Tuscola eliminated by East Rowan in NCHSAA baseball Class 3A West Regional finals

East Rowan sophomore outfielder Harrison Ailshie was a thorn in Tuscola's side during the first two games of the NCHSAA 3A West Regional finals series, and Game 3 on Friday was no different.

With Tuscola up two runs in the bottom of the first, Ailshie hit his second home run of the series to give East Rowan a one-run lead. Then he singled in the bottom of the third to double his team's advantage over the Mountaineers.

Ailshie finished the pivotal winner-take-all matchup 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, helping No. 1 East Rowan knock off No. 10 Tuscola 6-3 to win Game 3 and the NCHSAA West Regional final series. He went 4-for-6 and had two homers and nine RBIs combined.

East Rowan (32-2) advanced to the NCHSAA 3A state final, where it will face No. 14 South Central (24-4).

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Tuscola ends the season 22-7, tied for the furthest it has ever advanced in the playoffs. The previous time the Mountaineers reached the NCHSAA regional final was in 2010.

Tuscola coach Zack Shepherd never found a way to replicate the success the team had at the plate in Game 1, when the Mountaineers scored seven runs to defeat East Rowan. They had eight hits in the opening game, but only that many in the final two games combined.

They also struggled to limit walks when ace Amos Rich wasn't on the mound. Rich was dominant in Game 1, throwing a complete game while allowing eight hits, four runs, one walk and striking out three. The rest of the Tuscola pitching staff allowed 12 walks and 18 earned runs.

The future remains bright for Tuscola as it returns Rich and other key players like Kolt Nelson, Evan Conner and Mason Harrell. But Shepherd and Mountaineers fans will have to say goodbye to starters like Jed West, Brayden Cockrell, Noah Stepp and Owen Ward.

Zachary Huber is a high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times and Hendersonville Times-News. Email him at zhuber@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @zacharyahuber. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times and Times-News .

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Tuscola eliminated by East Rowan in NCHSAA baseball Class 3A West Regional finals