Burns baseball, Kings Mountain softball to play for NCHSAA state titles. Here's how.

Cleveland County has an opportunity for a double-dose of NCHSAA state gold next weekend.

Burns baseball and Kings Mountain softball will vie for NCHSAA state titles, claiming their respective regional titles in winner-take-all Game 3s Saturday evening.

A late surge kept Burns’ hopes of back-to-back 2A baseball titles alive, the top-seeded Bulldogs outlasting No. 2 East Rutherford 8-5 at The Dog Lot. It will take on 2A East champion Greene Central next weekend in Burlington or Holly Springs.

As for Kings Mountain softball, it earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory over No. 4 Piedmont to take the 3A West title. After losing Game 1, the second-seeded Lady Mountaineers rallied to earn a date with 3A East champion South Brunswick in Durham or Greensboro.

WINNER-TAKE-ALL: Burns baseball, Kings Mountain softball regional finals headed for winner-take-all Game 3s

GAME 1s: One up, one down: Here's how Burns baseball, KM softball started their regional finals

Here’s how each moved a step closer to fulfilling their state title aspirations.

‘Dawg Tough’: Burns rallies for regional title

After spotting East Rutherford five runs in the first three innings, Burns (31-1) scored the game’s last eight to earn a return trip to the 2A state championship series.

A Hagan Hoyle and Ethan Guy helped ignite the rally, their triples in consecutive at-bats bringing in three Burns runs. Though a team recognized for its power, the Bulldogs’ patience was on display in the fifth. Burns tied the game 5-5 in the fifth without earning a hit; four hitters reached on walks, while another was hit by a pitch.

Later in the frame, junior standout Colby Putnam all but punched his team’s ticket to a state final with a bases-clearing double, giving Burns an 8-5 advantage. The Gardner-Webb recruit led the Bulldogs by going 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

In his final game at The Dog Lot, senior pitcher Josh Taylor left the home crowd something by which to remember him. Taking the mound down with his team down 5-3 in the fourth, he allowed no runs on one hit with four strikeouts in four innings of relief. He also had a base hit and scored a run.

Also of note, Marshall McGowan extended his hitting streak to 23 games with a first-inning base hit.

‘They have grit’: Kings Mountain softball state bound

For the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, Kings Mountain softball will play for a 3A state championship.

“It’s that grit; we’ve lived it this year,” said Kings Mountain softball coach Kevin Cruise. “They make my heart stop sometimes, but they have (grit).”

Maddie Huffman’s latest gem held a vaunted Piedmont lineup in check, the Lady Mountaineers claiming a 2-0 victory and the 3A West title. The sophomore hurler allowed no runs on five hits, with nine strikeouts and two walks.

“I knew my teammates would have my back; I just had to do the best I can,” Huffman said. “Whatever happens, happens. I just had to do my best.”

Added Cruise: “(Huffman) just has a fight like no one else.”

Scoring first in the series proved mighty important, the winner doing so in each of the three games.

Following a Kali Weaver one-out double in the first, teammate Kayla McSwain followed with a hit of her own to give the Lady Mountaineers a 1-0 lead. The duo teamed up to give Kings Mountain insurance in the fifth, their back-to-back doubles bringing around an important run.

McSwain finished 3-for-3, while Weaver added two hits. Huffman, Paige Fleming, Anna Wooten and Zaniah Field also contributed a base hit apiece.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Burns baseball, Kings Mountain softball are state bound. Here's how.