From staff reports

Catawba claimed three of the top  South Atlantic Conference Postseason baseball awards as announced by the league office on Wednesday.

First baseman/pitcher Hunter Shepherd was voted the SAC Player of the Year, while left-hander Bryan Ketchie was named the Pitcher of the Year.

Jim Gantt was named Coach of the Year.

Lenoir-Rhyne’s Joshua Lanham was voted the SAC Freshman of the Year.

Shepherd, a senior from Salisbury,  has been one of the top hitters and pitchers in the SAC during the 2021 season. At the plate, he finished the regular season with a .413 batting average, driving in 51 runs with 13 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs and 40 runs scored.

On the mound, Shepherd had a 4-2 record with a 3.93 ERA.

Ketchie, a senior from Woodleaf,   finished the regular season with an 8-0 record, including two complete games and 65.2 innings pitched.  Ketchie has an ERA of 1.92, the lowest among starting pitchers in the SAC.

Gantt earns his 11th SAC Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Catawba Indians to their  seventh title in the last eight years.

Joining Shepherd and Ketchie on the All-SAC first team from Catawba were shortstop Jeremy Simpson and third baseman Cameron Mills.

  Second team All-SAC honors went to outfielder Lee Poteat, second baseman Joe Butts, catcher Cameron Morrison, designated hitter Dylan Wilkinson, and pitchers Greg Brown and Robbie Cowie. Poteat has hit .354 on the year with a team-high 15 doubles and four home runs.

Catawba had six on the SAC  All-Defensive Team. Simpson earned the honor at shortstop for the fourth time, while right fielder Poteat repeats the honor from 2019. First-time winners were center fielder Bryce Butler, first baseman Shepherd, third baseman Mills and pitcher Ketchie.

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Brown, a junior right-hander, threw a complete game shutout in a 5-0 victory versus Anderson last week and struck out 14.

He was the SAC Pitcher of the Week.

College golf

Catawba closed with a final-found two-under-par 286 to move up to a seventh-place finish at the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Golf Championships.

The three-round event concluded on Tuesday at the 6,746-yard, par-72 Woodlake Golf Club.

The Catawba Indians had the third-best round on Tuesday with Tanner Bibey carding a three-under-par 69. Bibey played his way onto the SAC All-Tournament second team. Jake Clodfelter and AJ Boyd posted even-par rounds with Hunter Donahue coming in with a 73. Riley Smith also had a fine round with a 74.

Bibey had seven birdies in his final round, including a stretch of four in a row from 17 through hole No. 2.

Lincoln Memorial claimed the title by 13 shots over Limestone.

College softball

Catawba’s Brooke Walser has been named the South Atlantic Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week.

The graduate student  won three games for the  Indians and struck out 19.

HS girls soccer

Salisbury  defeated East Davidson 3-0 on Wednesday in Central Carolina Conference action.

  Salisbury (9-0, 6-0) got two goals from  Sutton Webb and one from Izzy Bannish.

Kyna Zaldivar, who played her best, had two assists and Lillie Rusher had one.

Hannah Schmeltzer recorded the shutout in goal for the Hornets.

Up next is the big showdown between  North Davidson (8-1, 5-0) and Salisbury. The game is Monday night and starts at 6 p.m.

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Lindsey Cooke and Ashlee Chipman scored goals in East Rowan’s 3-2 win against Statesville on Monday.

In a 4-3 loss to Statesville on Tuesday, Cook scored two goals and Chipman scored one.

HS football

Salisbury’s 2AA playoff game at Burns will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

North Rowan’s home game against Polk County will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday.

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Salisbury senior defensive lineman Zae Clay has been named to the West roster for this summer’s East-West All-Star Game.

HS softball

Kary Hales’ bases-clearing double in the bottom of the seventh lifted Carson to a 13-12 North Piedmont Conference game in China Grove on Tuesday.

In a wild game, Carson led 9-1, then trailed 12-10.

Abbey Nixon had four hits for the Cougars, and Liza Simmerson had a homer and two singles. Lonna Addison was the winning pitcher in relief of Hales.

Brooke Kennerly had three RBIs for West. Madilyn VonCanon had a two-run double and Emma Clarke had a two-run single.

Taylor Walton went the distance in the circle.

A full story with photos is online.

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West Rowan smashed Surry Central 13-2 on Senior Night on Wednesday.

Taylor Walton homered and drove in five runs. Emma Clarke homered and drove in three runs. Kenadi Sproul was 2-for-2 and scored three runs.

Walton struck out 11.

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South Rowan lost to Easat Davidson 6-4 on Tuesday in a Central Carolina Conference game.

Kali Nelson, Kassidy Sechler and Zoie Miller had two hits each.

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Central Davidson beat Salisbury 13-0 in a CCC game on Tuesday.

Salem Ward struck out 17 and pitched a no-hitter for the Spartans. She also hit a home run.

Ellen Yang struck out seven for the Hornets.

Salis. Academy golf

Salisbury Academy shot 162 and  finished first in a four-team match at Rock Barn.

Pacing the Jaguars was medalist John McCoy with a sizzling 33.

Also scoring were Bryant Davis (42), Sam Goodman (43) and Drew Aron (44).

Local golf

GARS members played at the Revival at the Crescent.

Low ‘A’ Flight player was Phil Cauble with a net of 63.37. Low ‘B’ Flight player was Hal Jordan with a net of 62.50.

Low ‘C’ Flight player was Ed Lockhart with a net of 65.17. Low ‘D’  Flight player was Tommy Seamon with a net of 62.16.

Bernard Caldwell had low gross score with a 73 which matched his age.

Seamon had low net score.