Baseball season is here!!! Today marks the first day every school in the state can play live games that count as everyone works to make an appearance in June.  This time of year brings big dreams.  Every school is one play away from making a run to a championship.  Each team has a path of what has to happen to hang a banner at the end of the year.

As our staff worked through the 2018 Team Previews, player evaluations, and talked with high school coaches, college coaches, and pro scouts we realized the 2018 season could be a wild one.  There are favorites at each classification, but there are not clear cut ‘top dogs’.  This rings more true when you take into account the state playoff setup of single elimination until the regional finals. 

The AA classification has several teams with a lethal 1-2 combination of arms.  Working through the state playoffs, two games per week until the regional final stage where the tournament goes to a best of three format.  Also making waves in 2018 is the classification adjustment.  Two schools in particular that have won state championships recently make their way into the 2A level.  Whiteville, winner of 3 of the last 4 1A State Championships is now in the 2A level.  Also making the move is 2016 4A State Champion, North Davidson.

Below we take a look at several teams that could make a run deep into May and hoist a state championship in June at the AA level.  Our staff will be covering games and teams throughout the spring and there is no doubt there will be teams missing from this list as teams gel and make progress in the spring.   That is part of what makes the baseball across North Carolina great.  There are good players, of all ages, all across the state.  A couple of guys getting hot at the right time, can make a difference.

AA Class

State Championship Contenders

Ledford HS
+ Quite possibly one of the best 1-2 combinations on the mound in the past decade in North Carolina.  Logan Whitaker (RHP, 2018, NC State commit) and Chris Villaman (LHP, 2019, NC State commit) each have dominate stuff and can lock up opposing offenses on any given night.  Both arms attended the PBR Procase this past February, putting up electric numbers.