From staff reportsThe American Legion baseball playoffs begin Monday with higher-seeded teams at home for the first game of a best-of-five series.
No. 1 seed Lexington will play host to No. 8 seed Stanly. No. 2 Mooresville will play host to No. 7 Kannapolis. No. 3 Rowan County will play host to No. 6 Mocksville.
South Rowan (10-7) and Concord (10-8) will meet in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 series. South can clinch the No. 4 seed with a win tonight against Rowan.
South and Concord split, and Legion umpire J.T. Bost said the next tiebreaker is total runs allowed in the 18-game division schedule. According to a late-night look at Post records, Concord allowed 124 runs in its 18 division games and South has given up 106 runs in its first 17 division games.
Concord gave up 44 runs during one three-game span. South has allowed double-digit runs three times, including 22 in a loss to Lexington.
* Kannapolis pitcher Ryan Overcash and outfielder/pitcher Jacob Wright were voted to play in Saturday’s Area III All-Star Game.
* Burlington-Graham clinched the Northern Division’s No. 1 seed with a 3-2 victory against Randolph County on Wednesday.
– Salisbury Palomino baseball
Salisbury’s Palimono team won 19-9 on the road against the Greensboro Elks on Tuesday.
Salisbury led 8-1, but the Elks came back to tie it with the help of five errors. Salisbury finally put the game away with a nine-run seventh inning.
“It seems like, lately, every time we get a comfortable lead we get lax and sloppy in the field,” Salisbury coach Scott Maddox said. “Hopefully, we can fix that problem if we want to continue to win ballgames.”
Salisbury pounded out 20 hits, with Dakota Brown and David Ijames collecting four each. Zach Burkhart, Robbie Ijames and Travis Swaim had three hits apiece.
Alex Britt was the winning pitcher for Salisbury (6-1). It plays a doubleheader in Greensboro on Saturday.
– A.L. Brown football
A.L. Brown offensive coordinator Kirkley Russell will be leaving the football program for a position at Rock Hill High in South Carolina.
Russell, who played football and baseball at Salisbury, was with Brown for three seasons.
– Guest speaker at Livingstone
NBA veteran point guard Brevin Knight, who spent last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, will speak to players in the Bobby Jackson Summer League today at 6 p.m. at Livingstone’s New Trent Gym.
Knight has played for several NBA teams, including the Charlotte Bobcats. There is no admission charge for tonight’s event.
– Minor leagues
Brett Bartles (A.L. Brown) had three hits for Billings in a 3-2 victory over Great Falls on Wednesday. His two-run double in the fifth was the key blow in the game.
n Zach Ward (A.L. Brown) struggled in his start for New Britain against Reading on Wednesday. He struck out four in 51/3 innings but gave up nine hits, eight earned runs and four walks.
* Garrett Sherrill (A.L. Brown) pitched 2/3 of an inning in Helena’s 11-10 victory against Pioneer League foe Missoula on Wednesday.
Sherrill entered during a fourth-inning jam. Two inherited runners scored, but Sherrill didn’t officially allow a run. He struck out two and walked two.
– Wood bat leagues
Craige Lyerly (East Rowan, Catawba) is batting .478 for Morganton in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League. He had one RBI for the Aggies in a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Chaos on Tuesday.
* Alex Fairweather (Catawba) pitched a shutout for Asheboro in the Coastal Plain League on Tuesday. He scattered six hits and struck out 10 to beat Outer Banks 2-0.
Ryan Query (A.L. Brown, Catawba) had two hits and one RBI for Asheboro.
* Smith reaches consolation finalLauren Smith (Salisbury) will face Courtney Taylor (Gastonia) today in the consolation final of the Carolinas Junior Girls Championship.
Taylor, the top seed, won the event last year.
Smith shot a 2-over 73 at Southern Pines Golf Club to tie Haley Stephens and Faith Hardison for the best qualifying score Tuesday.
Smith lost 2 and 1 to Anna Martin in a quarterfinal match Wednesday, then won 1-up against Katherine Perry in a consolation semifinal.
– Corbin Hills golf
The Corbin Hill Ladies Golf Association played with a captain’s choice format Tuesday.
The team of Becky Isenhour, Susan Morris and Miriam Gruber took first place.
Anna Robinson, Sheryl Johnson and Eileen Full finished second. Gail Capone, Norma Burgess and Jean Hill finished third.
– China Grove all-stars
The China Grove Cal Ripken League 12-year-old all-stars are participating in the Area III tournament in Davidson County and have qualified to participate in the upcoming state tournament to be held in Catawba County.
Team members are Devin Peacock, Seth Martin, Eric Goldston, Chris Hassard, Tyler Hall, T.J. Brackett, Kameron Sherrill, Gerin Hill, Joshua Bentley, Tyler Fuller, Josh Barlow, Zack Pruitt and Trevor Hall.
– Catawba hoops camps
Men’s coach Jim Baker is directing the 44th annual Catawba Basketball Camp along with assistant coach Bill Haggerty.
Individual camps for boys and girls ages 7-15 and beginners camps for boys and girls ages 5-8 will be held at Catawba from July 7-10and at Concord’s Covenant Classical from July 14-17.Call 704-637-4473 for information or go to www.e-timeout.com to register online.
– Catawba baseball camp
The Catawba Future Stars Baseball Camp for ages 8-14 will be held July 21-24 from 9-4 and costs $195.
Future Stars camps feature individual instruction by Catawba staffers, including head coach Jim Gantt.
Contact Catawba assistant coach Steven Sawyer at 305-360-6699.
– Hoops Umlimited
Applications are still being accepted for the July 7-10 session of the 15th Annual Hoops Unlimited Basketball Camp for rising 2nd-5th grade boys and girls.
The camp will be held at North Hills Christian School.
The cost of the all-day camp is $95 and includes a camp T-shirt and “all you can eat lunch each day.”
For information, contact camp director Rick Roseman at 704-279-7334.