From staff and wire reports

After a night off on Thursday, Rowan County’s American Legion baseball tean returns to action tonight against Concord Post 51 at Newman Park at 7 p.m.

Rowan (19-9) has struggled of late, dropping three of four games in the division, including one at Concord, and has fallen to fourth place in the six-team Southern Division of Area III. Rowan has a  4-4 record, with two division games left to play.

Rowan concludes division play on Sunday at home against Stanly County.

That likely will be the final game of the regular season. Rowan had two early July games scheduled against Kernersville and Davidson County, but it appears those teams will be making up division games on those dates.

Rowan has been led all season by Wayne Mize, a first baseman/left fielder. He’s  batting .447 with three homers, 10 doubles and 39 RBIs.

Right fielder Luke Barringer his hitting .290 with seven homers and 20 RBIs.

Infielder/lead-off man  Cole Hales has been Rowan’s hottest hitter over the last week or so and is batting .373 with 13 RBIs.

Other potential starters tonight include outfielder/DH Jordan Goodine (.293, 34 runs scored, 18 RBIs), catcher/third baseman Bo Rusher (.272, four homers, 20 RBIs), first baseman  Daniel Durham (.276, 14 RBIs), infielder Steven Smith (.259, 12 RBIs), catcher JT Fecteau (,255, 8 RBIs), infielder Bryson Wagner (.182, 4 RBIs) and center fielder CP Pyle (.200, 4 RBIs).

Rowan’s lineup has been diminished by injuries to first baseman Chandler Lippard (.333) and shortstop Zeb Burns (.289). Rowan is hopeful both will be back for the playoffs.

Rowan’s starting pitcher tonight is uncertain. It’s possible Hales, who has a 0.00 ERA out of the bullpen, will start for the first time this summer.

Catawba recruit Barringer will receive the Mark Norris Memorial Award as the Rowan County Player of the Year for the high school season prior to the game, while Coker recruit Hales will receive the Patrick Snider Memorial Award as the Rowan County Pitcher of the Year.

Legion baseball

Randolph County pounded Kernersville 11-1 on Thursday.

Trevor Marsh and Spencer Lanier drove in three runs each for Post 45 to back strong pitching by Hunter Hill.

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Mooresville edged Concord 4-3 on Thursday, the first loss in the division for Post 51.

Concord scored three runs in the seventh,  but Mooresville was able to hang on.

David Brannen pitched six strong innings for Mooresville. Drew Martin drove in two runs.

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Greensboro surprised High Point 5-0 on Thursday.

Alden Kolesar homered for Post 53, and Bowen Young pitched a strong game.

Junior Legion

Dylan Driver and Jake Harris had two hits each and scored three runs apiece for Carson in a 12-2 romp against A.L. Brown on Thursday.

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South Rowan won against South Stanly 6-2 on Thursday.

Kane Kepley had a triple and two RBIs. Kepley and Joseph James had two hits.

Drew Huffman pitched four strong innings.

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Kannapolis Post 115 edged Concord 2-1 behind the pitching of Zach Burgbacher. Michael Specht scored both Kannapolis runs, and Taylor Grady had two hits.

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Vance Visser homered and Reed Cunningham went 3-for-3 in Mocksville’s 10-0 win against the Davidson Dawgs on Thursday.

Intimidators

CHARLESTON, W.Va. —  Jake Anchia hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 10th inning, as the West Virginia Power beat the Kannapolis Intimidators 4-3 on Thursday.

The Power scored one run in the ninth before Kannapolis answered in the next half-inning when Bryce Bush hit a two-run single to take a 3-1 lead.

West Virginia starter Steven Moyers went six innings, allowing one run and six hits while striking out seven. Bryan Pall (1-0) got the win in relief while Lane Ramsey (2-4) took the loss in the South Atlantic League game.

Despite the loss, Kannapolis is 3-1 against West Virginia this season.

Minor league baseball

Craig Brooks (Catawba)  pitched three shutout innings for Iowa on Thursday and struck out four.

Brooks (2-0) was the winning pitcher in a 4-1 victory against Omaha.

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Bryan Blanton (Catawba) had a sharp relief outing on Wednesday for the Staten Island Yankees, striking out four batters in two scoreless innings.

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Zac Almond (Catawba)  is only batting .237 for the Kane County Cougars in Class A ball, but the 23-year-old catcher has three homers, 11 doubles, 27 RBIs and 23 walks in 52 games.

Almond was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017.

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Ike Freeman (East Rowan, UNC) is 7-for-25 (.280) in the Arizona Rookie League. Freeman has two RBIs.

He was a 14th-round pick by the Cleveland Indians.

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Peyton Williams (Catawba) made his pro debut for the Gulf Coast League Braves in rookie ball on Tuesday.

He allowed one run and struck out three in two innings.

   

Local golf

Match play in the Rowan Masters starts today at Warrior.

Overseas baseball

Kiwoom’s Jerry Sands (Catawba) leads the Korea Baseball Organization with 72 RBIs in 79 games.

Sands, 31, is tied for third in the league in homers with 14. He is batting .310 with 25 doubles.

Summer baseball

Playing for the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs, Joe Butts (Catawba) is the leading hitter in the Florida Summer Collegiate League.

The rising junior second baseman is batting .432 with a homer and nine RBIs  in 12 games.

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Catawba pitchers Sawyer Strickland, Caleb Link and Pearce Wilhelm are having some success hurling for the Weyburn Beavers (17-3) in the Western Canadian Baseball League.

Strickland (1-0) has a 1.12 ERA with nine strikeouts and only one walk. Wilhelm (0-0) has a 2.70 ERA and five strikeouts, while Link (1-0) has a 2.07 ERA and five strikeouts.

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Hayden Setzer (East Rowan, Catawba) redshirted this season at Catawba, but  is pitching well for the Triad Tribe in Old North State League.

Setzer is 3-0 with a  2.51 ERA and 16  strikeouts.

Henderson Lentz (North Rowan, Catawba) is batting .292 for Tribe.

Catcher Lyle Pfingst (Catawba) is batting .381 for the Tribe and has thrown out four of six base stealers.

Little League softball

Rowan Little League softball will have a  16U Senior Division team this summer.

Players are Abbey Nixon, Claire Long,  Kary Hales,  Tate Barger,  Allie Burns,  Ellen Yang,  Caroline Cozart, Phoebe Cole, Brooke Piper, Cailynn Winford,  Kendall Robinson,  Katie Peeler, Bentli Meadows, Ellie Wilhelm and Landry Stewart.

Brandon Piper is the manager. Coaches are Johnny Meadows and Steve Yang. District play starts  Saturday at Salisbury Community Park vs King at 10 a.m .and 12:30 p.m.

Jr. Legion softball

Rowan County won 4-1 and 15-7 in Wednesday’s doubleheader at Davidson County.