Staff report

MOUNT ULLA — Four of the state’s top teams will be in one small town on Tuesday, as East Rowan’s baseball and softball squads travel to West Rowan.

South Piedmont Conference championships in both sports will be decided.

Softball in the afternoon; baseball at night.

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East Rowan’s softball team (17-2, 13-1) is currenlty second in the 3A West RPI rankings, while West Rowan (16-3, 13-1) is sixth.

East beat West 6-0 when they squared off in Granite Quarry, but the Mustangs lost to Central Cabarrus, so the teams will enter the game tied for first.

West has generally torn the cover off softballs this season, with six girls combining for 27 home runs. EA Nance, Riley Haggas and Reese Poole have 18 RBIs each, while pitcher Arabelle Shulenburger has 17.

Poole, Shulenburger and Raney Phelps are batting over .400.

East has two outstanding pitchers in Madi Tigert and Camryn Perkins, and they’ve been able to neutralize sluggers all season. East also has a potent offense. The Mustangs frequently get a dozen hits with a non-stop lineup that provides a threat from top to bottom.

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In baseball, West (19-3, 13-2) comes into this marquee matchup No. 2 in the 3A West RPI rankings, while the Mustangs (18-4, 11-3) are No. 3.

West picked a bad time for its worst game of the season. That was an 11-0 loss to the Mustangs at Staton Field. Of course, East pitcher Harrison Ailshie has a 7-1 record and an ERA  of 0.15, and he had something to do with that bad game, and he’s set up to pitch against the Falcons again.

West’s only other SPC loss was to Lake Norman Charter early in the season. East Rowan rose to the occasion in a big way for the first meeting with West, but lost games to Carson, Northwest Cabarrus and Central Cabarrus in the league. Central and Northwest are part of a three-way tie for last place, so the Mustangs have had some off nights.

West has a terrific lineup that normally includes five .400 hitters — Carter Durant (.485), Cole Blevins (.483), Brody Pope (.441), Brice Knox (.426) and Maddox Moore (.419).

West’s pitching is strong. Moore (7-0, 2.85 ERA) probably will pitch this one, although Brant Graham (5-1, 1.39 ERA) will be available if needed.

Krys Hernandez leads East’s offense with a .459 batting average and a .539 on-base percentage. Mason Phelps is batting .390, while Ailshie checks in at .385.

Ailshie has walked 19 times, but has still supplied a lot of East’s power with four homers, 10 doubles and 21 RBIs. Sam Blackwelder has 22 RBIs, while Mason Phelps has 20.