BURLINGTON, NC - Southern Lee picked up a come-from-behind victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three 2026 6A State Championship Series. The Cavaliers scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take their first lead of the game and roll to a 7-2 victory over South Caldwell.
The win brings Southern Lee one win away from securing the school's first NCHSAA State Championship in a state-sanctioned team sport.
South Caldwell jumped on the Cavs early, plating their only two runs of the game in the top of the first inning. JP Smith doubled to score the Spartans leadoff man and then came around to score on Luke Church's RBI single to give the Spartans an early 2-0 lead.
The Cavaliers responded in the bottom of the third on a single by Luke Waters and a sacrifice fly from Gavin Shaffer that saw Southern draw even at 2-2.
Sophomore ace Ben Harrington and the Cavalier defense kept South Caldwell at bay for the remainder of the game, working around some traffic on the basepaths in the fifth and sixth inning thanks to some stellar glove-work by Dallas Roberts who made a pair of diving stops at the hot corner to help stunt potential Spartan rallies.
Southern broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth inning, loading the bases with no outs before a single by Drew Patton drove home two of the Cavs five runs in the inning to take a 7-2 advantage into the final inning.
Harrington pitched a complete game allowing just five hits with eight strikeouts on his way to the victory. He did, however, use 116 of his 120 pitch allotment for the weekend, which means that other Cavalier pitchers will have to carry the team through the remainder of the series.
The Cavs return to action at 2:00 p.m. for Game 2 of the 6A State Championship Series against South Caldwell. Tickets for tomorrow's action at Burlington Athletic Stadium are $15 for the day and include admission to a potential Game 3 in the series if it is necessary. Should that third and decisive game be played, it will be at 5:00 or 8:00 p.m. at Burlington Athletic Stadium pending the outcome of the 7A State Championship Series, which is sharing the venue for the Championships.
If you cannot make it to Burlington tomorrow, each game will air live on 105.5 WFJA Radio here in Sanford. The Championships are also being streamed live by the NFHS Network, a subscription service partner of the NCHSAA.