Follow @PBRVirginiaDC

By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting

Regional tournaments have finally come to a close throughout the Commonwealth after a wet week wreaked havoc with the tournament. Hopefully, Mother Nature will be more cooperative this weekend as teams pack up their buses for the Spring Jubilees that are being hosted again this year by Radford University, Liberty University, and Robinson Secondary. Championship Saturday is looming large windshield, so here is a look at the State Tournament fields in each classification.

The 1A Semifinals will be played at Kiwanis Park in Salem, VA on Friday, June 12. The State Championship game will be played at Radford University at 10:00 am on Saturday, June 13.

william campbell vs. honaker, 10am

William Campbell is the Conference 44 Champions and entered the Eastern Regional as a six seed on power points. Campbell has posted four of its seven wins on the season in the last few weeks as they have been hot in the playoffs, defeating Rappahannock and Central Lunenburg to punch their State Tournament ticket.

Honaker is the Crooked Road Conference 47 champions and the 1A West Region Champions. The Tigers are 21-4 overall and are 5-0 in the postseason after their Championship game victory over Radford. Honaker has been dominant for most of the postseason and the Tigers have outscored their playoff opponents 52-14 so far. Honaker is strong defensively with Hunter Lester (MIF) and Derek Gilbert up the middle. The Tigers also have a deep lineup that features Blake Stinson (CIF) and Matthew Hutchison (OF). Jacob Coleman (P) is coming off of an outstanding performance in the Regional Championship game and gives Honaker a strong arm to go with its athletic defense and deep lineup.

radford vs. lancaster, 1pm

Radford is the Western Gate Conference 45 champions, having swept through the tournament. In the West Regional tournament, the Bobcats defeated Holston and Fort Chiswell before falling to Honaker in the Regional Championship game. The Bobcats have been a strong, experienced squad all year long that returned most of their lineup from last year’s team and has a ton of team speed. The Bobcat lineup is led by Ryan Davis (OF, 2015), Eli Straw (MIF, 2015), Eli Facemire (CIF, 2015), and Landon Armentrout (UTL, 2015). The pitching staff has been strong and includes Charlie Morris (RHP/IF, 2015) and Jacob Hobbs (RHP/UTL, 2015). Radford carries a 20-4 record to the State Tournament and is a very dangerous team.

Lancaster is the Eastern Region champions and enters the State Tournament with a 19-6 record. Lancaster was dominant in their first two Regional Tournament victories, defeating Surry and Chincoteague by a combined 21-1 score before narrowly defeating William Campbell in the Regional Championship game.