From staff reports
Josh Hohn powered a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning to lead Catawba to a 6-5 win against 17th-ranked USC Aiken on Wednesday in Aiken, S.C.
Hohn’s homer followed a single by Ryan Bostian (South Rowan). Chris Dula provided two insurance runs with a double that drove in Keaton Hawks and Julio Zubillaga (Carson).
J.J. Jankowski got the third out in the ninth with the tying run at third base to post his first save. Joe Kase pitched five innings. Clay Watson (2-0) was the winning pitcher.
Catawba was limited to seven hits, two by Brett Underwood.
Appalachian State announced four more commitments Wednesday, including Lake Norman pitcher Taylor Thurber.
College hoops
Pfeiffer’s Chris Woods was named Daktronics Division II Southeast Region Player of the Year and first team all-region. The 6-foot-6 senior averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds.n Livingstone’s women’s and men’s basketball teams were honored Wednesday at a special assembly hosted on campus. The women’s team was recognized for receiving the 2011 John B. McClendon award for sportsmanship at the CIAA Tournament.
Catawba women’s standout Dana Hicks, who averaged 17.2 points and 11.6 rebounds, was a second team all-region pick.
Wake Forest received a commitment from First Assembly junior Codi Miller-McIntyre, who began his career at Northwest Cabarrus.
College golf
Livingstone’s Lawrence McKenzie and Michael Thornton shot 162s for two days and tied for eighth in the CIAA Southern Division Tournament at Fayetteville State. Livingstone’s team finished fifth in a field of 10.
College lacrosse
Presbyterian announced that it is eliminating lacrosse as a varsity sport.
Pro boxing
Dominic “Il Leon” DeSanto (North Rowan) has signed a three-year promotional contract with CES Promotions out of Rhode Island.
DeSanto’s first bout for CES will be April 1, at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. It will be part of ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Pro baseball
Analyst Ron Darling declared earlier this week that Bobby Parnell (East Rowan) is “making the transition from a thrower to a pitcher.”
There’s serious speculation that Parnell will replace Francisco Rodriguez as the Mets’ closer as early as 2012. Parnell pitched a scoreless inning on Tuesday against Houston.
L.A. Dodgers prospect Jerry Sands (Catawba) went 1-for-2 on Wednesday against Seattle.
Kannapolis Intimidators game tickets for the upcoming season, including Opening Day, April 15, are on sale at the box office, by phone or online at IntimidatorsBaseball.com.
Prep baseball
Local baseball games were washed out on Wednesday.
East-Davie was rescheduled for Saturday at Rich Park, with a jayvee game at 1 p.m. and a varsity game at approximately 4 p.m. Salisbury-Carson was tentatively rescheduled for Saturday, March 19, at 1 p.m.
A.L. Brown lost its SPC opener to Robinson 4-0 on Tuesday. Zach Jones and Eldon Peters did the pitching for the Wonders. Robinson’s Brody Koerner, a junior committed to Clemson, struck out 13.
Prep hoops
Eric Alspaugh resigned as South Davidson boys coach after leading the Wildcats to their best season in decades. The Lexington Dispatch reports that Alspaugh plans to attend medical school.
Kim Payne resigned after 17 years at the helm of North Davidson’s girls. North Davidson graduate Kendra Weaver, who has been an assistant varsity coach and jayvee coach, takes over.
Time Warner Cable and News 14 Carolina will televise all eight high school basketball championship games this Saturday.
News 14 Carolina will telecast the 4A championship games live.
The 1A, 2A and 3A championships will be televised live on Time Warner Cable digital channels 519 and 520. The championship games also will be available for viewing starting March 14 on Carolina on Demand — digital channels 199 and 1047.
Prep track
East Rowan’s girls scored 102 points and won a track meet at Mount Pleasant (82) on Tuesday. South Rowan (40) and West Stanly (39) also competed.
East’s Jenna Cauble won the 100 hurdles (18.40 seconds) and 300 hurdles (56.7). Devan Corpening won the triple jump (30 feet, 10 inches). Ashley Brown won the discus (92-1). Melissa Green won the high jump (4-10), and Ashley-Kate Kesler won the 3200 meters (14.57).
South Rowan’s Hannah Houston won the 1600 (6:10.66) and 800 (2:47). Jaquasha Littlejohn was first in the shot put (31-6), and Maria Gaddy won the 200 (28.09).
Mount Pleasant swept the relay events and got first places from Kayleigh Norris (pole vault), Miranda Clark (400), Emily Walters (long jump) and Ally Hunt (100).
Prep swimming
East Rowan’s Sarah Agner and South Rowan’s Aaron Deason were named swimmers of the year in the NPC. South’s Greg Yanz (boys) and East’s John Heidrick (girls) were named coaches of the year.
East Rowan’s Danny Martin, Kyle Fischer, Luke Rary, Agner, Madison Hall, Katie Egloff, Meagan Barbetto, Katelyn Shuping, Hailey Bartleson, Meredith Brown and Samantha Zerger made All-NPC.
South’s Kim Plott, Nicole Mauldin, Brenna Barnett, Deason, Jeremiah Bradshaw, Patrick King, Wayne Burris, C.T. Welch and Caleb Helms made the squad.
West Rowan’s Chris Holmes made the team, along with Carson’s Greg Tonneson and John Patella.
Prep soccer
Carson’s girls evened their record at 2-2 by beating Concord 4-0.
Hannah Elmore scored twice for the Cougars, while Katie Barringer and Hannah Wise had a goal apiece.
Jordan Murdock and Katie Nichols turned in strong field games, and goalie Haley Pitzer earned the shutout.
Prep volleyball
All-county pick Nicole Barringer (South Rowan) will play at Averett next season. A story is upcoming.
Prep softball
North Rowan won 15-0 against Salisbury in a three-inning game. Taylor Sells and Lindsey Hinson combined in the circle for a no-hitter.
Samantha Jacobs tripled, Sells doubled, Kristin Harmon went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, and Anna Lingle had a double and drove in two.
West Rowan beat South Iredell 4-3 to even its mark at 1-1.
Carson pounded West Davidson 11-1 on Tuesday.
South Rowan’s game at Hickory Ridge on Tuesday was postponed.
Northwest Cabarrus is off to a 4-0 start behind freshman pitcher Katie Williford. NWC has beaten Carson, South Rowan and West Rowan and is scheduled to take on East Rowan on Friday.
Gray Stone topped West Montgomery 4-3 for a YVC victory on Tuesday. Katie Kepley struck out eight and was backed by strong defense. Sydney Cole’s single knocked in the go-ahead run.
Middle schools
The Rowan County Middle School Conference seventh-grade basketball tournament was originally scheduled to start Saturday at Knox, but the schedule has been changed because of the two state championship high school games. The tournament is now set to begin Friday at 4:30 p.m.
For information on a middle school volleyball league, go to highrockvolleyball.org or call Carson coach Kelan Rogers at 704-647-1251.
Tryouts, sign-ups, camps
The Phenoms 9th-grade boys travel team tryouts are this Sunday from 2-3:30 p.m.
Skills training will be held from 3:30-5 p.m. for boys and girls (second grade through high school) at Competitive Sports, 625 Corporate Circle, off Julian Rd. Academics and athletics tutorial program orientation will be held Sunday. Parents and student-athletes are asked to attend.
Contact Andre[0xb4]Archie at 704-232-0801 for info and times.n Basketball tryouts will be held starting at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hall Gym for girls ages 9-13.
Tryouts for more “13” girls will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Tryouts for boys ages 9-13 will be held on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and the “13” girls will go at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
There will be a coaches meeting Sunday night at 7 p.m. to prepare for the tournament on March 19 and 20. Contact Tom McDaniel at 704-637-1261 for information.
Extreme Performance will hold another tryout for its 10U baseball team this Sunday from 4-6 p.m.
Catawba soccer day camp dates (full day and half day) are June 27-30. Camps are for ages 5-14.
Call 704-633-3200 for information.