From staff reports
Salisbury’s baseball team lost 10-0 on Thursday to St. Francis Catholic of Gainesville, Fla., in the Hall of Fame Classic being played in Orlando.
It was a thrill for SHS coach Scott Maddox to coach against two of Roger Maris’ sons — one wore No. 9 (Roger’s number) and the other wore No. 61 (the number of homers Roger belted in 1961 for the New York Yankees).
Unfortunately, playing against a couple of Maris’ grandsons was no picnic for Salisbury (3-14). Senior center fielder Grant Maris, who is 6-foot-2 and 192 pounds and headed to North Dakota State to play football, went 4-for-4 and stole five bases to wreck the Hornets almost by himself.
“The center fielder is definitely a D-I kind of player and can really move,” Maddox said. “The other Maris (freshman Blaise) caught and was pretty good as well.”
Ryan Jones pitched five innings for the Hornets and took the loss. Chase Bowden finished up on the hill.
“Jones actually threw the ball well, but we were anemic offensively,” Maddox said. “We walked six and we kicked it around again. We played like that frog before he’s kissed and turns into a prince.”
Salisbury plays in the seventh-place game in the tournament today at 10 a.m.
In F&M Bank Classic games today at CMC-NorthEast Stadium, West Rowan (7-9) plays Mount Pleasant (8-8) at 10 a.m.; East Rowan (9-7) faces Robinson (11-5) at 1 p.m.; Carson (8-7) tangles with Northwest Cabarrus (11-3) at 4 p.m., and South Rowan (11-7) plays A.L. Brown (6-10) at 7 p.m.
The East-Robinson matchup could be the best game today. East is expected to go with Bradley Robbins, the 2011 Rowan County Pitcher of the Year. Robinson may counter with Brody Koerner, a Clemson signee.
West-Mount Pleasant and Carson-Northwest are rematches of season openers. Northwest edged Carson 7-6, while Mount Pleasant roughed up the Falcons 12-0.
In the nightcap, the Wonders will try to slow down a hot South team that has won eight of its last 10 outings.
Rowan and Cabarrus split the four matchups on Thursday, with two games going to extra innings.
College lacrosse
Catawba goalie Michael Pecchia posted 25 saves, and the Indians beat 10th-ranked Mars Hill 9-7 in a Deep South Conference semifinal played at Mars Hill on Thursday.
Braden Artem scored four goals as Catawba (13-2) stunned the Lions (11-3), who had handled them pretty easily during the regular season.
Pecchia stopped nine shots in the first quarter as Catawba took a 2-1 lead.
Trailing at halftime, Catawba took charge in the third quarter on goals 45 seconds apart by John Scheich and Tom Cullop.
Catawba plays Florida Southern at Mars Hill for the conference title on Sunday at 1 p.m. Catawba beat Florida Southern 10-8 for the 2011 DSC crown.
Major leagues
Seattle’s Kyle Seager (NW Cabarrus) hit a solo homer off Texas southpaw Derek Holland into the upper deck in right field on Thursday in the Mariner’s 5-3 loss to the Rangers.
It was the first homer of the season for Seager, who is batting .321 with six RBIs.
Usually Seager plays third base, but he started at second base on Thursday.
Minor leagues
Keenyn Walker’s 5-for-5 effort led the Kannapolis Intimidators to a 9-4 win in Lexington, Ky., on Thursday in front of 7,650 fans at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.
The two teams meet again tonight.
Jerry Sands (Catawba) is off to a slow start at Albuquerque, but he had two hits and drove in his fifth run of the season on Thursday. Sands boosted his batting average to .172.
Daniel Wagner (South Rowan) drew a bases-loaded walk to help Winston-Salem beat Frederick 8-5 on Thursday in the Carolina League.
Prep softball
Davie County buried R.J. Reynolds 17-3 in CPC softball on Thursday.
Abby Daniels went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs to lead the onslaught.
Softball teams needed
Enon Baptist Church is looking for additional teams for its spring semi-fast pitch softball league that starts in May.
Anyone interested in playing or needing information should contact James Taylor at 704 437 1090.
Local golf
The Elizabeth Hanford Dole Chapter of the American Red Cross is excited to announce the 11th annual American Red Cross Food Lion Golf Classic on Friday, April 20.
The tournament is at the Country Club of Salisbury. The format is Captain’s Choice. Lunch is from 11:30 until 1, with a shotgun start at 1.
The cost is $100 per player and includes green and cart fees, lunch, snacks, range balls and prizes.
Sponsorships are welcome. Contact the Red Cross at 704-633-3854.
Local racing
Quarter Midget racing will be held at the track in Salisbury (Exit 72) on Saturday.
Racing starts at 11 a.m. Admission is free. There will be a food vendor on site.