4-20-22 roundup: Pro football, basketball and soccer, High school baseball and softball, College baseball
By Richard Walker
Crest and Kings Mountain are currently at the top of the Big South 3A Conference baseball standings.
On Thursday, they’ll meet for the Cleveland County Easter tournament title for the third time in the event’s history.
Crest advanced with a 7-0 victory over Shelby and Kings Mountain advanced with a 9-2 win over Burns.
Crest has won five titles in the event’s first eight seasons, including a 3-0 title game victory over Kings Mountain in 2013 and a 8-3 championship game win over the Mountaineers in 2017.
Here are this week’s tournament schedules and results:
Gaston County Baseball Championship at Sims Legion Park in Gastonia:
(Monday’s games)
East Gaston 13, Bessemer City 3 (6 innings)
Forestview 6, Highland Tech 5
North Gaston 10, Huss 0 (5 innings)
Cramer 12, Ashbrook 7
(Tuesday’s games)
Highland Tech 16, Bessemer City 4 (5 innings)
Ashbrook 8, Huss 4
East Gaston 8, Forestview 4
North Gaston 6, Cramer 4
(Thursday’s games)
7th place – Bessemer City vs. Huss, 10 a.m.
5th place – Highland Tech vs. Ashbrook, 1 p.m.
3rd place – Forestview vs. Cramer, 4 p.m.
Championship – North Gaston vs. East Gaston, 1 p.m.
Shelby Easter tournament at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium:
(Tuesday’s games)
Shelby 10, Piedmont 0
Crest 5, South Caldwell 4: Tucker McSwain got the start on the mound and Asher Smith got the win in relief for Crest, whose offense was led by Connor Gantt, Ethan Hayes, Colby Humphries, Zack Rayfield, Javarius Green and Clayton Brown.
Kings Mountain 7, Bandys 1
Burns 1, South Point 0
(Wednesday’s games)
South Caldwell 11, Piedmont 10
Bandys 6, South Point 2
Crest 7, Shelby 0: Ryan Ropp threw the complete game 1-hitter with 13 strikeouts and Tucker McSwain had two hits and Colby Humphries, Brayden Blaylock and Vari Green also had hits for Crest.
Kings Mountain 9, Burns 2
(Thursday’s games)
7th place – Piedmont vs. South Point, 11 a.m.
5th place – South Caldwell vs. Bandys, 1:30 p.m.
3rd place – Shelby vs. Burns, 4 p.m.
Championship – Crest vs. Kings Mountain, 7 p.m.
Catawba County Easter Baseball Classic at the Hickory American Legion Fairgrounds:
(Tuesday’s games)
No. 2 Foard 11, No. 7 West Lincoln 1
No. 3 St. Stephens 11, No. 6 Bunker Hill 1
No. 1 Alexander Central 10, No. 8 Newton-Conover 0 (6 innings)
No. 4 Hibriten 11, No. 5 Hickory 10
(Wednesday’s games)
West Lincoln 6, Newton-Conover 5
Bunker Hill 3, Hickory 1
St. Stephens 10, Foard 5
Alexander Central 10, Hibriten 0 (6 innings)
(Thursday’s games)
3rd place – Foard vs. Hibriten, 4 p.m.
Championship – St. Stephens vs. Alexander Central, 6:30 p.m.
Beach Diamond Invitational at West Brunswick in Shallotte:
(Monday’s games)
Rock Hill Legion Collegiate 9, South Columbus 1
Northwest Guilford 4, Scotland County 2
West Stanly 2, Southwest Guilford 0
(Tuesday’s games)
West Brunswick 1, Cherryville 0
Scotland County 23, South Columbus 8
Southwest Guilford 7, Cherryville 2
Rock Hill Legion Collegiate defeated Northwest Guilford
West Stanly 9, West Brunswick 1
(Wednesday’s games)
7th place – Cherryville 11, South Columbus 5: Eli Newsome (4 innings) got the pitching win and Kanon Willis (3 innings) the save for Cherryville, whose offense got multi-hit games from Willis, Will Fowler, Chase Miller, Will Heavner, Landon Hahn and Collin Robinson.
5th place – West Brunswick vs. Scotland County
3rd place – Northwest Guilford vs. West Brunswick
Championship – Rock Hill Legion Collegiate vs. West Stanly
Myrtle Beach, S.C., Ripken Experience:
(Monday)
Canfield, Ohio 15, East Lincoln 5 (6 innings)
(Tuesday)
East Lincoln 8, North Royalton, Ohio 5
(Wednesday)
East Lincoln 7, Boardman, Ohio 1: Seth Haigler (5-hitter, 4 strikeouts), Isaac Armstrong (2 runs, 1 RBI), Garrett Michel (3-4, 1 run, 2 RBIs),
Logan Craig (1-2, 1 RBI) and Gavin Houser (2-3, 1 RBI) led East Lincoln.
High school softball
Results from Cherryville Easter Softball tournament:
(Tuesday’s games)
Game 1 – North Lincoln 9, Burns 8
Game 2 – North Lincoln 9, Cherryville 1
Game 3 – West Lincoln 15, Kings Mountain 3
Game 4 – West Lincoln 14, North Gaston 5
Game 5 – Cherryville 13, North Gaston 8
(Wednesday’s games)
Game 1 – Burns 6, West Lincoln 5 (9 innings): Winning pitcher Sayge Strange, Jaycee Bivins (4-5, double, RBI), Meah Ivie (2-4, home run, 2 RBIs) and Hunter Morgan (2-4, 2 RBIs) led Burns.
Game 2 – North Lincoln 11, Kings Mountain 4
Game 3 – Burns 7, North Gaston 6 (8 innings): Sayge Strange (12 strikeouts, 1-3, home run, stolen base, 2 RBIs), Maura Pendleton (2-4, 3 stolen bases), Jaycee Bivins (3-4, double, 3 RBIs) and Meah Ivie (1-2, double) led Burns.
Game 4 – Kings Mountain 20, Cherryville 7
College baseball
A comeback rally in the opener and a shutout win the nightcap allowed the first-year Gaston College baseball program to clinch the Region 10 West Division title Wednesday night at Sims Legion Park with a doubleheader sweep of Cleveland Community College.
The Rhinos improved to 38-4 overall and 28-3 in the division after winning 4-3 on Enrique Wood’s walkoff two-out single in the bottom on the ninth in the opener and 2-0 in the nightcap as starter Christian Baker and relievers Marlowe Iorio and Konni Durschlag combined on a 3-hitter.
Gaston College returns to action on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Catawba Valley Community College.
Pro basketball
Here’s the schedule for the NBA playoffs:
(Eastern Conference)
1-Miami vs. 8-Atlanta
Game 1 at Miami: April 17 (Miami 115-91)
Game 2 at Miami: April 19 (Miami 115-105)
Game 3 at Atlanta: April 22
Game 4 at Atlanta: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Miami: April 26
Game 6 (if necessary) at Atlanta: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Miami: April 30
4-Philadelphia vs. 5-Toronto
Game 1 at Philadelphia: April 16 (Philadelphia 131-111)
Game 2 at Philadelphia: April 18 (Philadelphia 112-97)
Game 3 at Toronto: April 20 (Philadelphia 104-101)
Game 4 at Toronto: April 23
Game 5 (if necessary) at Philadelphia: April 25
Game 6 (if necessary) at Toronto: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Philadelphia: April 30
2-Boston vs. 7-Brooklyn
Game 1 at Boston: April 17 (Boston 115-114)
Game 2 at Boston: April 20 (Boston 114-107)
Game 3 at Brooklyn: April 23
Game 4 at Brooklyn: April 25
Game 5 (if necessary) at Boston: April 27
Game 6 (if necessary) at Brooklyn: April 29
Game 7 (if necessary) at Boston: May 1
3-Milwaukee vs. 6-Chicago
Game 1 at Milwaukee: April 17 (Milwaukee 93-86)
Game 2 at Milwaukee: April 20 (Chicago 114-110)
Game 3 at Chicago: April 22
Game 4 at Chicago: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Milwaukee: April 27
Game 6 (if necessary) at Chicago: April 29
Game 7 (if necessary) at Milwaukee: May 1
(Western Conference)
1-Phoenix vs. 8-New Orleans
Game 1 at Phoenix: April 17 (Phoenix 110-99)
Game 2 at Phoenix: April 19 (Phoenix 125-114)
Game 3 at New Orleans: April 22
Game 4 at New Orleans: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Phoenix: April 26
Game 6 (if necessary) at New Orleans: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Phoenix: April 30
4-Dallas vs. 5-Utah
Game 1 at Dallas: April 16 (Utah 99-93)
Game 2 at Dallas: April 18 (Dallas 110-104)
Game 3 at Utah: April 21
Game 4 at Utah: April 23
Game 5 (if necessary) at Dallas: April 25
Game 6 (if necessary) at Utah: April 28
Game 7 (if necessary) at Dallas: April 30
2-Memphis vs. 7-Minnesota
Game 1 at Memphis: April 16 (Minnesota 130-117)
Game 2 at Memphis: April 19 (Memphis 124-96)
Game 3 at Minnesota: April 21
Game 4 at Minnesota: April 23
Game 5 (if necessary) at Memphis: April 26
Game 6 (if necessary) at Minnesota: April 29
Game 7 (if necessary) at Memphis: May 1
3-Golden State vs. 6-Denver
Game 1 at Golden State: April 16 (Golden State 123-107)
Game 2 at Golden State: April 18 (Golden State 126-106)
Game 3 at Denver: April 21
Game 4 at Denver: April 24
Game 5 (if necessary) at Golden State: April 27
Game 6 (if necessary) at Denver: April 29
Game 7 (if necessary) at Golden State: May 1
Pro soccer
Here’s the full Charlotte FC schedule for the 2022 season (with results):
Feb. 26 at D.C. (L 0-3)
March 5, L.A. (L 0-1)
March 13, at Atlanta (L 1-2)
March 19, New England (W 3-1)
March 26, Cincinnati (W 2-0)
April 2, at Philadelphia (L 0-2)
April 10, Atlanta (W 1-0)
April 16, at New England (L 1-2)
April 23, at Colorado, 9 p.m.
April 30, at Orlando, 7:30 p.m.
May 7, Miami, 3:30 p.m.
May 14, Montreal, 7 p.m.
May 22, Vancouver, 5 p.m.
May 29, at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.
June 11, New York, 3 p.m.
June 18, at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
June 25, at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
June 30, Austin, 7 p.m.
July 3, at Houston, 8:30 p.m.
July 9, Nashville, 7 p.m.
July 16, at Miami, 8 p.m.
July 23, at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
July 30, Columbus, 7 p.m.
August 3, D.C., 7 p.m.
August 6, Chicago, 7 p.m.
August 13, at LAFC, 10:30 p.m.
August 17, at New York City, TBD
August 21, Orlando, 7 p.m.
August 27, Toronto, 7 p.m.
September 3, at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
September 10, New York City, 7 p.m.
September 17, at Chicago, 8 p.m.
October 1, Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
October 9, at New York, TBD