From staff reports

South Rowan pounded Cox Mill 11-3 at home in South Piedmont Conference baseball on Thursday.

The Raiders knocked out Cox Mill ace Julian Smith in the fourth inning and broke the game open with a five-run sixth.

South Rowan (13-6, 9-5) got strong pitching from winner Blake Johnson, who worked six innings, and Walker Joyce.

Johnson allowed four hits.

Chandler Corriher drove in three runs for the Raiders. Hunter Travis knocked in two.

Burke Fulcher had two hits and two walks and scored three runs.

Corriher, Travis, Ryan Ashworth and Eric Stowe had two hits each.

Cox Mill (11-6, 8-5) is home against Central Cabarrus on Friday.

South Rowan is on the road Friday at Hickory Ridge.

• East Rowan crushed Hickory Ridge 15-2 on Thursday in SPC baseball.

Tyler Scruggs pitched well and was the beneficiary of an offensive explosion by the Mustangs (13-9, 8-6).

Seth Wyrick hit a two-run homer early in the game to get the Mustangs started. East Rowan is off on Friday.

College softball

Kim Fesperman (South Rowan) homered for the only run of the game and Catawba opened play in the SAC tournament with a 1-0 win over Lenoir-Rhyne on Thursday.

Carley Tysinger made that run stand up with 13 strikeouts and a two-hitter.

Catawba plays Lincoln Memorial in a 10 a.m. game on Friday.

Prep softball

In the SPC on Thursday, East Rowan had a four-run first and a six-run fifth and blew out Hickory Ridge 12-2.

South Rowan lost a 10-8 slugfest to Cox Mill.

College baseball

Pfeiffer beat King 7-6 in a first-round Conference Carolinas game in Burlington on Thursday.

Dalton Lindley hit a walk-off homer for the Falcons (27-20), who won a tournament game for the first time since 2011.

College golf

UNC Greensboro senior golfer  Roy Dixon (Salisbury) was  named  Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week.

Dixon has a 3.97 GPA and tied for fifth in the Southern Conference Championships with a 1-under 215 for three rounds. Dixon is on the All-Southern Conference team for the second time.

  

Youth soccer

The FCCA U11 soccer team, the Green Dragons  split league matches last weekend.  Scoring for the Dragons (4-2) were Bennet Clark with three goals and Christopher Portillo with 2 goals.   Ben Childress led the midfield attack, with Ben Sweet leading the defensive effort.

Pro baseball

The St. Louis Cardinals promoted 29-year-old relief pitcher Mitch Harris from Triple-A Memphis to the majors earlier this week.

Harris is the nephew of Salisbury resident Arnold Chamberlain.

Harris is a graduate of South Point in Belmont and the U.S. Naval Academy. Hefulfilled his five-year military obligation before entering pro baseball in 2013.  He was deployed to the Persian Gulf, South America and Russia while in military service.

• The Kannapolis Intimidators lost 3-2 at Hickory on Thursday. James Baldwin homered for the Intimidators.

Baldwin and Eddy Alvarez had two hits each.

Physicals

Free physicals for Salisbury High athletes will be held on Saturday, May 9, at 11 a.m. at the Wilson Smith Center. There will be a shuttle provided from Salisbury High to Novant.   

Physical packets should be completed by students and parents and returned to the school by May 4.South