MHSAA 2A Baseball Playoffs: North Champ East Union awaits Taylorsville - Loyd Star winner
Rudy Baldwin pitched a beauty for a 3-1 win to clinch the 2A North State Championship Series for East Union Friday night in Pisgah.
With the win, the Urchins (27-5) advance to the 2A Championship, where they’ll face either Loyd Star or Taylorsville in the series opener at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 1 at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
The Tartars evened the South State series with a 17-0 win Saturday after Loyd Star won Game One 3-1 Friday night. Game Three in that series is set for Monday night in Brookhaven.
In East Union’s clincher, Baldwyn went all seven innings for the Urchins (27-5). He gave up just one unearned run on one hit with five walks and 10 strikeouts.
It was the second quality start in two nights for East Union, which won Thursday night’s series-opener 10-0 in five innings. Carter Phillips went all five innings in that one, allowing just two hits with nine strikeouts.
Baldwin helped his own cause Friday night, with two hits and an RBI. Hayden Roberts singled, drove in a run and scored and Jude Treadway had an RBI groundout.
Pisgah’s Austin Russell pitched well, but got tagged in with the hard-luck loss. He only gave up three earned runs in the complete-game effort. He held East Union to six hits, but walked one and hit two batters and finished with five strikeouts.
The Dragons finished the season with a 22-15 record.
