From staff reports
The first annual Rowan-Cabarrus Border Battle Football Jamboree will be held Saturday night at Concordís Bailey Stadium.
Teams will play for a half.
Admission is $5.
At 6 p.m., North Rowan takes on Mount Pleasant.
At 7 p.m., East Rowan faces Northwest Cabarrus.
At 8 p.m., South Rowan tangles with Central Cabarrus.
n Signings, commitments
East Rowan rising senior first baseman Andy Austin has given a verbal commitment to UNC Wilmingtonís baseball program.
n A.L. Brown pitcher/outfielder Zach Jones has signed with Brevardís baseball program.
n South Rowan basketball standout Johnathan Gaddy plans to continue his career at St. Ignatios Prep School in Spartanburg, S.C.
The 5-foot-9 guard will on the prep schoolís post-graduate basketball team, while taking classes at Spartanburg Community College.
Gaddy will gain an extra year to mature physically, enhance his academic qualifications and attract wider recruiting interest.
After a year at the prep school, heíll be able to transfer while still retaining four years of eligibility.
Gaddy had a breakout senior season at South, scoring 20.1 points per game and making the all-county squad. He scored 20 or more points 12 times and accounted for 20-plus points five straight games late in the season. He had a career-best 33-point outburst against talented Statesville.
Gaddyís 462 points during his senior year ranked as the seventh-highest single-season total in South history.
n North Rowan baseball standout Dakota Brown plans to continue his career at Mars Hill.
ěDakota should get a chance to help them real early,î North coach Aaron Rimer said. ěHe was a very good leader for us. When he had something to say, the guys always listened.î
Brown will likely be a second baseman for the Lions, although heís also played third base and shortstop between mound stints for the Cavaliers.
ěThereís not really any position that he canít play,î Rimer said. ěBut heís probably best at second base. He gets to a whole lot of balls.î
A four-year starter for the Cavaliers, Brown collected 95 career hits, including 22 doubles. He batted .345 for his career, scored 62 runs and knocked in 39.
He also won five games on the mound while accumulating 107 strikeouts.
Brownís all-county senior season was his best. He batted .447 with 18 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.
The younger brother of former North and Rowan County Legion standout Tanner Brown, Dakota was the regular second baseman for the Rowan County American Legion team this summer, batting .250 with 18 runs scored.
n Minor leagues
The first-place Kannapolis Intimidators won 5-4 at Hickory in 10 innings, scoring the deciding run on a wild pitch.
Trayce Thompson hit his 19th homer for Kannapolis.
n Daniel Wagner (South Rowan) had two hits for Winston-Salem in a 13-4 loss to Frederick on Friday.
Wagner picked up his 23rd RBI and pushed his batting average to .241.
n Wilmingtonís Whit Merrifield (Davie) had two hits and scored twice in a 9-3 win against Lynchburg on Friday.
Merrifield is batting .263.
n Wade Moore (West Rowan, Catawba) went 1-for-3 and drove in his 32nd run of the season as Hagerstown whipped Delmarva 6-1 on Friday. Moore is batting .209.
n Hudson Valleyís Craige Lyerly (East Rowan, Catawba) went 1-for-3 in a 9-4 loss to Tri-Cities on Friday. Lyerly is batting .301.
n Rudy Brown (South) pitched three innings for Burlington on Friday. He allowed two runs and struck out two. His ERA is 2.87.
n Legion World Series
Midland, Mich., jumped on Eden Prairie, Minn., for six runs in the second inning and romped 16-3 in a first-round game in Shelby on Friday.
Alex Goodwin knocked in four runs for Midland (45-7).
n Will Cox did it all for Tupelo, Miss. (30-9), pitching eight strong innings and driving in three runs in a 6-3 win against Las Vegas.
n Joe Brooks knocked in two runs for Brooklawn, N.J. (45-4), which scored in the ninth to beat Waipahu, Hawaii 3-2.
n The final game of the first round didnít get started until after 10 p.m., with more than 6,000 fans waiting patiently to watch Southeast Regional champ Gaffney, S.C. take on Bedford, N.H. Gaffney didnít disappoint, romping 12-1 behind hurler Kaleb Earls.
n Youth sign-ups
Registration for China Grove youth baseball and softball leagues is ongoing at Daleís Sporting Goods in downtown China Grove.
Baseball leagues are Coach Pitch (ages 6-8), Junior Division (ages 9-10) and Senior Division (ages 11-12).
Softball leagues are for ages 6-7, ages 8-9, ages 10-11 and ages 12-13.
The price is $40 until Aug. 29. After Labor Day, the price will increase to $50. Make checks payable to China Grove Fall Baseball. Contact James Solomon at 704-857-1439.
n Rowan Little League is currently taking sign-ups through Aug. 20 at Godleyís Garden Center for fall baseball and girls softball leagues.
Online registrations are accepted at http://www.rowanlittleague.com.
Fall ball is for ages 3-14. Cost is $30. Games start after Labor Day. Pre-TBall for ages 3-4 is included. Call Wade Furches at 704-633-2873 or Jeff Bernhardt at 704-326-5255.