HobbsDailyReport.com
Maiden High scored all of its runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday night, topping visiting Smoky Mountain 4-3 to advance to the second round of the state 2A softball playoffs.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (20-3) got two hits from Addyson Ikard – including the game-winner – and had four hits and were aided by an error in erasing a three-run deficit to win.
Maiden next plays No. 13 seed Bunker Hill (13-6) in a second round game at Maiden that must be played by Saturday.
The Maiden-Bunker Hill winner advances to play No. 28 Canton Pisgah or No. 12 North Lincoln in the third round next week.
Morgan Bonhemier gave up only five hits and struck out 13 to get Maiden past Smoky Mountain (7-12, No. 29 seed), whose Anna Bier Grissom took the loss.
LaShaya Thompson and Grace Herman also had two hits for the Blue Devils, and Laura Morgan doubled.
Maiden has reached the second round of the third straight season after having lost in the first round in seven appearances prior to that.
The Blue Devils — whose first postseason appearance came in 1996 — have reached the third round only once (2004, lost to North Lincoln).
Bunker Hill 5, Hibriten 0
The No. 13 seed Bears, playing at home, limited Hibriten (15-9) to two hits behind the pitching of Payton Bryant to win a first round 2A game.
Bryant pitched with a 1-0 lead through the first inning before Bunker Hill scored three runs in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead.
The Bears had eight hits.
Bunker Hill plays at No. 4 Maiden (20-3) in a second round game that must be played by Saturday.
Saturday’s winner faces No. 28 Canton Pisgah or No. 12 North Lincoln in next week’s third round.
The shutout of Hibriten was the first in the postseason in Bears softball history dating back to 1984, and they are out of the first round for only the fourth time in 14 all-time appearances.
Bunker Hill’s only trip to the third round came in its first postseason bid in 1984 when it won one-run games over Alleghany and Bessemer City before being eliminated 18-10 in the third round by Franklin.
Hibriten lost in the first round for the seventh time in its last eight postseason bids and is 0-9 all-time in road playoff games.
Alexander Central 11, North Gaston 0, 5 inn.
Cougars pitcher Chesney Millsaps (21-5) threw a two-hitter and drove in two runs while Julie Gast and Mattie Starnes also drove in two runs each in a first-round 3A game in Taylorsville.
Lanie Goforth went 3-for-3 and Gast and Starnes each had two hits as third-seeded Alexander Central (21-5) outhits the 30th-seeded Wildcats 12-2. Gast hit a home run.
Savannah Baldwin and Anna Martin had North Gaston’s hits.
Millsaps walked two and struck out six, throwing 46 of her 76 pitches for strikes.
Avery Bumgarner took the loss, going four innings. She gave up 12 hits, 11 runs (seven earned), walked three and struck out none.
The Cougars scored eight runs in the first inning, one in the second in two in the third innings and easily overcame making two errors.
Alexander Central faces No. 19 South Iredell (14-10) next, a second round game that must be played by Saturday. South Iredell advanced with a 15-5 road win over Winston-Salem Parkland on Wednesday.
Saturday’s winner faces No. 6 Crest or No. 22 Northern Guilford in next week’s third round.
The Cougars have missed the state playoffs only once in the last 35 seasons (2003) and have failed to get out of the first round only twice, in 1984 against Starmount and in 2008 against McDowell.
Fred T. Foard 4, Central Davidson 1
Adison Yoder’s pitching and Abbey Settlemyre’s hitting carried the third-seeded Tigers (18-3) past No. 30 Central Davidson in Newton in a first-round 3A game.
Yoder walked none and struck out eight and Settlemyre went 4-for-4 with three stolen bases and two runs scored.
Foard now plays No. 19 East Lincoln (15-6) in a second round game at Foard that must be played by Saturday.
Saturday’s winner will face No. 6 Madison or No. 11 Brevard in next week’s third round.
Madison Rowe added two hits for the Tigers, who grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Settlemyre scored on a double steal.
It was 2-0 after two innings after Rowe had a run-scoring hit.
After Central Davidson closed within 2-1 on an RBI double by Emma Jackson, the Tigers scored again.
Foard has won at least one playoff game in its last 10 postseason trips but has not reached the third round since 2013.
In bracket dating back to 1984, the Tigers and East Lincoln have never played in the postseason.
East Lincoln 8, West Stokes 6, 8 inn.
Katelynn Crowe and Katie Hogue each hit two-run home runs and drove in two runs, leading the 19th-seeded Mustangs to a first round road win in 2A over No. 14 seed West Stokes.
East Lincoln meets third-seeded Fred T. Foard (18-3) on the road in the second round, a game that must be played by Saturday.
The second round winner battles No. 6 Madison or No. 11 Brevard in the third round next week.
On Wednesday, West Stokes (18-8) led 6-3 before the Mustangs (15-6) rallied for a 6-all tie with a three-run seventh inning and scored twice in the eighth inning to win.
Payton Baker was the winning pitcher.
East Lincoln outhits West Stokes 12-11.
Annika Gemberling had two singles and an RBI and Faith Cooke added a double and RBI for East Lincoln.
North Lincoln 5, Forest Hills 3
North Lincoln, a No. 12 seed, turned back the visiting Yellow Jackets (13-9, No. 21 seed) to advance to the second round in 2A.
The Knights (17-4) face No. 28 Canton Pisgah (9-10), a 10-9 winner at No. 5 West Wilkes on Wednesday, in a second-round game that must be played by Saturday.
North Lincoln could face another game against South Fork 2A co-champion Maiden, provided it wins in the second round and Maiden also advances. If that happened, a third-round game on Tuesday would be at Maiden.
McDowell 9, East Forsyth 7
McDowell (16-8, No. 15 seed) earned another game against Northwestern 3A-4A foe South Caldwell (23-2, No. 2 seed) in the second round.
That game must be played by Saturday, in Hudson, and the winner would face No. 10 West Forsyth or No. 7 Davie County in the third round next week.
South Caldwell finished three games ahead of McDowell in the league’s regular season, beating the Titans 11-1 in Marion and 5-4 in Hudson.
BASEBALL
Hibriten 4, Bunker Hill 1
Tevin Williams and Noah Haney each hit two-run home runs, and sophomore Luke Absher struck out seven and checked the Bears on four hits in a first-round 2A game at Bunker Hill.
Williams and Haney hit two-out home runs in the third inning, and Absher pitched out of a bases-loaded jam en route to a victory.
Hibriten (12-10, No. 27 seed) had split Northwestern Foothills 2A games with the Bears (19-6, sixth seed) this season, winning 7-1 at home and falling 7-6 at Bunker Hill.
The Panthers now play at No. 22 Salisbury (16-10) in a second round game that must be played by Saturday.
Next up for that game winner will be No. 14 Franklin or No. 3 North Davidson in the third round next week.
The win at Bunker Hill was Hibriten’s first postseason victory since 2015, when it beat South Iredell in Lenoir.
Salisbury 5, Bandys 2
The visiting Hornets (16-10, No. 22 seed) scored four runs in the seventh inning to stun the Trojans (20-5, No. 11 seed) in a first round 2A game.
Vance Honeycutt and Bo Rusher walked in the seventh and Griffin Myers provided an RBI hit for Salisbury.
Myers walked three times and pitched two innings in relief of Jack Fisher, who had two hits and went five innings as Salisbury’s starter. Myers got the final out of the game via a strikeout.
The loss denied Bandys head coach Frank Porter his 100th career coaching victory and ended the Trojans’ best season since they went 20-5 in 1994.
Bandys has lost in the first round in eight of its last 10 postseason trips and by a run four times. That includes a 9-8 loss in eight innings to Salisbury in 2007.
Alexander Central 1, Sun Valley 0
Bryson Hammer and Nate Moretz combined to limit the visiting Spartans to two hits as the Cougars (21-7, No. 8 seed) won a first-round 3A game.
Alexander Central is at home in the second round against North Gaston (22-4, No. 9 seed) – a 4-1 home winner Wednesday over No. 24 Cuthbertson – in a game that must be played by Saturday.
The second-round game winner meets No. 16 Northwest Cabarrus or No. 1 Crest in next week’s third round.
Hammer (5-2) worked six innings, allowing two hits, walking four and striking out 10. Moretz gained his third save, pitching one inning and striking out one. He came on after Hammer had pitched to one batter in the seventh inning.
Alexander Central scored the game’s only run in the fourth inning and beat Sam Howell, a two-sport star who has signed to play football at Florida State. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out eight in six innings.
Josh Jacobs had two hits to lead the Cougars and Jeremy Hubbard had an RBI.
Sun Valley, a No. 25 seed, finished 14-13.
The Hammer-Moretz shutout is the first 1-0 postseason playoff win since the Cougars beat South Mecklenburg by that score in the third round of the 1986 state 4A playoffs.
Lincolnton 1, North Surry 0
With ace Robbie Cowie throwing a one-hitter and striking out 12, the visiting Wolves (12-8, No. 20 seed) won a first round 2A game over the 13th-seeded Greyhounds (19-7).
It was Lincolnton’s fourth shutout win of the season and snapped a three-game losing streak. The Wolves also blanked East Lincoln, Newton-Conover and Bandys this season.
Lincolnton goes on the road for a second round game that must be played by Saturday, at No. 4 Smoky Mountain (19-3), a 3-1 first-round winner over No. 29 West Stokes.
If Lincolnton wins, it would go to next week’s third round against No. 12 South Point or No. 5 Forbush.
Southwest Guilford 11, Hickory 1, 5 inn.
Sixth-seeded Southwest Guilford ended David Craft’s 28th season as Hickory’s head coach in a first round 3A game at Southwest Guilford (22-3).
No other game details were available.
Craft’s Red Tornadoes finished 12-11 and with a winning record for the 14th time in 16 years (one. 500 season, one losing season).
He is 462-292 in 30 years as a head coach, 442-273 in 28 years of that at HHS.
Mount Tabor 3, St. Stephens 2, 8 inn.
The 15th-seeded Spartans knocked No. 18 St. Stephens out of the 3A bracket in the first round.
The Indians finished 12-10 after going 9-14 a year ago.
No other game details were available.
St. Stephens has been eliminated in the first round in its last six postseason appearances.
The Indians are 47-67 in Adam Windham’s five seasons as head coach. They ended the season with three straight losses on the heels of a five-game win streak that included two wins by one run, two by two runs and another by three runs.
Spartans to face Greensboro Grimsley
No. 12 seed Greensboro Grimsley nipped No. 20 Greensboro Page 1-0 on Wednesday night at Grimsley, advancing to a second round game against No. 5 South Caldwell (22-3), which had a first-round bye.
Grimsley plays at South Caldwell in a second round game that must be played by Saturday.
The Spartans beat Page in last year’s first round and will face Grimsley in the postseason for the first time in brackets dating back to 1984.
South Caldwell head coach Jeff Parham, in his 18th season, has a shot at reaching 400 career wins if the Spartans continue to win.
He has 395 and would be at 398 if South Caldwell were to reach the West 4A best-of-3 series, which they last did in 2007 en route to winning a state 4A title behind San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner.
GIRLS SOCCER
Lake Norman Charter 9, West Stanly 0
Ayden Yates and Oliva Haraldsson each scored twice, leading No. 2 seed Lake Norman Charter past the visiting 31st-seeded Colts.
Shannon Lunny, Carsyn Yates, Brooke Rhodes and Olivia Tanaka each added a goal for Lake Norman Charter (18-0-1), which faces No. 18 North Davidson (14-5-1) in the second round on Saturday at Lake Norman Charter at 6 p.m.
North Davidson advanced by beating No. 15 East Lincln 2-1 in Denver, N.C., on Wednesday night.
Ayden Yates, Kasey Hahn, Rhodes, Lunny, Haley Arko, Madison Sims and Arabella DeVoe picked up assists for the Knights in their victory.
Stephanie Hendriquez made 10 saves for West Stokes.