From staff reports
Ralph Shatterly, who was a teacher, coach and AD for 33 years in Rowan County, will be one of six individuals inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, North Carolina Chapter, on May 15 in Chapel Hill.
A native of Yanceyville and an Appalachian State graduate, Shatterly was a fixture at North Rowan for two decades and later made a major impact at West Rowan.
Teams coached by Shatterly won conference championships in four different decades — the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Known as “Mr. Dependable,” Shatterly also served as a football and track coach, but he’s best known for coaching more than 200 wrestling wins at North. He added another 100-plus victories at West before retiring in 1995.
He guided North Rowan to an undefeated season and the 1968 WNCHSAA championship. One of the standouts on that team, Buddy Lowery, became a Hall of Fame coach himself at Davie County.
This will be the ninth group of N.C. Chapter inductees, with 46 inductees in all.
Prep baseball
The NPC baseball tournament starts on Monday, with higher-seeded teams at home in the first round.
Matchups include No. 7 Statesville at No. 2 West Iredell; No. 6 West Rowan at No. 3 Carson, and No. 5 North Iredell at No. 4 South Rowan. East has a first-round bye.
Semifinals and finals are at West Iredell, with semifinals scheduled for Wednesday and the championship game on Friday.
Four NPC teams make the playoffs. The tournament winner (if it’s someone other than East) earns the league’s No. 2 seed for the playoffs.
South would be bumped from the playoffs if North Iredell, West Rowan or Statesville wins the tournament.
West Iredell and Carson enter the tournament essentially even (they have identical league records and split head-to-head). They have a potential second-round meeting that would break their tie.
West Iredell is seeded second for the tournament because it won a game against East Rowan, while Carson was swept by the Mustangs.
In the SPC, first-round matchups are on Monday, with the semis (Tuesday) and the championship game (Thursday) set for Northwest Cabarrus.
First-round matchups include No. 8 A.L. Brown at No. 1 NW Cabarrus; No. 7 Concord at No. 2 Hickory Ridge; No. 6 Central Cabarrus at No. 3 Mount Pleasant, and No. 5 Cox Mill at No. 4 Robinson.
Five SPC teams get playoff berths.
Northwest already has secured the No. 1 seed for the state playoffs.
The tournament winner (if it’s someone other than Northwest) earns the No. 2 seed for the playoffs.
Mount Pleasant and Robinson split with each other and tied for third in the league, so they enter the tournament even. The same is true for Central Cabarrus and Cox Mill, who tied for fifth place and split with each other. Mount Pleasant is seeded No. 3 for the tournament by virtue of a win against Northwest, while Cox Mill gets the No. 5 nod based on its win against the Trojans.
Mathematically, the CCC race could still end up in a four-way tie for first place. Salisbury plays a huge regular-season finale on Tuesday at East Davidson and will keep a close eye on tonight’s East Davidson at West Davidson contest.
North Rowan plays at North Moore on Tuesday with the winner tying South Stanly for first place in the YVC. The loser finishes third.
College baseball
Brad Bridgeman went 4-for-4 with three doubles and Joe Mangum clubbed a pair of home runs to lead 15th-ranked UNC Pembroke to a 10-3 win over host and 11th-ranked Catawba on Thursday night at Newman Park.
With the win, the Braves improve to 37-10, while the Indians fell to 39-11.
Catawba scored a pair of runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Ryan Bostian (South Rowan) led off with a single and Josh Hohn followed with a triple to put the Indians on top. Hohn scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Dula.
UNC Pembroke broke it open in the fifth, gaining a 7-3 edge. The Braves stretched their lead on solo homers in the sixth and seventh.
Bostian collected two of Catawba’s six hits. Nick Lomascolo (8-3) took the loss for the Indians.
Pro baseball
The Kannapolis Intimidators lost a two-run lead in the bottom of the sixth and fell 3-2 at Lexington in the opener of a doubleheader on Thursday at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.
Kevin Moran (0-2) took the loss for Kannapolis. He entered the game in the sixth to replace starter Steven Upchurch.
Drew Lee hit his second homer and Ryan Buch pitched effectively, as the Intimidators won the nightcap 3-1.
Kyle Seager (NW Cabarrus) was 2-for-4 for Jackson on Thursday and is batting .321 in Double A.
Daniel Wagner (South Rowan) went 1-for-4 for Winston-Salem in a 5-4 loss to Frederick on Thursday. His batting average stayed at .250.