From staff reports
Baseball pitcher Blake Ketner (NW Cabarrus) and volleyball star Melissa Powers received the top honors at Catawba’s athletic banquet on Tuesday.
Powers, SAC and South Region Player of the Year, received the Lomax Award as the top female senior athlete, while Ketner, who has won 29 games, took home the Kirkland Award as top senior male athlete.
Basketball standout Brittany Higgins and baseball catcher/DH Kevin McMillan (North Rowan) won Wurster Awards for team leadership.
Higgins was a three-year captain. McMillan, a former walkon, started every game as a senior and had 10 RBIs in the SAC tournament.
Field hockey player Jill Archambault and baseball shortstop Chris Ahearn were honored for having the highest GPAs for senior athletes. The volleyball squad had the highest team GPA.
Soccer’s Lainey Nichols and football DB Chris Noel earned Darris Morris “Ironhorse” Comeback Awards.
Team MVPs were Ryan Query (A.L. Brown, baseball), Antonio Houston (men’s basketball), Higgins (Women’s Basketball), Olivia Jacobs (South Rowan, cross country), Clay Yarbrough (cross country), Nikiah Knox (field hockey), Jamelle Cuthbertson (football), Eric Schmehl (golf), Kelsey Babos (golf), Marty Tuohy and Johnny Rich (lacrosse), Tyler Held (soccer), Alyssa Schoenberg (Soccer), Ryann Baker (East Rowan, softball), Katie Huff (North Stanly, swimming), Patrik Drakes (swimming), Shahin Soltan (tennis), Steffi Cook (tennis), Melissa Powers (volleyball), Amy Bartram (cheerleading), Jon Plummer (athletic training), and David McDowell (sports information).
– Wingate gets title
Wingate won the Echols Award for overall SAC athletic excellence. Tusculum finished second, with Carson-Newman third. Catawba was sixth.
– Prep baseball
D.J. Webb pitched West Rowan to a 7-5 NPC victory at Statesville on Tuesday.
Zack Simpson got a strikeout for the final out to earn a save.
Hayden Untz led the Falcons at the plate with a 3-for-3 effort. Tyler King and Jon Crucitti had key hits in the seventh. Carlos Bautista had the RBI that broke a 2-2 tie and put the Falcons ahead to stay.
* Maverick Miles hit a pair of two-run homers, but South Rowan fell at West Iredell 9-5 in the NPC.
Dylan Walker, Jordan Corriher, Steve Erwin and Cory Deason also had two hits for the Raiders, but West Iredell’s Josh Clark knocked in six runs.
* Salisbury lost 14-0 at Ledford in a CCC game.
Ledford had 15 hits, scored in every inning and put up five-spots in the third and fourth.
“I don’t have any words to describe tonight’s game,” SHS coach Scott Maddox said. “We seemed ready when we got off the bus but once the game started we had that deer-in-the-headlights look.”
Russell Michalec had two of Salisbury’s five hits.
* Central Davidson pounded North Rowan 16-0 in a CCC game shortened to four innings.
North Carolina-bound Chaz Frank hit a three-run homer for the Spartans in the first inning off Matt Laurens.
Wesley Barker and Patrick Snider had North’s only hits.
* Cory Seager, a freshman shortstop, knocked in five runs to lead Northwest Cabarrus to a 13-4 NPC win against North Iredell. Michael Hagwood had three hits for the Trojans to back the pitching of Graham Lawing.
* A.L. Brown couldn’t take advantage of a complete-game pitching effort by John Tuttle and fell to Piedmont 5-1 in an SPC game that lasted only 90 minutes.
Tuttle needed only 81 pitches, but Piedmont broke through for runs in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. Zach Wright’s double was the biggest hit for the Wonders.
* West Forsyth scored seven runs in the seventh and beat Davie 8-1 in the CPC.
Josh Berryhill took the loss for the War Eagles.
R.J. Reynolds shocked Mount Tabor 3-2 in the CPC.
* Winning pitcher Zach Burkhart and Alex Grubb powered homers as West Davidson crushed Lexington 15-0 to stay perfect in the CCC.
* Phillip Hardin drove in four runs as Providence Grove pounded East Davidson 12-1 for a CCC victory.
– Prep tennis
Salisbury’s boys tennis team, which finished in a three-way tie for first place in the CCC and wound up as the league’s No. 2 playoff seed following a drawing, will send two singles players and one doubles team to next week’s regionals.
Steven Page and the tandem of Austin Flynn-Alan Lebowitz reached CCC tournament finals before falling. Seth Gentry dropped his first singles match but won four in a row from the consolation bracket to also qualify for the regionals.
Page lost 6-3, 6-3 in the championship round to Ledford’s Landon Rogers. Lexington’s Justin Miller-Charlie Jordan won 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 against Flynn-Lebowitz in the doubles final.
Flynn-Lebowitz, who had a match point in the second set of the final, advanced to that round with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Lexington’s Charles Chisholm-Alan Heiss. Page reached the singles final with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Central Davidson’s Elliott Smith.
Gentry’s wins came against Providence Grove’s Ryan Holder (8-0), West Davidson’s Zach Boggs (8-4), Ledford’s Christian Allen (8-3) and East Davidson’s Jason Jaquish (8-1).
Salisbury’s doubles team of Wes McNeely-Alex Weant won a first-round match, fell to Miller-Jordan in the second round and lost 8-6 in consolation bracket matchup with West Davidson’s Andy Myers-T.J. Lane.
Local results are in Scoreboard.
* Salisbury (12-3) will open the dual-team playoffs Tuesday at Southwestern Conference champion Shelby (10-1). Lexington got the No. 1 seed from the CCC and will face a wild card. The CCC is guaranteed only two playoff berths, but Ledford is likely to get in as a wild card.
* West Rowan’s No. 1 singles player Jesse Myers qualified for the 3A regionals at Tuesday’s NPC tournament.
Myers, who had a first-round bye, defeated East Rowan’s Michael Mellinger 6-3, 6-3 and topped Statesville’s Kirk Williamson 6-2, 6-3.
– Prep softball
East Rowan stayed in contention in the NPC with an 11-1, 19-0 doubleheader sweep of Mooresville on Friday.
Haley Barrier pitched a three-hitter in the opener. Chelsea White pitched a four-inning no-hitter in the nightcap.
Ericka Nesbitt hit a grand slam in the second game. White also homered.
* NPC scores: Lake Norman 7, Carson 0; West Iredell 9, South Rowan 4; Statesville 2, West Rowan 0; NW Cabarrus 3, North Iredell 2.
* North Rowan lost to Central Davidson 11-1 in a CCC game on Tuesday.
Marquita Thomas and Kristin Holshouser had two hits each for the Cavaliers. Emily Gobble also hit well, while Samantha Jacobs pitched well against a strong opponent.
– Minor leagues
The Kannapolis Intimidators beat Hickory 4-2 on Tuesday at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
Charlie Leesman pitched seven innings for the win. John Curtis had three hits for the Intimidators (12-7).
* David Thomas (Catawba) hit a two-run homer for Kane County in a 10-6 victory against Beloit on Monday.
Thomas, who is in Oakland’s farm system, has been joined in the Midwest League by Dodgers prospect and former Catawba teammate Jerry Sands.
Sands, who had been in extended spring training in Glendale, Ariz., was added to the roster of the Great Lakes Loons prior to Monday’s game. He played right field and went 1-for-4 in his debut.
Sands hit 10 homers and knocked in 33 runs in rookie ball last summer.
* Ft. Myers lefty Spencer Steedley (East Rowan) pitched two innings and allowed one run in a 4-3 victory against Palm Beach on Monday. His ERA is 0.93.
* Garrett Sherrill (A.L. Brown) returned to the mound for Wisconsin Monday after being shut down for a little over a week.
– Middle baseball
Southeast Middle School’s baseball team won 10-0 against Knox on Tuesday.
Justin Evans and K.J. Pressley had two hits apiece for Southeast (6-1, 4-1). Kaison Denton and Bryson Prugh both doubled.
Devon Peacock struck out six in four innings and got the win.
– AAU track and field
Salisbury’s Marianne Abdallah, 9, won gold medals in the 1500 (5:49) and 800 (2:49) in the bantam division at the Bring the Heat Invitational held at Mallard Creek High on Saturday.
Marianne’s brother Rene, 7, won the bronze in the 800 (3:13).
Salisbury Speedster sprinter Payton Russell won the gold in the 200 (29.73) and 400 (1:12).
Thirty teams and 750 athletes from Georgia and the Carolinas competed in high temperatures.
– Rowan sign-ups
The Rowan County American Legion baseball team will hold sign-ups on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Post 342 on Lincolnton Road. Sign-ups will be for Junior Legion prospects as well. Parents are invited.
For more information, contact Bob Lowman at 704-640-0552.
– Salisbury Legion
Any players from Salisbury High or North Rowan High who would like to try out for the newly formed Salisbury Junior Legion team are invited to an informational meeting Saturday, May 9, at 10 a.m. at the Salisbury High field.
Any player who attends either high school or will be attending either high school in the 2009-10 school year is invited to try out. Players can’t turn 18 during the current year to be eligible.
Contact Coach Scott Maddox at 704-637-0543 or e-mail smaddox660@aol.com.
This team is not affilated with the Rowan Legion Program.
– Kings win regional
The Salisbury Kings 12-under boys basketball team was undefeated in the regional tournament in Pinehurst and will be the No. 1 seed for the state tournament in Hickory.
Players are Bravon Goodlett, Coleman Hayes, Lavon Hill, Celexus Long, Isaiah Little, Marquez McCain, Desmond Millsaps, Damann Millsaps, Jacob Raper, Jalen Sanders and Keldrick Wilson.
Coaches are Chris Phillips, Cedric Phillips, Clifford Long and Jason Hayes.
– West basketball
West Rowan High boys basketball coach Mike Gurley will hold a meeting with rising ninth-graders who will attend West next year on May 12 from 5:30-6 p.m.
* West basketball will hold a fundraising golf tournament at Foxwood on Saturday, June 13. The format is four-man captain’s choice. The cost is $35 per player. Shotgun start at 1 p.m.
Make checks payable to West Rowan High School.
* West Rowan’s Falcon Basketball Camp will be held June 15-18 at the high school.
The camp for rising second-graders through rising sixth-graders is from 9-12.
Camp for grades 7-9 is from 1-4 p.m.
Price is $50 for four days of top-flight instruction and includes a camp T-shirt.
Contact Gurley for information at 704-798-2074.
– GARS
Fifty-four GARS members played at Warrior Golf Club on Monday. Low “A’ Flight player was Winsten Mahaffey with a net of 59.76.
Low ‘B’ golfer was Nelson Earnhardt with a net of 61.17. Low ‘C’ golfer with a net of 62.11 was Harry Agner. Low ‘D’ golfer with a net of 58.91 was Ed Lockhart.
– Local golf
Salisbury’s Allison Lee shot 92-87 ó179 for 13th in the Bell Division of the Peggy Kirk Bell tournament held in Mooresville.