Rowan pitcher Reese Poole

 

Rowan slugger Cressley Patterson

 

Rowan Little League 12U team celebrates.

 

From staff reports

MOCKSVILLE — Down 3-0 after four innings at Rich Park and with zero hits in the scorebook against starting pitcher Darren Shore, things didn’t look great for  the Rowan County American Legion on Wednedsay.

But Rowan (17-7, 5-0) came back to win 7-5 and stayed undefeated in the Southern Division of Area III.

Casey Crawford started on the mound for Rowan and made it into the fourth inning.

Winner Drew Burton took over from there. Cole Johnson got the final two outs for a save after Burton ran into trouble in the seventh.

Parker Aderhold did most of the damage early as Mocksville went in front 3-0.

Rowan’s first hit against Shore was Aiden Schenck’s two-run single in the fifth that cut Mocksville’s lead to 3-2.

Rowan scored five runs in the top of the seventh with the help of five walks.

Jackson Deal was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the run that made it 3-all. Blake Hill’s two-run double broke the tie. Rowan added two insurance runs that loomed large in the bottom of the seventh when Mocksville scored twice.

Rowan had only four hits and made three errors, but found a way to win another one.

Rowan plays Concord tonight at A.L. Brown High.

Rowan              000   020     5 — 7

Mocksville       001  200     2 — 5

W — D. Burton (1-0)

S — Johnson (1)

Tuesday’s game

• LEXINGTON — Rowan County benefited from a wild, nine-run third inning and beat Davidson County 15-11 in marathon American Legion baseball action on Tuesday night at Holt-Moffit Field.

It was ugly, but the bottom line was Rowan County  stayed unbeaten  in the Southern Division of  Area III.

Rowan used five pitchers, with starter Alex Hagler taking the game into the fourth. Nate Green was credited with the win. Aiden Schenck and Luke Graham got some big outs. Cole Johnson was on the mound when Post 8 made the final out of the game on the bases.

Rowan did a good job offensively, mostly by taking advantage of errors and walks. Eight players had hits.

Defensively, third baseman Blake Hill stood out.

Davidson got an early two-run double from Tyler Shytle and led 4-0 after two innings, but things fell apart for the home team in the top of the third. Rowan sent 13 men to the plate thanks to four Davidson errors. Rowan received two walks in that inning with the bases loaded.

Zander Burton had a two-run double as Rowan batted around again in a five-run fifth. It was 15-5 at that point, but Davidson continued to swing the bats, right up until the final out.

Burton’s two doubles were Rowan’s only extra-base knocks.

Bo Tiller hit a solo homer for Post 8 in the third.

•••

Kannapolis pounded Mocksville 13-3 in five innings on Tuesday.

Kannapolis (11-2) got two hits each from Ty Hubbard, Jack McGowan and Connor Welker.

McGowan drove in three runs.

Brandon Moore pitched   a complete game.

College football

Quarterback Ridge Jacobs (6-2, 200) spent his freshman season at South Florida.

Jacobs entered the transfer portal on June 15.

He received a call from Catawba quarterbacks coach Jake Medlock on June 16 and flew to Salisbury to meet with Catawba coaches on June 17. He spent several hours on campus with Medlock and head coach  Curtis Walker and committed to Catawba on  June 18.

Jacobs is expected to arrive the week of July 6 to join his new team.

HS softball

West Rowan rising junior Emma Clarke has been named the 3A Softball Player of the Year for Region 6.

Region 6 includes Anson, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly and Union counties.

West also placed Ashlee Ennis, Brooke Kennerly, Ellyson “EA” Nance, Arabelle Shulenberger and Kenadi Sproul on the all-district team.

Carson also had a host of players on all-district: Lonna Addison, Allie Burns, Phoebe Cole, Makayla Johnson, Abbey Nixon and Landry Stewart.

Third HOF for Gus

Elected in 2020, Salisbury resident Gus Andrews was inducted into the Fike High School (Wilson) Hall of Fame in COVID-delayed ceremonies earlier this year.

Andrews already had been inducted into the inaugural Tarboro Hall of Fame and the George Whitfield Hall of Fame (Eastern NC).

A high school star at Tarboro High, Andrews was a kicker, linebacker and fullback on championship football teams at N.C. State.

At Fike, Andrews was an assistant coach on legendary teams that won three consecutive state titles in the late 1960s.

He was the head coach for successful Fike teams in the 1980s before becoming the football head coach at Salisbury High. Andrews had more football success with the Hornets and started the swim program at the school and coached a state title in that sport.

Local golf

UNC Greensboro graduate student Nick Lyerly (East Rowan)  received an Honorable Mention All-America nod from Golfweek.

This is Lyerly’s first All-America honor. He is the only one from the Southern Conference on the list.

Lyerly most recently was named to the Division I PING All-East Region Team, as announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America.  This was his second All-East Region accolade. He earned his first in 2019.

The 2022 SoCon Men’s Golfer of the Year, Lyerly concluded the season with his third NCAA Regional appearance in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He tied for 15th overall.

Lyerly will be in action Friday at Warrior as match play begins in the Rowan Masters.

•••

McCanless aces

Bryson Sprinkle of Rockwell aced the No. 12 hole, playing 189 yards from the blue tee.

Sprinkle used  a 5-iron.

He was playing with Andy Lombard, Justin Overcash and Bryan Reynolds as part of the McCanless Men’s Association.

It was the second career ace for Sprinkle and came on the same hole with the same front pin location.

• On Monday, Bonnie Showfety of Salisbury aced the No. 3 hole, 105 yards from the red tee.

She used a 9-iron.

She was playing with her father and swing coach Kevin Showfety.

Bonnie’s dad introduced her to the game at age 5, and 16 years of practice led to the perfect shot.

• Bob Helms aced the 125-yard No. 10 hole on Tuesday.

He hit a pitching wedge from the red tee while playing in the Tuesday Scramble.

Helms’ ace helped his group make a comeback. They won the back nine for the day with a score of 10-under.

Helms, who also won closest to the pin on No. 12, was playing with  Bill McKinney, Bill Linch, Byron Sheesely, and Don Gheen.

•••

McCanless Couples

Sunday brought great weather and terrific participation in a Captain’s Choice Event.

The first-place team was  Richard Long and Jim & Nancy Denemy.

 Crystal Clement, Larry Clifton and Steve & Lynn Masingo finished second.

Long had longest putt. Steve Masingo won closest to the pin.

  •••

GARS

GARS members played at Lexington Golf Club.

Low ‘A’ Flight player was Hal Jordan with a net of 63.15.

Low ‘B’ Fight player was Jesse King with a net of 61.68.

Low ‘C’ Flight player was Andy Griffin with a net of 60.55.

Low ‘D’ Flight player was Tommy Seamon with a net of 61.21.

Larry Petrea shot a 1-under 70 to win low gross, while Griffin won low net.

Super Senior winner was John Daniels with a net of 62.15.

Five members shot their age or better.

Petrea, 70, shot a 70. Gus Andrews, 78, shot a 76.  Bobby Clark, 82, shot a 79. Wayne Bost, 86, shot an 86. Seamon, 86, shot an 85.

•••

In the North Carolina Junior Boys Championships at Highland Country Club in Fayetteville, East Rowan rising junior Landon Merrell shot 76 and John McCoy, a Salisbury youngster who is a rising freshman, shot 77.

The cutline to advance to match play fell at 2-over 74.

Legion softball

LEXINGTON — Davidson County stayed unbeaten with a 2-0 and 6-2 sweep of Rowan County on  Tuesday at Central Davidson High.

Salem Ward, a UNC Greensboro recruit, pitched  a no-hitter in the first game, striking out four and walking one. Lonna Addison took the loss.

In the second game, Riley Potts did the pitching for Davidson (6-0).

Kimberly Troublefield pitched for Rowan (3-5). Troublefield had two hits. Abbey  Nixon drove in a run.

Rowan plays at Kannapolis tonight.

Little League softball

Rowan’s 12U team won the District 2 tournament with a 20-0 romp on Tuesday and advanced to the state tournament.

Reese Poole pitched a one-hitter. Leah Troutman  went 3-for-3. Cressley Patterson and Myla McNeely had four RBIs each.

The team is coached by Donnell Poole, Steve Yang and Jeff Bernhardt.

Players are  Kayla Burns, Emma Efird, Morgan Efird, Remi Haggerty, Brinley Hiatt, Josophina Hyunh, Ansley Jenkins, Myla McNeely, Cressley Patterson, Reese Poole, Sophia Redding, Leah Troutman and Regan Williams.

The first state game will be at Salisbury Community Park on July 2 at 11 a.m.

Pfeiffer camp

Pfeiffer Summer soccer camp is back. Go to www.tonyfaticonisocceracademy.com to register.

Pickleball clinic

The first Veterans Adaptive Pickleball Clinic is set for Friday from 12-2:30 p.m. at Hurley YMCA.