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When the brackets came out last week Rutherford County made history, all eight diamond (4 softball/4 baseball) high schools teams had made the postseason. Upon further review, Thomas Jefferson baseball lost the spot out to Bessemer City. So only seven made the postseason.
Currently, there are two teams left in the postseason and if both win two more games in a row, they head to the Western Regional Final.
As for the hottest team in the county, we have to go to East Rutherford’s softball field, where the Lady Cavs have won 19 games in a row. East Rutherford hosted West Lincoln Tuesday and if they win, will host Madison or Bandys on Friday (5/23).
The Lady Cavs have won easily in the first two rounds of the playoffs at 11-2 over Bunker Hill and then 6-0 over Polk.
While at East Rutherford, the baseball team remains alive as well in 2A play. The Cavs visited Bunker Hill on Tuesday and if they survive, they will host either Smoky Mountain or Franklin Friday (5/23). So far, they escaped a 9-8 win over West Caldwell and then toughed out a 3-1 victory over Maiden.
Over in Hendersonville, R-S Central baseball came up with a great upset in the first round, beating previously undefeated Hendersonville 2-1 on the road. Connor Dailey was magnificent pitching a complete game. However, it ended in the second round with a 10-3 loss at Franklin.
Chase baseball had a good season, but were shutout in a 5-0 loss at Bunker Hill in the first round.
Chase softball came close to making the second round, but barely lost to Bandys 8-7 on the road. R-S Central softball got behind early, but closed the season with an 11-8 loss. Thomas Jefferson softball led early, but fell 10-5 in the first round of the playoffs.
Since we are talking about spring sports as well, Thomas Jefferson, R-S Central and Chase all fell victim of a first round defeat in girls soccer. That’s the first time since 2010 that nobody has made it past the first round of the girls soccer playoffs in the county.
Coming up this weekend, the Memorial doubleheader of racing ensues as the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indy 500 are Sunday.
This past weekend was a good indicator of who should be contenders in the 600. Jamie McMurray who won the All-Star event was stout. I think Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer should be in contention. My odds on favorite is Kasey Kahne. Kahne has won the 600 three times and I believe that he had the best car in the All-Star event, if not for finding trouble late. I’m sure the car for the 600 will be just as good if not better than last week’s. Who knows? If Dale Earnhardt Jr. can stick around until the end, he may can get his first 600 win to make up for the 2011 event. In the 2011 version, Junior ran out of gas coming to the finish line.
Kurt Busch will be the fourth driver to compete in the Indy 500 and Coke 600 on the same day. John Andretti, Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon are the other three to do so. Stewart is the only one to complete the distance in both events.
I’m not really a big open wheel racing person, but the prestige and history of the Indy 500 always has captured my attention. There is about 15 drivers that could win this thing, but if I was betting man, I’d take Juan Pablo Montoya. I expect Marco Andretti, Helio Castoneves, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and even Kurt Busch to contend.
