From staff reports
South Rowan baseball coach Thad Chrismon announced Sunday that standout pitcher Matt Miller has verbally committed to Wingate and plans to make things official with the Bulldogs during the early signing period that lasts from Nov. 9-16.
Chrismon said recruiting interest had heated up on the right-handed senior in recent months, and he had several offers on the table.
Miller has won eight varsity games for the Raiders the past two seasons, striking out 88 batters in 892/3 innings. He was South’s ace as a junior and will be expected to continue in that role this spring.
Miller also swings the bat well, although he’ll likely be exclusively a pitcher in college. He was a sizzling 10-for-17 at the plate as a sophomore and batted .333 with four homers as a regular for the Raiders last spring.
South softball infielder Kaitlyn Jones plans to sign with Belmont Abbey during the early signing period. Stories are upcoming on both Raiders.
Local golf
The McCanless Couples played with a two-man Captain’s choice format on Sunday.
Taking first place was the team of Harry Owens-Yvonne Barger.
The pairing of Don Goodnight-Sharon Miller was second.
Mary Seaford won longest putt.
The McCanless Couples are now playing at 2 p.m. on Sunday because of the time change.
Local tennis
Salisbury’s Ben Childress, 7, and Summerfield’s Tyler Juergens, 9, finished second in the boys 10-and-under doubles tournament in a USTA Level 4 event played in Statesville over the weekend.
Childress-Juergens lost in the final 4-2, 4-3.
Local runners
In the USATF State Cross Country Championships held at Hagan Stone in Greensboro, several YMCA Speedsters finished in the top 25 and advanced to regional competition in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Nov. 19.
Times in the 3K for the qualifiers were: Andrew Burgess (11:35), Jonah Evans (12:35), Aubree Cain (15:13), Jaxon Evans (15:18) and Lauren Dorman 16:19.
Speedsters will also be involved in the upcoming AAU state championships in Gastonia.
Men’s college basketball
Barber-Scotia lost to Southern Wesleyan 93-51 on Saturday in a game played at SW’s Tysinger Gym in Central, S.C.
Tyrell Alston led the way for the Sabers (0-2) with 17 points. Carlos Benton chipped in with 12.
David Brown had 20 points for the Warriors (2-0), while Nikola Lambic scored 19.
College cross country
Southern Wesleyan’s Sierra Zemanick (Carson) qualified for the NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Wash.
Zemanick ran a time of 20:05 in the Southern States Athletic Conference Championships and finished 13th.
College volleyball
Catawba’s volleyball team is seeded second in the SAC tournament and plays No. 7 Newberry in a quarterfinal on Friday. The tournament is at Lincoln Memorial.
Averett’s Nicole Barringer (South Rowan) had five digs in a loss to Christopher Newport in the USA South tourney championship game.
Kayla Morrow (South) had five kills, three digs and two blocks for Lenoir-Rhyne in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Lincoln Memorial.
College soccer
Wingate beat Lenoir-Rhyne 4-2 for the SAC tournament women’s championship on Sunday in Rock Hill.
Second-seeded Wingate has won 15 of its last 16 matches.
Anderson beat Lenoir-Rhyne 1-0 in overtime for the SAC men’s tourney championship.
Catawba’s Evan Harvey and Domhnall Minogue made the all-tournament team.