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West Caldwell High scored seven runs in its last two at-bats on Tuesday, rallying to stun perennial softball power Alexander Central 10-5 in a Northwestern 3A-4A game in Lenoir.
The Warriors (3-2, 2-1) trailed 5-3 when they scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 6-5 lead, and they then added four runs in the sixth inning to hand the Cougars (3-2, 1-1) their first league loss of the season.
West Caldwell had 11 hits, led by No 3 hitter Haley Price going 3-for-3 – all doubles – and driving in four runs. Lead off hitter Annie Bean added two hits and Lacy Baker, hitting fifth in the lineup, had two hits and drove in two runs for the Warriors.
Alexander Central, which made three errors, finished with 13 hits. No. 3 hitter Alexis Walter had three hits and Lanie Goforth, Mattie Starnes and Gracie Rhoney each contributed two.
Price was the winning pitcher for West Caldwell, throwing a complete game. She gave up 13 hits, five runs (all earned) with two walks and two strikeouts.
Chesney Millsaps (3-2) took the loss for Alexander Central after pitching six innings. She gave up 11 hits, 10 runs (eight earned), walked three, struck out two and tossed two wild pitches.
McDowell, a 17-0 winner on Tuesday over Hickory, is atop the Northwestern 3A-4A standings at 3-0 with Alexander Central and Freedom, both 2-1, sharing second place.
West Caldwell has a home non-conference game on Wednesday at 5 p.m., facing North Wilkes, and Alexander Central’s next game is a conference battle with Watauga on Friday at 6 p.m. in Taylorsville.
West Lincoln 12, Newton-Conover 11
Addie May drove in the winning run with a seventh-inning hit for West Lincoln as it moved into a tie for second place in the early South Fork 2A standings.
Both teams had 15 hits in a high-scoring game that had the Red Devils up 3-2 after the first inning.
West Lincoln scored four runs in the second inning for a 7-3 lead before Newton-Conover got within 7-5 and then scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning for a 9-7 edge.
The Rebels had four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, regaining the lead at 11-9, and the Red Devils scored twice in the top of the seventh inning for an 11-all tie.
Jessi Adams had a two-run home run for West Lincoln, now 2-1 in the league and tied for second place with East Lincoln and Newton-Conover. As play began on Tuesday, the Rebels were in fourth place behind East Lincoln, Newton-Conover and North Lincoln (all at 2-0).
Kali Flanagan led the Red Devils by going 4-for-5 with five RBIs, Destiny Ussery had three hits that included a solo home run in the first inning and a two-run shot in the seventh inning and Kaylee Kanipe added three hits.
Destini Vines, the losing pitcher, had two hits. She walked six in the loss.
West Lincoln’s next game is Friday at home, a South Fork 2A match-up with Lincolnton, at 6:30 p.m.
Newton-Conover has a non-league game on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at North Iredell.
North Lincoln 6, East Lincoln 3
The Knights scored all of their runs in the sixth inning to beat the Mustangs and move into sole possession of first place in the South Fork 2A.
McKayla Watts limited East Lincoln to seven hits and picked up the win for North Lincoln, 3-0 in the league and a game up on East Lincoln, Newton-Conover and West Lincoln.
North Lincoln had 13 hits but was behind 3-0 until its big inning. The Mustangs scored all of their runs in the third inning.
Katelynn Crowe hit a two-run home run and Faith Cooke hit a solo home run for East Lincoln, and Payton Baker took the loss.
North Lincoln plays a non-conference game at North Iredell on Thursday at 5 p.m. while East Lincoln meets Bandys at East Lincoln in a league game on Friday at 6 p.m.
Bunker Hill 5, Hibriten 2
The Bears had a four-run fourth inning to win a Northwestern Foothills 2A game on the road to share second place with Draughn, both a game back of Fred T. Foard.
Bunker Hill had eight hit and Hibriten, 2-1 in the league, had three.
Payton Bryant threw a complete game for the Bears, walking five and striking out 12.
Payton Goble went 3-for-4 to lead Bunker Hill.
The Bears were scheduled to play Fred T. Foard on Friday at Bunker Hill but that game has been moved to March 29.
Hibriten plays Avery County in a non-league game Wednesday in Lenoir at 6 p.m.
Fred T. Foard 10, Patton 0
Adison Yoder threw a complete game shutout for the Tigers, facing just 21 batters, allowing two hits and striking out eight.
Sophomore Sara Baiden drove in the two runs that invoked the 10-run rule in a Northwestern Foothills 2A game at Foard.
Foard plays Freedom in a non-league game on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Foard while Patton goes to Burns for a 6 p.m. non-conference game on Wednesday.
Postponements
Two South Fork 2A game – Bandys at Lincolnton (5 p.m.) and Lake Norman Charter at Maiden (5 p.m.) – were rescheduled for Wednesday.
BASEBALL
Hickory 5, McDowell 2
Pierson Hanvey threw a three-hit complete game, striking out 11, as the Red Tornadoes won a Northwestern 3A-4A game on the road.
Hickory (3-3, 1-2) was behind until it scored five runs in the fifth inning.
Bryce Strober had two hits and Bradley Fleenor, Jacob Surbauch (doubled) and Jacob Fuller drove in runs for the Red Tornadoes, who won in David Craft’s 698th game as head coach at his alma mater.
Kell Smith had two hits and Sydney Pike drove in runs for the Titans (3-4, 1-2).
Hickory has a non-league home game on Wednesday against Newton-Conover, and McDowell is at home Wednesday night (6:30 p.m.) for a non-conference game against R-S Central.
West Lincoln 11, Newton-Conover 1
At West Lincoln, junior Seth Willis and sophomore Chris Moxley combined on a three-hitter as the Rebels beat the Red Devils in a South Fork 2A game.
Willis threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, one run (unearned) with one walk and 10 strikeouts on 90 pitches (59 strikes). Moxley got the final two outs on just five pitches.
Sophomore Nathan Beam went 3-for-4 for West Lincoln (4-2, 2-1) and Moxley added two hits. The Rebels had 12 hits with Beam driving in three runs and Moxley adding two RBIs.
Bailey Sims, Holt Allison and Tommy Blasdel each had a hit for Newton-Conover (0-5, 0-3).
Bailey Durham took the loss for the Red Devils, tossing 5 2/3 innings. He allowed nine hits, seven runs (six earned), walked five and struck out three.
West Lincoln led 3-0 through three innings, 5-0 after scoring two runs in the fifth inning, and led 5-1 before adding a six-run seventh inning.
The Rebels overcame making four errors.
West Lincoln faces Lincolnton in a South Fork 2A game on Friday at 7 p.m. at West Lincoln, and Newton-Conover plays at Hickory on Wednesday in a non-league game.
Postponements
A key South Fork 2A game, Bandys at Lincolnton, was rained out Tuesday and rescheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Trojans and Wolves were both unbeaten through Tuesday and shared the conference lead with North Lincoln (all at 2-0), which makes up its league game at home against East Lincoln on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Maiden postponed its home game with Lake Norman Charter to Wednesday at 7 p.m., and the Blue Devils’ home game with Bunker Hill, also scheduled for Wednesday, will be played at a later date to be announced.
For a complete list of postponements and Wednesday’s baseball schedule, see an earlier post.
GIRLS SOCCER
Lake Norman Charter 3, East Lincoln 0
The Knights won their South Fork 2A opener on the road, scoring once in the first half and twice in the second half at East Lincoln.
Ayden Yates scored a first-half goal on an assist by Kasey Hahn.
Olivia Haraldsson had a breakaway second-half goal, assisted by Hahn – and Alex Behnke converted a penalty kick for Lake Norman Charter’s other scores.
The Knights had 19 shots on goal and the Mustangs had five.
Kaela Rasenhberger made five saves for Lake Norman Charter and Katie Moolenaar had seven for East Lincoln.
Lake Norman Charter is at home Thursday at 6 p.m. for a league match against North Lincoln while East Lincoln goes to Lincolnton for a conference match on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Postponements
Bandys’ conference match at Maiden was postponed and reset for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.