheville and one tomorrow night against the Chaos at home, for the Aggies to overtake them for the No. 2 seed. Morganton’s season ended Saturday on a three-game winning streak as they swept the Chaos in Clemson, S.C.
Tennessee clinched their No. 1 seed with a sweep against the Spartanburg Blue Eagles (17-23) Saturday, and the two teams’ scheduled Tuesday night game at Milligan College may be cancelled, as it doesn’t figure in the standings or seedings.
Last year, Morganton came into the double-elimination tournament as the No. 2 seed and lost twice to Lake Norman, while Spartanburg dominated the Southern Division during the regular season and played as the No. 4, losing a tough contest to Tennessee on Day 1 and then again in the loser’s bracket against Morganton on Day 2.
Looking ahead to Thursday’s matchup between No. 1 Tennessee and No. 4 Carolina, the Stingers may hold the high card after their sweep at Cardinal Park yesterday. Stingers pitching held Tennessee to 12 hits and one run in both games, and even more impressive, Tennessee left a combined 20 runners on base in the doubleheader and they were 0-23 with runners in scoring position.
In the 2-3 matchup, however the seedings are decided, the Aggies may have the advantage, as they swept Lake Norman on their home field July 12 by a combined score of 22-4. In that doubleheader, the Copperheads stranded nine and went 3-12 with runners in scoring position.
Day 1 happens Thursday at Milligan College here. For more information and directions, log onto scbl.wordpress.com.
