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Upsets were not the order, at least where the top seeds were concerned, in the semifinal round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) baseball state championship tournaments. All four No. 1 seeds advanced to this weekend’s state championship series, which get underway at two sites on Friday.

In 4A top seeded and undefeated Providence (32-0) advanced with a two-game sweep of TC Roberson as the Panthers pitched a pair of shutouts, 3-0 and 10-0. They will face 2nd-seeded Pinecrest (25-6), which need three games to reach the final. Pinecrest dropped a 5-4 decision to Fuquay-Varina, before rebounding with 7-0 and 3-0 victories.

Providence and Pinecrest will open the best-of-three finals on Friday at Ting Stadium In Holly Springs at 5:00 p.m. They will play again at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, if necessary.

The 3A match-up is again 1 vs. 2, as No. 1 seed South Rowan (28-5) will face No. 2 South Brunswick at Burlington Athletic Stadium. South Brunswick topped 13th-seeded South Central, 6-2 and 8-2 in the semifinals, while South Rowan won the first and third games of its series with 11th-seeded East Lincoln by identical 11-1 scores. East Lincoln captured the middle game, 6-4. The 3A finalists will open play at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, followed by an 11:00 a.m. game on Saturday and, if necessary, a 5:00 p.m. game on Sunday.

The 2A finals will also take place at Burlington Athletic Stadium with the first game between top-seeded Randleman (31-1) and 4th-seeded Whiteville (23-3) scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. first pitch. The second game will be on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. If a third game is needed it will be at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Randelman routed the Community School of Davidson in its semifinal match-up, 12-0 and 9-0. Whiteville also swept its series with 15th-seeded North Lenor, 5-3 and 8-6.

Finally, the 1A series will feature No. 1 Perquimans (29-1) against No. 3 Cherryville (21-10) at Ting Stadium. The opening game is Friday night at 8:00 p.m. The second game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and the third game, if necessary, is slated for 8:00 p.m. on Sunday.Perquimans downed 3rd-seeded Bear Grass Charter in two, 6-1 and 7-3. Cherryville won its semifinal opener with Union Academy, 9-1, dropped the second game, 10-5, and then survived with a 6-5 victory in the final game.