From staff reportsVirginia freshman Will Collins led the Cavaliers’ golf team to a strong finish in the River Landing Intercollegiate on Sunday, and his sister took a step toward competing at the college level three days later.
Salisbury senior Casey Collins has declared her commitment to attend East Carolina and play tennis for the Pirates, the school announced Wednesday.
Collins helped the Hornets win the 2A dual-team title as a junior. She and Susie Wear won the 2A doubles championship as seniors.
A story on Collins is upcoming.
– Prep tennis
Salisbury’s boys tennis team collected an 8-1 win against Carson on Thursday afternoon.
Austin Flynn, Steven Page, Tyler Heilig, Benton Whitaker and Carl Ritchie won singles matches for the Hornets (11-2). Flynn edged Jonathan Hough 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), (7-2) at No. 2. Flynn-Page, Heilig-Ritchie and Grant Martz-Lewis Young won in doubles.
Carson’s win came from Cory Kluttz at No. 1. He prevailed 7-5, 6-2 against Joe Goodman.
* West Rowan defeated East Rowan 6-3 on Thursday. Winners for East (3-4) were Andrew Blank at No. 1, Justin Brown at No. 3 and Blank-Brown at No. 1 singles.
– Ijames throws no-hitter
Salisbury’s David Ijames pitched a five-inning no-hitter against Lexington and led the Hornets to an 11-0 CCC victory at Holt-Moffitt Field on Thursday.
Ijames (2-0) fanned five and walked two.
Robbie Ijames’ homer, his sixth, David Ijames’ double and Ben Ijames’ single gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Doug Seaman hit his fifth homer over the center-field fence in the fourth.
Salisbury iced the game by scoring seven times in the fifth.
Robbie Ijames went 3-for-3 to pace an 11-hit attack. Seaman went 2-for-3. Alex Britt, Ryne Maddox and Andrew Butler knocked in two runs apiece.
“Our hitters, after a slow start, exploded,” Salisbury coach Scott Maddox said. “Robbie had a great night at the plate.”
There was a ruckus in the last of the fifth after an inside pitch from David Ijames to Mike McKay. McKay charged the mound and was ejected. After calm was restored, Ijames ended the game with two strikeouts.
“I was proud of the way David pitched ó he was in complete control ó and I was prouder of the way he handled himself after the ruckus,” Maddox said.
Salisbury (15-5, 8-2 CCC) plays host to Ledford on Tuesday and has to win to keep title hopes alive.
“Hopefully, this will get us pointed in the right direction,” Maddox said. “It’s a big game and the last home game for six of our seniors. I expect us to be ready.”
– Prep soccer
Salisbury’s girls soccer team won 7-0 in a CCC match against Lexington on Thursday.
Karen Presnell and Kaitlyn Cuevas scored two goals apiece for the Hornets (13-1, 9-1). Madison Kennedy, Susie Wear and Taylor Downs also had goals. Downs scored for the first time in her career.
Presnell, Lindsey Davis, Maria Tonseth and Marlee Murphy tallied assists.
The Hornets play again Wednesday at home against Ledford.
– Prep softball
Salisbury will play its first on-campus softball game today against Lexington at 4:30 p.m.n Prep golf
Salisbury’s golf team shot 176 and finished third in a CCC match at Willow Creek.
Led by medalist Stevie Pietsch’s 37, Ledford won with a 151. Central Davidson shot 173 for second.
Roy Dixon led Salisbury with a 38. Randy Almeida (44), Zack Kurchin (46) and Clint Riddle (48) were the other scorers.
North Rowan shot 213 and finished sixth. Andrew Hallett (48), Miller Sokolowski (52), Dillon Mason (55) and Bily Fordyce (58) scored for the Cavaliers.
The next CCC match is set for Monday at Corbin Hills.
– College basketball
According to a report in the Charlotte Observer, former Salisbury High star Shamari Spears will transfer to Charlotte. Spears played two seasons at Boston College and will have two seasons of college eligibility remaining. Transfers must sit out two semesters.
The published report said Spears committed to the 49ers on Wednesday and canceled visits to UNC Wilmington, College of Charleston and Virginia Commonwealth.
– SAC softball
Wingate beat Catawba 5-0 in the first round of the SAC tournament on Thursday.
Meghan Cobb took the loss. Brittany Blankenship held Catawba to four hits, including a double by Sarah VanBuskirk.
* Lincoln Memorial third baseman Sara Heen was named SAC Player of the Year, while Lenoir-Rhyne’s Meredith O’Connor was named SAC Pitcher of the Year.
– Middle school golf
China Grove shot 182 and edged West Rowan Middle by 12 strokes at Foxwood earlier this week.
The medalist for China Grove was Christian Shuping with a 45. He was followed by Ryan Craft (47), Alex Austin (48) and Spencer Knowles (50). West Rowan’s leaders were Bailey Kepley (46), Cody Eggers (48), Nathan Kyles (52) and Dalton Brinson (57).
* On Wednesday, China Grove and West tied at Rolling Hills with 198 totals.
Tied for medalist honors with 45s were West’s Eggers and China Grove’s Austin. Other China Grove scores were posted by Bonner Buchanan (47), Shuping (52), T.J. Bell (54) and Collin Stamey (54).
Kepley (46), Jake Gibbons (53), Sam Poteat (54) and Tyler Everhart (54) followed Eggers for the Bulldogs.
– Middle school tennis
China Grove’s boys defeated Knox 6-3, with Garrett Thomas, Phillip Wirz, Jesse Chen, and Nathan Hill winning in singles for the Red Devils (3-1).
Winning doubles teams were Thomas-Wirz and Ryan Farthing-Chen.
– Middle school volleyball
Salisbury Academy’s volleyball team won its match against Woodlawn in three games, taking the third one 15-11. Madeline Hoskins and Anna Flynn led the Jaguars (4-3) with powerful serves.
Salisbury Academy lost to Statesville Montessori 2-0.
* North Hills lost to Success Institute 2-0 and defeated Davidson Day 2-0.
– Middle school baseball
Corriher-Lipe defeated Southeast 4-2 on Thursday. Chase Johnson, Austin Bracewell, Andy Austin, Louis Kraft and Greg Tonneson were the leading hitters for the Patriots (3-4, 1-4). Justin Evans was the losing pitcher.
– Pfeiffer golf
Pfeiffer’s Brittany Beltran was named Conference Carolinas Women’s Golfer of the Month for April. She averaged 77.25 strokes per round during the month.
– Rocky River golf
The Rocky River Golf Club in Concord will be the site of the third-annual Birdies for Breast Cancer tournament on May 12.
The captain’s-choice event begins at noon. Entry fee is $80 per golfer. The entry deadline is May 5. Registration forms are available at Rocky River Golf Club, Auld Golf of Concord, Dick’s and Bass Pro Shops.