From staff reports
East Rowan baseball coach Brian Hightower announced Wednesday that brothers Trey Holmes and Noah Holmes will be joining Appalachian Stateís program next fall.
Noah is a senior third baseman at East Rowan. Trey, a 2008 East graduate, is a sophomore first baseman at Pitt Community College in Greenville. Both are lefty hitters and slick fielders and starred during Rowan Countyís run to the American Legion World Series last summer.
A story on the Holmes brothers is upcoming.
– East soccer wins
East Rowan beat West Rowan 3-0 in NPC soccer on Wednesday.
Jan Garus scored all three goals for the Mustangs, while keeper Dillon Avery and Andrew May, who returned from a knee injury, keyed Eastís defense.
Garusí first goal came when midfielder Robbie Barnes lobbed a ball over the West defense and Garus ran it down.
His second goal came after defender Jeffrey Pangnavong cleared a ball from Eastís 18-yard box. Garus settled the ball, dribbled through Westís defense and rocketed the ball past a diving keeper for a 2-0 edge at halftime.
Eastís final goal came when Janzten Stirewalt stole a ball on the right sideline and crossed to a streaking Garus, who settled the ball and placed it in the right side of the net.
Garus, a German exchange student, lifted his total for the season to 34 goals, a school record.
ěJan does a great job of finding space and finishing shots,î East coach John McNeil said. ěLots of kids find open shots but they hit the ball left or right. He finds that hole on the defense or the one place the keeper canít get to. He finishes opportunities. The second time through in the NPC, teams have double-teamed and triple-teamed him, but heís still finding room to score.î
East (8-9-2) celebrates Senior Night against North Iredell on Monday.
– Prep football
Carson-South Rowan pre-sale football tickets are available at South from 8-3 p.m for $6. The cost is the same as at the gate, but you can avoid a long line.
– 7th-grade football
Anthony McCurry scored three TDs and three 2-point conversions as China Grove pulled out a 44-42 win against previously unbeaten West Rowan (5-1) in a thriller.
McCurry scored on runs of 1, 5 and 7 yards. Brandon Sloop also had three TDs, scoring twice from the 3 and once from the 1. Sloopís 2-point conversion run with 1:03 remaining provided the decisive points.
West answered with a TD with 11 seconds left to get within two, but Herman Freeman, Sloop and Alex Lyles stopped an option run on the conversion to preserve the lead.
Defensive standouts for the Red Devils were Sloop, McCurry, Freeman, Lyles, Reagan May and Josh Barlow.
Marquise McCain scored five TDs and two 2-point conversions for the Bulldogs in a losing cause. He broke four scoring runs, including bursts of 70 and 87 yards and caught a 52-yard TD pass from Alexic Archie.
Devon Steele had a 29-yard scoring run and a 2-point conversion.
– Catawba athletics
A late block and ace from Taylor Doss helped Catawba escape Shuford Gym with a 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 15-11 SAC win against Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday night.
Kaitlyn Whitmer had 16 kills for the Indians (13-9, 6-6).
* Marc Josephís goal lifted Tusculumís menís soccer team to a 3-2 win against Catawba on Wednesday.
Catawba (4-10-1, 0-6-1) got goals from Carson Smith and Andrew Landry. Tyler Held had seven saves.
– Pfeiffer athletics
Brittany Dickens registered a season-high 15 kills as Pfeifferís volleyball team (16-7, 12-1 CC) swept St. Andrews on Wednesday.
* Pfeifferís menís soccer team is 11-3 after beating Newberry 4-1 on Wednesday.
* Pfeiffer topped Limestone 1-0 in womenís soccer on Tuesday.