Chip off the old block!

Whit Merrifield came by his talents honestly. He has his dad's genes.

The Davie County senior infielder has signed to play baseball for the University of South Carolina next year.

His dad is Bill Merrifield, who led the Gryphons to the NCHSAA 4-A state baseball title in 1980. The elder Merrifield had a fabulous college career at Wake Forest - including winning two ACC Baseball Player of the Year awards. He set many ACC records during his days in Winston-Salem. He is also a member of the Wake Forest Athletic Hall of Fame.

Click here to read ImpactBaseball.com's Q&A with the younger Merrifield and why he chose to be a Gamecock and not a Demon Deacon, like his dad!

Too bad he was never a Gryphon!

You can also check out a video piece on young Merrifield right here.

NEW 6 Baseball Still Around for Round 2

Most of you might remember the horror of last year's baseball playoffs for the NEW 6 3-A Conference.

Does Black Tuesday ring a bell?

Well, it was Black Thursday for Rocky Mount and Nash Central. Luckily, Friday was a lot kinder to Northern Nash, Southern Nash and Wilson Fike.

The Knights' bats stayed hot with three home runs en route to a 13-1, five-inning rout of Southern Lee. Wilson Fike's Bentley Massey no-hit Hertford County and the Golden Demons posted a 7-0 win in Ahoskie.

The Southern Nash Firebirds, down 6-5, scored two runs in the sixth and made it hold up for a 7-6 road upset over No. 1 seed South Johnston.

Tonight, Northern Nash is home to Union Pines, and the Firebirds have to make a trip to Saxapahaw to visit Southern Alamance.

Southern actually helped out the Knights a bit with its big win. Should Northern win tonight, it will stay home for one more week and meet the Southern Alamance-Southern Nash winner. If Southern had fallen Friday and South Johnston won its second round game, the Knights would have had to hit the road for Round 3.

The No. 1 seeds, like South Johnston, were falling all over the place. In the 3-As, T.C. Roberson, South Central, Charlotte Catholic and Mooresville all bit the dust Friday.

At the 4-A level, the top seeds pretty much held serve. But it will be a bit funny not seeing five-time state champion J.H. Rose competing in the late playoff rounds. The Rampants' season ended Friday night with a 5-1 home loss to Wilmington Laney. I guess playing in Guy Smith Stadium wasn't as big of an advantage as it could have been.

Give upstart Ardrey Kell High some love! The new Charlotte school won 17 games in its first-ever season and made the playoffs. Then went out and posted a win over No. 1 seed West Mecklenburg in its first-ever playoff game.

Can't wait to see what surprises Round 2 may hold!