6-23-23 roundup: Pro basketball, football, baseball and soccer, College baseball, Legion baseball, NASCAR

By Richard Walker

Former East Lincoln and Lincolnton High multi-sport star Sage Surratt will be pursuing a second straight USFL championship this weekend as the New Orleans Breakers face the Birmingham Stallions on Sunday at 7 p.m.

The matchup of teams with the best records in the league is a semifinal matchup of South Division teams while also giving Surratt a third game against his former team.

A year ago when the USFL restarted, Surratt caught 12 passes for 157 yards in eight games for the Stallions as they went 11-1 overall and won the league title.

This season with New Orleans, Surratt is third in the USFL in receiving yards (552) and has 50 catches in 10 games. The Breakers (7-3) finished runner-up to the Stallions (8-2) in the regular season and the teams split their two matchups – New Orleans winning 45-31 on April 29 and Birmingham winning 24-20 on May 27.

Sunday’s winner advances to the July 1 USFL title game at 8 p.m. at Canton, Ohio; The other semifinal matches North Division co-champions, Michigan Panthers and Pittsburgh Maulers, both of whom had 4-6 records.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro basketball

One day after adding four players in Thursday’s NBA Draft, the team is adding free agent signees that will be projected to play for the G-League Greensboro Swarm.

North Carolina guard Leaky Black of nearby Concord Cox Mill, Eastern Washington forward Angelo Allegri and San Diego State forward Nathan Mensah have reached agreements with the Hornets – and other players likely will be added.

On Thursday, the Hornets added forward Brandon Miller of Alabama with the No. 2 overall pick, guard Nick Smith Jr. of Arkansas with the No. 27 pick and guard Amari Bailey of UCLA with the No. 41 pick.

The Hornets also selected Xavier’s Colby Jones at No. 34 and Washington State’s Mouhamed Gueye at No. 39 but included them in a trade that landed the franchise No. 31 overall pick James Nnaji, an 18-year-old 6-foot-11, 250-pound forward/center.

Charlotte also revealed its Las Vegas Summer League schedule:

July 7 (Thomas & Mack Center) – vs. San Antonio Spurs (9 p.m., ESPN)
July 9 (Thomas & Mack Center) – vs. L.A. Lakers (4 p.m., ESPN2)
July 11 (Thomas & Mack Center) – vs. Portland (8:30 p.m., NBA TV)
July 13 (Cox Pavilion) – vs. New Orleans (7:30 p.m., NBA TV)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College baseball

The College World Series schedule:

(Friday, June 16)
Game 1: Oral Roberts (51-11) vs. TCU (42-22) – Oral Roberts 6-5
Game 2: Virginia (50-13) vs. Florida (50-15) – Florida 6-5
(Saturday, June 17)
Game 3: Stanford (44-18) vs. Wake Forest (52-10) – Wake Forest 3-2
Game 4: Tennessee (43-20) vs. LSU (48-15) – LSU 6-3
(Sunday, June 18)
Game 5: TCU vs. Virginia – TCU 4-3 (Virginia eliminated)
Game 6: Oral Roberts vs. Florida – Florida 5-4
(Monday, June 19)
Game 7: Stanford vs. Tennessee – Tennessee 6-4 (Stanford eliminated)
Game 8: Wake Forest vs. LSU – Wake Forest 3-2
(Tuesday, June 20)
Game 9: TCU vs. Oral Roberts – TCU 6-1 (Oral Roberts eliminated)
Game 10: Tennessee vs. LSU – LSU 5-0 (Tennessee eliminated)
(Wednesday, June 21)
Game 11: Florida vs. TCU – Florida 3-2 (TCU eliminated)
Game 12: Wake Forest vs. LSU – LSU 5-2
(Thursday, June 22)
Game 13: not necessary
Game 14: Wake Forest vs. LSU – LSU 2-0 in 11

Best-of-3 finals: Florida (53-15) vs. LSU (52-16)
Game 1: June 24, 7 p.m.
Game 2: June 25, 3 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): June 26, 7 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legion baseball

(Friday’s games)
Gastonia at Matthews (ppd., June 25 at 2:30 p.m.)

Cherryville 6, Hickory 1: Joseph Webb (5 innings), Eli Newsome (1 inning), Kanon Willis (1 inning), Will Fowler (1 hit, 1 RBI, 2 walks), Colton Mayes (double, 1 RBI) and Zane Brockman (1 hit, 1 RBI) led Cherryville.

(Randolph County tournament at Asheboro)
Cleveland County 7, Chatham County 1: Ryan Ropp had 9 strikeouts in the complete game victory and Hagan Hoyle, Tyler Smart and Connor Gantt had 2 hits apiece for Cleveland County.

Cherryville at Burns: Suspended to Monday with Burns leading 2-0 in the 2nd inning.

Matthews Junior Legion at Gaston Christian (ppd., June 27)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro soccer

Here is Charlotte FC’s full 2023 schedule with results:

(7-7-5 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 (T 2-2)
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

Charlotte 0-4, Louisville 8-3: Sebastian Rivero’s 3-run double in the fifth inning lifted the Knights to come-from-behind win in the nightcap of a doubleheader for the 3rd and 4th games of the 6-game series. The 5th game of the series is Saturday at 7 p.m. at Charlotte’s Truist Field.

Here is the full Charlotte Knights’ 2023 schedule:

Overall record: 34-39
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 (3-3)
June 20-25 Louisville (2-2)
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 7, Staten Island 1: Three Honey Hunters pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts, led by starter Zach Mort’s 11 in his 7 shutout innings.

Here is the full Gastonia Honey Hunters’ 2023 schedule:

Overall record: 36-14
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 (16-5)
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 (W 5-4)
17 Staten Island (W 7-5)
18 Staten Island (W 5-1)
20 at Lancaster (L 0-6)
21 at Lancaster (W 9-7)
22 at Lancaster (W 4-1, W 5-2)
23 at Staten Island (W 7-1)
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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro football

The Carolina Panthers’ training camp schedule:

Practices (at Wofford unless noted):
July 26-27 10:15 a.m.
July 29 11 a.m.
July 31 10:25 a.m.
Aug. 1 10:15 p.m.
Aug. 2 Fan Fest at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, 7 p.m.
Aug. 4 10:25 a.m.
Aug. 5-6 10:15 a.m.
Aug. 8 10:15 a.m.
Aug. 9 Joint practice with N.Y. Jets, 10:15 a.m.
Aug. 10 Joint practice with N.Y. Jets, 9 a.m.

Here is the 2023 preseason and regular season schedule for the Carolina Panthers:

(Preseason)
Aug. 12 N.Y. Jets, 4 p.m.
Aug. 18 at N.Y. Giants, 7 p.m.
Aug. 25 Detroit, 8 p.m.

(Regular season)
Sept. 10 at Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Sept. 18 New Orleans, 7:15 p.m.
Sept. 24 at Seattle, 4:05 p.m.
Oct. 1 Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Oct. 8 at Detroit, 1 p.m.
Oct. 15 at Miami, 1 p.m.
Oct. 22 OFF WEEK
Oct. 29 Houston, 1 p.m.
Nov. 5 Indianapolis, 4:05 p.m.
Nov. 9 at Chicago, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 19 Dallas, 1 p.m.
Nov. 26 at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Dec. 3 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Dec. 10 at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Dec. 17-18 Atlanta, TBD
Dec. 24 Green Bay, 1 p.m.
Dec. 31 at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
Jan. 6-7 Tampa Bay, TBD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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