Alex Central’s Williams no-hits Hibriten;
W. Lincoln beats Bandys, ties for softball lead
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
They’ll need more, but Bandys High’s Trojans put themselves in a good spot on Friday night with an 11-1 victory in five innings over West Lincoln in baseball.
The Trojans’ eighth straight victory gave them a two-game lead over Lincolnton, Maiden and West Lincoln in the Catawba Valley 2A Athletic.
After scoring double-figure runs for the seventh straight game, the Trojans improved to 7-1 in the conference and 10-3 overall.
Bandys has swept West Lincoln (8-0, 11-1) and won at Lincolnton (12-2) and at Maiden (10-0). There are six games left in the CVAC 2A race.
The win at West Lincoln featured a 10-strikeout game by right-hander Terick Bumgarner plus Nolan Jones’ three hits and three RBIs and two hits – one a home run – by Zach Barnett, who drove in three runs.
Bumgarner, who had two hits, walked none over four innings. He allowed one run (earned). Jacob Loftin pitched the final inning for the Trojans, striking out one.
Bandys has outscored opponents 84-6 in its last seven games and plays three games this week. First up is facing East Burke — the only conference team to beat the Trojans (1-0 at Bandys) – on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Icard.
The Trojans play a non-league game Wednesday (7 p.m.) at East Lincoln then battle Lincolnton on Friday (7 p.m.) at Bandys.
West Lincoln goes to Maiden for a Tuesday (7 p.m.) conference game and is home on Friday (7 p.m.) against Bunker Hill.
Alexander Central 12, Hibriten 1, 5 inn.
Caleb Williams no-hit the visiting Panthers, walking two and striking out nine in a Northwestern 3A-4A game in Taylorsville.
Williams and Mason Chapman each drove in two runs for the Cougars (11-1, 2-1) and Chapman walked twice and hit a home run.
Alexander Central scored two runs in the second, three in the second inning and six in the third inning.
Williams improved to 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA and has seven walks and 17 strikeouts.
Kennedy Story, the Panthers’ starter, took a loss after going two innings. He allowed six hits, eight runs (six earned) with two walks and one strikeout.
Alexander Central, tied with Freedom for first place, plays a league game at Freedom on Monday (6 p.m.).
The Panthers (8-5, 2-2), who had won two straight games and four of five coming in, are at South Caldwell on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) for a conference game.
Fred T. Foard 2, St. Stephens 1
The Tigers (8-2, 6-1) created a three-way tie for the Western Foothills 3A lead by beating the Indians (10-2, 6-1) at Foard.
Foard, North Lincoln and St. Stephens share first place.
The Tigers had four hits to win for the fifth time in six games and won their first one-run game of the season.
Braxton Tramel and Kylan Bolick each doubled for Foard, and Josh Swink and Hayden Tabor also had hits. Tramel added two stolen bases.
All of the scoring came in the fifth inning.
St. Stephens had three hits, two by Elec Marvin and the other by Joshua Barkley.
Swink threw a complete game for Foard, giving up three hits, an unearned run, walking two and striking out 13.
Julien Piessel took a loss for the Indians, who have dropped two straight games. He went six innings, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned0 with three walks and 14 strikeouts.
Foard is at home on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) for a league game against North Iredell, plays a home non-league game Wednesday (4:30 p.m.) against Newton-Conover, and goes to West Iredell on Friday (7 p.m.) for a conference game.
The Indians face West Iredell on Monday (5 p.m.) in a league game, battle Hibriten on Wednesday (6:30 p.m.) in a non-league game in Hickory, and play North Iredell at home on Friday (6:30 p.m.) in a league game.
Hickory 22, Statesville 1, 5 inn.
The Red Tornadoes (6-5, 3-4) won their second straight game and for the fourth time in five games, rolling at home in a Western Foothills 3A game.
Hickory scored 13 runs in the first inning and led 19-0 after three innings.
Henry Stewart went 4-for-4 and drove in a run for the Red Tornadoes, who had 17 hits. Blake Kiser added three hits and drove in three runs, Boone Herman had two hits and two RBIs, Will Prince provided two hits and an RBI and Dashawn Medley, Dean Hall and Tripp Young drove in two runs for the Red Tornadoes.
Freshman Noah Owens had three of the Greyhounds’ four hits and he took a loss after starting and getting no outs (six hits, eight of 10 runs earned, walked two). He was one of five pitchers used by Statesville (010, 0-6), which lost for the 43rd straight time and for the 58th time in 59 games.
The Greyhounds have been outscored 43-1 in their last two games and 133-20 this season.
Hickory goes for career win No. 490 for head coach David Craft on Monday (7 p.m.) in a league game at East Lincoln.
Statesville plays a conference game on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) at North Lincoln.
Bunker Hill 2, Lincolnton 1, 10 inn.
Jordan Yoder had two doubles, Mark Little added three hits and an RBI and Braden Huffman drove in a run, lifting the Bears to a Catawba Valley 2A Athletic home win.
Reliever Ramon Trejo went three innings for Bunker Hill (4-8, 4-4) after Preston Workman pitched seven innings and allowed four hits, one run, walked one and struck out 10.
The loss left Lincolnton 7-6 overall and 5-3 in the league, tied with Maiden and West Lincoln for second place and all two games back of Bandys.
The Bears go to West Caldwell for a league game Tuesday (7 p.m.), and the Wolves will have a home conference game Tuesday (7 p.m.) against Newton-Conover.
Maiden 2, East Burke 1
Nick Jarosynski threw a complete game with eight strikeouts as the Blue Devils (6-6, 5-3) won a Catawba Valley 2A Athletic game on the road and moved into a three-way tie for second place.
Seth Williams and Brenden Harrison each drove in a run for Maiden, now tied with West Lincoln and Lincolnton for second place.
East Burke dipped to 4-6 overall and 4-4 in the league. The Cavs are the only league team to best first-place Bandys (1-0 at Bandys).
The Blue Devils will play at home in a league game Tuesday (7 p.m.) against West Lincoln while the Cavs battle Bandys on Tuesday (7 p.m.) in Icard.
Newton-Conover 3, West Caldwell 2
The Red Devils (4-7, 2-6) snapped a six-game losing streak by beating the Warriors (1-13, 0-8) in a Catawba Valley 2A Athletic game in Newton.
West Caldwell had three hits, a double by Ty Winebarger and singles by Ashton Minton and Coy Fox, but scored two or fewer runs for the ninth time this season.
Newton-Conover, 2-2 in 1-run games this season, has a league game Tuesday (7 p.m.) at Lincolnton.
The Warriors are at home Monday for a non-league game with Avery County and at home Tuesday (7 p.m.) for a conference game against Bunker Hill.
Draughn 15, Rosman 3
The Wildcats (9-3, 4-1) won on the road and are tied for second place in the Western Highlands 1A/2A with Madison.
Draughn scored eight runs in the third inning and three in the next inning for an 11-0 lead.
Logan McGee had two hits and an RBI, Brayden Schutt had two hits and drove in two runs, Tate Jensen had a double among his two hits and two RBIs and Tamner Woody drove in two runs for the Wildcats.
Tate Jensen worked six innings and gained a win, allowing seven hits, three runs (none earned0 with no walks and nine strikeouts for Draughn.
Andrew Stamey took a loss for Rosman (4-7, 1-5), going 2 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits and eight runs (six earned).
Draughn plays a non-league game at home Wednesday (6 p.m.), facing Maiden, and will be at home Friday (6 p.m.) to battle league-leading Mountain Heritage.
North Lincoln 6, East Lincoln 3
The Knights (10-1, 6-1) are part of a three-way tie atop the Western Foothills 3A after winning their fourth straight game. They’re tied with Fred T. Foard and St. Stephens.
East Lincoln (7-3, 4-3) got three hits, including a solo home run, and two RBIs from Isaac Armstrong.
Carson Dahle took a loss after pitching 4 1/3 innings and giving up six hits, four runs and striking out five. Armstrong limited the Knights to one hit over the final 1 2/3 innings.
North Lincoln will be at home Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) against Statesville in a conference game while East Lincoln meets visiting Hickory on Monday (6:30 p.m.) in a league game.
Brevard 11, Patton 6
Brevard (8-3, 3-3) won a Mountain Athletic 7 2A game at home, dropping the Panthers to 7-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
Lawson Powell had two hits (one a triple) and drove in two runs and Payton Salter added two hits and drove in two runs for Brevard, which scored nine runs in the third inning for a 9-1 lead.
Kaeden Clark and Caleb Sadler each added two RBIs for Brevard, which had 10 hits.
Patton had 11 hits.
Payton Salter gained a win after going five innings, allowing eight hits, four runs (two earned) with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Patton has a non-league game at home Monday (6:30 p.m.) against Burns and a league game on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) at R-S Central.
Freedom 5, Watauga 3
The Patriots (6-7, 3-1) won in Morganton and share the Northwestern 3A-4A lead with Alexander Central.
Freedom is at home Monday (6 p.m.) against Alexander Central.
Watauga (8-4, 2-2) — after losing for the second time in three games — is at home for a league game on Tuesday against Ashe County.
SOFTBALL
West Lincoln 6, Bandys 1
The Rebels pulled into a tie for first place in the Catawba Valley 2A Athletic with the visiting Trojans with a win in Vale.
Annie Andrews and Owyen Lyall each had two hits for Bandys (11-3, 7-1) and Riley Fox drove in a run.
Freshman Haven Helton pitched two innings for the Trojans, allowing three hits, two runs (one earned) with two walks and a strikeout. Lyall then threw four innings, giving up seven hits, four runs (two earned) with three walks and two strikeouts.
The Trojans beat the Rebels 6-5 at Bandys in the first league game of the season.
Bandys has a league game Monday at 6 p.m. at East Burke while West Lincoln plays a conference game Tuesday (6 p.m.) at Maiden.
Fred T. Foard 2, St. Stephens 0
In a Western Foothills 3A game that had three hits, the Tigers won with having just one at home.
Anna McFarland had both hits for the Indian (7-2, 5-1), who are in second place behind East Lincoln.
Foard (4-7, 4-2) scored a run in the fourth inning and one in the sixth inning to win for the second time in five games.
Riley Vogel had an RBI for the Tigers and Alyssa Smith threw a complete game to get a win.
Mayson Lail took a loss for St. Stephens and struck out 13.
Foard is at home Tuesday (6 p.m.) in a league game against North Iredell, and the Indians are at home Monday (4:15 p.m.) in a conference game against West Iredell.
Alexander Central 2, Hibriten 0
The Cougars (13-0, 4-0) grabbed sole possession of first place in the Northwestern 3A-4A by nipping the visiting Panthers (7-3, 3-1).
Ava Chapman and Peyton Price, batting 1-2 in Alexander Central’s lineup, each had two hits. The Cougars had six with Faith Carrigan and Kirstyn Herman adding one each.
Hibriten had four hits, two by Anna Reeves and one each by Zoey Walker and Parker Boggs.
Herman and Kenzie Church had RBIs for the Cougars, who scored a run in the first inning and one in the third inning.
Carrigan (12-0) threw seven innings for a win, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out nine.
Reeves took a loss for Hibriten, allowing six hits, two runs (both earned) with one walk and four strikeouts in six innings.
Alexander Central plays a league game at Freedom on Monday (4 p.m.), and the Panthers are on the road for a conference game Tuesday (6:30 p.m.) against South Caldwell.
East Lincoln 13, North Lincoln 3
The visiting Mustangs held the Knights to three hits in a Western Foothills 3A game.
Betsy Eatmon and Taliyah Thomas each hit two home runs for East Lincoln (11-0, 7-0) – which had 15 hits — with Eatmon driving in two runs and Thomas five.
Taniyah Thomas added two hits and an RBI, Tatum Martin had three hits (two doubles) with three RBIs, Madison Currence had two hits and Jaelyn Freeston had two hits and an RBI for East Lincoln.
Leah Correll threw a complete game for the Mustangs, allowing three hits, three runs (one earned) with two walks and eight strikeouts.
East Lincoln led 6-0 through three innings and added three runs in the sixth inning and three in the seventh inning.
The Mustangs are at home Monday (6 p.m.) in a league game with Hickory while the Knights (7-6, 5-2) are at home Tuesday (6 p.m.) for a conference game against Statesville.
Hickory 14, Statesville 3
Sophomore Kami Bolick hit two home runs and drove in five runs, sparking the Red Tornadoes’ home win in a Western Foothills 3A game.
Sierra hill added a home run, two RBIs and scored three runs and Abby Pruett had two hits and scored four runs and Chy’anne Bryant had two hits for Hickory (3-9, 2-5).
Carlee Logan picked up a win for the Red Tornadoes, who had lost three straight games, by going five innings and allowing two hits, three runs (none earned) with seven strikeouts.
Hickory scored three runs in the first inning and nine in the second inning.
Statesville dropped to 0-8 overall and 0-7 in the conference.
The Red Tornadoes play a league game Monday (6 p.m.) at East Lincoln, and the Greyhounds are at North Lincoln on Tuesday (6 p.m.) in a conference game.
Maiden 10, East Burke 0
Tristan Smalling threw a one-hitter and went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run as the Blue Devils (7-4, 6-2) cruised to a Catawba Valley 2A Athletic win at home.
Olivia Wray was also 3-for-4 for Maiden.
Addy Fortenerry was the losing pitcher for East Burke (3-7, 3-4).
Maiden, in third place behind co-leaders Bandys and West Lincoln, has a non-league home game Monday at 5 p.m. against Lincoln Charter and plays a league game at home against West Lincoln on Tuesday (6 p.m.).
East Burke is at home Monday (6:30 p.m.) for a conference game against Bandys.
West Caldwell 21, Newton-Conover 12
The Warriors (5-7, 2-4) won a Catawba Valley 2A Athletic game in Newton, snapping a three-game losing streak.
West Caldwell scored four runs in the first inning and had a 5-0 lead when the Red Devils (0-5, 0-5) scored three runs.
The Warriors scored five runs in the fourth inning for a 9-3 lead and they scored seven runs in the seventh inning after Newton-Conover had closed within 14-12.
Newton-Conover goes to Lincolnton for a conference game Tuesday (5 p.m.).
West Caldwell plays Lincolnton in a league game in Lenoir on Monday at 6 p.m.
North Iredell 6, West Iredell 4
The Raiders (4-8, 2-5) won a Western Foothills 3A game at home, breaking a 2-all tie with four runs in the fifth inning.
Freshman Savannah Woods had two hits and drove in three runs for North Iredell.
Maicie Earnest gained a win, throwing a complete game. She gave up nine hits, four runs (one earned), struck out one and walked three.
West Iredell (2-8, 2-6) made five errors and the Raiders won despite making seven.
North Iredell plays a league game at Fred T. Foard on Tuesday (6 p.m.) while the Warriors have a conference game at St. Stephens on Monday (4:15 p.m..).
