From staff reports

Salisbury’s baseball team won 10-3 at North Forsyth in a season opener  on Monday.

“I thought we did some things really well considering today was our first time on a field this season,” Salisbury coach Scott Maddox said. “We turned three double plays and threw out two runners at the plate, so that’s a good start.”

Salisbury belted three consecutive homers in the third inning, with Ryan Jones, J.T. Austin and Riley Myers going deep for a 4-2 lead.

North Forsyth led 2-0 early on Salisbury miscues.

Salisbury added runs in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings.

Austin, a transfer, had three hits for the Hornets in his debut. Alex Yang had two hits. Myers and Will Steinman had two RBIs each.

Jones was the winning pitcher in relief.

Harrison Smith started and pitched into the fourth. Austin struck out the side in the seventh to finish the game off.

“I thought we pitched it well,” Maddox said. “Offensively, any time you can put up 10 runs you have to be somewhat pleased, but we definitely have some things to work on. We took too many strikes and struck out too much, but it’s early and you have to expect that. I was pleased with how hard we competed and how focused we were. That’s great to see.”

Weather permitting,  Salisbury travels to Lincolnton Wednesday and Central Davidson on Thursday before playing its first home game Saturday against High Point Central.

Prep hoops

East Rowan’s 12th-seeded girls are back on the road Tuesday at No. 4 seed Asheville Erwin.

They’ll  tip the third round game at 6 p.m. East Rowan is 22-3.

• North Rowan’s boys play on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Forest Hill in a third-round 2A matchup.

• Lexington’s boys won 70-58 against Winston-Salem Carver in a second-round 2A game on Monday.

Lexington hosts North Surry Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Prep volleyball

East Rowan’s Brittany Small and Avery Wright recently participated in the Asics Capitol Hill Volleyball Classic in Washington, D.C.

Their team, Piedmont Mizuno 17, won the gold medal in the 72 team 17U Club Division, defeating the 8, 1, 4 and 2 seeds on the final day in to win gold.

Piedmont Mizuno (20-3) went 10-0 on the weekend. The team is based in Greensboro and is comprised of players from Rowan, Randolph, Davie and Guilford counties.

North Hills hoops

North Hills won 73-70  against Grace Christian in jayvee boys basketball.

Dean Gilmore scored 37 points. Collin Lewis had 14.

• The North Hills varsity boys won 78-74 against  Piedmont Community Charter.

Chris Taylor led the Eagles with 27 points. Leonard Murdoch scored 25. Collin Turner had 16.

North Hills won the regular season and tournament championships.

Local golf

The popular Two-Man Mulligan tournament will be held at Warrior are March 7-8.

Entry is open to the first 64 paid teams.

Hurricanes hoops

The Rowan Hurricanes AAU basketball organization is looking for 4th-10th grade girls and boys to form teams.

The Hurricanes are looking only for serious ballplayers to part of the hurricane family.

Any player interested can contact coach Marcus White at 704-490-5844 or email marcuswhite809@gmail.com.

Hurley Y sign-ups

Register through March 7 for girls volleyball, grades 4-8. Register through March 7.

Register at the J.F. Hurley YMCA or online at www.rowanymca.org.

Contact Jesse Byrd at 704-738-5134 or Jbyrd@rowanymca.org.

Men’s hoops

Sixth-seeded Catawba plays at No. 3 seed Newberry at 8 p.m. in the first round of the SAC tournament on Wednesday.

• GRU Augusta’s Keshun Sherrill (West Rowan) scored 18 points in an 83-76 loss to Young Harris in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.

• Seth Martin (West Rowan) scored 11 points for Catawba Valley Community College in a 74-72 loss to Bryant & Stratton.

Women’s hoops

Radford’s Ayana Avery (West Rowan) was named second team All-Big South Conference on Monday.

Avery, a senior, has made 72 3-pointers this season and is averaging 10.7 points per game.

• Catawba hosts Carson-Newman on Wednesday in a first-round game of the SAC women’s basketball tournament. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m at Goodman Gym. Catawba and Carson-Newman split regular- season meetings with each winning on the opponents’ home floor.

Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $3 for children under 12 of college students with ID. The only passes accepted will be SAC passes. The Catawba Athletic Department will provide free admission to the first 100 students through the gates.

Winners of first round games will advance to the semifinals on Saturday at Timmons Arena on the campus of Furman University. The winner of the Catawba-Carson-Newman game will face either top-seeded Anderson or eighth-seeded Mars Hill on Saturday at noon.

College softball

UNC Greensboro’s Sidney Grkman (Carson)  homered Saturday in an 8-5 win against Iona.

Pfeiffer’s Sydney Poole (East Rowan) pitched a complete game and struck out six in a 4-1 loss to North Georgia.

• Catawba (7-3)  won 3-2 against Bellarmine on Sunday.   Carley Tysinger (5-1) went the distance in the circle and fanned 12.

Gina Gerone had two hits.

College baseball

Catawba won 11-0  over visiting Davis & Elkins in baseball action on Monday at Newman Park.

T.J. Wharton had a homer and a two-run single for Catawba (12-4).

Catawba had 12 hits. Blake Houston (South Rowan) and Grayland Fowler had two hits. Houston picked up two RBIs, along with Kyle Smith.

Russ Weiker got the win on the mound with five shutout innings. He scattered two hits with five strikeouts in improving to 1-0. Ryan Kahny   followed with two hitless innings of relief and fanned two. Bryan Blanton tossed a hitless eighth with three strikeouts and Will Beeson (Davie) had three strikeouts in closing the game out.

The Indians return to action on Friday, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne for a three-game series. The teams open up on Friday night at 6 p.m with a Saturday doubleheader at 1 p.m.

Liberty softball

The Liberty Men’s Softball Church League is looking for new churches to participate.

  They will take teams until March 25,  with the season starting the second week of April.  Entry fee is $350.  NSA rules will apply.  Contact Justin Hill at 704-239-0750 or Genna Livengood at 704-239-6693.  Nights of play are Tuesdays and Thursdays with a full concession stand  available.

East YMCA

The East Rowan YMCA is registering:

•Girls Volleyball, grades 4-8, register by March 7

• Mighty Kickers Spring Soccer, boys and girls, ages 3-4, register by March 21

  • Spring Soccer, boys and girls, ages 5-14. Register by March 21

•  Flag Football, boys and girls, ages 4-14, register by March 21

Register at the East Rowan YMCA or online at www.rowanymca.org

Contact Joe Finney at 704-279-1742 or jfinney@rowanymca.org.

7th-grade hoops

Jay Joseph’s 26 points 15 rebounds and six steals led West Rowan to a 37-23 win over Southeast (0 – 9).

Jalen Houston had six steals for the Bulldogs (7-2) and Quay Weeks had five assists and five steals.

D’Andre Wilkerson led Southeast with 11 points.

West Rowan will play Erwin Tuesday.

NHL: Hurricanes

CHICAGO — Jonathan Toews had two goals and assisted on Marian Hossa’s score as the Chicago Blackhawks rolled to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night.

Brandon Saad scored his 20th to reach that mark for the first time in his career and Marcus Kruger also connected for the Blackhawks, who have won three of their last four. Toews increased his total to 21 goals, trailing only the injured Patrick Kane (27) for the team lead.

Corey Crawford made 27 saves for Chicago and lost his bid for a second straight shutout when Carolina’s John-Michael Liles scored at 4:29 of the third period. Alexander Semin also scored late in the third for the Hurricanes, who snapped a three-game winning streak.

Cam Ward allowed four goals on 18 shots through the first two periods for Carolina, and was replaced by Anton Khudobin to start the third. Khudobin stopped seven of the eight shots he faced.