Winning a Northwestern 4-A Conference championship in baseball is never easy. Usually, the road goes through South Caldwell.

In this final year of the NWC as we know it, the road goes through Watauga’s field. The Pioneers host McDowell in a battle of two first-place teams looking to emerge alone on top of the league’s standings.

Watauga (9-3, 6-1 NWC) is fresh off a key 4-1 victory over South Caldwell last Friday, which kept the Pioneers in first place and bumped the Spartans down to second. McDowell (10-2, 6-1 NWC) also won last Friday and has already beaten Watauga during the first part of the league season.

“It should be fun tonight,” Watauga coach Pete Hardee said. “We know McDowell has got a good ballclub. They’re not going to beat themselves. We have to come out and play well to get the win.”

McDowell offense has been on a tear lately, having beaten Freedom 13-3, Alexander Central 12-2 and A.C. Reynolds 13-2 in its last three games. The Titans’ lone NWC loss was to South Caldwell 4-2 back on March 24.

“They’ve been swinging the bats well,” Hardee said. “Sometimes in conference game’s it all depends on who you get matched up with. But we know they can swing the bats. We got a read on them last game as to how to pitch them, so I feel we’re in good shape there.”

Watauga will go with Jon Sharpe on the mound against the Titans. Sharpe had some control issues in a complete game-win over South Caldwell by walking eight batters. However, he allowed just two hits, one an infield single, and struck out nine.

“We’ll throw Sharpe and see how many innings we can get out of him,” Hardee said. “We’ve got Cal (Hardee) and Jake Wallace in relief if we need them, so I feel good about where we stand.”

Watauga has a few days off before returning to the diamond after the McDowell game. They’ll play James Ragsdale Monday at 1 p.m., and follow with a 4 p.m. game against South Central. Both games are at the Olympic Development Complex in Cary.

Watauga will play two more games Tuesday depending on the outcome of games played Monday.

Hardee said not only will the games give the Pioneers exposure to good playoff-style baseball teams, but it will give them a stage to perform in front of potential college and professional scouts.

“We’ll get to see teams that are some of the top teams in the state, so that kind of gets you ready for the playoffs,” Hardee said. “Games like (McDowell) get you ready for that.”