From staff reports
Will Collins (Salisbury) broke the course record — by four shots, no less — in a U.S. Amateur sectional qualifier held at Colonial Golf & Tennis Club in Harrisburg, Pa., last week.
Collins, who has completing his degree work at Virginia this summer, hadn’t played in a tournament in a month, but he shot a 60. He made a pair of eagles and fired a 26, 9-under par, on the front nine. He turned in a sizzling 3-3-3-2-3-3-2-3-4 card.
Collins missed a 5-foot putt on No. 18 for a 59.
Collins’ 60 came in his second round of the day in the qualifying event. He shot 5-under 65 in the first round and won the sectional by eight strokes over his nearest competition.
Collins advanced to compete in the 111th U.S. Amateur Championship to be held at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisc., Aug. 22-28.
He told Brad Kane of Harrisburg’s Patriot-News he has no immediate plans to turn pro. He’s scheduled to start student teaching in the Charlottesville area when school begins.
Elliot Gealy (Salisbury) shot a final-round 67 and finished 14-under in the Nationwide Tour’s Cox Classic held in Omaha, Neb.
Gealy made five birdies and one bogey on his final round. He tied for 29th and took home $4,736.67.
The McCanless Couples played a nine-hole tournament on Sunday with a two-man Captain’s Choice format.
First place went to the team of David Huneycutt and Don Goodnight with a score of 33. Gene and Mary Seaford placed second with a score of 34. Don Goodnight won closest to the pin on hole No. 3.
American Legion melee
North Carolina champion Cherryville was eliminated from the Southeast Regional in bizarre fashion on Sunday.
Both Cherryville and Douglasville, Ga. were eliminated from the tournament via a double forfeit after their game disintegrated into a benches-clearing brawl in the third inning.
Cherryville (32-8) had just taken a 4-0 lead when words were exchanged after a play at the plate, and the Georgia catcher Zach Graves reportedly fired the baseball off the back of Cherryville’s Blake Mosteller, who had just scored. Then Graves punched and tackled Cherryville’s Trey Drewery to touch off a melee that brought all but three Cherryville players from the dugout area.
Tournament director Scott Ehret announced the controversial decision to the stunned crowd at Riley Park after umpires conferred and tournament officials made calls to the national office.
In calmer games, Gaffney, S.C., beat Bradenton, Fla. 8-5 and Bradenton stayed alive by beating host Sumter, S.C., 12-2.
Major Leagues
Bobby Parnell (East Rowan) pitched a scoreless eighth inning as the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 11-7 on Saturday.
Parnell (3-4) got the Mets out of a jam against the Braves in the eighth on Sunday — striking out Brooks Conrad on a slider to end the inning — but he allowed the winning run in the ninth on a run-scoring single by Chipper Jones.
Seattle’s Kyle Seager (NW Cabarrus) had two hits against Ervin Santana in a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. It was Seager’s first multi-hit game in the majors. He had singles in the third and eighth innings.
Minor Leagues
Trayce Thompson powered his 18th homer as the Kannapolis Intimidators beat Delmarva 8-3 on Sunday to hold onto first place in the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division.
Sunday was another good day for Hudson Valley’s Craige Lyerly (East Rowan, Catawba). He had two hits, drove in his 10th run and boosted his batting average to .303.
Lyerly was batting at the bottom of the lineup earlier in the season, but he’s now leading off. He stole his 16th base on Sunday and has yet to be thrown out on a swipe attempt.
Lyerly has batted .412 with two homers and six steals in his last 10 games.
Former Kannapolis Intimidator Ian Gac rapped his 29th and 30th homers for Winston-Salem in Sunday’s 8-0 romp against Frederick. Daniel Wagner (South Rowan) had two hits for Winston-Salem.
Bristol’s Keegan Linza (North Rowan) finally walked his first batter of the season on Sunday in a 5-0 loss to Danville. Linza pitched a scoreless inning.
Ryan Query (A.L. Brown, Catawba) had an RBI double to give Rome a lead early on Sunday, but the Braves fell to Augusta 9-4.
Hagerstown’s Wade Moore (West Rowan, Catawba) went 0-for-3 in a Sunday doubleheader on Sunday, but he scored twice and threw out a runner at the plate from left field.
Local track
Rowan athletes turned in more strong performances in the AAU Junior Olympic Games being held in New Orleans.
Payton Russell won two medals in the midget girls division. She was fourth in the 200 final in 26.31 seconds and seventh in the 100 final in 13.14 seconds.
Jaleesa Smoot won a medal in the 400 final in the youth girls division. She placed fourth in 56.13 seconds.
Alex Crook was 17th in the 3000 final in the sub-youth division in 10:51.44.
Knox physicals
Knox athletic physicals are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 11, at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $15.