West Forsyth baseball edges Charlotte Catholic in first round of NCHSAA 4-A state tournament

Titans will travel to Northwest Guilford for Friday's second round

CLEMMONS, NORTH CAROLINA--Fresh off their second straight Central Piedmont 4-A Conference Tournament championship, No. 14 West Forsyth got all it could handle from visiting No. 19 Charlotte Catholic in the opening round of the NCHSAA 4-A state tournament Tuesday night.

The Titans squeezed out a 5-4 win after plating the winning run with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.

West Forsyth (19-8) led 4-3 heading into the seventh inning before Catholic knotted the game at 4.

The Titans responded in the bottom half when William Siceloff walked to lead off the inning. T.J. Fergus came in as a pinch-runner. With one out and Parker Lowe at the plate, a pitch in the dirt advanced Fergus to second base. The Catholic catcher tried to throw Fergus out, but Fergus broke for third and was safe.

Lowe then lined the next pitch on one-hop off the Catholic shortstop's glove and into the outfield, allowing Fergus to score the winning run.

West got a solid outing from pitcher Harrison Lewis, who went 6.2 innings, allowing just six hits while striking out five. Freshman Greyson Jones struck out the lone batter he faced in the top of the seventh to pick up the win.

Harrison Lewis pitched 6.2 innings and struck out five and homered and drove in two runs in West Forsyth's first round win against Charlotte Catholic in the NCHSAA 4-A state tournament / Marc Pruitt photo

Lewis also homered and drove in two runs to spark the Titans' offense, while Lowe and Camdyn Daly each collected two hits.

West will travel to No. 3 Northwest Guilford for Friday's second round game. The Vikings nipped No. 30 Marvin Ridge 9-8 in their opening round matchup.