Unfortunately for the Chargers, that all faded away as Cedar Ridge took a 5-3 victory in the completion of an contest suspended almost a month earlier before adding a 5-3 win in the second game of the night.

"We had a chance to pull into first place and we just didn’t do what we needed to do to win a big game," said NW coach Ronald Horton. "In games against good teams you have to make the routine plays and to come up with the clutch hits. Cedar Ridge did those things and we didn’t."

In doing so the Red Wolves improve to 8-1 in Mid-State 2A play and to 14-4 overall while the Chargers fall three games off the pace with a mark of 5-4 in league action and 10-6 overall.

Northwood now faces three games this week in a crucial span which will likely decide if the Chargers take the second and final playoff spot into the league tournament.

"We need to play well this week, but even with that said this league is so tight anyone can win the tournament and bump the second-place team out of the playoffs," said Horton. "I told our guys we let a great chance slip by us on Friday night because the first-place finisher in the regular season gets the top-seed entering the playoffs regardless of the outcome of the tournament."

TYRO – It wasn’t easy, but in the end the Chatham Central baseball team took home what it had come for, a win.

The Bears held off West Davidson here on Tuesday evening to take a tight 4-3 decision over the Green Dragons.

The victory kept Central (9-5, 14-5) right in the hunt for one of four postseason spots allotted the Yadkin Valley Conference in the upcoming state 1A playoffs beginning in two weeks. West Davidson (4-9, 6-13) will have to win the conference tournament to make the playoffs.

"West Davidson always plays us tough up there and we knew coming in we’d have our hands full," said CC coach Bill Slaughter. "I thought Ryan Lambert pitched a great game and put us in a position where we could win this game."

Lambert earned the victory on the mound for the Bears, going six strong innings and allowing just five hits while fanning 11 and walking none. Seth Kivett entered in the seventh and picked up the save after retiring the side in order.

Also impressive on this night was Dragon starter Dillon Avery, who scattered seven hits and struck out four.

"He (Avery) did a good job mixing things up, but I thought we started a little slow at the plate," noted Slaughter. "Ryan’s homer in the fifth was key for us."

With two games left in the regular season, if the Bears were to have any shot at winning the conference, they had to beat the Wildcats.

A loss would dash any hopes, but a win and a couple of scenarios could drastically affect CC’s seeding.

The Bears accomplished step one, beating up on SD, 9-2.

CC managed to avoid being hit by enough Wildcat wild pitches – five in the first inning alone – to put runs up in the first four innings, pulling away for the victory.

Despite only five hits by the Bear’s offense, CC managed to capitalize on most of the opportunities SD offered.

Wildcats’ starter, Joey Smith, had all kinds of control problems.

The right-hander resembled "Wild Thing" from the baseball movie "Major League", either throwing a beautiful pitch or clanking the fence behind home plate.

Fortunately for the Bears, it was more of the latter.

Smith struggled, throwing eight wild pitches in his three innings of work, including that classic opening frame.

For the fourth year in a row, the Jets claimed the Central Region in the NCHSAA 1A golf playoffs, earning them a spot in the finals with eight other teams, with a chance for back-to-back titles on the line.

Although it was not its best effort of the season, J-M shot a 319, 10 strokes better than second place North Lincoln, and 20 lower than West Davidson’s 339.

Both NL and WD also qualified at Glen Oaks Golf Course in Maiden.

Senior Cameron Cheek led the way for the Jets, shooting a 73.

Cheek, however, was the lone J-M golfer to break 80.

"It’s always nice when you win, but I would like to have shot a little lower," said Jets coach Patrick Bass. "We came in at 319, but I was hoping for more of around 310. The conditions may have played a part. It was still wet up there."