Area Sports Briefs: Rowan Legion home tonight, needs one win to clinch division
Published 1:00 am Tuesday, June 28, 2016
From staff reports
The Rowan County American Legion team has three games left in the regular season and needs one win to wrap up the Southern Division of Area III championship and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Rowan (18-8, 6-1) hosts Stanly County tonight at 7 p.m. Mocksville visits Newman Park on Wednesday. Rowan plays Kannapolis at Northwest Cabarrus High on Thursday.
All 13 teams in Area III will make the playoffs, with the Southern Division champ and the top two teams in the Northern Division securing first-round byes.
Prep football
Former Catawba head football coach David Bennett, current AD and head football coach at River Bluff High School, will coach his final season at River Bluff this fall.
Bennett will assume full-time duties as director of athletics for the school district after the season.
Bennett has served as River Bluff’s head coach and athletic director since the school opened in 2013. The football program has a 22-11 record.
Minor leagues
The Kannapolis Intimidators were rained out on Monday.
Kannapolis will play a doubleheader against the Rome Braves tonight, starting at 5 p.m. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. Both games will be seven innings.
Tickets from Monday’s game can be exchanged for a ticket of equal or lesser value for any future Intimidators home game during the 2016 regular season.
Independence Day fireworks are planned at Intimidators Stadium on Saturday, July 2, as well as Monday, July 4.
The Intimidators have activated shortstop Cruz from the DL. Infielder Danny Mendick was promoted to Winston-Salem.
College softball
UNC Greensboro softball’s Sidney Grkman (Carson) was named to the Southern Conference All-Academic team.
An outfielder, Grkman started 37 games for the Spartans in 2016. She hit four homers and drove in 15 runs.
A rising junior, Grkman has a 3.79 GPA in accounting.
Hurley Y Warriors
Hurley YMCA Warriors competed at the USATF State Championships, with top-8 finishers advancing to the regional at Hanover, Md.
• Aubree Cain, 15-16, 4th, 2000 meter steeplechase in 10:26.87,
5th, javelin, 84 feet, 4 inches
• Andrew Burgess 15-16, 1st place, 2000 meter steeplechase, 6:56.65
• Nate Shaffer, 11-12, 11th, turbo javelin, 75-11
This weekend the Warriors will compete at the AAU Junior Olympic qualifer in Charlotte. Top-6 finishers in running events and top-5 finishers in field events qualify for the Junior Olympics in Houston.
College hoops
Wingate men’s basketball coach Brian Good announced the signing of five student-athletes, including North Stanly’s Stephen Misenheimer.
Misenheimer, a forward, was a three-time all-conference, all-county and all-district selection at North Stanly.