HobbsDailyReport.com
The South Fork 2A baseball tournament opens April 30 with West Lincoln High as the top seed.
In a tight conference race, West Lincoln (15-5, 11-3) and North Lincoln (14-4, 11-3) shared the league title.
The Rebels gained the top seed by comparative record against Bandys, which tied Maiden for third place – West Lincoln swept Bandys and North Lincoln split with the Trojans.
The seedings are only for the conference tournament; determining the No. 1 and No. 2 state playoff bids are still in play.
Maiden and Bandys tied for third place at 9-5 in conference play and the Blue Devils got the No. 3 seed via going 1-1 against West Lincoln, which swept Bandys.
There’s one conference game left to be played – Lake Norman Charter at Lincolnton on Monday at 7 p.m. – but it won’t force a change in the seedings despite potentially creating a tie for sixth place and/or eighth place.
Admission for tournament games is $6.
The title game is set for May 3 at the Legion Fairgrounds in Newton at 7 p.m.
If the title game were to be rained out, it would be played May 4 and move to Lincolnton High.
SOUTH FORK 2A BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Tuesday, April 30 games (*-record will change before tourney begins)
No. 8 Lincolnton (1-14, 1-12*) at No. 1 W. Lincoln (15-5, 11-3), 7 p.m.
No. 5 Lake Norman Charter (10-11, 6-7) at No. 4 Bandys (11-6, 9-5), 7 p.m.
No. 6 E. Lincoln (7-10, 6-8) at No. 3 Maiden (9-7, 9-5), 8 p.m.
No. 7 Newton-Conover (2-17, 2-12) at No. 2 N. Lincoln (14-5, 11-3), 8 p.m.
Thursday, May 2 games
(at Legion Fairgrounds, Newton)
Lincolnton-W. Lincoln winner vs. Lake Norman Charter-Bandys winner, semifinal, 5 p.m.
E. Lincoln-Maiden winner vs. Newton-Conover-N. Lincoln winner, semifinal, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 3 games
(at Legion Fairgrounds, Newton)
Semifinal winners, championship, 7 p.m.
North Lincoln 1, Newton-Conover 0 (Thursday)
The visiting Knights wrapped up a share of the conference crown with West Lincoln by winning their second one-run game of the season.
North Lincoln’s Josh Allen threw a complete game, allowing three hits, and he walked none and struck out four.
The Knights ran their win streak to nine games and improved to 8-3 on the road.
North Lincoln, once 4-3 in the league, won its last seven conference games to share the league title.
West Lincoln 4, Bandys 2 (Thursday)
The Rebels ran their win streak to five games and gained a share of the league title with North Lincoln by winning on the road.
Brandon Lail had two hits and Dylan Burkley added two hits and an RBI for West Lincoln.
Chris Moxley threw seven innings, allowing four hits, two runs (both earned) with one walk and eight strikeouts to outduel losing pitcher Cy Spencer. Spencer went seven innings, giving up nine hits, four runs (one earned) with no walks and six strikeouts.
Sal Ferraro had two hits and drove in a run for Bandys as it tied Maiden for third place in the conference.
Maiden 6, East Lincoln 3 (Thursday)
Ross Fowler had two hits and pitched 6 2/3 innings and scattered six hits as the Blue Devils won a conference game at home that helped them tie for third in the final league standings.
Dylan Abernethy had a hit, two walks and four stolen bases and scored twice to spark Maiden, and Grayson Brown had a hit and scored twice.
North Lincoln 2, East Lincoln 1 (Wednesday)
Seth Whitley had two hits and drove in a run and Joey Cobb, pitching in relief, sparked the Knights to a home conference victory.
Cobb threw six innings, allowing three hits, three walks and striking out four.
North Lincoln scored a run in the first inning and one in the fifth before East Lincoln scored in the top of the seventh to pull within a run.
Allden Horne had two hits for the Mustangs and Jordan Fisher too a loss after going six innings. He gave up four hits, two runs (both earned) with two walks and two strikeouts.
North Lincoln 7, Maiden 3 (Tuesday)
Seth Whitley allowed three hits over six innings and struck out four, pitching the Knights to a conference victory on the road.
Jake Quilla had a double among his two hits and drove in two runs while Sam Brady had two hits and drove in two runs and Jake Soorus had a hit, walked twice and scored twice for North Lincoln.
Avery Scott took the loss for Maiden, going two innings. He gave up seven hits and allowed five runs (three earned).
Abernethy led Maiden with a hit, a walk and a run scored and Grayson Brown added a hit and drove in two runs for the Blue Devils.
West Lincoln 12, Lincolnton 2 (Tuesday)
Dylan Smith had two hits and drove in three runs and Moxley drove in two runs, leading the Rebels to a league victory.
Seth Willis pitched 2 1/3 innings, striking out three, and Smith threw 2 2/3 innings and allowed just one hit.
Willis had a double and a triple as the Rebels won their fourth straight game.
East Lincoln 7, Bandys 4 (Tuesday)
The Mustangs derailed the Trojans’ chances of winning a league title with a conference victory at home.
Graham Smiley went 2-for-3 and scored twice, Garrett Michel had two doubles and drove in three runs, Gabe Duncan had two RBIs and Josh Stephens hit a solo home run for East Lincoln.
Stephens earned a save, going 1 1/3 innings and giving up an unearned run and one hit.
East Lincoln starter Ty Cobb went 5 1/3 innings, giving up nine hits, and he walked none and struck out nine.
St. Stephens 10, Newton-Conover 0 (Tuesday)
Josh Kidd went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs, Chance Benfield added two hits and two RBIs and Owen VanSickle homered and had another hit and drove in two runs as the Indians cruised to a non-conference home win.
Julian Peissel pitched six innings, allowing six hits, walking one and striking out six to gain a win for St. Stephens.
Ethan Hollar went 2-for-3 with a double for the Red Devils, who made five errors.
Bailey Sims took the loss after pitching 2 2/3 innings. He gave up three hits and three runs (one earned).
SOFTBALL
North Lincoln top seed for league tourney
The South Fork 2A softball tournament gets underway on May 30 with North Lincoln (18-1 13-1) as the No. 1 seed.
East Lincoln (13-4, 11-3) finished second in the conference race with Newton-Conover (115-, 9-5) and Maiden (12-5, 9-5) tying for third place.
Newton-Conover gained the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament by comparative records against No. 3 East Lincoln (N-C 1-1; Maiden 0-2).
There is one league game left to be played – Lake Norman Charter at Lincolnton on April 29 – and that will determine seeds No. 7 and No. 8.
The tournament semifinals and championship games are May 2 and May 3, respectively, at East Lincoln.
If rained out, the tournament title game would be played May 4 at East Lincoln.
North Lincoln and East Lincoln have wrapped up the top two 2A bids into the state playoffs.
Admission for tournament games is $6.
SOUTH FORK 2A SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Monday, April 30 games
No. 8 Lake Norman Charter (2-14, 1-12) or Lincolnton (2-15, 0-13) at No. 1 N. Lincoln (18-1, 13-1), 6 p.m.
No. 5 W. Lincoln (8-9, 6-8) at No. 4 Maiden (12-5, 9-5), 6 p.m.
No. 6 Bandys (9-10, 6-8) at No. 3 Newton-Conover (11-5, 9-5), 7 p.m.
No. 7 Lake Norman Charter (2-14, 1-12) or Lincolnton (2-15, 0-13) at No. 2 E. Lincoln (13-4, 11-3), 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 2 games
(at E. Lincoln High)
No. 8 seed-N. Lincoln winner vs. W. Lincoln-Maiden winner, semifinal, 5 p.m.
No. 7 seed-E. Lincoln winner vs. Bandys-Newton-Conover winner, semifinal, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 3 games
(at E. Lincoln High)
Semifinal winners, championship, 7 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
East Lincoln 8, Maiden 2 (Thursday)
The Mustangs (12-4-0, 10-2-0) had five first-half goals to win a conference match on the road and continue in second place.
Rachel Morris and Kassi Kiziah each scored for the Blue Devils (8-6-1, 7-5-0), who are in fourth place, and Shelby Pettit and Brittny Cabalceta each had an assist.
Maiden 3, North Lincoln 0 (Tuesday)
The Blue Devils won a league match on the road behind three goals by Cabalceta.
Pettit had two assists and Providence Reed had one for Maiden.
Goalkeeper Marley Mingus was in goal for a shutout for the Blue Devils.
BOYS TENNIS
REED
Red Devils’ Reid leads All-South Fork 2A tennis
Brann Reid of Newton-Conover has been named the South Fork 2A tennis Player of the Year and East Lincoln’s Rollin Markel won Coach of the Year in voting by conference head coaches.
East Lincoln led the all-league picks with three – Joel Reiter, Nick Colannino and Connor Hall – and Newtoin-Conover had two selections, Reid and Timmy Eustice.
East Lincoln won the regular season title and the conference tournament championship.
ALL-CONFERENCE BOYS TENNS
Graham Warlick, Bands; Joel Reiter, E. Lincoln; Nick Colannino, E. Lincoln; Connor Hall, E. Lincoln; Raghav Sriram, Lake Norman Charter; Kyle Fitzsimmons, Lake Norman Charter; Brann Reid, Newton-Conover; Timmy Eustice, Newton-Conover; Collin Bonner, N. Lincoln; Hunter Hoyle, W. Lincoln.
Player of the Year: Reid, Newton-Conover.
Coach of the Year: Rollin Markel, E. Lincoln.
— Information for the roundup includes reports by: John Markley, West Lincoln head baseball coach; Butch Parker, executive secretary of South Fork 2A; Robbie Abernethy, Maiden baseball coaching staff; Lindsey Presnell, Maiden girls’ soccer; Benny Lytton, Bandys SID.
