Owen Noonen scored two runs on two hits including a home run/ LKN HarborHippos photo

July 24. The Lake Norman HarborHippos won their inaugural playoff matchup last night at Huntersville Athletic Park by a score of 7–1 against the Randolph Ropin’ Roosters.

Owen Noonan (Winthrop University) scored two runs on two hits including a home run, and CJ Johnson (Bluefield University) went two-for-four and also scored two runs. Ross Pearn (Pfeiffer University) pitched a complete game, allowing one earned run on five hits.

The team advanced to the second round of the playoffs in the Mountain Division and will face the Pineville Porcupines tonight at 7:15 p.m. at Jack D. Hughes Park in Pineville. The Porcupines finished second in the regular season standings, five games ahead of the third-place HarborHippos in the win column.

Playoffs began last night with a single-elimination quarterfinal round, leading to tonight’s divisional championship and eventually the Old North State League (ONSL) Championship Series. If the HarborHippos win tonight, they will face the winner of the Wilkes County Moonshiners and the Hendersonville Honeycrisps.

The HarborHippos are in their first season in the ONSL, a wood-bat collegiate summer league with four divisions across North Carolina.