From staff reports

LEXINGTON — Salisbury’s softball team smacked Lexington 16-4 on Thursday.

The Hornets would not be one of the teams in the 32-team 2A West playoff bracket if the playoffs started tomorrow, but they’re still hoping to change that as the season heads down the home stretch.

Salisbury is currently 38th in 2A West.

The Hornets have a decent record (9-9), a better record than a lot of teams ahead of them in the rankings, but a key component of the RPI rankings is “Opponents Winning Percentage,” and Salisbury’s OWP of .338 is one of the lowest in 2A.

Lexington is ranked 50th out of the 50 2A West schools that are competing in softball.

So the Hornets couldn’t do anything to help their OWP in their latest outing, but at least they took care of business.

They led all the way after scoring five runs in the top of the first. They scored seven runs in the fifth and were able to end the game by the 10-run rule in five innings.

Ashley Yang had  a double, a triple, scored three runs and drove in three. Katie Peeler had another big game with a triple and a homer. She scored three times and drove in two.

Helen Moscoso had two RBIs. Jayla Robertson had five stolen bases.

Yang and Peeler did the pitching and combined for 11 strikeouts.

The Hornets play South Davidson at home on Monday. They lost 7-6 to the Wildcats in the first meeting.

•••

HUNTERSVILLE — South Rowan got the bats going late, piled up 11 runs in the sixth inning and beat Lake Norman Charter 14-4 on Thursday.

South (12-7, 6-6) is headed for fifth place in a tough South Piedmont Conference, but the Raiders are in great shape to make the 3A state playoffs.

South is 25th in the 3A West RPI rankings after Thursday’s games. Thirty-two teams will make the 3A West bracket.

Eva Shue’s grand slam was the big blow for the Raiders, who overcame a 4-0 deficit against LNC.

Campbell Withers had a double and drove in four runs. Avery Fisher had three hits and two RBIs, while Danica Krieg had two hits and scored two runs.

Lexie Ritchie pitched five innings with five strikeouts. Shue shut down the Knights for two innings.

Silvy Schild had a triple for Lake Norman Charter (4-11, 1-10), which has been playing better in recent games.

South will face a challenging finish to the regular season. The Raiders play at East Rowan on Tuesday and host Carson on Friday. Both of those teams are in contention for the SPC championship.

•••

Avery Bracewell went 4-for-4 in A.l. Brown’s 19-7 loss to Cox Mill on Thursday. Kaylee Dunning had three RBIs for the Wonders.

Campbell Schaen pitched Mooresville to a 12-2 win against West Cabarrus. Avrelle Harrell had three RBIs for the Blue Devils.