From staff reports

Carson’s baseball season ended with a 4-3 loss at Lawndale Burns in the second round of the 3A state playoffs on Friday.

The Cougars finished 17-10.

“I’m really proud of this group,” Carson coach Chris Cauble said. “We lost 12 seniors from last year and we only had three  senior this year, but all three of those guys (Heath Mitchem, Matt Saul and Kris Peacock) did a super job for us.”

Trevor Spurling’s two-run double helped Burns (21-3) jump out to a 4-0 lead.

Carson made a comeback in the fourth on singles by Mitchem and  Owen White in front of a three-run homer by Saul.

Mitchem pitched brilliantly in relief for Carson after entering the game with none out in the second inning. Mitchem allowed two hits and two walks in six innings and struck out three.

“Heath gave us a chance and we had a lot of opportunities to tie or take the lead,” Cauble said.

Peacock started and took the loss.

Ryan Bearden and Peacock had doubles.

Carson left two runners on the fifth and sixth.

John Grigg pitched a complete game for Burns. Center fielder Caleb Burnham made a leaping catch  in the seventh on a long drive by Mitchem to help hold off the Cougars.

Burns advanced to a third-round matchup with Cuthbertson.

• CCC champ West Davidson won 2-1 against West Stokes in a second-round 2A game on Friday.

Cason Fowler had two hits for the Green Dragons.

Justin Freeman pitched a three-hitter and fanned 11.

Freeman is 9-0, and the Green Dragons are 21-2.

Prep track

The  2A  North Carolina High School Athletic Association track and field championship meet is set for Saturday.

The championship will be held at the Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T.

The defending 2A champion in the girls competition is Monroe, which won the 2A crown.

  In the 2A boys, North Brunswick won last year’s state team title and was the top team in the 2A East Regional last weekend.  Others winning regional titles last weekend were Carrboro, Forest Hills and Claremont Bunker Hill.

Admission is $8.

Intimidators

The Kannapolis Intimidators have promoted first baseman Tyler (T.J.) Williams to the Class A Advanced Winston-Salem Dash.

  In a corresponding move, Kannapolis reinstated outfielder Hunter Jones from the Disabled List.

Williams, the son of White Sox Executive Vice   President Ken Williams, is batting .341 (14-41) in May, including a career-high-tying seven-game hitting streak earlier in the month.    

  • The Intimidators edged Lakewood 1-0 on Friday at CMC-NorthEast Stadium.

Yencey Almonte, Brad Salgado and Matt Cooper combined on the shutout.

Ryan Leonards drove in the only run of the SAL game in the second inning.