The Sampson County diamonds will be heating up be up this week as the Carolina 1A enters the conference tournament. The Raiders are gearing up to finish out the season strong and are looking to take the SAC-6 crown.

Clinton

Baseball (11-5)

The Dark Horses are in a tight middle ground in the SAC-6, a game ahead of both West Bladen and Fairmont as they look to overtake them both and land in the No. 2 spot.

Clinton will have faced East Bladen on Monday, then take on the Golden Tornadoes to finish off the regular season. Should Clinton win out and the Knights lose their last game, they will be in that No. 2 slot and have earned a bye week in the conference tournament. It won’t be an easy battle but the Dark Horses are riding in the week on a three game winning streak.

Softball (5-12)

Clinton has been in a slump for two weeks now as they roll in this week on a five game skid. Sitting in fifth in the conference, they are looking to take their final three games to bolster their standing and overtake Fairmont.

This week they will have faced Red Springs on Monday and then they face the Golden Tornadoes in their final two games of the season. Fairmont is ahead of the Lady Horses by a game at 2-6, if Clinton can win out and sweep them then they will climb up to fourth.

Harrells

Baseball (8-8)

The Crusaders are at .500 and are primed to take their last two games to climb above that.

Sitting at 4-3 in league play, they have just one more game against a NCISAA Independent opponent in Kerr-Vance Trojans and will play county neighbors, the Mintz Christian Lions prior to that. The Trojans have two conference games left, including Harrells.

With the regular season coming to a close, the Crusaders will be looking to fight to keep their spot at No. 3

Softball (6-10)

The Lady Crusaders fate has been sealed in conference play as they sit at 1-5 and no more league games set on the docket.

Harrells has three contests left in the regular season and are looking to clean up their overall record. They will be at home for two of the three games as they face the undefeated Freedom Christian Academy and GRACE Christian at home, before taking to the road to face Grace Christian.

Hobbton

Baseball (11-8)

Hobbton sits in third in the Carolina 1A, they will have played against Union on Monday for a chance at the No. 2 North Duplin Rebels.

In their last encounter with the Rebels they came close to victory but fell short by a single run. They will be licking their chops as they hope to topple both opponents for a shot at the conference title on Thursday.

Softball (2-15)

The Lady Wildcats are entering the conference tournament with some fire in their bellies after coming close to taking down the No. 3 Union Spartans last week, losing by a run at 8-7.

They will faced the Lakewood Leopards on Monday, they will have to grapple with the powerhouse Lady Rebels of North Duplin.

Lakewood

Baseball (7-12)

Lakewood is sitting in the middle of the pack in fourth place. After they face the Wildcats of Hobbton on Monday they will have to face the North Duplin should the surpass their county rivals.

Their last two meetings with Hobbton ended in defeat, same as their contests with North Duplin. They will be looking to make a splash in the Carolina 1A as they look to snatch victory this week in conference play.

Softball (1-15)

The Lady Leopards are trying to wash a bad taste from their mouths this season, riding into the tournament on a ten game skid.

They ended their season with a bashing from Rosewood and have taking losses from the Wildcats in both of their encounters. Lakewood will be looking to avenge their losses on Monday when they face Hobbton in hopes of one more go at the Lady Eagles.

Midway

Baseball (15-5)

Midway has been on a tear this season and are riding in this week on a four game streak, after they defeated the Red Devils this past Friday.

The Raiders have only two more games left as they alternate between home and away, facing off with the St. Pauls Bulldogs on Tuesday and Friday this week. The Bulldogs are in last place in the SAC-6 and are looking to derail the No. 1 Raiders. They will have to contend with the hot bats from Spivey’s as they have brought in 160 runs in 20 contests this season whereas St. Pauls has allowed more than that at 169.

The Raiders are looking to take that conference trophy home and are showing no signs of stopping this train they are on.

Softball (13-3)

The Lady Raiders have been virtually unstoppable this season, dropping only three this season.

This week they will be challenged mightily this week as they face off against the St. Pauls Lady Dogs who also have been a powerhouse in the SAC-6. St. Pauls and Midway are both behemoths at the plate and are stingy with runs allowed, though the Lady Raiders appear to have an advantage on defense allowing half of what the Bulldogs have allowed at 96 to 47.

One team will have a marred record with both of them undefeated in league play at 8-0. Midway will be looking to keep their record clean as they alternate between home and away this week against the Bulldogs.

Union

Baseball (0-14)

The Spartans ended their season winless once again but have shown signs of life as the new coach has been working to revamp the program.

They will have played Hobbton on Monday and are hoping to show out for possibly their last game of the year.

Softball (9-5)

The Lady Spartans have earned a bye week for the conference finals and are slated to play against the Rosewood Eagles on Tuesday.

In their last encounter against the Eagles, they were beat down in both affairs at 11-5 and 11-2. Union is coming into the tournament on back to back wins over Pender and Hobbton and are hungry to for more. The Carolina 1A trophy is in sight and the Lady Spartans with a slew of seniors on the roster are looking to bring home the gold before the graduate.