From staff reports

CATAWBA — Salisbury’s baseball team pulled out a 5-2 road victory against No. 11 seed Bandys (20-5)  on Wednesday in the first round of the 2A state playoffs.

Salisbury, seeded 22nd,  broke a 1-all tie with four runs in the top of the seventh.

After Vance Honeycutt and Bo Rusher walked to start the seventh, Griffin Myers came through with the tiebreaking hit.

Myers was 1-for-1 with three walks. Jack Fisher had two RBIs, while Joe Steinman had one. The Hornets  (16-10) only had four hits, but they took advantage of nine walks.

Salisbury played errorless defense behind Fisher, who pitched five innings, and Myers, who threw two innings and got the win. Myers ended the game on a strikeout.

Salisbury gets an unexpected second-round home game against No. 27 seed Hibriten. That game will be played Friday or Saturday.

Hibriten beat No. 6 seed  Bunker Hill, 4-1.

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Jason White pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts as No. 7 seed Robinson beat Cox Mill, 4-0, in a 3A first-round  playoff game on Wednesday.

Charles Botello drove in two runs for the Bulldogs.

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Northwest Cabarrus (14-12) defeated Asheville, 3-1, on Wednesday in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

Davis Kirk and Devin Faggart had two hits each. Carson Bost won it, while Chris Monteleone saved it.

The Trojans play next at top-seeded Crest. The Chargers beat Dudley, 10-0.

Prep softball

BOSTIC —  Whitley Arnott led South Rowan to a 1-0 win at East Rutherford in the first round of the 2A state softball playoffs on Wednesday.

Arnott, a 6-foot sophomore, struck out 13 and fired a one-hitter. She walked two.

Arnott scored the only run of the game for South (18-9), the 17th seed. She doubled and came home when Ashlyn Plott’s popup was dropped and then booted.

No. 16 seed East Rutherford had a run wiped out following an appeal at third base by South coach Dean Mullinax.

“I told the girls in the sixth that one run wasn’t going to be enough to win this ballgame,” Mulllinax said. “But lo and behold, it was. Great job by all the girls. There were some fireworks tonight, it got loud, but they kept their composure. They really wanted to keep playing.”

South plays next at No. 1 seed West Stanly (23-1).

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MOUNT ULLA —  Senior Parker Greene had a huge night as No. 9 seed West Rowan clobbered No. 24 Asheville A.C. Reynolds, 12-2, in the first round of the 3A state playoffs on Wednesday.

Greene walloped two homers in the six-inning game and drove in seven runs. West (18-6) broke a 1-all tie with a four-run second inning.

Morgan Corriher went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Alexandra Linder had two hits and scored three runs. Mary Sobataka had three hits and scored twice. Taylor Walton had two hits and drove in a run.

Hannah Roberts pitched four innings for the win, and Walton shut out the Rockets (11-8) the last two innings.

West plays at 6 p.m. on Friday at No. 8 seed Marvin Ridge (19-4).

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CHINA GROVE   — Senior  Rylie Stewart threw another shutout and Carson  hammered Belmont Cramer, 10-0, on Wednesday in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

Stewart allowed three hits in the five-inning game, and the Cougars played errorless defense.

Carson had a very easy time after scoring six runs in the second inning.

Fourth-seeded Carson (17-6) had six extra-base hits. Jessica Freeze homered, Haley Howerton tripled, and Maci Cooper, Liza Simmerson, Kary Hales and Stewart smacked doubles.

Freeze drove in three runs, while Howerton knocked in two. Stewart and Howerton had two hits each.

Carson will host No. 13 seed Kings Mountain  (17-7) in the second round.

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Seeded 23rd, East Rowan (12-13) ended the season with a 4-1 loss at No. 10 Cox Mill (15-8) in the 3A state playoffs on Wednesday.

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Seventh-seeded Davie County had a first-round bye and will host No. 10 West Forsyth on Friday at 7 p.m.

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Second-seeded Central Cabarrus shelled Western Guilford, 16-0, on Wednesday in a first-round game in the 3A playoffs.

Jordan Baker and Riley Tucker walloped homers for the Vikings.

Prep girls soccer

MARSHVILLE — South Rowan won the first playoff  game in program history on Wednesday, taking a 4-0 victory at No. 16 seed Forest Hills in the first round of the 2A state playoffs.

Madison Henry scored three goals for the 17th-seeded  Raiders  (17-6). Taylor Mauldin had two assists, and Karigan Ford scored a goal.

South will play at Salisbury at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

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No. 25 seed Carson (12-7) ended the season with a 3-0 loss at No. 8 Asheville A.C. Reynolds (19-1-2)  on Wednesday  in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

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No. 29 seed A.L. Brown (5-13) ended the season with a 5-1 loss at  No. 4 T.C. Roberson (17-4-1) on Wednesday in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

MLB

  Carson’s Owen White is ranked as the 55th best prospect for the MLB draft coming up in June.

That’s according to MLB.com.

It appears likely that White will be a second-round pick, although he could go even earlier or a bit later.

  

Local golf

In a U.S. Open local qualifier held at Duke on Wednesday, Nick Lyerly (East Rowan, UNC Greensboro) shot 2-under 70  and was the first alternate.

Five of 84 golfers qualified, including Lyerly’s UNC Greensboro teammate Bryce Hendrix, who shot 4-under 68.

Michael Childress (Cannon School) shot 79. Logan Shuping (East Rowan, East Carolina) shot 85. Davis Richards (South Rowan, N.C. State) shot 86.

There are 112 local qualifying sites for the U.S. Open from April 30-May 17. All but one of the 12 sectional qualifiers will be on June 4.

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Bryan Duncan made a hole-in-one at Rolling Hills.

He aced the 158-yard No. 10 hole with a 9-iron.

Bryce Corbett, Blake Jordan and Dakota Tilley witnessed the feat.

Prep football

  A.L. Brown junior athlete Jordan Medley, 6-3, 200,  and defensive end Kedrick Bingley-Jones are getting Division I offers.

Jones, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound sophomore, is racking up ACC and SEC offers.

Prep basketball

South Rowan senior Bailey Graham will sign with Montreat’s men’s basketball program on Friday.

Rowan Mountaineers

The Rowan Mountaineers Youth Tackle Football Program is offering free non-contact workouts for any boy or girl , ages 4-10, interested in playing competitive tackle football.

Please contact Matt Randolph at 470-313-4278  CoachMattRandolph@gmail.com.

Legion baseball

Kannapolis is scheduled to start the season on May 15 at home (NW Cabarrus High) against Mocksville.

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Rowan is scheduled to start on May 20 with a home game against Greensboro.

See Scoreboard for Rowan schedule.

Basketball camp

The free Coast to Coast Camp will be held on  July 23-27 at Hall Gym.

Register and donate at COASTTOCOASTLIFESKILLS.com.

Minor leagues

Richmond’s  Jerry Sands (Catawba) hit his fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot, in Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to Akron.

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Craig Brooks (Catawba) had a great outing on Tuesday, throwing two scoreless innings with five strikeouts as Tennessee beat Jacksonville.

Brooks (2-0)  pitched the eighth and ninth innings and was credited with the win when the Smokies scored the deciding run in the 10th.

Cushwa Cup

Ledford completed its season long run at the top of the Cushwa Cup standings for overall athletic excellence in the CCC.

North Davidson finished second. Salisbury took third place, with Central Davidson fourth. South Rowan finished sixth.

Echols Award

Wingate University won it’s 12th consecutiive South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award.

Wingate won the conference championship in men’s soccer, football, men’s tennis, women’s golf and women’s outdoor track and field.

Queens was second. Lenoir-Rhyne took third.

Catawba was eighth.

College basketball

Davidson County Community College men’s coach Matt Ridge announced the signing of guards Arion Broadnax (R.J. Reynolds), Derrick Arnette (Fairmont) and Kalil Baker (Rocky Mount Prep).

Arnette, a tough defender, averaged 14 points per game for a 29-2 team. Baker averaged 26 points and eight assists for a 25-1 squad. Broadnax is an athletic guard who plays above the rim. He averaged 12 points per game and joins former teammate Larry Borland with the Storm.

Prep volleyball

Two home-schooled seniors from Salisbury will be moving on to compete in college volleyball in the fall. Kristen Wilson and Lexi Dupre have competed together for years for the Greater Cabarrus Stallions and the High Rock Volleyball Club.

Wilson played on the 17 Travel II United team for HRVC, coached by Kelan Rogers. Wilson,  a middle and right-side hitter, is headed to Montreat College. Dupre, and outside hitter, will play at Piedmont International University.