From staff reports
West Rowanís Joel Brittain qualified for the 3A individual tennis state tournament by winning twice on Friday in the Midwest Regional at Charlotteís Waddell High.
Brittain defeated Charlotte Catholicís Forrest Boone 6-2, 6-2 in the first round and topped Parkwoodís Giorgi Beridez 7-5, 6-4 in a quarterfinal.
South Rowanís Jared Waters lost to Northwest Cabarrusí Kyle King 6-1. 6-0 in the first round, and A.L. Brownís Fernando Guerrero lost to Statesvilleís Josh Mills 7-6 (2), 6-2 in a first-round matchup.
Two West doubles teams fell in the first round. Ben Wilson-Tyler Mullis lost to Hickory Ridgeís Brendan Deal-Addison Warren 6-2, 6-1, while Chris Holmes-Kevin Robinson fell to Robinsonís Michael Dalton-Andrew Alvarado 6-4, 6-0.
Carsonís doubles team of Frank Thomas-Garrett Thomas was eliminated by Catholicís Matthew Martinez-Zach Sachee.
The 3A individual championships will be decided May 13-14 in Burlington.
Saturdayís 3A results werenít available at press time.
n Prep softball
West Rowanís softball team beat West Iredell 10-7 in a regular season finale on Friday.
The teams tied for fourth in the NPC with 5-7 records. West Rowan wins the tiebreaker by virtue of a season sweep of the Warriors.
West Rowan will go to the 3A state playoffs unless a team seeded lower than the Falcons ó that list includes West Iredell, South Rowan or Statesville ó wins this weekís conference tournament.
The tournament starts on Monday. League champ East Rowan has a first-round bye.
The first-round matchups are West Iredell at West Rowan; South Rowan at Carson, and Statesville at North Iredell.
South has to win Monday to continue its season.
Semifinals are Wednesday at Carson (East plays in the early one at 4:15), and Carson is the host for the championship game on Friday evening.
n Prep football
A committee at A.L. Brown has selected a new football coach after a multi-level interview process.
That coach has accepted an offer and is expected to be approved at Monday nightís board meeting.
n Pro baseball
Kyle Evelandís single up the middle in the ninth lifted the Kannapolis Intimidators to a 5-4 win against the Greenville Drive at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium on Saturday.
Kannapolis trailed 4-2 entering the ninth, but Mike Blankeís two-run single as a pinch hitter tied the game.
n Whit Merrifield (Davie) hit his ninth and 10th doubles for Wilmington on Saturday and boosted the former South Carolina starís batting average to .320.
n If youíre hoping to see teenage phenom Bryce Harper when Hagerstown visits Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium at the end of this month, it could happen, but Harperís bat is pushing hard for a promotion to a higher level. Heís hitting .370 for the Suns.
n College baseball
Catawba (40-13) dropped from second to sixth in the Southeast Regional rankings after losing two of three at Mount Olive and also falling to UNC Pembroke recently.
The six-team regional tournament starts May 19-22.
The only two automatic qualifiers for the regional at this point are Conference Carolinas Tournament winner Mount Olive and South Atlantic Conference Tournament winner Wingate.
The Peach Belt Conference Tournament begins today at Columbus State. The PBC winner will provide another automatic qualifier for the regional. Francis Marion (35-12) was the leagueís regular season champ.
Three at-large teams will be selected by May 15 to complete the regional field.
n The NAIA Bryan Lions finished their season with a school record 31 wins.
Former North Rowan players Billy Veal, Jason Ridenhour, Tanner Brown and Justin Mock boosted the Lions this season.
Veal batted .318 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs. He was second on the team in homers and RBIs.
Brown went 6-4 on the mound, while Ridenhour was 7-4. Mock didnít get to play a lot but batted .333.
n Ross Steedley (East Rowan) is the leading hitter for 25th-ranked Charlotte, checking in at .341, with a homer and 21 RBIs.
Justin Roland (East) has had a tough season at the plate (.225, 24 runs), but his glove has kept him in the starting lineup. Heís started 46 games for the 49ers and has made only nine errors.
Corbin Shive (East) has batted .310 in 29 at-bats.
Freshman Justin Seager (NW Cabarrus) is batting .319 with two homers and a .448 on-base percentage.
n Trey Holmes (East) scored two runs and Preston Troutman (East) scored twice and knocked in three runs in a 10-5 win against Western Carolina on Saturday.
Troutman, a freshman left fielder, is now batting .301.
Holmes, a junior, is batting .273 with five homers and 10 steals and leads the Mountaineers with 35 RBIs.
n Micah Jarrett (East) was batting .386 with four homers and 36 RBIs in the most recent stats available from Pitt Community College. Zach Smith (East) was batting .359 with a homer and 28 RBIs.
n Freshman Jon Crucitti (West Rowan) has played in 13 games for Armyís baseball team this season, after also seeing some action for the football squad.
n College softball
Western Carolinaís Erin Foster (West Rowan) picked up her 23rd and 24th RBIs of the season in a loss to Chattanooga on Saturday.
Morgan Wyatt (Davie) leads the Catamounts with 31 RBIs.
n Middle schools
North Rowanís baseball team edged Knox 7-6.
Brandon White struck out 12 for the Mavericks and also provided the game-winning hit.
n Youth baseball
The Rowan Hawks swept a doubleheader from York Prep on Saturday and finished the season with a 15-5 record.
The Hawks won the opener 4-1, with Dylan Snider, Hunter Shepherd and Ben Shoaf sparking the offense. Shepherd had a double and two RBIs.
Noah Jarrett was the winning pitcher.
The Hawks pounded out a 9-7 win in the nightcap.
Sawyer Strickland and Josh Holt had three hits each, while Jarrett and Pearce Wilhelm had two apiece.
Austin Love went the distance on the mound.
Other team members include Dylan Koontz, Dalton Lankford, Trystan Sebastian and Bailey Lankford. The bat boy is Thaddaeus Lankford.