Pioneers take on Garinger
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

For a while, Watauga baseball coach Pete Hardee did not know which team from the Queen City Conference the Pioneers would play in the first round of the playoffs.

Would it be Harding? Perhaps Berry Tech, the team Watauga beat 11-0 in the first round of the 2007 playoffs.

It turned out to be Garinger, the second-highest 4-A finishing team in the Queen City Conference, a 3-A/4-A split conference. The Bulldogs (9-9) visit Watauga’s field Friday at 6 p.m.

Watauga (16-10) is coming off a tough 4-1 loss to No. 1-ranked (No. 9 nationally) South Caldwell in the finals of the Northwestern 4-A Conference Tournament. The Pioneers finished the season winning five of their last six NWC games and won their first two tournament games.

Watauga took to the road to beat Berry Tech last year. Berry had a handful of experienced players and several taking up the game for the first time.

Garinger beat Berry three times this year, winning 9-0, 19-0 and, most recently, 10-0 on April 25.

However, that was the last time Garinger had won a game. The Bulldogs go into Friday’s game trying to snap a three-game losing streak, having lost 20-0 to Charlotte Catholic, 11-9 to league champion Olympic and 11-0 to West Mecklenburg.

Catholic and Olympic, during a two-game stretch, each beat Garinger 19-0 in back-to-back games.

Watauga has fared better this year, having lost by more than 10 runs just twice. Of the Pioneers’ 26 games, 20 have been played against teams that have made the state tournament. Watauga is 11-9 in those games, which includes a 1-0 victory over South Caldwell, which knocked the Spartans from the undefeated ranks.

Hardee knows that taking Garinger, coached by Vernon Hunter, lightly would be a mistake.

“We’re just making sure that we practice hard, and we’ve done that,” Hardee said. “We’ll be prepared for the game and we’ll be ready to play. They know how important the state playoffs are and how important it is to get to the next round. We’ll be in good shape for that game.”

Hardee is most concerned about keeping his pitching staff sharp. The Pioneers will likely start Jon Sharpe on the mound Friday night and allow the junior, who has a fastball that has been clocked at 88 miles per hour, go two innings.

Tyler Moore, who could start Tuesday should Watauga win Friday, might also see an inning, just to get some work done. Other pitchers available for Friday include Will Dicus, Austin Story, Trey Dunnigan and Mitch Minford, though Hardee did not elaborate which, if any, of those players would take the mound.