HobbsDailyReport.com
Two goals by Grace Kinsch and a shutout in goal with six saves by Evelyn Kinsch led East Lincoln High’s girls past visiting Polk County 2-0 on Friday night, securing Mustangs head coach Jason Dragoon’s 400th career soccer victory.
Dragoon is in his 17th season of coaching both soccer teams at East Lincoln.
The Mustangs, who got an assist by Sierra Gilley, are 2-2 this season.
East Lincoln opens its South Fork 2A schedule on Tuesday, facing Lake Norman Charter at East Lincoln with a 6 p.m. start.
BASEBALL
South Caldwell 4, Alexander Central 2
The Spartans scored all their runs in their first at-bat in Taylorsville and won a Northwestern 3A-4A game that denied Cougars head coach Pete Hardee his 400th career win.
South Caldwell had only one hit, by No. 5 hitter Ian Moretz, as it improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the league.
The Spartans have outscored their five opponents this season 32-3.
Byron Younts led the Cougars – who had seven hits — with two and Jacob Bebber had two as a pinch-hitter.
South Caldwell starter Trent Black gained a win, going 6 2/3 innings. He allowed seven hits, two runs (both earned), walked one and struck out 13. Daniel Dye threw one-third of an inning to earn a save.
Zach Hammer (0-1) did not get an out in the first inning for Alexander Central, leaving after having allowed three runs (all earned) and walking three.
Bryson Hammer pitched three innings of relief for the Cougars, walking seven and striking out four, and Dawson Elder closed by striking out seven and walking two over four innings.
The game featured 25 strikeouts, 14 by the Cougars and 11 by the Spartans.
Alexander Central walked 12.
South Caldwell plays a non-league game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hibriten.
The Cougars are at home on Saturday at 4 p.m., facing Western Harnett.
West Lincoln 6, Maiden 4
Chase Benfield drove in three runs from his lead off spot in the Rebels’ lineup and pitched three innings in relief to lead West Lincoln’s home victory in the South Fork 2A.
The Rebels grabbed a 5-0 lead early, scoring a run in the first inning and four in the second inning. They finished with four hits to Maiden’s eight, but the Blue Devils (0-4, 0-2) made three errors.
Seth Willis also had an RBI for West Lincoln (3-2, 1-1), which started Nathan Beam. He got a win after going four innings, giving up five hits, two runs and walking three and striking out three.
Maiden’s starting pitcher, Bryson Ledford, led the way with three hits and two RBIs. He went 5 1/3 innings, giving up four hits, six runs (four earned) with three walks and three strikeouts.
Dylan Abernathy and Chantz London each had two hits for the Blue Devils.
East Burke 5, Draughn 4
Grayson Williams’ second-inning two-run home run gave the Cavs an early lead as they later wiped out a Wildcats lead to take a Northwestern Foothills 2A road game and win back-to-back games for the first time since early in the 2016 season.
East Burke (2-3, 1-1) had to rally to win after a two-run double by Logan Sharpe and home run by Cole Triplett gave Draughn (0-3, 0-1) a lead.
The Cavs beat Freedom 7-6 on Thursday.
East Burke had not won consecutive games since 2016 when it won its sixth and seventh games of the season, beating Shelby 7-0 on the road and winning 7-2 at Draughn.
The Cavs face Freedom again on Monday, on the road, with a 4 p.m. start time.
Draughn will play West Iredell in a conference game on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Draughn.
North Lincoln 9, Lake Norman Charter 2
Tyler Lilly sparked North Lincoln’s road win in a South Fork 2A game, driving in a run in a four-run sixth inning and also pitching five innings.
Lilly gave up two runs and six hits and struck out six as North Lincoln (3-1, 2-0) won its third straight game to keep pace with Bandys and Lincolnton atop the conference.
Ben Taylor and Reed McRorie also had RBI hits in the fourth inning for North Lincoln.
For Lake Norman Charter (3-2, 1-1), Evan Borcich went 2-for-4 while Alex Lonergan took the loss (three innings, seven hits, three runs, seven strikeouts). Lake Norman Charter used four pitchers.
North Lincoln is at home Tuesday at 7 p.m. for a league game against East Lincoln, and Lake Norman Charter plays the same night, also at 7 p.m., at Maiden in a conference game.
Watauga 3, West Caldwell 2, 9 inn.
The Pioneers won their first game of the season, producing a ninth-inning run at Walker Stadium to nip the Warriors in a Northwestern 3A-4A game.
Bryan Greene, who went 3-for-5, led off the ninth inning with a single and was advanced by Jonathan McClannon and then moved to third on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly by Hayes Henderson scored Greene for a one-run lead.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Warriors (1-3, 0-2) had a runner on second with one out but Watauga executed a 7-5-2 play to stop a run at the plate and win.
Greene was the winning pitcher in relief, going three innings. He gave up no runs, one hit, walked two and struck out four.
Watauga plays a non-league game on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Wilkes Central, and West Caldwell goes to Alexander Central for a conference game on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
SOFTBALL
St. Stephens 19, Hickory 0
Baylee Bumgarner pitched four innings, allowing one hit, to lead visiting St. Stephens past Hickory in a Northwestern 3A-4A game. She struck out five.
The Indians scored seven runs in the third inning, and they were led by Katie Morgan, who went 2-for-3.
Sophie Hainor had four stolen bases for St. Stephens and the Indians stole 13 bases.
The Indians did not have any errors.
St. Stephens goes to Morganton on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. league game against Freedom.
Hickory has a league game Tuesday at 6 p.m. at McDowell.
Fred T. Foard 5, West Iredell 1
Playing at home, the Tigers won their fifth straight game in a Northwestern Foothills 2A battle.
Freshman Breanna Minton went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs and pitched a complete game for the Tigers. She struck out six.
Madison Rowe hit her second home run of the season for Foard with Emily Campbell going 2-for-3 with two doubles and driving in run.
Foard is at home Tuesday at 6 p.m. to face Patton in a league game while West Iredell plays a non-league game at home against South Iredell at 5 p.m. on Monday.
Alexander Central 7, South Caldwell 1
Chesney Millsaps pitched a four-hitter and Julie Gast and Kelsea Dejarnette each had two hits as the Cougars (3-1, 2-0) won a home Northwestern 3A-4A game.
Alexander Central scored all of the game’s runs after the Spartans went up 1-0 in their first at-bat.
The Cougars had nine hits with Lanie Goforth, Gast, Alexis Walter and Dejarnette each driving in a run.
Jasmine Hall, Ciara Hanson, Gracyln Greene and Logan Keller had one hit each for South Caldwell, which made four errors.
The Spartans’ Jenna Pittman was the losing pitcher, going four innings. She gave up eight hits, six runs (three earned) and walked one.
Millsaps walked five and struck out five for the Cougars.
Alexander Central is at West Caldwell on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. conference game, and South Caldwell has traded home playing dates with Watauga and will play host to the Pioneers for a league game on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Newton-Conover 3, Bandys 1
Destini Vines pitched a complete game and Kali Flanagan drove in two runs as the Red Devils beat the visiting Trojans (2-2, 0-2) in a South Fork 2A game.
Bandys scored in its first at-bat before Newton-Conover (3-1, 2-0) scored twice to take the lead for good. The Red Devils’ other run came in the sixth inning.
Destiny Ussery drove in a run and Katelin Bradshaw had two hits for Newton-Conover, which had six hits.
The top three hitters in the Bandys batting order – Shi Pope, McKenzie Deal and Ashytn Hopson – went 7-for-11, with Pope getting three hits.
Vines walked one and struck out four as the winning pitcher while Lydia Poovey took the loss for Bandys after going five innings (six hits, three runs, no walks, one strikeout).
Bandys has a conference game on Tuesday at Lincolnton and Newton-Conover goes to West Lincoln on Tuesday for a league game that starts at 5:30 p.m.
Draughn 11, East Burke 1
The Wildcats gained a six-inning Northwestern Foothills 2A victory at home behind Kira Suttles’ two-run home run in the second inning.
Shaedyn Housh and Cora Detter also homered for Draughn and Chloe Gray’s two-run doubles in the fourth inning had the Wildcats ahead 6-0.
Draughn faces West Iredell at home Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a conference battle while East Burke has a non-league game on Monday at 4 p.m. at Freedom.
East Lincoln 16, Lincolnton 2
Katelynn Crowe went 5-for-5 with three singles, a double and two home runs and drove in six runs as the Mustangs rolled to a South Fork 2A road win in five innings.
East Lincoln scored seven runs in the first inning and was ahead 8-2 when it added five more runs in the fourth inning.
The Mustangs had 15 hits and held the Wolves to four.
Kyle Thress had two hits and two RBIs, Faith Cooke had a run-scoring double, Haley Erwin drove in two runs with a double and triple, Hannah Davis had two hits and two RBIs and Meredith Summey had two hits, one a triple, and drove in two runs for East Lincoln.
Emily Stolzenbach was the winning pitcher.
BOYS LACROSSE
Lake Norman Charter 14, Mooresville 3
The visiting Knights remained unbeaten (5-0) with a victory over the Blue Devils Luke Mostert’s five goals and four by Brandon Webster.
Nik Young was in goal for Lake Norman Charter and made 10 saves.
The Knights’ next match is Monday at home at 7 p.m. against Providence.