From staff reports

Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne have shifted this weekend’s SAC series to games on Saturday and Sunday.

The opener between the teams will now begin with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday will have a 1 p.m. first pitch.

Catawba (12-4, 5-3) has been led offensively by the hot bat of T.J. Wharton. Wharton hit .500 for the month of February.

Blake Houston, Dylan Richardson and Will Albertson are hitting well also. Houston (South Rowan) enters the weekend with a .404 average and has swiped six bases. Richardson is hitting .358 with 20 RBIs, while Albertson has connected on five homers with 22 RBIs and a .356 average.

Catawba’s three weekend starters have combined for a 9-2 record. Freshman Connor Johnson(East Rowan) is undefeated in four starts with a 3-0 record and a 2.18 ERA. He has  21 strikeouts.

Craig Brooks and Shaefer Shepard both have 3-1 records. Brooks  has a 1.11 ERA and has fanned 42 batters.

Lenoir-Rhyne (12-6, 4-5)  pounded fourth-ranked Mount Olive 18-8 on Wednesday.

Bradley Rumford is hitting .411 to pace the Bears. David Newcomer has swatted three home runs. Ryan Perkins is batting an even .400 with a team-high 19 RBIs.

On the mound, Thomas St. Clair is 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA. He has 49 strikeouts.

Catawba leads the overall series 122-105 and has a 75-46 edge in games played at Newman Park. The Indians have won nine of the last 10 meetings.

Prep changes

Rain wiped out Thursday’s prep schedule.

Among the reschedules:

Carson-East Rowan SPC baseball will now be played at Staton Field Friday instead of China Grove.

•  Carson SPC baseball, soccer, tennis and softball against Central Cabarrus were pushed back to Monday.

• South Rowan-NW Cabarrus baseball, softball and soccer were all moved to Saturday at South Rowan. South Rowan-A.L.  Brown baseball will be rescheduled.

SR varsity baseball is at 2 p.m. Saturday, following the jayvee action.

Catawba tennis

Catawba’s tennis teams lost to Wingate on Wednesday.

The Catawba women (4-5) lost 9-0, while the men (5-4) fell 8-1.

Women’s hoops

Jessica Heilig (Salisbury) scored 18 points as Gardner-Webb beat Radford 70-56 in a Big South Tournament quartefinal game on Thursday.

Ayana Avery (West Rowan) scored 11 for the Highlanders.

• Kelly Dulkoski (Car

son) made five 3-pointers   and scored 19 points for Kennesaw State in a 75-57 win against Lipscomb to close the regular season.

Kennesaw State plays in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament on Friday.

• Catawba plays at noon Saturday in Greenville, S.C., against Anderson in a tournament semifinal.

• Karleigh Wike (East Rowan) had four rebounds, two points and a block to help Richmond beat UMass 67-63 in the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament on Thursday.

•  Morehead State’s Shay Steele (West Rowan) had seven points and 10 rebounds in a season-ending  81-66 loss to Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Steele, a sophomore, averaged 13.8 points and 6.1 rebounds and was second in the league in blocked shots.

• Charlotte’s Ayanna Holmes (Salisbury) had seven points and six assists in Thursday’s 80-72 loss at  Western Kentucky.

West Junior Legion

An informational meeting for players and parents interested in the West Rowan Junior Legion program will be held on Sunday, March 8, at 4 p.m. at the school library

The Junior Legion baseball team is for players born on Jan. 1, 1998, or later.

The head coach for the team is Jesse Link.

He’s assisted by Scott Graham and Jeff Link.

Call Jeff Link 704-310-6529 or Jeff Bernhardt 704-326-5255.

Racing

Five Divisions of  racing will be held at Millbridge Speedway on opening day — March 11.

Pro baseball

Single-game tickets to see the Kannapolis Intimidators go on sale on Monday, March 16, at noon.

Tickets for all 70 home games will be available at the F&M Bank Box Office or over the phone Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling (704) 932-3267. Tickets can be ordered at anytime online at IntimidatorsBaseball.com.

Season tickets for the  2015 season are available for $320 for all 70 home games.

The Intimidators open the 2015 season on Thursday, April 9, in Lakewood, N.J.

The team’s first home game at CMC-NorthEast Stadium is on Thursday, April 16, against the Hickory Crawdads.

7th-grade hoops

Tyler Johnson scored 14 points and Brandon Jefferson had a double-double as Erwin’s boys beat China Grove 39-20.

Erwin is at Knox on Monday.

• Knox won 40-36 against West Rowan’s boys.

Xavier Kesler led Knox with 19 points.

  Laron Blackwell had nine points and Jabril Norman had  eight for the Trojans.

Jay Joseph had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (8-3).  Quay Weeks had 12 points and five assists, and Jalen Houston had eight points and seven rebounds for West.

West Rowan will play China Grove on Monday.

Parks and Rec

Salisbury Parks and Recreation is accepting teams wanting to play in  a men’s preseason softball tournament and men’s spring softball league.

The tournament starts March 16, while the league starts April 13.

The coaches meeting is March 12 at 6 p.m. at Hall Gym.

Teams can register online at www.salisburync.gov/play. Call 704-216-2709.