From staff reports
Catawbaís baseball team is nationally ranked in two preseason Division II polls that were released this week.
Catawba, 41-15 last season, is ranked 25th in the College Baseball Lineup poll and 18th by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
College Baseball Lineup picked West Florida No. 1, while Collegiate Baseball Newspaper put Francis Marion on top.
Anchored by an experienced pitching staff, Catawba will likely be favored in the SAC race.
Catawba opens Feb. 3-5 at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium with games against Belmont Abbey, Mars Hill and Pfeiffer.
The earliest game at Newman Park is on Feb. 11 against Shippensburg.
n Thereís some speculation out of Los Angeles that former Catawba hero Jerry Sands could open the 2012 season in Triple A.
Sands, 24, had four homers, 15 doubles and 26 RBIs in 61 games with the L.A. Dodgers after battering minor league pitching.
The Dodgers re-signed Juan Rivera, a potential starter in left field, last month, and are having discussions with free-agent outfielders, including Coco Crisp.
n Womenís basketball
Radford freshman Ayana Avery (West Rowan) scored a season-high 21 points in an 81-68 loss to Davidson on Thursday.
Avery had a sensational shooting game ó 8-for-10, including 5-for-6 on 3-pointers.
Radford freshman Ashia Holmes (Salisbury) made her only field-goal attempt and picked up two assists in 13 minutes.
n Charlotteís Ayanna Holmes (Salisbury) scored four points on 2-for-3 shooting and played 21 minutes in an 87-63 win against North Carolina A&T on Wednesday.
n Gardner-Webb freshman Jessica Heilig (Salisbury) pulled down eight rebounds in a 76-65 loss to Lipscomb.
n Shemieka Brown (North Rowan) scored 14 points and had five rebounds for Shaw in a 73-65 loss to Arkansas-Fort Smith. Brown scored eight points in an 80-74 win against Palm Beach Atlantic.
n DeíRya Wylie (Salisbury) pulled down five rebounds in 14 minutes of action as Elizabeth City State beat Bloomfield 62-58.
n George Washingtonís Shi-Heria Shipp (Salisbury) scored 10 points in a 70-62 loss to Loyola.
n Tallahassee Community Collegeís Bubbles Phifer (Salisbury) scored 16 points in a 55-53 loss to St. Petersburg that ended pre-Christmas activity for the Eagles. Phiferís team is ranked fifth in the junior college ranks.
n Katelynne Poole (East Rowan) has played in five games for Brevard and has scored 12 points.
n Menís basketball
Darius Moose (Carson) is averaging 11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds for Brevard.
n K.J. Sherrill (West Rowan) averages 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds for Charlotte. Heís blocked five shots.
n Kaleb Kimber (West) has played in 10 games for Rio Grande and averages 3.6 points per game.
n Alex Weant (Salisbury) has played in three games for Roanoke and is averaging 2.7 points per game.
n Drew Absher (Davie) has played in five games for VMI this season.
n Pro basketball
Carlos Dixon (South Rowan) scored 35 points in his last two games in Japan before the Christmas break. Dixon helped Fukoka Rizing rout the Iwate Big Bulls twice.
n Bryan McCullough (North Rowan) is playing for the Halifax Rainmen in Canada.
He scored nine points in a 93-92 win against Quebec on Friday.
n Prep wrestling
North Rowan wrestlers, led by Will Robertsonís second-place finish, placed sixth in the prestigious King of the Mat Tournament held at North Davidson. Parkland won the event. East Rowan was 25th, South Rowan was 27th, and Davie was 29th.