Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager had a bat fly out of his hands and into the stands when he took a swing in a game at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.
Surprisingly, the bat was returned to him. Usually, fans keep them as souvenirs.
Seager recently got a letter, scrawled on school notebook paper, from an 11-year-old Astros fan named Lyle Raymond. Seager’s wayward bat had landed on the youngster, who wasn’t hurt.
Seager’s wife, Julie, posted the boy’s letter on Twitter.
“My name is Lyle Raymond. Your bat landed on me. I am OK. Thanks for giving me the thumbs up when you were on first base. I like the Astros but will cheer you on too. I gave back your bat because you had a big hitting streak with that bat. I hope you have more hits with that bat. Your fan, Lyle.”
Seager, a 25-year-old Kannapolis native who lives in Granite Quarry, is having a stellar season.
Seager entered Monday’s late game with a .296 batting average. He has 17 homers, 27 doubles and 51 RBIs.
Jacob May homered and Tony Bucciferro and J.B. Wendelken combined on a shutout to lead the Kannapolis Intimidators to a 3-0 win at Greenville on Monday.
• Jerry Sands (Catawba) had a triple for Indianapolis in a 6-4 International League loss to Louisville on Monday.
• Nick Lomascolo (Catawba) is 1-2 with a 4.32 ERA for the Johnson City Cardinals.
Lomascolo’s most recent outing was Friday. He started, pitched four innings and allowed one earned run.
• Jordan Jankowski (Catawba) is 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA for Quad Cities in Class A ball.
He’s working mostly in short relief now and turned in a scoreless inning Saturday with two strikeouts.
Jankowski’s strikeout/walk ratio of 83:17 is outstanding.
Michael Childress, 13, shot 76 and finished third in the 12-13 division in a Tarheel Youth Golf Association event held at The Club at Irish Creek.
Ben Childress, 9, shot 41 for nine holes and finished third in the 11-under division.
Both Childress brothers will play in the Tournament of Champions next week at Pinewood Country Club in Asheboro.
• Grace Yatawara shot 85 at Irish Creek and finished second in the 12-18 girls division.
• Logan Shuping shot 75 and tied for fourth in the 14-15 division. Bobby Bauer shot 78 to tie for 11th, and Chris Queen shot 86 to tie for 21st.
Concord’s Walker Cress shot 72 and tied for first.
• In the 16-18 division, Hunter Chapman shot 84 to tie for 20th, and Josh Pope shot 85 to tie for 22nd.
• The McCanless Couples played a Captain’s Choice format on Monday.
The winning team was David Huneycutt, Paul Hill Jr. and Ty and Bev Cobb.
The second-place team was Ricky Honeycutt, Robin Leslie, Frank Foster and Phyllis Myers.
Foster won longest putt.

Pfeiffer men’s basketball coach announced the signing of 5-foot-9 Mike Smith, who scored 2,256 points and 450 steals in his career at Dunbar High in Lexington, Ky.
Smith was all-city three times and third-team All-State.
Smith is praised as an exceptional defender as well as scorer.
Smith joins a recruiting class that also includes Connor Dahn, Charlie Wagoner and Xavier Evans.
Pfeiffer coach Jeremy Currier returns four starters and 11 lettermen.

Southeast Middle School softball tryouts will be on Aug. 19 from 2:30-4 p.m.
Players must have a current physical and proof of insurance before they can try out.
The 13th Salisbury-Rowan Sports Hall of Fame inductions are set for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, at the Salisbury Civic Center.
Greg Poole, Antione Sifford, Justus Everett, Brian Boltz, the late Bill Peeler and the late Jesse Corry Jr. will be the inductees.
Corry will be the recipient of the Horace Billings Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rowan Little League is accepting sign-ups at Godley’s Garden Center through Aug. 24 for fall baseball and girls softball leagues.
Online registrations are accepted at http://www.rowanlittleleague.com.
Fall ball is for ages 3-14. The cost is $50. Baseball age is as of April 30, 2014, while softball age is as of Dec. 31, 2013. Games begin after Labor Day. Contact Wade Furches at 704-633-2873 or Jeff Bernhardt at 704-326-5255 for information.
• Spencer Little League will be holding registration at the 8th Street Ballpark in Spencer on Friday, Aug. 9, from 4-7 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 10, from 9 until noon.
Registration is $25 per child. Also registration can be made online at www.playspencerlittleleague.com.
• China Grove youth baseball and softball registrations will be taken at Dale’s Sporting Goods in China Grove until August 15.
Fees are $40 until August 15. Leagues offered are 5/6 Coach Pitch; 7/8 Coach Pitch; 9/10 baseball, and 11/12 baseball. Softball leagues are 5/6/7; 8/9/10 and 11/12/13.
Contact James Solomon at 704 857-1439 or e-mail: ymcanewhouse@yahoo.com.
Returning South Rowan reserved seat ticket holders for football have first option to purchase their tickets again through Aug. 8 in the main office from 11-1 or 6-8.
If these times are not convenient, please contact Angie Chrismon at 704-640-8640.
Five regular-season home games are included in the $35 price. Remaining seats will go on sale to the general public beginning Saturday, Aug. 10, at 6 p.m., in the stadium during the “Meet the Raiders” picture day.
Anyone interested in reserved parking can contact Ann White at 704-857-5159.

Salisbury Parks and Recreation is accepting registrtation for teams for its men’s fall softball league.
The league is scheduled to start in mid-August. Call 704-638-5289.
or email sclar@salisburync.gov.