From staff and wire reports
Carson took a 7-2 lead against Concord in the first game of their best-of-three Area III Junior American Legion championship series on Friday, but the game at Mount Pleasant High School was halted by lightning and rain in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The teams will resume Game 1 tonight at Carson at 5:30 p.m. Concord will have a runner at third base with two men out.
After a break between games, the teams will play Game 2 of the series.
Both teams already have qualified to play in the state tournament that begins in Swansboro on July 15.
Chase Earnhardt had two hits for Carson (26-6). Earnhardt and Tyler Thompson drove in two runs each in the early innings.
Carson knocked out Concord starter Cory Mullis in the third inning. He was replaced by Zane Shirah.
Carson scored in every inning, getting two in the first, one in the second, three in the third, and one in the fourth. Carson had six hits when the action was stopped.
Carson pitcher Brycen Holshouser, who had four strikeouts, worked out of jams in the first two innings, stranding four Concord baserunners. Concord got on the board in the third and had scored one run in the fourth when lightning stopped the game.

Carson 213 1 — 7 6 2
Concord 001 1 — 2 5 2

Local golf
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Salisbury’s Logan Shuping missed the cut at the Eastern Amateur Golf Tournament here at Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club on Friday.
Shuping, a freshman this fall at East Carolina, shot a 4-over 74 in the second round on the 6,462-yard, par-70 course. Combined with a 76 on Thursday, Shuping had a two-day 150 score and tied for 114th.
The cutline was at 145 and reduced the elite 168-player field of mostly college players to approximately 80.
Shuping, an East Rowan High School graduate and co-Rowan County High School Player of the Year, had three birdies on Friday, including one on the par-5 18th hole.
Shuping’s future teammate at East Carolina, Jackson Spires, fired a 4-under par 66 on Friday and at 133, grabbed a share of second place. Spires, a rising senior for the Pirates, shot a 67 on Thursday.
Ohio State’s Jeg Coughlin shot a sparkling 65 on Friday to take over the lead. Coughlin had a 67 on Thursday and is now 8-under par after two rounds.
Pfeiffer’s Zach Weaver posted a 73 and combined with his even-par 70 on the first day, made the cut.
James Madison-bound Walker Cress, a Concord High School graduate, followed up his 2-under par 68 with a 72 and also made the cut. Cress offset a triple-bogey 8 on the par-5 3rd hole by stringing together three straight birdies on holes 8, 9 and 10.
Lenoir-Rhyne’s David Donovan IV, who fired a 66 on Thursday, came in with a 71 yesterday and is tied for 10th.

Intimidators
GREENSBORO — Friday night’s game between the Kannapolis Intimidators and Greensboro Grasshoppers was suspended due to rain and severe storms at NewBridge Bank Park.
Greensboro led 2-0 at the time play was stopped in the bottom of the third inning.
The teams will complete the game as part of a doubleheader today, starting at 5 p.m.