How North Lincoln baseball took NCHSAA 5A West crown over South Point
CHERRYVILLE — North Lincoln baseball isn’t ready to cede its hold on an NCHSAA state crown just yet.
The Knights will again play for an NCHSAA state title, this after claiming the 5A West championship with a 9-0 victory over South Point at “Buck” Fraley Field Saturday, May 23 in Cherryville.
It is the program’s third regional title, joining those won in 2019 and 2025 — both preceding North Lincoln 3A state titles. The Knights will play in the NCHSAA 5A state championship series against Seaforth, the 5A East regional champion following a two-game sweep of Rockingham County.
“Our guys showed up with a purpose,” said North Lincoln baseball coach Charlie Goss, who earned his 100th and 101st career victories in wins over South Point the past three days. “They knew they had it in them to do it, because they’d done it all year. And in this moment, they showed what they were capable of.”
Akin to its Game 2 effort Thursday, May 21 at South Point, North Lincoln started fast in Saturday’s rubber match, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Elliott Dellinger and Caleb Hancock each brought in one with RBI base hits, while Blake Mincey’s single up the middle drove in two. Cole Nemire was also credited with an RBI after earning a walk.
Mincey added two more hits and added two RBIs as part of a 3-for-3, four-RBI game. Hancock also had two hits, while Dellinger added an RBI on a groundout in the fourth.
South Point had runners on first and second in four of the first five innings. The Red Raiders had trouble advancing further, however, North Lincoln ace Cason McGinnis putting down each threat.
“He’s been there, he's done it time and again,” Goss said. “We kind of keep him on the back burner as far as pitching because he doesn’t need to prove anything to us. We know what he can do.”
McGinnis allowed no runs on five hits with four strikeouts. He walked two South Point batters. “No matter the count, he’ll throw whatever pitch I ask him to, with confidence,” Goss said.
Bryson Schmidt came in to pitch the seventh, retiring South Point in order and setting off a North Lincoln dogpile at the Fraley Field pitcher’s mound.
“People thought (last year’s state title) may have been too good to be true, sort of a fairy tale,” Goss said. “But now, we’re one of two teams left in (Class 5A) that have earned the right to play for a state championship. “
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: North Lincoln baseball blanks South Point, takes NCHSAA 5A West title
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