Eastern Alamance, Southeast Alamance set for pivotal softball rematch Friday night
Southeast Alamance edged Eastern Alamance 10-9, keeping its unbeaten run alive and sharpening the Mid-Carolina Conference race.
Southeast Alamance’s 10-9 win over Eastern Alamance on Friday night at Southeast Alamance High School in Haw River turned a one-run rematch into a decisive late-season marker in the Mid-Carolina Conference race. The Stallions protected an unbeaten start, while Eastern saw its seven-game winning streak end in a game that carried more weight than a typical regular-season finale.
Eastern had gone into the matchup at 17-4 overall and 12-1 in league play, with its only conference loss a 6-5 defeat to Southeast the previous month. Southeast entered at 20-0 overall and 13-0 in conference play, setting up a meeting between the county’s two most accomplished softball teams and a direct test for first place, seeding and bragging rights across eastern Alamance.
The Eagles had been rolling into the rematch. Eastern blanked Williams 20-0 and then beat Graham 16-1, with Paisley Whitfield and Abigail Johnson part of the Williams rout and Rachel Byrd and Addison Hester each scoring twice against Graham. Eastern’s offense was powered by Edie Stewart, who led the team in batting average at .436, on-base percentage at .569 and home runs with six. Addison Hester led the Eagles in stolen bases with 15, Carley Boggs posted a 1.66 ERA, and Kayden Manning owned a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Southeast had matched that momentum with its own strong stretch. The Stallions beat Chatham Central 5-3 in nonconference play, then handled Graham 16-0 in three innings behind three runs from Tatum Shelton. They also beat Roxboro Person 12-2, with Gracyn Lee collecting two doubles and Katie Lloyd scoring four runs. Under head coach Tiffany Helton, Southeast has built quickly into a contender, and the school’s varsity softball program dates back to the first year the sport was offered there.
The result left Eastern at 17-5 overall and 12-2 in conference play, and it came against a Southeast team that had won 19 straight before the game. Eastern had shown its postseason ceiling a year earlier, winning the Central 3-A Conference regular-season title in 2025 and advancing through the North Carolina High School Athletic Association playoffs with shutouts over Currituck County and Harnett Central before falling to Southern Nash. Friday’s finish showed that the next round of this rivalry is already shaping the county’s postseason conversation.
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