From staff reports

ELKIN — West Rowan’s baseball team built an 8-0 lead early and  went on to beat Elkin on Thursday, 13-4, in non-conference play.

Cullen Davis dominated on the mound for two innings with six strikeouts.

Jake Perez struck out the side in his one-inning relief stint.

Steven Smith had three hits and scored three runs.

Daniel Durham had two hits and drove in two. Cade Bernhardt had two RBIs. Carsen Bailey went 3-for-3.

West (3-0) had 12 hits.

•••

NORWOOD — North Rowan lost to South Stanly, 8-3, in Yadkin Valley Conference baseball on Thursday.

Chase Shoaf, Jonathan Spry and Charlie Durham had two hits each for the Cavaliers (0-2, 0-1).

Bryan Lawson took the loss on the mound.

•••

THOMASVLLE — Jarrid Nelson pitched six dominant innings of relief and drove in the deciding run as South Rowan beat East Davidson 3-1 in 12 innings on Wednesday.

Eli Hiskey, Nelson and Nathan Chrismon led South’s offense.

Sophomore Luke Hiskey pitched well for the first six innings and gave South a chance to win.

•••

LANDIS — South Rowan lost to Ledford, 8-4, on Thursday in another Central Carolina Conference game.

“They hit us with  a pretty good punch early (a five-run first inning), but we showed some resilience,” South coach Thad Chrismon said. “We fought back and we made it a baseball game. If we play like we did tonight,  we’ll win a good portion of our games.”

South (2-2, 2-2) got two hits from Andrew Jones. Kory Moss, Chrismon and  Kane Kepley drove in runs for the Raiders.

Sophomore Jack Weaver pitched into the sixth inning, but took the loss.

Chris Villaman homered for Ledford, while Will Bethune pitched six strong innings.

•••

NORWOOD — Jake Hunter fanned 11 batters in five innings, as East Rowan rolled to a 7-0 win at South Stanly on Wednesday.

Hunter (1-0) has struck out 23 batters (with only one walk)  in nine innings so far. Corbin Durham also was sharp on the mound with four strikeouts in two innings.

Offensively, the good news for the Mustangs (3-1) was the return to the lineup of Wayne Mize, who has been out after breaking his nose in a collision. Mize, a terror for East last season, drove in his first run of 2019.

•••

KANNAPOLIS — In a South Piedmont Conference game played on Thursday, A.L. Brown beat Northwest Cabarrus 11-3.

Antonio Knight scored three runs for the Wonders (2-2, 1-2). Jacob Baucom homered and drove in three runs.

HS basketball

A.L. Brown’s Amare Haynie, Amari Grier and Kheni Briggs made the All-SPC team.

HS tennis

Salisbury’s undefeated boys tennis team won against eighth-ranked West Davidson, 7-2, in Central Carolina Conference action on Thursday.

Roarke Burton, Ethan McGee, Jander Rodas-Palacios, Leo Schiavanato and Juan Salazar won singles matches for the Hornets.

McGee/Schiavanato and Rodas-Palacios/Salazar took doubles matches for the Hornets, who took over first place in the CCC.

•••

North Rowan lost to North Moore in Yadkin Valley Conference tennis, 5-4, on Thursday.

Winning in singles for North Rowan were Hans Roemer and J.D. Hager.  Winning in doubles were the teams of Roemer/Hager and Arizona Day/Lee Patterson.

HS softball

MOUNT ULLA — West Rowan lost to Hickory Ridge in a non-conference game on Thursday, 4-3.

Cori Henderson hit a home run for the Bulls, who held off a seventh-inning rally by the Falcons.

Whitley Arnott struck out 14 for the Falcons (1-1).

Taylor Walton had two hits and drove in all three West runs. Kenadi Sproul scored two runs.

HS soccer

West Rowan tied Central Davidson on Thursday, 2-2, in a non-conference game.

Both West goals were scored by Lejla Mehmedovic.  Stellar games were played defensively  by Bri Saelinger. Kacy Cole. Karis Allred. Haley Foster and Jillian Brown.  Ryley Corriher had 14 saves.

•••

East Rowan’s soccer team defeated West Stanly on Thursday, 5-1, in a non-conference match.

Jessie Jones, Alix Vazquez, Morrigan Wilhelm, Jackie Lowry and Stephanie Kidd all scored for the Mustangs.

•••

SALISBURY — Salisbury  (3-0, 2-0) took a 6-0 win over Thomasville  on Thursday at Ludwig Stadium. Caroline Colwell and Lila Harry (a senior) scored their first goals of the season. Sophie Chmiel scored her first career goal. Piper Muire scored twice and Sutton Webb also scored for the third straight game.

Lillie Rusher led the Hornets with three assists. Madelyn Hlavacek and Olivia Dagenhart also had assists.  Caroline Clark recorded her third consecutive shutout.

“I have been fortunate to have a large number of selfless players throughout my tenure at SHS,” Salisbury coach Matt Parrish said. “It is really a blessing when your best players are also your most unselfish players. After logging heavy minutes lersus West Davidson, many starters got some rest and all reserves saw quality minutes tonight. It was awesome to watch some of our more recognized players working to get those individuals involved throughout the match. I truly believe it will make them all better players and us a better team in the long run.”

Next up for SHS is another conference match at home Monday night vs. Lexington. Game time is  6 p.m.

Catawba HOF

  The Catawba College Sports Hall of Fame will induct five new members in its Class of 2019 during a dinner ceremony on Nov. 15.

The new inductees include Maher Atta (soccer), Paige Haverty Stalcup (golf), Radell Lockhart (football), Melissa Schiffel (swimming) and David Thomas (baseball).

SAC basketball

Catawba senior Jameel Taylor was named the South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday.

   Queens forward Shaun Willett is the league’s player of the year, while Tusculum’s Trent Gibson is the   freshman of the year.

Queens head coach Bart Lundy was tabbed as the Coach of the Year.

Taylor, a guard from Anderson, S.C., had 41 steals, 25 blocks and 150 rebounds. He anchored a Catawba Indian team that allowed just 74.8 points per game this season.

Taylor was third in the player of the year voting and will lead Catawba into  Saturday’s semifinal game against Wingate in Greenville, S.C.

Catawba’s Marcell Haskett was named second team All-SAC.

Hurley YMCA

   The J.F. Hurley YMCA is taking registrations for  spring soccer (boys and girls, ages 3-14) and flag football (boys and girls, ages 5-13) through April 3.

The cost for Y members is $45. The cost for potential members is $75.

Register at the J.F. Hurley YMCA or online at www.rowanymca.org.

Contact Jesse Byrd at 704-636-0111 or Jbyrd@rowanymca.org.

College lacrosse

SALISBURY — Florida Southern, ranked third in D-II, rolled to a 23-2 win over Catawba (1-3)  in women’s lacrosse action on Thursday afternoon at Shuford Stadium.   Erin Green and Colleen Green scored for the Indians.