'We've been here': Terry Sanford baseball punches ticket to back-to-back 3A East Regionals
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Terry Sanford took down a power-hitting No. 3-seeded Southern Alamance on Friday night, 6-2, to punch their ticket to their second consecutive NCHSAA 3A East Regional Finals and their third since 2018.
Terry Sanford's junior left-handed pitcher, Jack Reaves, pitched a complete seven innings and struck out six batters for his seventh win.
"I told Jack the night before the game, I said, Boss, we're going to need your best game and that Southern Alamance was the real deal, and we needed his best," Coach Sam Guy said. "For him to do what he did today — it was big time. He was a bit nervous today, but I went to talk to him to break his rhythm to get back on track by reminding him that he gets to be here, so enjoy the moment."
Junior centerfielder Mason Walker went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate, including a double that drew in two runs for the Bulldogs.
"Going in, I felt great. I had a good warm-up with my team, and the energy was good," Mason Walker said about his performance. "It helps a lot at the plate when you're in the 3-hole and you've got chemistry with your guys behind you and they believe in you."
Now that Terry Sanford has secured their spot in the East Regionals, next week, the Bulldogs are planning to do the same thing they've done all season and hoping for success against the No. 1 seed in the 3A East, J.H. Rose.
"We're not going to change. We're going to do exactly what has gotten us here," Guy said.
Last season, the Bulldogs fell to South Central in two games during the East Regionals after a historic hitting game in the first Falcons' win. This season, the most important part of playing in the NCHSAA's Final Four is getting over the hump to play in a 3A state championship game.
"As a program, we've been here. These seniors, juniors, and sophomores have been here. We have to try to get past this point and play for a state championship — hopefully, we can give them everything we've got. Maybe we can get two wins, but if not, we're going to hold our heads high," Guy said.
But as always, for Sam Guy, it goes deeper than baseball, and his hopes go further than just winning a state championship; he wants to keep winning, but a big portion of that is because if the Bulldogs lose, the season will be over, and he won't have the privilege to see his players every day.
"The smiles and seeing happiness in these kids' faces," Guy said emotionally. "If we lose, we would have lost giving everything that we've got, and they'll be heartbroken, but I'm going to be just as heartbroken because I won't get to see them every day."
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Terry Sanford baseball punch NCHSAA 3A East regionals ticket
