From staff reports
North Rowan’s baseball season ended with a 6-1 loss at West Montgomery in the second round of the 1A state playoffs on Wednesday.
North (11-13) fell for the fourth time to YVC rival West Montgomery.
Clint Veal (5-5) started on the mound for the Cavaliers and was relieved by Jake Smith in the fifth.
West Montgomery (18-5) scored all of its runs in a disastrous bottom of the fourth.
“A few errors and a few walks, and all of a sudden, they’ve got a big inning,” North coach Aaron Rimer said. “We just fell apart.”
Rimer said North executed its gameplan of pitching around West Montgomery’s powerful No. 3 and No. 4 hitters Cody McKenzie and Hunter Hamilton, but that one bad inning proved fatal.
The Cavaliers scored their only run in the seventh when Veal delivered a run-scoring single that plated Chance Mazza.
Rimer said North’s pitching held up surprisingly well in a rebuilding season, but the offense struggled and the defense was up and down.
“When we played well, we could beat anyone,”said Rimer, whose team is the only squad to beat Carson since the Easter break. “But we either scored a bunch of runs or no runs at all, and there were a lot of nights we beat ourselves defensively.”
West Montgomery takes on YVC champ South Stanly in Friday’s third round.
Carson and Northwest Cabarrus had their game postponed again on Wednesday.
The 3A second-round game will have to be played tonight, hopefully at Northwest, but at an alternate site if Northwest’s field is unplayable.
Colton Laws will pitch for the Cougars and is expected to be opposed by Northwest ace Weston Smith.
Hickory Ridge ripped Mount Pleasant 14-4 in the completion of a suspended 3A second-round game on Wednesday.
Hickory Ridge, a No. 4 seed, will play a third-round home game against South Rowan, also a No. 4 seed, on Friday.
CCC clubs East Davidson and West Davidson have reached the third round of the 2A playoffs.
East Davidson beat West Lincoln 9-2, while West Davidson topped Surry Central 3-2.
Both CCC teams play against top seeds on Friday.
West Davidson is at home against Cuthbertson, while East Davidson is at East Lincoln.
In 4A, Davie and Northwest Guilford were postponed again.
They’ll try to get in their second-round matchup at Rich Park tonight.
Prep girls basketball
North Rowan announced on Wednesday that Brian Lytton will be the school’s new girls basketball coach.
Lytton replaces Tony Hillian, who was at the helm for four seasons.
North was 4-20 in 2A in Hillian’s first year and went 6-16, 9-15 and 9-15 the past three seasons in the 1A YVC.
North posted a 9-7 YVC record and made the playoffs in 2012, its first playoff appearance since 2007.
A story on Lytton is upcoming.
Prep soccer
West Rowan’s girls soccer team lost 4-0 at Marvin Ridge in the third round of the 3A playoffs on Wednesday.
The setback in Waxhaw left the ninth-ranked Falcons with a 20-4-1 record.
The Falcons had beefed up their defense in an attempt to counter the Mavericks’ speed and relentless attack.
“We knew the key to staying with them was for our defense to at least slow them down,” West coach Nick Brown said. “We moved Toni Lucente back to the sweeper position so that we could utilize her speed and power against the Marvin Ridge forwards.”
Nevertheless, 14 minutes in, MR senior Alyssa Ventura crashed into the box to make a one-touch shot of a high cross from 15 yards. Her arcing shot hit the crossbar and bounced in for a 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks made it 2-0 with 5:20 to play in the half when Ventura again found a crease just big enough to sting the nets from 20 yards.
Marvin Ridge took control of the midfield in the second half as the Falcons sent strikers forward in an attempt to create scoring opportunities. They found the nets twice in the second half as well for the final 4-0 margin.
Senior Falcon goalkeeper Allison Bailey made six saves and thwarted Ventura on a breakaway midway in the second half. Bailey held her line as Ventura closed in, charging out at the last second to eliminate the shooting angles and intercepting the ball right from Ventura’s foot 6 yards out.
“We played well tonight, and executed our game plan,” senior defender Mary McCachren said. “That’s what makes this such a hard way to end the season. We played a great game, and it just wasn’t enough.”
West had never made it to the third round before. Marvin Ridge (17-3-2) moves on to face Charlotte Catholic, a winner over Weddington, on Friday in a West Region semifinal.
“I’m proud of the girls for giving everything they had tonight,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, I think the better team won. Credit to my girls for giving their all for the entire 80 minutes. It was a fun season. I’m glad I was a part of it.”
Prep track
The second weekend of the NCHSAA track and field championships is set for North Carolina A&T in Greensboro this weekend.
The 3A championships for boys and girls is on Friday, with the 4A championships on Saturday.
Field events start at 10 a.m.
Winterville South Central has won two staight 3A girls titles, while Fayetteville Byrd is the defending boys champ.
Raleigh Wakefield is the defending 4A girls champ, while Knightdale is the defending 4A boys champ.
Admission is $6 daily.
Local golf
Will Collins (Salisbury) and Salisbury’s Frank Adams III competed in the eGolf Tour’s Willow Creek Open in High Point on Wednesday.
Collins shot 70 to tie for 25th after the first round. Adams shot 71 and is tied for 40th.
Parks & Rec
The Salisbury Parks & Recreation Department will host a Local Hershey Track and Field Competition on Sunday, May 20, at 2 p.m. at Knox Middle School.
This free event is open for boys and girls ages 9-14. They will compete separately in running events, the standing long jump and the softball throw.
Winners will advance to district competition.
For more information, contact Lakai Brice at 704-638-5289.