6-20-26 roundup: Pro football, baseball, auto racing, hockey, soccer and rodeo, College baseball, Legion baseball

By Richard Walker

The Carolina Hurricanes had already set North Carolina history 20 years ago.

By winning a second NHL Stanley Cup title on Sunday, the Hurricanes solidified their spot even more with their second major sports title.

That championship was celebrated in a big way in downtown Raleigh on Saturday.

That celebration of arguably the high point for pro sports in the state comes 67 years North Carolina got its first major sports franchise in 1969 when the old American Basketball Association moved from Houston to form the Carolina Cougars that were headquartered in Greensboro but also played home games in Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem.

After that franchise moved to St. Louis in 1974 – or two years before the NBA/ABA merger – pro sports in the state didn’t gain a permanent foothold until 1988.

That’s when the NBA granted an expansion franchise to the Charlotte Hornets. Later, the NFL granted an expansion franchise to the Carolina Panthers to begin play in 1995, the WNBA granted an inaugural franchise to the Charlotte Sting in 1997 and the NHL’s Hartford moved to the state in 1997.

Since the current Lenovo Center’s facility hadn’t been completed, the newly-christened Carolina Hurricanes played two years at the Greensboro Coliseum before moving to their permanent home in Raleigh.

At the time of their move, the Cougars, Hornets, Panthers and Sting all had enjoyed moderate playoff success.

But the Hurricanes move to Raleigh began an era in which they are easily the most successful professional sports franchise in state history.

Prior to the Hurricanes’ move to Raleigh, the Cougars had made three playoff appearances, won one series and won seven total postseason games, the Hornets had made three playoff appearances, won one series and won five total postseason games, the Panthers had made one playoff appearance with one victory and the Sting had made a winless playoff appearance in their first and only season.

In the years since, the Hurricanes’ success is more than triple the success of all of the other teams combined.

Carolina made its first NHL playoff appearance in 1999 and has since advanced 12 more times with 104 total postseason victories obviously highlighted by the two Stanley Cup titles and also including one Stanley Cup runner-up finish.

The rest of the teams (Hornets, Panthers and Sting) have made 20 total playoff appearances with 32 postseason victories highlighted by two Panthers NFL Super Bowl appearances (2004 and 2016) and the Sting’s WNBA runner-up finish in 2001; The Sting would cease operations after the 2006 season.

Unfortunately, the Hornets are the only current NBA team that has not advanced even as far as a conference final in their existence.

Certainly this state’s roots are deeply rooted in basketball due to the success of its college basketball programs but in the professional sports world, North Carolina can claim quite an impressive legacy in the sport of hockey.

 

 

 

 

 

Pro baseball

Gastonia Ghost Peppers pitcher Blake Brown had his contract purchased by the Washington Nationals on Saturday.

A 2016 North Gaston High graduate, Brown had a 1-2 record with two saves and 6.27 ERA in 16 appearances for the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball franchise.

A UNC-Asheville standout from 2017 to 2020, Brown has been playing professionally since he signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2021 season. Brown had 34 games of pitching experience with the Phillies’ organization before signing with Gastonia before this season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College baseball

The 2026 College World Series pairings:

(Friday, June 12)
Game 1- Troy (38-30) vs. No. 16 West Virginia (45-15) – West Virginia 7-5
Game 2- Mississippi (41-21) vs. No. 5 North Carolina (50-12-1) – North Carolina 6-2

(Saturday, June 13)
Game 3- Oklahoma (38-22) vs. No. 7 Alabama (42-19) – Oklahoma 9-0
Game 4- No. 6 Texas (45-13) vs. No. 3 Georgia (51-12) – Georgia 7-1

(Sunday, June 14)
Game 5- Troy vs. Mississippi – Troy 12-8
Game 6- West Virginia vs. North Carolina – North Carolina 5-2

(Monday, June 15)
Game 7- Alabama vs. Texas – Texas 14-2
Game 8- Oklahoma vs. Georgia – Oklahoma 4-3

(Tuesday, June 16)
Game 9- Troy vs. West Virginia – West Virginia 12-0
Game 10- Texas vs. Georgia – Georgia 2-0

(Wednesday, June 17)
Game 11- North Carolina vs. West Virginia – North Carolina 12-7
Game 12- Oklahoma vs. Georgia – Oklahoma 11-4

(Best-of-3 championship series- North Carolina vs. Oklahoma)
Game 1- Saturday, June 20 – Oklahoma 9-3
Game 2- Sunday, June 20, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary)- Monday, June 22, 7 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legion baseball

Area schedule/results:
x-non division games

Wednesday, June 10
Burke County vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston) – GBraves 5-0
Cherryville at Asheville – Asheville 8-7
Rutherford County at Gastonia – Rutherford County 16-11
Shelby at Hickory – Shelby 12-2

Thursday, June 11
Burke County at Gastonia – Gastonia 4-1

Friday, June 12
Gaston Braves at Asheville (ppd., June 25)

Saturday, June 13
No games

Sunday, June 14
Rutherford County vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston) – Rutherford County 8-7, GBraves 5-1

Monday, June 15
Gastonia at Shelby – Shelby 11-2

Tuesday, June 16
Caldwell County at Shelby – Shelby 8-7
Gaston Braves at Hickory – GBraves 4-1
Gastonia at Rutherford County – Rutherford County 7-3
x-Union County at Cherryville – Cherryville 14-11

Wednesday, June 17
Cherryville at Gastonia – Cherryville 13-1 in 5
x-Greenville, S.C. at Shelby – Shelby 11-1 in 6
Hickory vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston) – GBraves 8-7

Thursday, June 18
Cherryville at Caldwell County – suspended with Cville leading 6-3 in bottom 5th
Gaston Braves at Gastonia – GBraves 7-1

Friday, June 19
Burke County at Cherryville – Cherryville 8-0
(North-South tournament at Shelby)
x-Asheville vs. Greenwood, S.C. – Greenwood 5-3
x-Greenwood, S.C. at Shelby – Shelby 7-6

Saturday, June 20
Caldwell County vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston) – Caldwell 7-3
(North-South tournament at Shelby)
x-Cherryville vs. Fort Mill, S.C. – Fort Mill 15-10: Cason McGinnis (3 hits, 2 RBIs) led Cherryville.

x-Asheville vs. Richland, S.C. – Asheville 6-3
x-Asheville vs. Florence, S.C. – Florence 2-1
x-Richland, S.C. at Shelby – Richland 7-6 in 9

Sunday, June 21
(North-South tournament at Shelby)
x-Cherryville vs. Richland, S.C., noon
x-Cherryville vs. Florence, S.C., 2:30 p.m.
x-Florence, S.C. at Shelby, 5 p.m.

Monday, June 22
Burke County at Caldwell County
Shelby vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston)

Tuesday, June 23
Asheville at Gastonia, 5 p.m. DH
Cherryville at Rutherford County
Shelby at Caldwell County

 

 

 

 

 

Pro soccer

The 2026 Charlotte FC schedule:

(6-6-3 record)
Saturday, Feb. 21 at St. Louis (T 1-1)
Saturday, Feb. 28 at L.A. Galaxy (L 0-3)
Saturday, March 7 Austin (W 3-1)
Saturday, March 14 Miami (T 0-0)
Saturday, March 21 New York Red Bulls (W 6-1)
Saturday, Apr. 4 Philadelphia (W 2-1)
Saturday, Apr. 11 Nashville (L 1-2)
Saturday, Apr. 18 at New York (W 2-1)
Wednesday, Apr. 22 at Orlando (L 1-4)
Saturday, Apr. 25 at Nashville (L 2-4)
Saturday, May 2 at New England (L 0-1)
Saturday, May 9 Cincinnati (T 2-2)
Wednesday, May 13 New York (L 0-1)
Saturday, May 16 Toronto (W 3-1)
Saturday, May 23 New England (W 1-0)
Wednesday, July 22 Atlanta, 8:00 PM
Saturday, July 25 at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 1 at Chicago, 8:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 15 Columbus, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Aug. 19 at Toronto, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 22 DC, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Aug. 29 at Atlanta, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 5 Houston, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Sept. 9 at Montreal, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 12 at Cincinnati, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 19 at DC, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Sept. 26 Chicago, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 10 Dallas, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Columbus, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 17 at Philadelphia, 2:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 24 at Portland, 10:30 PM
Wednesday, Oct. 28 Montreal, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Oct. 31 Orlando, 1:00 PM
Saturday, Nov. 7 at Miami, 4:00 PM

(U.S. Open Cup)
Wednesday, Apr. 15 Charlotte Independence (W 6-0)
…at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex
Tuesday, Apr. 28 Atlanta United FC (L 0-2)
…at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex

 

 

 

 

 

Pro football

Here is the Panthers’ full 2026 schedule:

(preseason)
Aug. 6 – Arizona (at Canton, Ohio), 8 p.m.
Aug. 15 – at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Aug. 21 – at Jacksonville, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 28 – Houston, 7 p.m.
(regular season)
Sept. 13 – Chicago, 1 p.m.
Sept. 20 – at Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Sept. 27 – at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Oct. 4 – Detroit, 8:20 p.m.
Oct. 8-12 – BYE week
Oct. 18 – at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Oct. 25 – Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Oct. 29 – at Green Bay, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 8 – Denver, 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 – at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Nov. 22 – Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Nov. 30 – at Tampa Bay, 8:15 p.m.
Dec. 6 – at Minnesota, 4:25 p.m.
Dec. 13 – New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Dec. 20 – Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Dec. 24-28 TBA – at Pittsburgh, TBA
Jan. 3 – Seattle, 1 p.m.
Jan. 9-10 TBA – Atlanta, TBA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro baseball

Buffalo 4, Charlotte 2: The host Bisons won on a two-out, two-run walk off home run in the bottom of the night to take the fifth game of the six-game series. The finale is Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

Here is the full Charlotte Knights’ 2026 schedule:

(41-33 record, 41-33 1st half, 0-0 2nd half)
-1st half
March 27-29 Durham 3-0 (W 19-2, W 2-1 in 11, W 4-3)
March 31-April 5 at Nashville 1-4 (L 3-7, W 9-3, L 0-4, L 6-7, ppd, L 5-7)
April 7-12 Memphis 3-3 (L 4-9, W 7-3, L 1-4, W 9-8 in 10, L 4-6, W 13-4)
April 14-19 at Jacksonville 2-4 (L 0-3, L 2-3, L 3-5, L 1-4, W 2-0, W 9-4)
April 21-26 Nashville 4-3 (L 1-5, W 9-4, W 3-2 in 10, W 11-9, L 5-12, W 16-6, L 1-5)
April 28-May 3 Gwinnett 3-3 (L 7-10, W 10-9, L 5-9, L 3-4, W 21-1, W 10-9)
May 5-10 at Jacksonville 3-3 (W 5-3, L 6-8, W 16-1, W 8-5, L 5-6, L 1-6)
May 12-17 Norfolk 3-3 (L 6-9, L 8-9, W 4-1, W 4-1, L 10-11, W 15-3)
May 19-24 at Gwinnett 4-2 (W 5-4, W 4-3, L 3-7, W 4-3 in 10, L 1-5, W 3-2)
May 26-31 Jacksonville 3-3 (W 4-0, susp, L 3-6, W 12-5, W 12-4, L 6-15, L 5-6)
June 2-7 at Durham 6-0 (W 6-1, W 18-7, W 11-6, W 4-3, W 7-5, W 12-5)
June 9-14 Oklahoma City 3-3 (L 3-6, L 1-10, W 9-8, W 12-7, L 7-11, W 4-3)
June 16-21 at Buffalo 3-2 (L 5-9, W 5-1, W 4-0, W 10-5, L 2-4)
June 23-25 Rochester
-2nd half
June 26-28 Rochester
June 30-July 5 at Memphis
July 7-12 Nashville
July 17-19 at Durham
July 21-26 Norfolk
July 28-August 2 at Nashville
August 4-9 Durham
August 11-16 at Rochester
August 18-23 at Scranton-WB
August 25-30 Memphis
September 1-6 at Gwinnett
September 8-13 Buffalo
September 15-20 at Norfolk

 

Here is the full Gastonia Ghost Peppers’ 2026 schedule:

(34-19 record, 34-19 1st half, 0-0 2nd half)
-1st half
April 21-23 at High Point 1-2 (W 3-1, L 5-6, L 0-5)
April 24-26 High Point 3-0 (W 4-3, W 18-8, W 9-2)
April 28-May 3 at York 4-2 (W 14-2, ppd, W 2-1, W 5-4, L 4-5, W 10-2, L 3-9)
May 5-10 Southern Maryland 1-5 (L 2-3, L 11-18, L 2-12, L 4-5, W 7-3, L 1-14)
May 12-17 at Long Island 3-3 (L 3-6, L 3-11, W 10-0, L 4-6, W 8-6, W 6-5)
May 19-20 Charleston, W.Va. 3-0 (W 9-4, W 6-2, W 9-6)
May 22-24 at Charleston, W.Va. 3-0 (W 17-4, W 8-4, W 12-4)
May 26-28 at Lexington 3-0 (W 10-6, W 3-2, W 3-1)
May 29-31 Charleston, W.Va. 3-0 (W 6-3, W 10-7, W 9-2)
June 2-7 Lancaster 2-4 (W 11-2, L 1-3, W 14-3, L 3-4, L 8-9, L 5-17)
June 9-14 at Lexington 3-3 (L 13-15, L 6-8, W 7-5, L 9-10, W 7-1, W 12-8)
June 16-21 Staten Island 5-0 (W 10-4, W 9-6, W 26-3, W 11-4, W 12-3)
June 23-28 at Lexington
June 30-July 2 Lexington
-2nd half
July 3-5 Charleston, W.Va.
July 7-12 at Hagerstown
July 14-19 Lexington
July 21-26 at Charleston, W.Va.
July 28, 30-31-Aug. 2 Hagerstown
Aug. 4-6 Southern Maryland
Aug. 7-9 at Lexington
Aug. 11-16 at High Point
Aug. 18-23 Charleston, W.Va.
Aug. 25-30 at Southern Maryland
Sept. 1-6 High Point
Sept. 8-10 Lexington
Sept. 11-13 at High Point

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auto racing

Here is the full 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule with race winners in parentheses:

Feb. 4 — Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium (Ryan Preece)
Feb. 15 — Daytona 500 (Tyler Reddick)
Feb. 22 — Atlanta (Reddick-2)
March 1 — Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (Reddick-3)
March 8 — Phoenix (Ryan Blaney)
March 15 — Las Vegas (Denny Hamlin)
March 22 — Darlington, South Carolina (Reddick-4)
March 29 — Martinsville, Virginia (Chase Elliott)
April 5 — off weekend
April 12 — Bristol, Tennessee (Ty Gibbs)
April 19 — Kansas (Reddick-5)
April 26 — Talladega, Alabama (Carson Hocevar)
May 3 — Texas (Elliott-2)
May 10 — Watkins Glen, New York (Shane van Gisbergen)
May 17 — All-Star Race (Dover) (Hamlin-2)
May 24 — Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte) (Daniel Suarez)
May 31 — Nashville, Tennessee (Hamlin-3)
June 7 — Michigan (Hamlin-4)
June 14 — Pocono in Long Pond, Pennsylvania (Hamlin-5)
June 21 — San Diego
June 28 — Sonoma, California
July 5 — Chicagoland
July 12 — Atlanta
July 19 — North Wilkesboro
July 26 — Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis)
Aug. 2 — off weekend
Aug. 9 — Iowa
Aug. 15 — Richmond, Virginia
Aug. 23 — New Hampshire
Aug. 29 — Daytona, Florida
Sept. 6 — Darlington
Sept. 13 — Gateway in Madison, Illinois
Sept. 19 — Bristol
Sept. 27 — Kansas
Oct. 4 — Las Vegas
Oct. 11 — Charlotte Roval
Oct. 18 — Phoenix
Oct. 25 — Talladega
Nov. 1 — Martinsville
Nov. 8 — Homestead, Florida

 

 

 

 

Rodeo

Professional Bull Riding Unleash the Beast tour schedule for Greensboro-based Carolina Cowboys:

Feb. 1 – Golden 1 Center Sacramento- Austin Gamblers (L 173.90-256.90)
Feb. 21 – Progressive PBR Jacksonville- Florida Freedom (L 158.70-169.25)
March 22 – Ram Trucks PBR Indianapolis- Nashville Stampede (W 88.70- 0.00)
(DNQ for playoffs)

Team Challenge playoff results
March 29 at Albuquerque: Semifinal- (No. 1 Missouri Thunder def. No. 4 Florida Freedom 83.65-0.00)
April 17 at Billings: Semifinal- (No. 2 Austin Gamblers def. No. 3 Kansas City Outlaws 87.10-84.50)
April 26 at Tacoma: Championship- (No. 1 Missouri Thunder def. No. 2 Austin Gamblers 254.75-171.35)

Upcoming events:
Sept. 18-20 – Greensboro First Horizon Coliseum Complex

 

 

 

 

Golf

The Rutherford County Sports Hall Of Fame (RCSHOF), presented by Hardin’s Drug, in conjunction with Golf Sponsors Forest City Honda and Chick-fil-A of Forest City, is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 2026 T. Max Champion Memorial Golf Tournament.

The tournament will be held on Friday, July 31 at the Apple Vally Golf Course in Lake Luke, with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Registration fee is $100.00 per player or $400.00 for a team of four and covers the green fee, cart usage and lunch.

First prize for Gross and Net Winners is $600.00 per team. Other prizes will be awarded based on the number of entries. Proceeds from the event go to support the RCSHOF Scholarship Fund and registration deadline is July 21.

For information or to register, please visit the RCSHOF website: https://www.rcshof.org/ or call Randy Page at 828-429-7773.