Area Sports: Catawba men win; spring sports in full swing

Published 11:18 pm Wednesday, March 1, 2023

From staff reports

Catawba’s men’s basketball team pulled away from a pesky Limestone squad midway through the second half to claim a 90-70 win a quarterfinal game in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament on Wednesday.

Catawba (21-7) led the Saints by a single point with 10:32 remaining, but went on a 10-0 run.

Javeon Jones and Peyton Gerald scored 16 each for the Indians.

  Jones dished out six assists with three steals, while Gerald added three blocks.

All five Catawba starters reached double figures with DeAngelo Epps adding 13 and Robinson 11. Adrian Scarborough chipped in with 10 points.

Limestone shot 54 percent in the opening half, but  cooled off to  percent in the second.

Catawba shot 48 percent for the game and went 12-of-20 from behind the arc.

.  Catawba advances to Saturday’s semifinals at Timmons Arena on the campus of Furman University. The Indians will face Tusculum at 7:30 p.m.

The Pioneers edged Wingate 73-71 on Wednesday.

College baseball

UNC’s Vance Honeycutt (Salisbury) homered for the third straight game on Wednesday as the Tar Heels outscored VCU 14-10.

Honeycutt homered in a 10-4 win against VCU on Tuesday. He hit his first of the season in Sunday’s 6-5 loss to East Carolina.

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Catawba lost 15-6 at UNC Pembroke on Wednesday.

The Indians led 4-2, but UNCP had a 10-run sixth inning. Casey Gouge (0-2) took the loss.

Blake Marsh had two of Catawba’s five hits. Cameron Mills had a triple.

College softball

Catawba split with Anderson in a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader played at Whitley Field on Wednesday.

Catawba (11-7, 1-1) won 8-0 in five innings in the opener, with Alexandra Baquie pitching a one-hitter and Christina Brendle going 3-for-3 with three RBIs.

The Indians got down 5-0 in the nightcap, but Baquie relieved and gave them a chance to come back.They lost 5-4.  Savanna Balderston had two hits and two RBIs to lead the offense.

HS baseball

SALISBURY — North Rowan rallied to beat Salisbury 10-8 in eight innings in a designated non-conference game on Wednesday.

North scored four in the seventh to tie the game and  scored runs on an error and a hit batsman in the eighth.

Trey Johnson had two hits and three RBIs and was the winning pitcher in relief of Malakie Harris.

Carter Boydston had two hits and two RBIs for the Cavaliers (1-1), who bounced back from a loss to Gray Stone.

Evan Koontz, Cole Price and Jackson Sparger had two hits each for the Hornets (0-1).

Price took the loss on the mound.

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MOUNT ULLA — Luke Graham had three hits and scored two runs and Matthew Connolly homered as West Rowan clobbered North Iredell 12-2 in five innings in the Falcons’ season opener on Wednesday.

Corbin Bailey was the winning pitcher.

He struck out two and walked two in 3 2/3 innings.

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CHINA GROVE — Carson pitchers Hayden Simmerson and Casey Crawford combined for 17 strikeouts on Tuesday.

The Cougars beat Oak Grove  7-2 in the head-coaching debut of Kyle Bridges.

Catawba signee Simmerson had the key hit, a three-run double in Carson’s six-run fourth inning.

Daxton Savage had two of Carson’s eight hits. Cameron Burleyson had a run-scoring single.

Simmerson walked four in four innings, but he struck out 11 of the 19 batters he faced.

Crawford also walked four, but fanned six to earn a three-inning save.

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MOCKSVILLE —  Ty Goodson scored three runs and Coy James had three hits as Davie beat Carson 6-1 on Wednesday.

Braedon Rodgers struck out six and shut down Carson’s offense for four innings.

Mikey Beasley pitched five innings and took the loss.

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GRANITE QUARRY — A four-run second inning propelled East Rowan to a 6-2 win over Hickory Ridge at Staton Field.

It was the season opener for East.

The Mustangs were held to five hits, but one of them was a homer by N.C. State signee Chance Mako.

Morgan Padgett was credited with the win. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed one run.

Mako started on the mound. He walked four and struck out four in 2 1/3 innings.

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WELCOME — South Rowan lost 3-2 at North Davidson on Wednesday.

Haiden Leffew pitched well for four innings for the Raiders (0-2).

Brooks Hubbard had a triple for South. Conner Coy had an RBI single.

HS softball

MOORESVILLE — West Rowan won 4-2 at Mooresville on Wednesday.

Ashlee Ennis and Madelyn VonCanon had two hits each for the Falcons. Arabelle Shulenberger had a double and drove in three runs for the Falcons.

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MOORESVILLE — Carson opened with a 5-2 loss at Mooresville on Tuesday.

It was the head coaching debut with the Cougars for Hunter Gibbons.

Phoebe Cole had two of Carson’s six hits and knocked in a run.

Lonna Addison was in the circle for the Cougars and struck out eight.

Addison held Mooresville to the four hits, but the Blue Devils made them count.

Campbell Schaen pitched five innings for the win.

• Lily Huneycutt pitched a no-hitter as West Stanly beat Carson 10-0 on Wednesday.

Huneycutt struck out nine and walked three in five innings.

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SALISBURY — Wheatmore pounded Salisbury 14-1 on Tuesday.

Tijah Sims tripled to score Katie Peeler with the Salisbury run.

Ashley Yang and Helen Moscoso had the other hits for the Hornets.

• Salisbury hammered Concord 14-0 on Wednesday.

Yang and Katie Peeler had three hits each. Addison Myers and Allison Peeler had two hits.

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LANDIS — South Rowan pounded out 14 hits but was outscored 11-9 by Cannon School on Monday.

Carmen Thomas led the Raiders with three hits. Lexie Ritchie had two doubles.

Avery Fisher, Bailey Yon and Danica Krieg had two hits each for South.

• South pounded Robinson 14-1 on Wednesday.

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East Rowan opened with a 5-2 win against North Stanly on Tuesday and won 2-0 against Montgomery Central on Wednesday.

HS girls soccer

SALISBURY — Senior Kyna Zaldivar had a hat trick as Salisbury’s girls opened the soccer season at Ludwig Stadium with an 8-0 win against South Stanly.

Also scoring goals for the Hornets were seniors Kendal Colwell and Parker Jenkins and freshman Maddie Crabb.

Assists were credited to Colwell (2), Addie Griffith and Jamilet Figueroa.

The backline of Jenkins, Stella Koontz, Lola Koontz, Abbey Lawson and goalkeeper Abigail Perez combined for the shutout. Perez made five saves.

Salisbury returns only six players and has 13 new faces on the roster.

“We are inexperienced across the board, but the girls have worked really hard thus far and have already come a long way,” Salisbury coach Matt Parrish said. “There will be some growing pains, but tonight was certainly a step in the right direction. There is nothing like in-match experience and we have to continue to improve tactically and technically with each showing.”

Salisbury plays at Trinity tonight.

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GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan got started on Monday with a 4-1 win against North Stanly.

Ashlee Chipman scored all the goals for the Mustangs.

Bethany Brady made 17 saves.

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LEXINGTON — West Rowan battled to a 3-all tie with Central Davidson on Monday.

Anna Mead had a hat trick for the Falcons. Brittany Vanhoose assisted on two goals.

Emily Kelly made 12 saves.

• Kelly made five saves in Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to North Iredell.

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CHINA GROVE — Carson cruised 10-1 against North Hills on Monday.

Allie Martin had four goals and four assists to lead the Cougars.

Makayla Borst and Haylee Feehan scored two goals each. Elizabeth Romero and Jessica Morales had one goal apiece.

Alona Locklear made three saves.

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South Rowan (2-0) beat Mount Pleasant 2-1 on Monday and rolled 9-0 against North Hills on Tuesday.

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North Rowan lost 5-1 to Bethany on Tuesday.

Arena football

Former West Rowan and St. Andrews QB Kacey Otto will play for the Omaha Beef of the Champions Indoor Football League.

The Beef have their firest exhibition game on Saturday.

Local golf

GARS members played at Warrior Golf Club.

Low ‘A’ Flight player was Larry Petrea with a net of 69.55.

Low ‘B’ Flight player was Bobby Clark with a net of 64.09.

Low ‘C’ Flight player was Tommy Lambert with a net of 62.38.

Low ‘D’ Flight player was Jim Brown with a net of 60.96.

Petrea shot a 75 to take low gross score . Brown had low net score.

Tom Longo was Super Senior  with a net of 61.43.

Three members shot their age or better. Bob Niekras, 81, shot an 81; Clyde Crawford, 81, shot an 80. Clark, 83, shot an 81.

Joe Dunn eagled the par-4 No. 2 hole, while Crawford   eagled the par-5 No. 4 hole.