6-15-23 roundup: Pro baseball and soccer, High school athletics, College baseball and basketball, Legion baseball, NASCAR
By Richard Walker
Shelby High’s Ally Hollifield capped her five-sport athletic career earlier this week with the highest honor she could receive from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
A standout in basketball, cross country, soccer, track & field and volleyball for the Golden Lions, on Wednesday she was named the female athlete of the year for the 2022-23 athletic season.
In cross country, Hollifield was an all-conference selection her junior and senior years and was named Southern Piedmont 1A/2A runner of the year in 2022 while also qualifying for the N.C. 2A state meet.
In track & field, she was a three-time all-conference selection in the 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles.
In girls soccer, she was a 2021 all-conference selection.
And in basketball, she was a four-time all-conference selection and all-district selection and two-time all-state selection. In 2021, she was selected as the Most Outstanding Player for Shelby as it won its first-ever state title.
This fall, Hollifield will attend the University of Memphis on a full basketball scholarship.
Hollifield joins three other area athletes from the Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln county area to receive the NCHSAA’s top postseason honor; Kings Mountain’s Jackie Houston won the 1996-97 female athlete of the year award and brothers Chazz Surratt of East Lincoln (2014-15) and Sage Surratt of Lincolnton (2016-17) were male athlete of the year award winners.
Legion baseball
(Thursday’s games)
Asheville 9, Cleveland County 3
Mint Hill 6, Lincoln County 1
Matthews 9, Gastonia 2: Erwing Soza, Jesse Osborne and Trey Walker had hits for Gastonia.
Rutherford County 4, Cherryville 2: Zane Brockman had 3 hits and 1 RBI to lead Cherryville.
East Rutherford Junior Legion 14, Cleveland County 0
Cramer Junior Legion 7, Matthews 5
Dallas Junior Legion 13, Palisades 3
College basketball
Charlotte 49ers Director of Athletics Mike Hill announced on Thursday that Aaron Fearne, who was recently named interim head men’s basketball coach, will continue in that role for the 2023-24 season.
“Aaron has the tools required to lead this program, and our basketball team believes in him,” Hill said in a school news release. “He has considerable experience as a head coach and his leadership ability has been on full display during a very challenging time. He is widely respected in basketball circles, both college and professional. After conducting an accelerated search at an unconventional time of year, Aaron emerged as the right man at the right time. We are pleased to have him lead the Niners and look forward to an exciting new brand of Charlotte basketball.”
Fearne, a successful head coach at the professional level, has been with the 49ers for the past five years and was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2022-23 season. He has been instrumental in attracting Conference USA’s top-ranked recruiting class in each of the last three years.
“I’m grateful to Mike, Chancellor (Sharon) Gaber and all involved in the search process,” Fearne said in a school news release. “I’m prepared to lead this program. We are committed to bringing a tough, competitive brand of basketball to the American Athletic Conference. We will play with pace, attack the glass, and apply pressure to our opponents in all phases of the game.”
Before joining the 49ers staff, Fearne spent nine seasons as head coach and eight seasons as an assistant coach of the National Basketball League’s Cairns Taipans, which plays in Australia’s top professional league. He led teams to the NBL finals twice and was named Coach of the Year in 2015. In 2018, he served as head coach of New Zealand’s under 19 national team.
Fearne was a member of head coach Ron Sanchez’s staff last season when Charlotte won the CBI Championship – the program’s first ever postseason tournament title- and had a 22-14 record for the school’s most wins since the 2000-01 season.
College baseball
The College World Series schedule:
(Friday, June 16)
Game 1: Oral Roberts (51-11) vs. TCU (42-22), 2 p.m.
Game 2: Virginia (50-13) vs. Florida (50-15), 7 p.m.
(Saturday, June 17)
Game 3: Stanford (44-18) vs. Wake Forest (52-10), 2 p.m.
Game 4: Tennessee (43-20) vs. LSU (48-15), 7 p.m.
(Sunday, June 18)
Game 5: June 16 losers, 2 p.m.
Game 6: June 16 winners, 7 p.m.
(Monday, June 19)
Game 7: June 17 losers, 2 p.m.
Game 8: June 17 winners, 7 p.m.
(Tuesday, June 20)
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 2 p.m.
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 7 p.m.
(Wednesday, June 21)
Game 11: Game 6 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 2 p.m.
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m.
(Thursday, June 22)
Game 13: Game 11 loser (if 1st loss) vs. Game 11 winner, 2 or 7 p.m.
Game 14: Game 12 loser (if 1st loss) vs. Game 12 winner, 7 p.m.
Best-of-3 finals: June 16 bracket winner vs. June 17 bracket winner
Game 1: June 24, 7 p.m.
Game 2: June 25, 3 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): June 26, 7 p.m.
Pro soccer
Here is Charlotte FC’s full 2023 schedule with results:
(7-7-4 record)
Feb. 25 New England Revolution (L 0-1)
March 4 at St. Louis City SC (L 1-3)
March 11 Atlanta United FC (L 0-3)
March 18 at Orlando City SC (W 2-1)
March 25 New York Red Bulls (T 1-1)
April 1 at Toronto FC (T 2-2)
April 8 at Real Salt Lake (L 1-3)
April 15 Colorado Rapids (T 2-2)
April 22 Columbus Crew (W 1-0)
April 29 at D.C. United (L 0-3)
May 6 New York City FC (W 3-2)
May 13 at Atlanta United FC (W 3-1)
May 17 Chicago Fire FC (W 2-1)
May 20 Nashville SC (L 1-2)
May 27 at L.A. Galaxy (W 1-0)
May 31 at Philadelphia Union (L 0-1)
June 3 at Columbus Crew (W 4-2)
June 10 Seattle Sounders FC (T 3-3)
June 21 at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
June 24 CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
July 5 at New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
July 8 FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
July 15 at CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 20 at Inter Miami CF, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 26 L.A. FC, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 30 Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 2 at Nashville SC, 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 16 D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 Philadelphia Union, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 23 at FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 30 at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 4 Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 7 at Chicago Fire FC, 8:30 p.m.
Oct. 21 Inter Miami CF, TBD
Pro baseball
Durham 4, Charlotte 2: The Knights suffered their first defeat in the 6-game series at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The 4th game of the series is at 6:35 p.m. Friday.
Here is the full Charlotte Knights’ 2023 schedule:
Overall record: 31-35
March 31-April 2 Louisville (2-1)
April 4-9 at Columbus (3-3)
April 11-16 Jacksonville (3-3)
April 18-23 at Louisville (2-4)
April 25-30 Norfolk (2-4)
May 2-7 at Gwinnett (4-2)
May 9-14 Durham (3-3)
May 16-21 Scranton-Wilkes Barre (2-4)
May 23-28 at Jacksonville (4-2)
May 30-June 4 Nashville (3-3)
June 6-11 at Gwinnett (1-5)
June 13-18 at Durham (2-1)
June 20-25 Louisville
June 28-July 3 at Norfolk
July 4-9 Jacksonville
July 14-16 at Lehigh Valley
July 18-23 Memphis
July 25-30 at Durham
Aug. 1-6 at Norfolk
Aug. 8-13 Gwinnett
Aug. 15-20 at Nashville
Aug. 22-24, 26-27 Memphis
Aug. 28-Sept. 3 at Jacksonville
Sept. 5-10 Durham
Sept. 12-17 Nashville
Sept. 18-24 at Memphis
Gastonia 11, Southern Maryland 6: Cole Freeman and Luis Curbelo had 2 hits apiece to lead the Honey Hunters’ 10-hit offense.
Here is the full Gastonia Honey Hunters’ 2023 schedule:
Overall record: 29-13
April (3-0)
28 Frederick (W 10-4)
29 Frederick (W 8-6)
30 Frederick (W 7-4)
May (17-9)
2 at So. Maryland (W 8-6)
3 at So. Maryland (W 11-6)
4 at So. Maryland (L 2-4)
5 at Long Island (W 3-2)
6 at Long Island (L 1-3)
7 at Long Island (L 4-6)
9 Frederick (W 2-1 in 10)
10 Frederick (W 10-0)
11 Frederick (W 9-7)
12 at High Point (L 5-8)
13 at High Point (W 12-5)
14 at High Point (L 3-4)
16 Charleston, W.Va. (W 13-4)
17 Charleston, W.Va. (W 4-2)
18 Charleston, W.Va. (L 4-6)
19 at Lexington (W 15-2)
20 at Lexington (W 8-0)
21 at Lexington (W 5-3)
23 at Frederick (W 6-0)
24 at Frederick (W 8-5)
25 at Frederick (W 8-3)
26 Lancaster (L 3-4 in 11)
27 Lancaster (ppd., rain)
28 Lancaster (ppd., rain)
29 Lancaster (W 9-1)
29 Lancaster (L 3-4)
30 High Point (L 8-10)
31 High Point (W 14-10)
June (9-4)
1 High Point (W 7-4)
2 Lexington (W 3-2)
3 Lexington (W 10-1)
4 Lexington (W 4-1)
6 at Charleston, W.Va. (W 4-1)
7 at Charleston, W.Va. (L 1-13)
8 at Charleston, W.Va. (L 2-4)
9 at Frederick (W 5-4)
10 at Frederick (W 12-7)
11 at Frederick (L 6-9)
13 So. Maryland (W 5-0)
14 So. Maryland (L 9-10)
15 So. Maryland (W 11-6)
16 Staten Island
17 Staten Island
18 Staten Island
20 at Lancaster
21 at Lancaster
22 at Lancaster
23 at Staten Island
24 at Staten Island
25 at Staten Island
27 High Point
28 High Point
29 High Point
30 So. Maryland
July
1 So. Maryland
2 So. Maryland
4 at Frederick
5 at Frederick
6 at Frederick
7 at High Point
8 at High Point
9 at High Point
11 at Charleston, W.Va.
12 at Charleston, W.Va.
13 at Charleston, W.Va.
14 Staten Island
15 Staten Island
16 Staten Island
18 High Point
19 High Point
20 High Point
21 at So. Maryland
22 at So. Maryland
23 at So. Maryland
25 at Staten Island
26 at Staten Island
27 at Staten Island
28 at Long Island
29 at Long Island
30 at Long Island
August
1 High Point
2 High Point
3 High Point
4 Lexington
5 Lexington
6 Lexington
8 Frederick
9 Frederick
10 Frederick
11 at Long Island
12 at Long Island
13 at Long Island
15 York
16 York
17 York
18 Lexington
19 Lexington
20 Lexington
22 at Long Island
23 at Long Island
24 at Long Island
25 at Lancaster
26 at Lancaster
27 at Lancaster
29 Frederick
30 Frederick
31 Frederick
September
1 So. Maryland
2 So. Maryland
3 So. Maryland
4 So. Maryland
5 at High Point
6 at High Point
7 at High Point
8 Charleston, W.Va.
9 Charleston, W.Va.
10 Charleston, W.Va.
12 So. Maryland
13 So. Maryland
14 So. Maryland
15 at Lexington
16 at Lexington
17 at Lexington
Auto racing
The 2023 NASCAR schedule (with winners in parentheses):
Feb 5 Clash at The Coliseum, Los Angeles CA (Martin Truex, Jr.)
Feb 16 Duel No. 1, Daytona Beach FL (Joey Logano)
Feb 16 Duel No. 2, Daytona Beach FL (Aric Almirola)
Feb 19 Daytona 500, Daytona Beach FL (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.)
Feb 26 NASCAR Cup Series at California, Fontana CA (Kyle Busch)
Mar 5 NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas, Las Vegas NV (William Byron)
Mar 12 NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix, Avondale AZ (William Byron-2)
Mar 19 NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta, Hampton GA (Joey Logano-2)
Mar 26 NASCAR Cup Series at Circuit of the Americas, Austin TX (Tyler Reddick)
Apr 2 NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond, Richmond VA (Kyle Larson)
Apr 9 NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol, Bristol TN (Christopher Bell)
Apr 16 NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville, Martinsville VA (Kyle Larson-2)
Apr 23 NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega, Lincoln AL (Kyle Busch-2)
May 1 NASCAR Cup Series at Dover, Dover DE (Martin Truex, Jr.-2)
May 7 NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas, Kansas City KS (Denny Hamlin)
May 14 NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington, Darlington SC (William Byron-3)
May 21 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Open Race, North Wilkesboro NC (Josh Berry)
May 21 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race, North Wilkesboro NC (Kyle Larson-3)
May 29 NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte, Concord NC (Ryan Blaney)
Jun 4 NASCAR Cup Series at World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison IL (Kyle Busch-3)
Jun 11 NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma, Sonoma CA (Martin Trues, Jr.-3)
Jun 25 NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville, Lebanon TN, 7 p.m. on NBC
Jul 2 NASCAR Cup Series at Chicago, Chicago IL, 5:30 p.m. on NBC
Jul 9 NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta, Hampton GA, 7 p.m. on USA
Jul 16 NASCAR Cup Series at New Hampshire, Loudon NH, 2:30 p.m. on USA
Jul 23 NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono, Long Pond PA, 2:30 p.m. on USA
Jul 30 NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond, Richmond VA, 3 p.m. on USA
Aug 6 NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan, Brooklyn MI, 2:30 p.m. on USA
Aug 13 NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis Road Course, Speedway IN, 2:30 p.m. on NBC
Aug 20 NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen, Watkins Glen NY, 3 p.m. on USA
Aug 26 NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona, Daytona Beach FL, 7 p.m. on NBC
(Cup Playoffs)
Sep 3 NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington, Darlington SC, 6 p.m. on USA
Sep 10 NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas, Kansas City KS, 3 p.m. on USA
Sep 16 NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol, Bristol TN, 7:30 p.m. on USA
Sep 24 NASCAR Cup Series at Texas, Fort Worth TX, 3:30 p.m. on USA
Oct 1 NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega, Lincoln AL, 2 p.m. on NBC
Oct 8 NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte, Concord NC, 2 p.m. on NBC
Oct 15 NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas, Las Vegas NV, 2:30 p.m. on NBC
Oct 22 NASCAR Cup Series at Miami, Homestead FL, 2:30 p.m. on NBC
Oct 29 NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville, Martinsville, 2 p.m. on NBC
Nov 5 NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix, Avondale AZ, 3 p.m. on NBC