Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The Cherryville Baseball Ironmen breezed through rounds three and four of the NCHSAA playoffs this week to reach the final four and the West Regional finals. On May 12, they defeated the East Wilkes Cardinals 10-1, and on May 15, they beat the Corvian Community School Cardinals. Cherryville has now improved its record to 22-4. The Ironmen’s bats and defense have come to life after the team went blonde for the playoffs. Baseball players are notorious for being superstitious and creating unique ways to build team chemistry. Before the playoffs began, the Cherryville players came together in a show of unity and agreed to dye their hair blonde. The gesture seems to have worked, although it remains to be seen if it will be enough to carry them to the state finals.
The Ironmen hosted the Cardinals of East Wilkes in round three of the NCHSAA 2A playoffs on May 12, 2026. Camden Williams started on the mound for Cherryville. Nicknamed the Slim Reaper by his teammates, the 6’6” southpaw lived up to his moniker. Pitching 4 innings, he allowed 0 runs, 3 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 8 batters. Karter Willis pitched 2 innings of relief, giving up 3 hits, 1run, and 2 strikeouts. Aaron Heavner pitched the final inning, allowing 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 strikeouts, and 1 walk. The “Blonde Bombers” of Cherryville collected 10 hits, and one could almost imagine hearing Oprah say, “you get a homerun, you get a homerun, and you get a homerun” as the Ironmen also blasted 3 homeruns. Kenan Fowler had 2 hits and 3 RBIs, Davin Digh also had 2 hits, and Chandler Wooten went 2-4 with 4 RBIs. The Cardinals were led by Praden Hatley and Kayden Oliver, each with 2 hits. Dalton Wood took the loss, going 2 innings, allowing 4 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 strikeout.
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Kenan Fowler began the action in the first inning as he sent a line drive to left field for a single. Talon Dalton walked, and Chandler Wooten singled to right field to score Fowler and Dalton for a 2-0 lead. The Ironmen increased their lead to 4-0 when Aaron Heavner walked, and Canon Whitesides sacrificed. Kenan Fowler ripped a 2-run home run to straight-away left field; the ball was only stopped by the outfield netting. The Ironmen scored 2 more runs in the third inning, after having 2 outs. Davin Digh was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Aaron Heavner hit a line drive to left field for a single to score Digh. Next, Canon Whitesides singled, Maddox Carrigan walked, and Kenan Fowler walked as well to score Heavner. A groundout ended the inning as Cherryville led 6-0. Brock Bumgardner opened the bottom of the fourth with a blazing triple. Chandler Wooten sent a ball over the wall in the power alley for a 2-run homer. Davin Digh got in on the long ball fun as he sent a ball to the opposite field over the wall in right field for a solo home run. Canon Whitesides walked, Bryson Withers walked, then a balk by pitcher Logan Stroud advanced Whitesides and Withers. A wild pitch scored Whitesides, and then a groundout ended the inning. Mason Jones began the fifth inning with a double to left field, and Kayden Oliver singled to third on a ground ball to score Jones for the lone Cardinals run.
The Ironmen hosted the Cardinals of Community School in the fourth round of the NCHSAA playoffs on May 15. Cherryville continued to be hot at the plate, slugging for 11 hits and 12 RBIs; 6 of the hits were for extra bases. They complemented their hitting with 4 stolen bases and impressive defense, especially by Davin Digh at third base and Canon Whitesides at first base. Talon Dalton, Kenan Fowler, and Brock Bumgardner led the way at the plate. Dalton went 3-3, scored 2 runs, and had 1 RBI. Fowler went 2-5, scored 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and stole 2 bases. Bumgardner was 2-3, scored 2 runs, and had 5 RBIs. Bumgardner was also the winning pitcher; he went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts. Brock set the tone for the game in the first inning by striking out the first two batters and then popping up the third. Aaron Heavner pitched 1 inning of relief and allowed 0runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, and struck out 1 batter. Brennan Frey took the loss for the Cardinals, going 3 2/3 innings, allowing 8 runs (7 earned), 7 hits, 4 strikeouts, and 5 walks. Frey was also the leading hitter for Corvian. He went 2-3 and scored 1 run.
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Cherryville took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Kenan Fowler singled, then stole second. Talon Dalton walked, and Fowler advanced to third on a wild pitch. Dalton then stole second base. Brock Bumgarner hit a long 3-run home run to the gap in right-center that fell in front of the scoreboard. The Ironmen added another run in the second as Cannon Whitesides reached on an error by the shortstop, Bryson Withers walked, Talon Dalton singled on a line drive to left field, and Brock Bumgardner walked to force in Whitesides. It appeared Cherryville was in for a big inning, but two strikeouts left the bases loaded. The Cardinals were able to cut the score in half in the third inning. Tyson Douglas-Brown hit a line drive to center field for a double. Brennan Frey singled on a line drive to right field that scored Douglas-Brown. Frey scored on Holden Parks’ groundout. The Ironmen’s bats exploded for 7 runs in the fourth inning. Talon Dalton doubled to left field, Brock Bumgardner to center field to score Dalton.
Bumgarner advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Chadler Wooten’s sacrifice fly to right field. Parker Anderson singled to left field, and Davin Digh walked. Jaxon Pinyan replaced Frey at pitcher. Aaron Heavner walked to load the bases. Canon Whitesides cleared the bases with a 3-run double blasted to center field. Corvian again changed pitchers, bringing in Gavin McElhiney. A pitch hit Maddox Carrigan. Kenan Fowler tripled to center field, scoring both pinch runner Ethan Johnsone and Withers. Leading 11-2 in the sixth, Talon Dalton hit a walk-off pop fly to left field that scored Fowler to give Cherryville the victory by the 10-run rule.
Cherryville will now move to the West Regionals, and as the number one seed, they will open the best-of-3 series at home. The Ironmen will face the sixth-seeded Cornerstone Charter Academy. This will be the third team in a row that Cherryville has played whose mascot is the Cardinals. The series is scheduled to begin on May 19 or May 20 in Cherryville, with game two at Cornerstone to be determined due to graduation. If game three is necessary, it will be in Cherryville. Exact game dates have not yet been finalized. The East Regionals will feature the number two seed, Rosewood, and the number five seed, Perquimans County. The winners of the East and West will face off the following week for the State Championship series. State finals will be played at Burlington Athletic Stadium in Burlington, NC, May 27-30.
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