Area sports briefs: Cavs, Cougars get wins

From staff reports

North Rowan's baseball team rallied to beat Providence Grove 9-5 on Friday for a CCC victory.

Matt Laurens and Travis Honeycutt had three hits each to back Patrick Snider's complete game.

Laurens' two-run single in the fifth snapped a 5-5 tie.

"We got behind (5-2) but kept our composure and swung the bats," North coach Rob Linder said.

n Carson won 8-6 at Northwest Cabarrus in a wild NPC game.

Carson got four insurance runs in the seventh. Northwest scored three in the bottom of the inning.

Tyler Freeze hit a solo homer and knocked in three runs for the Cougars. Scott Ashby had three hits to back strong pitching by starter Nich Glass. Will Misenheimer worked the last three innings for the save. Weston Snow had a run-scoring double and made several good plays in right field.

"We hit a lot of balls on the nose, hit it a lot better than we have lately" Carson coach Chris Cauble said. "We needed every run. Northwest kept fighting to the end."

n South Rowan lost to Mooresville 8-4.

Ian Walters pitched a complete game for Mooresville and struck out 10.

"His curveball was magnificent, one of the best we've seen this year," South coach Thad Chrismon said. "He threw it on 3-2, he threw it behind in the count, and he threw it ahead in the count."

Chrismon was pleased with the start he got out of Blake Houston, a lefty who doesn't pitch often. Houston worked five innings.

Recent jayvee callup Cory Deason had two hits and scored twice for South.

Chris Elliott hit a homer for Mooresville.

n Central Davidson won 16-6 in a five-inning affair with East Davidson. An eight-run fourth inning enabled Central to erase a 6-5 deficit against East, which scored all its runs in the top of the third.

Trailing 6-2, Central answered with three runs in the bottom half of the third, then exploded in the next frame.

Logan Clark, Chaz Frank, Cody Beck and Ryne Holmes had two hits apiece for Central.

n West Davidson won 11-0 against Ledford in a five-inning game.

The Green Dragons scored all of their runs in the first three innings. Starting pitcher Jordan Hudson allowed one hit and struck out six.

Hudson (3-for-3, three runs), Zach Burkhart (two home runs, four RBIs, three runs), Alex Grubb (one homer, three RBIs) and Jon Jarvis (home run) did most of the damage at the plate.

n College baseball

Tim Holmes threw a seven-hit shutout as Catawba stayed unbeaten in the SAC tournament with a 9-0 victory against Mars Hill on Friday at Wingate's Ron Christopher Stadium.

The Indians (32-15) face Tusculum today at noon in a matchup of the tournament's only unblemished teams.

Craige Lyerly had two singles as he extended his hitting streak to 28 games. He tied a school record with his eighth straight multi-hit outing.

Ryan Query homered for the fifth straight game and now has 17 for the season. He finished 4-for-5, and Kevin McMillan posted three hits.

Chris Ahearn and Brett Hatley had two hits apiece.

Holmes (6-2) struck out 10 and walked three.

n Micah Jarrett (East Rowan) had two hits for Wake Forest in a loss to High Point earlier this week.

n Prep softball

South Rowan's softball team won 8-6 against Mooresville on Friday.

Taylor Lookabill pitched four innings, and Kim Fesperman threw the last three to pick up the victory.

South (5-8, 5-7 NPC) took control with a seven-run fourth inning. A hit from Lookabill gave the Raiders a 5-4 lead, and Whitney Ashley's three-run double cleared the bases.

Nicole Barringer led South with two hits. Margaret Whitestone hit a three-run homer for Mooresville.

South's upcoming game against West Rowan, originally scheduled for Friday, has been moved up to Wednesday.

n The Raiders fell 7-1 against Northwest Cabarrus on Thursday. Lookabill allowed two runs in relief.

n Lake Norman nipped West Rowan 3-2 on Friday, while Northwest shut out Carson 5-0. East Rowan blanked North Iredell 5-0.

n Catawba softball

Allie Marshall's grand slam with two away in the seventh inning lifted Catawba to a 5-3 win over top-seeded Wingate in a winners bracket game of the SAC tournament on Friday afternoon.

Fifth-seeded Catawba (25-17) and No. 6 seed Carson-Newman are the only remaining unbeatens in a wide-open, double-elimination tournament being played in Hickory.

Callie Gordy singled, Kathryn Geouge walked and Carly Sabat reached on an error to set up Marshall's grand slam.

n College softball

Gina Loflin (West Rowan) had five hits, including her fifth homer, to lead Walters State to a sweep of Cleveland State on Thursday. Erin Foster (West) had four hits in the doubleheader for the Senators.

n Minor Leagues

Three Kannapolis pitchers combined to strike out 16 hitters Friday, but the Intimidators lost 8-0 to the visiting Greenville Drive.

Daniel Hudson struck out 11 in 52/3 innings, including eight in the first three frames, but he took the loss after giving up two runs. The Intimidators (10-6) were held to four hits for the second consecutive evening.

Greenville scored two runs in the seventh and four in the eighth to end all doubt. Leroy Hunt and Tyson Corley also pitched for Kannapolis.

n Middle school golf

Southeast finished with a 165 total and beat Erwin by 14 strokes at McCanless.

Chris Hassard shot 40, including an eagle on No. 7, for Southeast. Matt Yates also shot 40. Church Parks had a 42, and Garrett Yelton carded a 43. Erwin scorers were Chase Cannon (40), Justin Allen (44), Bailey Mesimer (47) and Zach Jones (48).

Emily Cleveland won the girls division with a 53.

n Salisbury Academy, with a 177, topped Sacred Heart by nine shots at Rolling Hills.

Salisbury Academy scorers were Joseph Rusher (42), Isabella Rusher (43), Madeline Hoskins (45) and Gabe Steinman (47).

Medalist Eric Edwards shot a 2-under 34 for Sacred Heart. Other scorers for Sacred Heart were Michael Strobel (47), Spencer Storey (51) and Wally Karutz (54).

n College basketball

Pfeiffer men's coach Dave Davis announced the signing of 6-foot-2 point guard James Morse of Arundel, Maine.

Morse averaged 17.3 points a game to lead Thornton Academy to a state championship.

He shot 43 percent on 3-pointers and was a two-time All-State pick.