From staff and wire reports
Kannapolis Intimidators pitcher Yency Almonte nearly pitched a no-hitter in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Augusta.
Jeremy Sy singled up the middle with two outs in the ninth to break up Almonte’s gem. Almonte (6-4) retired 18 straight hitters at one point. He walked one and hit one.
Kelvis Valerio struck out Sylker Ewing to end the game and preserve the Intimidators’ South Atlantic League-leading 10th shutout.
Louie Lechich provided the defensive gems necessary for a pitcher to flirt with history, making diving grabs in both the seventh and eighth innings to take away sure hits.
Eddy Alvarez scored the only run in the ninth on Lechich’s groundball.

Junior Legion
West Rowan beat Kernersville 4-1 on Saturday and won Game 1 in a best-of-three, first-round playoff series.
Daniel Durham pitched a complete game. He allowed three hits and struck out six.
Travis Cone had a double and two RBIs, Olen Stamper and Payne Stolsworth also had doubles.
Game 2 is Sunday at 3 p.m. at East Forsyth High.
•Carson outscored West Forsyth 13-7 on Saturday in the opener of a best-of-three playoff series.
Daniel Leonard had five hits for Carson and drove in four runs. Ben Shoaf had four hits and stole three bases. Brycen Holshouser had three hits.
Maddux Holshouser was the winning pitcher.
Game 2 is on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at West Forsyth.