Laney swept by T.C. Roberson in Class 4A baseball championship series

BURLINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — What will be remembered as a historic and tremendous year for Laney baseball ended two wins shy of a title after falling to T.C. Roberson in the Class 4A baseball championship series in two games.

The Rams beat the Bucs 12-0 in game one in six innings. Then they won 8-7 in game two to take home their third consecutive state championship.

After sleeping off a bad opening loss Friday night, Laney was motivated going into Saturday’s game two. Senior T.J. Ziermann opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the 1st inning after being shut out in the previous game. The Bucs would end up scoring four runs in the opening frame.

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

Slowly but surly, T.C. Roberson tied the game before taking the lead in the 5th. The Bucs tied it up shortly after with a Carston Wedemeyer RBI single.

A two-run homer and another score gave Roberson an 8-5 lead heading into the 7th. With the bases loaded, Owen Gore hit a two RBI single to make it a run score game with the tying run on third. After that, Jackson Noon lined out to left for the final out of the game.

Laney was seeking their first title since 2010. Still an amazing season for the Bucs, who finished 7th in the MEC each of the last two years.

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

“The guys changed the culture for sure,” Head Coach Justin Bradley said. “I hope when they come back 10, 15, 20 years from now that we’re a winning program and we’re doing some great things. I hope they can look back and say, ‘we started it and we got this program to where it is now.'”

“It’s super exciting,” Ziermann said. “I never thought I or this team would have made it this far the past two years because we’ve had a rough couple of years. It’s amazing to get back to this spot. I know they’re going to do great next year.”

WWAY’s Championship Coverage is brought to you by Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Wilmington.