Chapel Hill is not just a basketball town. After all, who's been to the NCAA championship game more often in the last three years? The Carolina basketball team, or the Tar Heel baseball team?

(Deciding which ACC champion is doing better right now is a great problem to ponder, yes?)

Fittingly, in the midst of all the NCAA hoopla going on in Charlotte and elsewhere this week, strolls high school baseball.

The sixth annual Hilltop Invitational Tournament this week in Chapel Hill and Hillsborough will comprise 12 high school baseball teams, playing three days on three separate campuses, with the championship set for Saturday night at Chapel Hill High School. (See the complete schedule, Page B6.)

Single-day passes are $5, and a tournament pass costs $10.

The tournament traces its origins back to conversations between baseball coaches Dean Dease of Orange, East's Phil Woodell and Chapel Hill's David Miller, who all agreed that playing in tournaments over spring break was good for their players, but traveling could be a grind.

"The ultimate goal is to provide games and a competitive baseball environment for the players," Miller said, "something that will help them for the conference run and, hopefully, a post-season run."

For the first time ever, the tournament will feature out-of-state visitors: West Middlesex (Pa.) and Archbishop Curley (Baltimore, Md.) high schools.

"As nice as Chapel Hill and this area is, we thought we could do something to help grow the sport of baseball," Miller said Tuesday as he prepped Tiger Stadium. "There's absolutely an advantage for (out-of-state teams) to come down here and play in warmer weather.

"We want our players to play as many good teams as possible, to see what else is out there. Baseball is the same game everywhere, but teams outside North Carolina bring something different to the field for us to see."

Archbishop Curley plays High Point at 1 p.m. Thursday in the first game at Orange High. At CHHS, West Middlesex will play East Chapel Hill at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Orange High will host three games on Thursday and Friday. East Chapel Hill will host three games on Friday and Saturday. Chapel Hill hosts three games on Thursday and Saturday, including the third-place and championship games at 4 and 7 p.m., respectively, on the last day.

Orange (7-0) plays Oxford Webb in Thursday's opening round of the HIT in Hillsborough. The Panthers head into the tournament following what may be the best pitching performance ever for Orange.

Orange's Ryan Walker established a new Orange High single-game strikeout record with 20 Ks in a one-hitter last week at Northwood last week. (Walker gave up the single hit to Northwood's Dalton Stone with one out in the seventh inning.)

"What an unbelievable performance by Ryan," Dease said. "This is something that just doesn't happen very often."

Hilltop Invitational Tournament
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
(All games p.m. except as noted)
Thursday, March 27

(At Orange High School)
Gm.1: 1:00 High Point v. Curley (Md.)
Gm.3: 4:00 Cedar RIdge v. S. Alamance
Gm.5: 7:00 Webb v. Orange

(At Chapel Hill High School)
Gm.2: 1:00 S. Granville v. Clayton
Gm.4: 4:00 W. Middlesex (Pa.) v. ECH
Gm.6: 7:00 Southern Lee v. Chapel Hill


FRIDAY, MARCH 28

(At Orange High School)
Gm. 8: 1:00 L#5 v. L#1
Gm.10: 4:00 W#6 v. W#2
Gm.12: 7:00 W#5 v. W#1

(At East Chapel Hill High School)
Gm.7: 10:00 L#3 v. L#4
Gm. 9: 1:00 L#2 v. L #6
Gm.11: 4:00 W #3 v. W#4

SATURDAY, MARCH 29

(At East Chapel Hill High School)
Gm.13: 10:00 pairings TBD
Gm.14: 1:00 pairings TBD
Gm.15: 4:00 pairings TBD

(At Chapel Hill High School)
Gm.16: 1:00 pairings TBD
Gm.17: 4:00 #3 seed vs #4 seed
Gm.18: 7:00 #1 seed vs #2 seed