N.C. State recruit Matt Tenuta, a lefthanded pitcher from Apex High who led the Triangle in strikeouts this season, has already signed with the Kansas City Royals, who selected him in the 25th round (763rd overall) of this week's 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.

Tenuta's father Jon is the linebackers coach at N.C. State, and when the latter turned down Illinois this offseason, he said in a statement that watching his son play college baseball was a reason why. By signing with Kansas City, Matt forgoes his college eligibility and should report to the minor leagues within the coming weeks.

In total, four former area players and four current ones were selected in the draft.

Clayton High School pitcher Jason Creasy has been drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates today in the eighth round of the annual MLB First-Year Player Draft. Creasy, a 6-foot-4, right-handed pitcher was the 242nd player taken overall.
He was the first Triangle-area prep player to be selected in the draft. Creasy helped lead Clayton to the Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference championship this spring and was named the league's pitcher of the year. The Comets advanced to the third round of the playoffs before bowing out.
Creasy, a 19-year-old, has signed with N.C. State. He can elect to sign with the Pirates or attend State, but must sign with the Pirates by Aug. 15 or he becomes ineligible for the draft for three years.
We'll have more on his selection later tonight.

Zachary Quate, a former Wakefield High baseball standout, closed out the Florida State League all-star game, preserving a 5-4 victory for his South Club. He struck out two of the three batters he faced in the bottom of the 10th inning.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The strategy was to save the best pitching for later.
But now, there is no later.

Stony Brook scored six runs in the first inning, enough to beat N.C. State 6-2 in an NCAA tournament elimination game at BB&T Coastal Field Saturday.

It was the Seawolves' first NCAA tournament win since joining the Division I ranks in 2000. Stony Brook (30-26) made regional appearances in 2004 and 2008.

N.C. State (38-24) had a dreadful first inning, down 6-0 before it faced a pitch.

Carlos Rodon of Holly Spring is the Tri-Nine 4-A baseball player of the year and leads the all-conference team.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The College of Charleston shelled junior ace Jake Buchanan early and hung on for a 9-6 win over N.C. State in the NCAA tournament Friday.

"I know that he was one of the front-line pitchers in the ACC,"
Charleston coach Monte Lee said of Buchanan. "We just took first-pitch swings, and we found some momentum."

All games will be played at South Johnston High School's Bruce Coats Field.

Consolation games

Fayetteville Academy vs. Cardinal Gibbons, 11 a.m.

Smithfield-Selma vs. South Johnston, 1:30

West Johnston vs. Harnett Central, 4:30

Championship game

Clayton vs. Rocky Mount, 7

Clayton downed Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference rival Harnett Central 11-5 Monday night to earn a spot in the championship game of the Johnston County Easter Invitational against Rocky Mount on Tuesday night.

Alex Hadding was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate for the Comets, who also benefitted from home runs by Josh Catalano, Blade Perdue and Matt Bunn.

The championship game will feature a matchup of Atlantic Coast Conference recruits. N.C. State recruit Jason Creasy should take the hill for Clayton, while Rocky Mount is expected to counter with North Carolina recruit Benton Moss.

Clayton 11, Harnett Central 5

CLY    420 320 0 — 11 10 2

HCL    202 010 0 — 5 6 2

W—E.Phillips; L—H.Bowers SV—E.Howard.

HRs: CLY—J.Catalano, B.Perdue; M. Bunn.

Leading hitters: CLY—A.Hadding 4-4, T.Davis 2-4, B.Perdue 2-5; HCL—H.Bowers 2-4, Z.Cabe 2-4.

RALEIGH — Freshman shortstop Matt Bergquist delivered a two-out single with two men in scoring position to give N.C. State a 6-5 win over No. 1 Virginia in 11 innings at Doak Field Friday.

The Wolfpack (17-9, 4-6 in the ACC) had two hits heading into the eighth inning and trailed 3-1, but a two-run homer just over the centerfield wall by junior centerfielder Kyle Wilson tied the game.

Read more here.

Carlos Rodon, junior, Holly Springs baseball 

Carlos Rodon, a 6-foot-2, 192-pound junior baseball pitcher/first baseman at Holly Springs High, committed to N.C. State this week.

Last spring as a sophomore, Rodon hit .330 with four home runs and 30 RBI. Rodon was one of six sophomore starters for the three-year-old program that went 19-6 this year.

As a pitcher, he was 2-1 during his sophomore season and posted 67 strikeouts in 40 innings as a freshman.

In a one-week span this year against Fuquay-Varina and Panther Creek, Rodon had two homers with 11 RBI.