East Lincoln reaches West 2A series,
Alex Central a victory away in West 3A
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect the East and West finals are single games and not the normal best-of-3 series. The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) did not announce that change, due to COVID-19, and its handbook instruction online continues to say the regionals would be best-of-3 series. HobbsDailyReport.com regrets any confusion based on that change.
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
South Caldwell High blasted six home runs on Friday night – two by senior Addison Blair – to roll into the West 4A title series in softball with a 16-0 victory over Hickory Ridge on the road.
The fourth-seeded Spartans (15-1) won in five innings, collecting 16 hits, and they grabbed an early commanding lead with a nine-run second inning against the West’s No. 1 seed.
South Caldwell advances to a West 4A title game at on Tuesday against No. 6 East Forsyth.
East Forsyth (17-0) advanced Friday by beating No. 7 Mooresville 6-1 at East Forsyth.
Still alive in the East are No. 9 Fuquay Varina (13-3), a 1-0 winner at No. 4 Purnell Swett, and No. 14 Wilmington Laney (11-5) and No. 7 Wilmington Hoggard (16-0), who play Saturday.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) announced Friday a best-of-three state championship series will be played on prep fields at North Davidson and Davie County (field assignments are to be determined) on May 14-15.
Friday night, sophomore Kadie Becker, junior Kensley Jackson, senior Regan Weisner and freshman Zoey Shatley added home runs for the Spartans.
Senior Jasmine Hall went 3-for-5 and Jackson went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs for South Caldwell. Becker, Blair and Weisner each added two hits with Weisner delivering four RBIs, Blair and Shatley adding three each and Becker and Jackson each providing two.
Becker pitched 4 2/3 innings, gaining a win after allowing just three hits. She struck out three as South Caldwell ran its win streak to 10 games.
Hickory Ridge finished 14-2.
Alexander Central 3, Carson 0
At Alexander Central, the Cougars got two hits and three RBIs from Averie Presnell to win a second round state 3A game.
Presnell’s batting backed a complete game by Faith Carrigan (7-3), who allowed four hits, struck out five and issued no walks.
Ellie Wilhelm, Carson’s leadoff hitter, had two hits.
Alexander Central (13-3, West No. 3 seed) meets No. 15 East Rowan (9-4) in a third-round game on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Taylorsville, with the winner going to a West 3A title game.
Fifth-seeded North Buncombe (15-0) awaits Saturday’s winner for a game on Tuesday for at the highest seed. North Buncombe advanced Friday by beating No. 16 West Rowan 3-2 at North Buncombe.
In the East, No. 4 Southern Alamance (14-3) plays at No. 3 Gray’s Creek (12-2) for a berth in a best-of-3 series for the state title.
East Lincoln 6, North Davidson 4
The second-seeded Mustangs (16-1) won a third-round 2A game at home, sparked by Payton Baker’s pitching and home runs by junior Taliyah Thomas and senior Katelynn Crowe.
Crowe had three hits and drove in a run, Thomas had two hits and drove in two runs and sophomore Betsy Eatman also drove in a run for East Lincoln.
Baker threw a complete game, allowing seven hits and striking out six.
East Lincoln was down two runs before a three-run second inning to gain a 4-3 lead.
Sixth-seeded North Davidson (15-3) scored a run in the fourth for a 4-all tie and the Mustangs scored twice in the fifth inning.
East Lincoln had 10 hits and North Davidson had seven.
The Mustangs play in the West 2A final at home on Tuesday, facing No. 8 West Stanly (17-0). The Colts advanced on Friday by beating No. 4 West Wilkes 11-5 on the road.
In the East, there are two games on Saturday – No. 12 Randleman (12-2) at No. 1 Currituck County (12-3) and No. 6 Eastern Randolph (15-1) at No. 2 South Granville (12-0) – to determine the East 2A final teams.
BASEBALL
Hickory 8, Alexander Central 7, 8 inn.
Dean Hall’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Eli Rose, lifting the Red Tornadoes to a home victory over the Cougars in a Northwestern 3A-4A game.
Hall and Henry Stewart each drove in two runs for Hickory (2-2, 1-2), Boone Herman had two hits and Isaiah McDowell drove in two runs.
Matthew Lefevers gained a relief win, pitching 2 2/3 innings after Luke Davis went 5 2/3 innings (seven hits allowed, three strikeouts).
JD Little, Coleman Chapman and Jaron Price each had two hits for Alexander Central (1-3, 1-3).
Little threw 4 2/3 innings as the Cougars’ starter (five hits, three runs, two walks, nine strikeouts), and Caleb Williams took the loss after going three innings (four hits, two walks, two strikeouts). Williams allowed five unearned runs.
The game was tied at 2 through one inning and Alexander Central scored three runs in the second for a 5-2 lead.
Hickory scored a run in the fifth inning to pull within 5-3 and a run in the sixth gave Alexander Central a 6-3 edge.
The Red Tornadoes scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, going up 7-6, and the Cougars had a run in the seventh to force extra innings.
Hickory next plays on Tuesday at St. Stephens, the same night the Cougars travel to South Caldwell.
Bandys 9, Newton-Conover 4
The Trojans (2-2) evened their South Fork 2A record with a win at Newton-Conover (0-4) that was highlighted by three RBIs from junior Parker DeHart.
DeHart and sophomore Cade Spencer each had two hits and Spencer drove in a run.
Bandys outhit the Red Devils 11-10, and Trojans freshman Colby Edwards drove in two runs.
Reliever Parker Stybroski, a senior, went five innings. He allowed five hits, three runs, walked two and struck out five.
Sophomore Trey Shearer threw one inning, allowing three hits and an earned run for Bandys.
The Trojans scored four runs in the second inning and they led 6-1 when they added two runs in the sixth inning.
After Newton-Conover pulled within 6-3, the Trojans scored three runs in the seventh inning.
Bandys, tied with Lincolnton in fourth place, is at home Tuesday night against Lincolnton, and the Red Devils are at home against West Lincoln.
Maiden 1, West Lincoln 0
Maiden (4-0) scored the game’s only run in the first inning to beat the visiting Rebels (0-4) and share first place in the South Fork 2A with East Lincoln and North Lincoln.
The Blue Devils are still unbeaten (10-0) Dustin Hull, in his second year as head coach.
Dalton Jones and Spencer Floyd combined for a shutout for Maiden. Jones threw five innings, allowing to hits and no runs and he struck out four. Floyd went two innings, getting the last six outs, to earn a save.
Maiden did not have an error with Quinn Rembert handling a team-high nine chances without a miscue.
The Blue Devils scored their run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Austin Hoyle.
Maiden meets Lake Norman Charter on the road on Tuesday night, and West Lincoln goes to Newton-Conover on the same night.
North Lincoln 5, Lake Norman Charter 1
North Lincoln (4-0) wiped out a one-run deficit by scoring five runs in the fifth inning en route to a South Fork 2A win at home.
Eli Agosto had an RBI for Lake Norman Charter (0-4), which had four hits.
North Lincoln is at home Tuesday night against East Lincoln while Lake Norman Charter, also on Tuesday night, plays at home against Maiden.
East Lincoln 4, Lincolnton 3
The Mustangs (4-0) nipped the visiting Wolves (2-2) to continue unbeaten.
East Lincoln is at North Lincoln on Tuesday night with Lincolnton on the road against Bandys the same night.
