Staff report

LANDIS — Freshmen pitchers Eleni Miller (East Rowan) and Lexie Ritchie (South Rowan) put up zeroes for four innings in Tuesday’s South Piedmont Conference softball game, but the Mustangs broke loose for eight runs in the fifth inning to take an 8-1 victory.

East’s fifth began with four straight singles, with Maddie Roberts driving in the game’s first run.

The Mustangs put together six hits in the inning. Throw in a walk, two HBPs and several errors, and it snowballed into a monster frame.

South (9-8, 4-6) scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, Kynlee Dextraze had a lead-off hit and eventually scored on Avery Crowell’s groundout.

But Miller was in charge all the way, striking out five, walking one and holding the Raiders to three hits.

Mac Misenheimer and Kady Collins

Ritchie pitched  a complete game with two walks and two strikeouts.

Ranked 14th in RPI in 3A West, East (12-6, 6-4) finished a season sweep of South. The Raiders are ranked 29th in 3A West, with 32 teams making the bracket.

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CHINA GROVE — There have been some exciting games with the Rowan County schools, but Central Cabarrus has pulled them all out and has ruled the South Piedmont Conference this season.

Ranked No. 1 in 3A West, the Vikings got another sensational performance from Brantleigh Parrott and won 3-0 at Carson on Tuesday.

Carson held the Vikings to single runs in the first, fourth and seventh to stay in the game, but Carson (9-9, 7-4) couldn’t get anything going against Parrott. She held the Cougars to three hits and struck out 12.

Parrott also helped herself by hitting a home run.

Based on math, Central (14-3, 11-0) hasn’t clinched the league championship yet, but the race looks to be over.

Despite a modest record, Carson’s tremendous schedule continues to be a big factor in the NCHSAA RPI rankings.

The Cougars are 17th in 3A West and are a sure playoff team.