Waccamaw Conference
Baseball, softball
championship races
to be decided today

By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

It will be a “winner-take-all” battle this afternoon at 4:30 when the East Columbus Lady Gators play host to the Pender Lady Patriots for the Waccamaw 1A-2A Conference softball championship.

Both teams are carrying 10-1 conference records.

Tonight at 7, the Whiteville Wolfpack will be out to claim the outright Waccamaw Conference baseball championship when it plays host to the South Brunswick Cougars.

Whiteville, with a 9-2 conference record, has clinched a least a tie for the title. South Brunswick holds an 8-3 conference mark and can grab a share of the title if it can take a win on the Wolfpack’s homefield.

The East Columbus-Pender softball game has been moved up from its original 7 p.m., start so ECHS coach Larry Williamson can be on hand for the Gator baseball team’s Senior Night ceremonies prior to its 7 p.m., home game with Pender. Williamson’s son Alex is the Gator baseball team’s starting senior catcher.

In their first conference meeting, Pender took a 2-0 win over the Lady Gators. Pender’s lone conference loss came at the hands of Whiteville by a 4-3 score. Pender is the two-time defending state 1A champion, and its rivalry with East Columbus has become one of the most intense in the area.

The Whiteville baseball team has won a third consecutive Waccamaw Conference baseball title in head coach Brett Harwood’s four seasons as head coach.

Since 1981, Whiteville has claimed 20 conference championships in baseball.

South Brunswick is vying for its first Waccamaw Conference championship since 1988 when it went on to win the state 2A championship behind the all-around play of future major-leaguer Quinton “Coo-Coo” McCracken.

The East Columbus baseball team, with a 7-4 conference record, has easily captured the Waccamaw Conference’s top 1A playoff berth, and the Whiteville softball team can clinch the conference’s top 2A playoff spot with a win over South Brunswick tonight.

Tonight’s other Waccamaw Conference baseball/softball matchup has South Columbus visiting Trask at 7 with the Stallion baseball team going for its eighth straight conference victory.