From staff reports
Former West Rowan star Scooter Sherrill has announced that the Throwback Alumni Basketball Tournament will be returning to Rowan for its third year.
Games will be played at Carson High on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The championship game is set for 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Sherrill, Donte Minter, Jamel Carpenter and Terris Sifford are among the standouts expected to perform for the West Rowan alumni squad, which has won both previous events.
Marvin Dixon and Leonard Owens are expected to lead a strong Salisbury team. Carlos Dixon will again pace South Rowan. North Rowan will bring back a group headed by Bryan McCullough and Jimmy Kesler.
Eight teams will compete for the alumni championship, with the six county schools joined by entries from A.L. Brown (led by Avery Patterson) and North Meck (led by Titus Ivory).
Two alumni girls all-star games are also planned for the big weekend. Shayla Fields, Janetta Heggins , Donna Carr, Rashonda Mayfield, Latoya Ramsey and many other former stars are expected to play.
Admission will be $5 per day.
The tournament schedule is in Scoreboard.
Sherrill and Andre McCain, who also starred at West, will hold a clinic on Thursday and Friday at Carson from 9-4 p.m.
The cost is $60 per camper. Registrations will be accepted at the door. Lunch will be provided. Doors open at 8 a.m. for early drop-off.
American Legion
Final stats for the Rowan County American Legion season are in Scoreboard.
This season didn’t create a lot of additions to the all-time record book, but center fielder Will Sapp, a three-year starter, did make the program’s all-time list for career runs scored (19th with 119), career doubles (tied for 12th with 32) and career steals (tied for 11th with 44).
Avery Rogers, another three-year player, also turned in a very noteworthy summer.
Rogers, a pitcher/third baseman who will soon start his sophomore year at Guilford, led the team in batting average (.309) and hits (43), as well as wins (five), ERA (0.62) and strikeouts (55). He tied for first with two saves.
Rogers’ ERA was one of the best in program history and he averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
Rogers finished the season on a roll at the plate to end up as Rowan’s leading hitter. He was 9-for-13 in the last three games of the Area III semifinal series with High Point.
The list of players who led Rowan in hitting and pitching categories in the same season is relatively short, but Rowan had two this year. Jared Mathis led the club in innings pitched (592/3) and homers (three) and tied for the lead in triples with two.
Also notable were the 20 steals by Brian Bauk in a 40-game season, and the eye-popping numbers out of the bullpen that were posted by Alex Bost. Bost (3-0) fanned an astounding 48 batters in 261/3 innings — 16.4 per nine innings.
Chance Bowden, despite missing the last 15 games with a wrist injury, drove in 24 runs and finished second on the team. Ashton Fleming led in RBIs with 26.
Many of Rowan’s players will compete in college ball next season, including Rogers, Sapp (Wingate), Bost (Catawba), Fleming (Surry Community College), Chase Hathcock (Lenoir-Rhyne), Ethan Free (Catawba), Nathan Fulbright (Guilford) and Alex Morgan (Methodist).
High Point (27-7) smacked Randolph 9-4 on Monday night at McCrary Park in the opening game of the Area III championship series.
Randolph is 30-7.
The teams meet at Finch Field tonight.
A day off is scheduled Wednesday, and the teams will play at McCrary Park on Thursday.
Junior Legion
The Post 66 Mooresville Moors are one of two teams remaining in the Junior Legion state tournament being held in Swansboro.
Mooresville advanced on Monday with a 12-0 romp against Caldwell County behind a no-hitter thrown by Caleb Poteat, a 6-foot-2 rising sophomore at Lake Norman High.
Mooresville plays Cary today at 10 a.m.
Cary is still undefeated in the double-elimination event, while Mooresville lost earlier to Cary.
If Mooresville wins at 10, it will play Cary again at 1 for the championship.
Local golf
The first round of a two-round sectional qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Championship was held at Warrior on Monday.
Players are competing for five qualifying spots and two alternate positions. The championship will be held in Colorado Aug. 13-19.
Stefan Brewer (Charlotte), Isaac Spencer (Winston-Salem), Michael Mullman (Charlotte) and Spencer Lawson (Davidson) led Monday qualifying with 65s.
The cutline fell at 73. Forty-seven golfers advanced to today’s play, which begins at 7:30 a.m.
Local players who advanced included Andrew Purcell (72), Roy Dixon (72) and Eric Edwards (73).
Edwards made a hole-in-one on the 223-yard No. 12 hole with a 4-iron.
Area players who didn’t make the cut included Keith Dorsett (76), Alex Nianouris (77), Davis Richards (78), Andrew Morgan (81) and Nick Buckwell (83).
The McCanless Couples played three-person Captain’s Choice on Sunday. Winning team members were Gene Seaford, Robin Leslie and Tim Earnhardt. Second place went to Cliff and Eileen Full and Carlos Garcia.
Closest to the pin on No. 3 was won by Ricky Honeycutt. The longest putt on No. 5 was won by Cliff Full.
Minor leagues
The Kannapolis Intimidators won 6-3 at Savannah on Monday.
Martin Medina hit his second homer. Joey DeMichele tripled and knocked in two runs. Garis Pena had three hits.
The winning pitcher in relief was Mitch Mustain, a new addition to the Intimidators. Mustain was a college quarterback at Arkansas and Southern Cal.
Jerry Sands (Catawba) had two hits for Albuquerque in a 3-1 win against Iowa on Monday in Pacific Coast League action.
Rudy Brown (South Rowan) pitched a scoreless ninth inning on Monday in Kane County’s 5-1 Midwest League loss to Dayton.
Brown lowered his ERA to 2.53 and has a string of six straight scoreless outings.
Brown, 24, has struck out 19 while walking three in 211/3 innings.
After seven starts with Great Falls in the Pioneer League, Keegan Linza (North Rowan) is 2-0 with a 4.59 ERA. He’s struck out 26 while walking three in 331/3 innings.
Corey Seager, 18, has held his own so far in the advanced rookie Pioneer League, which is made up mostly of players with three or four years of college experience.
A first-round draft pick by the L.A. Dodgers, Seager is batting .278 after 14 games and has six RBIs. He hasn’t hit a home run yet. His contact rate has been pretty good. He’s struck out seven times in 54 at-bats.
Whit Merrifield (Davie) had two hits for Wilmington in a 10-5 Carolina League loss to Frederick on Monday.
Daniel Wagner (South) is back in the Carolina League with Winston-Salem after spending some time at Double-A Birmingham.
Wagner batted .270 in 63 at-bats at Birmingham.
He helped Winston-Salem romp 12-3 on Monday against the Carolina Mudcats with three hits, including two doubles.
Sacred Heart camps
Sacred Heart is offering a basketball mini-camp for boys and girls on Aug. 15-17. Camp is from 3-5 p.m. for grades 3 through 5 and from 5-7 p.m. for grades 6-8.
Registration fee is $25.
Cheerleading mini-camp is offered on Aug. 14-16 for kindergarten through fifth grade. Camp is from 1-3 p.m. Registration is $25.
A soccer Skills & Drills camp is offered on Aug. 10. The camp is open to all.
The camp is for kindergarten through third grade from 8-11 a.m. and for grades 4-8 from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
The registration fee is $10.
Contact Sacred Heart AD Katie Meseroll to register or for more information at kmeseroll@salisburycatholic.org or (704) 633-2841, ext. 214.
College hoops
Pfeiffer’s men’s basketball program has announced the hiring of assistant coach Shawn McCullion.
McCullion has been an assistant at Newberry the past two seasons under former Pfeiffer head coach Dave Davis.
East cross country
East Rowan’s boys and girls cross country teams will hold their first practice Monday, July 30, at Dan Nicholas Park.
Meet at the front entrance at 9 a.m. A valid physical is required to practice.
Contact boys coach Rick Roseman at 704-279-7334 or girls coach Jon Heidrick at 704-279-0386.