Softball Playoff Results 2026

Fayetteville Observer Articles (Monica Holland/James Moore Jr)
The NCHSAA has released its 2026 softball playoff brackets for this year's state championships, and six Fayetteville teams are in the mix. South View claimed this season's Eastern Sandhills Conference title while remaining undefeated in league play.The Tigers and Gray's Creek are the only teams in the area to earn first-round byes.
(May 4, 2026)

6A
First round — Tuesday, May 5

No. 12 West Johnston 14, No. 21 Terry Sanford 0 — The Bulldogs (3-15) were led this season by juniors Shayla Fredella, Natalee Wright, sophomore Kayla McCormick and freshman Soledad Areche as they snapped a three-year playoff drought.

No. 9 Clayton 10, No. 24 Pine Forest 0 — Senior Savannah Winstead's .477 batting average, .570 on-base percentage and 17 stolen bases ranked among the top of the Mid-South 7A/8A Conference for Pine Forest (5-19), making a second straight playoff appearance. Junior lefty Aaliyah Roche was also a bright spot with 101 strikeouts.
No. 12 Cape Fear 8, No. 21 Ashley 0 — The Colts hit five doubles in their playoff opener. Sophomore McKinley Kolasa had two doubles and three RBIs as the Colts hung 12 hits on Ashley. Addie Davis, Peyton Eason and Karalina Tomasic also doubled for Cape Fear (17-7), which is looking to build on last year's run to Round 3. Up next is a conference foe in Tri-County 6A/7A winner Purnell Swett, which split a pair of games with the Colts this season.
No. 11 Fuquay-Varina 5, No. 22 Jack Britt 1 — The Bucs (5-17, 4-6) made a second straight state playoff appearance and finished fourth in the Mid-South 7A/8A Conference after losing five seniors. Madisyn Norton struck out 103 batters and batted-in 16 runs, Kailey Crenshaw caught 37.5% of runners trying to steal on her (No. 1 in 7A), freshman Ariana Caceres Rodriguez hit a team-high .358 with 10 doubles and senior Ta'Niyah Turner led the conference with 21 stolen bases.

No. 4 Gray's Creek 11, No. 20 Swansboro 1 — Amber Miller went 2-for-3 with a double, four RBIs and a run scored as the Bears (15-6) hung 13 hits on Swansboro while Hailey McFarley gave up just one hit and struck out six to get the second-round win. Up next, Gray's Creek faces South View, which defeated the Bears way back on March 4.
No. 5 South View 3, No. 12 West Johnston 0 — Duke signee Jordynn Parnell pitched a playoff no-hitter with 18 strikeouts and Maddy Clark plated 2 of the Tigers' 3 runs with a double in the Round 2 win. South View (20-2) faces Gray's Creek in Round 3 on Tuesday, May 12.
No. 5 Purnell Swett 2, No. 12 Cape Fear 1 — The Tri-County Conference champion Rams scored in the bottom of the seventh to walk-off the Colts (17-8) in a second-round battle of league mates after they split a pair of games during the regular season. Addie Davis plated Karalina Tomasic with a double for the Colts' score.

South View ace, Duke signee Jordynn Parnell is already South View's record-holder for strikeouts in a season and strikeouts in a game. She added 18 more Ks with a 3-0 no-hit win over West Johnston (10-11) in Friday's second-round win. ... The Tigers are 20-2, hitting 20 wins for the second time in four seasons after going undefeated in Eastern Sandhills 5A/6A Conference play this year.
Gray's Creek (15-6) is looking to return to Round 3 this year after getting there in 2025 behind leading hitter Amiraya Green, who's playing college ball at UNC Pembroke now. ... This year, the Bears are led by junior August Kebort's .541 average and 6 home runs.
Gray's Creek and South View will battle in a third-round showdown of Fayetteville programs on Tuesday, May 12. The Tigers won their season opener against Gray's Creek on March 4, 5-3.
Cape Fear dropped a heartbreaker to Purnell Swett on Angel Chavis' walk-off hit to beat the Colts 2-1 in Round 2. The Rams and Colts split their two-game regular-season series as Tri-County Conference members, with Swett sharing the league title with Gray's Creek at 7-3.

No. 4 Gray's Creek 4, No. 5 South View 1 — Gray's Creek scored two runs in the first inning of its get-back game against an intracity rival and Hailey McFarley gave up just four hits while striking out seven batters for the Bears. Freshman Rylan Freda had a hit, an RBI and a run scored; Skylar Belote doubled and scored twice; Kayleigh Brown also doubled and scored; Jazelle Young got a hit; Amber Miller and Annie Ratliff added an RBI each.

Round 4 highlights
- Gray's Creek's run ends a win shy of its second Final Four in six seasons with a 14-3 loss to NCHSAA 6A East No. 1 Union PInes (25-1).
- Bears senior catcher Amber Miller went out with a home run, and junior August Kebort added another long shot while junior Kayleigh Brown punched a double in the loss four the No. 4 seed.