Area Sports Briefs: Baxter, Safrit complete bracket for Rowan Amateur
Published 12:00 am Friday, July 17, 2020
From staff reports
In a playoff on Thursday, Jon Baxter and Alex Safrit secured the final two spots in the 32-man field for match play in the 42nd annual Horace Billings Rowan Amateur.
Match play gets under way today in the tradition-rich golf tournament at Corbin Hills and continues Saturday and Sunday.
Baxter and Safrit shot 82s in qualifying and were part of a three-way tie for the last two berths.
As the No. 31 seed, Safrit will be matched up with qualifying medalist Michael Swaringen (67) in the first round. No. 32 seed Baxter takes on top-seeded defending champ Nick Lyerly.
Play begins at 2:46 p.m.. The first foursome to tee off features Lyerly vs. Baxter and No. 16 Sean Kramer vs. No. 17 Gary Fesperman.
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Play starts today in the Carolinas Father-Son Championship in Pinehurst.
Local teams entered include the Owens (Chris and McGwire), the Fespermans (Alan and Warren), the Graebers (Charles and Luke), the McCoys (John and Chris) and the Childress duo of Jeff and Michael.
High school football
Salisbury’s Jalon Walker (Class of 2022) continues his rise as one of the nation’s most avidly recruited players.
Walker, now listed at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, is rated as the No. 2 recruit in the state in his class. He’s rated third nationally among outside linebackers and 56th nationally overall.
NC3 baseball
Rowan County’s game with Union County was washed out on Thursday.
That game has been rescheduled as part of a doubleheader set for Newman Park next Friday. Both games will be league games.
Rowan is scheduled to play Stanly County at West Stanly High on Saturday.
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Mocksville stayed on a roll by pounding Mount Airy 13-3 on the road on Thursday.
Winning pitcher Troy Clary stayed hot at the plate. He had three hits and three RBIs. Joe Johnson had three hits, including a home run.
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In NC3 Junior baseball, East Rowan rolled 8-1 against West Stanly on Wednesday.
Austin Fulk was the winning pitcher.
Blake Hill and Logan Dyer had two hits each. Eight Mustangs had a hit.
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On Thursday, East won 5-3 against Kannapolis.
Hunter Campbell’s two-run double was the key blow. He drove in three runs with two hits.
Hill had two hits.
Nate Hayworth won it for East (9-2, 3-0), while Braden Shive saved it.
Showcase baseball
The South Charlotte Panthers 2022 team lost 5-4 on Thursday in the WWBA Nationals.
Nathan Chrismon (South Rowan) went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Wood bat baseball
Jeremy Simpson (West Rowan, Catawba) came off the bench to sock a double and scored the go-ahead run as the High Point-Thomasville team beat the Guilford Lumberkings, 6-4, at Finch Field on Wednesday.
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Catawba’s Cameron Mills has belted two inside-the-park homers for the Mocksville Muscadines of the Old North State League.
