HobbsDailyReport.com
Caitlyn Wray drove in three runs and Grace Herman had three on Wednesday, leading visiting Maiden High into first place in South Fork 2A softball with an 8-7 victory over North Lincoln.
The victory left Maiden at 9-1 in the conference, breaking a tie with the Knights (now 8-2) and giving the Blue Devils a one-game lead with four games left in conference play.
Grace Herman and Emma Lay each had three hits for Maiden and Morgan Bohemier threw a complete game and struck out seven.
Brooklyn Harris and Mackayla Watts led North Lincoln by driving in two runs each. Watts took the pitching loss, going 4 1/3 innings.
Maiden had 14 hits and made two errors and the Knight had 10 hits and made three errors.
Maiden led 3-1 through the second inning and boosted that to 6-1 with a three-run third inning.
The Blue Devils led 8-2 when North Lincoln scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it a one-run game.
Maiden plays at fourth-place East Lincoln on Friday at 6 p.m. while North Lincoln, two games up on third-place West Lincoln, will be at home at 5 p.m. on Friday to face Newton-Conover.
Newton-Conover 5, North Iredell 1
Kaylee Kanipe had two hits and winning pitcher Destini Vines added two in a home non-conference win for the Red Devils.
Vines threw a complete game, allowing six hits with no walks and no strikeouts.
The Red Devils scored twice in the third inning and once in the fourth inning for a 3-1 lead.
Newton-Conover plays a South Fork 2A game at North Lincoln on Friday at 5 p.m.
Newton-Conover 9, Lake Norman Charter 4 (Tuesday)
Destiny Ussery drove in three runs and Emilie Murphy, had two hits and three RBIs as Newton-Conover won a South Fork 2A game at home.
Destini Vines threw a complete game, giving up eight hits, four runs (all earned) with five walks and four strikeouts for the Red Devils.
Newton-Conover had a five-run first inning and led 6-3 before the Knights scored three runs in the third inning.
The Red Devils pushed their lead to 9-3 with three runs in the fourth inning.
Lake Norman Charter made four errors.
The Knights play Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Bandys in a league game.
Draughn 6, St Stephens 1
The Wildcats had 10 hits to down the visiting Indians in a non-conference.
Sophie Hainor went 2-for-3 to lead the Indians, and Lauren Moser allowed 10 hits and six runs and took the loss.
No other game details were available.
St. Stephens has a Northwestern 3A-4A game on Thursday at 6 p.m. at McDowell while Draughn meets Bunker Hill on the road at 5 p.m. on Friday in a Northwestern Foothills 2A game.
Freedom 16, Hickory 0 (4 inn., Tuesday)
The Patriots had 18 hits and held the Red Tornadoes to three to roll in a Northwestern 3A-4A game in Morganton.
Brandi Buchanan had two hits and drove in three runs, Myra Twitty had three doubles and two RBIs, Avery Weaver drove in four runs with four hits, Elle Tanner had three hits and two RBIs and Kinsley Michaels had three hits and drove in two runs for Freedom, 7-4 in the conference and in fourth place behind South Caldwell, Alexander Central and McDowell.
Tanner was the winning pitcher for the Patriots, who play at Alexander Central on Friday at 6 p.m.
Hickory meets Watauga in a conference game at Hickory on Thursday at 6 p.m.
BASEBALL
Bandys 12, West Caldwell 1, 6 inn.
The Trojans hit four home runs – including a grand slam by Max Beam and two by Andrew Patrick – to win a non-conference game and improve to 17-2.
Laz Maxwell, hitting eighth in the Trojans’ order, smashed a three-run home run in the second inning for a 3-0 lead. It was his second home run of the season.
Andrew Patrick’s solo home run in the third inning made it 3-0.
Bandys extended its lead with six runs in the fourth inning, when Beam hit a grand slam (third home run of the year).
After West Caldwell (2-17) scored a run in the fourth with the help of an error to make it 10-1, the Trojans got a two-run home run by Patrick, giving him five for the season.
Patrick drove in three runs, Beam went 4-for-4 by with a double and four RBIs, Cy Spencer went 4-for-4 with two doubles and Maxwell drove in three runs.
Alexis Reavis was the winning pitcher for Bandys and Holden Triplett took the loss for the Warriors, who have lost nine straight games.
Bandys plays a South Fork 2A game at West Lincoln on Friday at 7 p.m. while West Caldwell returns to Northwestern 3A-4A play with a game at St. Stephens at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
East Lincoln 18, Cherryville 3, 5 inn.
The Mustangs scored a season-high to win a non-league game on the road behind Kooper Hogue.
Hogue went 3-of-5 with a home run and five RBIs as East Lincoln improved to x-x.
Trent Wood picked up a win, going five innings and striking out seven.
The Mustangs’ previous best for runs this season was 10 in a victory against Maiden, which visits East Lincoln for a league game Friday at 6:30 p.m.
GOLF
North Lincoln win by 1
North Lincoln shot a 323 at Glen Oaks, edging league-leading Lake Norman Charter by one stroke in a South Fork 2A match.
Lake Norman Charter freshman Brandon Spinks shared medalist with Dalton Adams of West Lincoln, both with 77s.
Connor Bain shot a 78 and Chase Lackey shot 79 to lead North Lincoln.
The final conference match is Monday at Lincoln Country Club.
Team scores: 1. N. Lincoln 323; 2. Lake Norman Charter 324; 3. W. Lincoln 333; 4. E. Lincoln 335; 5. Maiden 361; 6. Bandys 370; 7. Newton-Conover 388; 8. Lincolnton 534.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Brandon Spinks (LNC) 77, Dalton Adams (WL) 77; 3. Connor Bain (NL) 78, John Stozenbach (EL) 78; 5. Chase Lackey (NL) 79, Stowe Rankin (EL) 79; 7. Bauer Galloway (WL) 80; 8. Guy Vincent (LNC) 81, Lance Rowe (EL) 81; 10 Jace Arko 82.
Patton wins handily
Patton won a Northwestern 2A match at Cedar Rock Country Club, shooting 336 to easily outdistance Draughn (352) and add to its conference lead.
Will Gessner was medalist with a round of 76 and Jordan Sain of Fred T. Foard had the only other sub-80 round.
Patton’s lead is 61 strokes over Draughn in the race for the conference title.
Team scores: 1. Patton 336; 2. Draughn 352; 3. Hibriten 368; 4. Fred T. Foard 379; 5. E. Burke 513; 6. W. Iredell 482; 7. Bunker Hill 522.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Will Gessner (P) 76; 2. Jordan Sain (FTF) 79; 3. Max Keverline (P) 81, Avery Carswell (EB) 81; 4. Travis Watson (P) 83; 6. Ben Leonard (D) 84; 7. Carson Ashley (D) 86; 8. Carson Witherspoon (P) 88; 9. Ben Busic (FTF) 89, Gabe Cornett (D) 89, C.J. Edwards (P) 89.
Team scores, all league matches: 1. Patton 1,982; 2. Draughn 2, 043; 3. Hibriten 2,298; 4. Fred T. Foard 2,318; 5. E. Burke 2,642; 6. W. Iredell 2,657; 7. Bunker Hill 3,083.
Top 10 individuals, all league matches: 1. C.J. Edwards (P) 406; 2. Will Gessner (P) 471; 3. Jordan Sain (FTF) 492; 4. Ben Leonard (D) 506; 5. Tanner Tucker (H) 507; 6. Carson Witherspoon (P) 508; 7. Zeke Sigmon (D) 514, Riley Avery (P) 514; 9. Dillon Robinson (D) 515; 10. Carson Ashley (D) 52.
MISCELLANOUS
South Fork 2A sets championships
South Fork 2A Executive Secretary Butch Parker has released the schedule for the conference’s spring sports championships (golf and girls soccer do not have league tournaments):
Baseball: May 1-4, first round on May 1 at higher seeds; semifinals on May 3 at Legion Field at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., championship on May 4 at Legion Field at 7 p.m.
Softball: May 1-4, first round on May 1 at higher seeds; semifinals on May 3 at Maiden at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., championship on May 4 at Maiden at 7 p.m.
Boys tennis: April 24-25 at Maiden, 1 p.m. both days.
Track and field: May 1 at N. Lincoln, field events start at 1:30 p.m.