Aycock draws No. 1 seed for ECC 3-A baseball tournament

By Gabe Whisnant
Published in Sports on May 7, 2006 2:11 AM

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The pairings for the inaugural Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference baseball and softball tournaments were finalized at an athletics director's meeting late Friday morning.

Charles B. Aycock won a coin flip for the top seed for the baseball tourney after finishing in a first-place tie with Southern Wayne, which will be the No. 2 seed. The team that advances farther in the tournament will assume the conference's No. 1 seed for N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs. If the Falcons and Saints each lose in the semifinals, a play-in game between the two would be needed to break the tie for the No. 1 playoff spot.

The only way both the Falcons and Saints will not get a guranteed playoff spot is if a team seeded No. 3 or lower wins the league tourney. There are three wildcard entries available in the eastern bracket.

Aycock and Southern Wayne will receive first-round byes and host semifinal contests on Tuesday. On Monday, No. 5 Wilson Beddingfield travels to No. 4 Wilson Hunt, while No. 3 Eastern Wayne hosts No. 6 Kinston.

The softball tourney follows the same format as No. 1 Aycock and No. 2 Wilson Hunt earned first-round byes in softball. No. 4 Southern Wayne hosts No. 5 Kinston on Monday, while No. 3 Wilson Beddingfield entertains No. 6 Eastern Wayne. Beddingfield and Southern Wayne finished tied for third, and the Bruins won the coin toss to gain the No. 3 spot.

Aycock is assured of the conference's No. 1 playoff spot. Hunt will take the No. 2 spot, unless a team seeded No. 3 or lower wins the tournament.

Both ECC championships are slated for Thursday and will be hosted by the highest remaining seed.

All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.