From staff reports
West Rowan’s baseball team got a seventh-inning grand slam from Hernan Bautista off flamethrower Matt Griffin, a sophomore verbally committed to UNC, to take a one-run lead, but West Forsyth scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Falcons 6-5 in Clemmons on Wednesday.
“We played pretty good, but it also was kinda crazy,” West Rowan coach David Wright said. “We hit better than in previous games and did it against some really outstanding pitching. Griffin is as good a loose, young arm as I’ve seen in a long time.”
Brantley Horton and Garrett White pitched well enough to win for West Rowan (0-4). White was relieved after the Titans opened the seventh with a homer and a walk, and Brett Huffman allowed the game-winning hit.
Shortstop Philip Miclat had three hits and made a diving catch for the Falcons.
Carlos Bautista, Miclat and Jon Crucitti reached base in front of Hernan Bautista’s slam.
Crucitti had two hits and knocked in West’s first run. Hernan Bautista was 3-for-4. Hayden Untz broke an early dry spell with a double.
n Davie lost to 2A power Orange 14-11 in a wild game played in Hillsborough Wednesday. Alex Newman went 3-for-5 for the War Eagles.
n West Davidson suffered its first loss, falling to 4A Mount Tabor 9-2. Jon Jarvis, Brandon Smith and Jordan Hudson produced the Green Dragons’ three hits.
n Catawba signee Nick Lomascolo threw no-hit ball for 61/3 innings to lead Lake Norman to a 2-0 victory against Ashbrook. Lomascolo fanned nine. Ross Whitley, also headed to Catawba, nailed down the last two outs, both on Ks. Kevin Gradert and Donnie Burt led the Wildcats’ offense.
n In A.L. Brown’s 16-6 SPC loss against Marvin Ridge on Tuesday, the Wonders banged out 10 hits, including four doubles. John Tuttle and Dylan May had two hits each.
Coach Empsy Thompson said the Wonders got solid pitching efforts from Ryan Blackmon and Justin Kidd, but the youngsters got little backing from a porous defense.
Blackmon held Marvin Ridge without a hit in the second, third and fourth innings, but the Mavericks scored six times in the first.
n Cliff Peeler Easter Tournament pairings were released. In the first round on April 10, the matchups are Davie-Lexington, South Rowan-Salisbury, Carson-North Rowan and Forbush-East Rowan.
n Baseball today
Most of Friday’s scheduled baseball games were moved up to today because of weather concerns.
Northwest Cabarrus-South Rowan, West Iredell-East Rowan and Mooresville-Carson, all big NPC games, are set for this afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
Davie and North Rowan will play a jayvee-varsity doubleheader today at North. Varsity should start at 7 p.m.
West Rowan’s game with North Iredell was postponed until April 1.
Salisbury still plans to play Providence Grove Friday in a CCC opener for both teams.
n Prep tennis
Salisbury cruised past West Davidson 9-0, while West Rowan edged North Davidson 5-4. Both stayed unbeaten. See Scoreboard for results.
n Catawba baseball
Catawba senior right-hander Blake Ketner had another strong start, and the Indians won 7-3 at seventh-ranked North Georgia on Wednesday.
Ketner (NW Cabarrus) improved to 4-0. He allowed three runs in 52/3 innings.
Josh Hohn homered for Catawba (10-6). Corey Parker and Craige Lyerly (East Rowan) had sac flies, and Ryan Query (A.L. Brown) had a run-scoring single. Kevin McMillan (North Rowan) had a two-run double in the sixth to push a 4-3 lead to 6-3.
Hohn, Lyerly and Query had two hits apiece.
Nathan Furr got the last three outs for another save. He’s been tough.
n College baseball
Belmont Abbey senior Patrick Atwell (South Rowan) went 7-for-8 in the weekend series with Limestone to boost his batting average to .355.
n BA freshman Caleb Shore (South) is 4-for-9.
n Pfeiffer’s Will Davis (North Stanly) was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Week. Davis batted .571, including a walkoff homer.
The Falcons now are ranked 27th in D-II.
n Lander’s Billy Veal (North Rowan) pitched 22/3 innings, struck out three and allowed one run in Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to Wingate.
n Northwest Florida State’s Keegan Linza (North) lost his most recent outing against Meridian CC despite fanning nine batters in six innings. Linza allowed three runs.
n Charlotte’s Ross Steedley (East Rowan) has an injured shoulder and will likely miss the whole season. He’ll get a medical redshirt.
n Belmont’s Daniel Wagner (South) is eighth in the Atlantic Sun in batting at .435.
n Red-hot Kyle Seager (NW Cabarrus) had three hits for UNC in a 12-3 win against Appalachian State on Wednesday.
n Justin Roland (East) scored three runs for Charlotte in a 13-5 win against Presbyterian on Wednesday.
n Trey Holmes (East) is something beyond hot. He went 4-for-7 with two doubles and six RBIs as Pitt Community College (11-0) swept two from Brunswick CC on Wednesday.
n College women’s hoops
South Carolina State’s Sophilia Hipps (North Rowan) ended her junior season with nine points against Florida A&M in a 54-50 first-round loss in the MEAC tournament.
n Lenoir-Rhyne’s Todd Starkey was named Region 3 Coach of the Year.
n College softball
Morgan Peeler, who started her high school career at East Rowan, is 1-1 with a 3.82 ERA for N.C. State. Peeler lost a start against UMass and pitched five strong innings for a victory against Illinois-Chicago.
n College football
Offensive lineman David Melton, who redshirted last season, was one of the players cited by UNC Pembroke for his strong work during spring drills on Tuesday. Melton (West Rowan) was a Shrine Bowler.
n Catawba football
Added to Catawba’s recruiting class since National Signing Day are Richmond County athletes Sammy Houston and Alex Ingram, Fred T. Foard athlete Alex Miller and North Davidson defensive stalwarts Michael Priest and Rob Creason.
“The two guys from Richmond are clones of (Catawba DB) Terrence Jones,” Catawba coach Chip Hester said. “They’re players.”
Houston and Ingram combined for 15 TDs and more than 1,500 rushing yards for Richmond, which won the 4AA state title, but they’ll likely by DBs at Catawba.
Priest is a good enough athlete that he was one of the better players on North Davidson’s basketball team. Creason weighs 290-plus. He anchored the Black Knights’ line and got looks from FCS schools.
n Prep softball
Heather Suggs, who starred at South Rowan and played at Pitt Community College, is the jayvee coach at South this season.
n East’s NPC home game with West Iredell was moved from Friday to this afternoon.
n Prep golf
A young Salisbury golf team, led by sophomore Roy Dixon’s 34, shot 153 at Warrior and beat CCC foes West Davidson, Central Davidson and East Davidson Wednesday.
Alex Nianouris and Clark Alcorn shot 39s for the Hornets. Wade Butner shot 41.
West Davidson standout Justin Clement shot 34 and shared medalist honors with Dixon. See Scoreboard.
n GARS outing
Sixty-two GARS members played at Crescent on Monday. Low ‘A’ Flight player was Gordon Correll with a net of 66.81. Low ‘B’ player was O.J. Chandler with a net of 66.89. Low ‘C’ player was Norman Schenk with a net of 66.17. Low ‘D’ player with a net of 69.86 was Joe Robinson.
n Senior Club
Kannapolis Intimidators have announced that the Senior Club, which debuted for the 2008 season, will return again this spring. The Senior Club is geared for adults ages 55-over looking for a fun opportunity to get together at a baseball game.
n North Hills baseball
North Hills beat Cramerton 9-3. Justin Barkley pitched a complete game and fanned 12. The Eagles (1-1) play in Asheboro Friday.
n Reporting scores
The most efficient way to report results and top individuals for softball, soccer, tennis, golf and track is by sending an e-mail to sports@salisburypost.com. The fax number is 704-639-0003. Space permitting, results will be on Page 2 the next morning.