6-24-26 roundup: Pro football, baseball, auto racing, soccer and rodeo, Legion baseball

By Richard Walker

Ever since American Legion baseball fundamentally changed the rules of how it’s game would be played before the 2018 season, scores of games have dropped nationwide.

Certainly, dropping nine-inning games in favor of seven-inning games provides a common sense for lowered scoring since there were less opportunities.

But in addition to lowering the number of innings, Legion officials employed pitch count limits which made complete games largely a thing of the past and raised the odds of hitters seeing multiple pitchers.

On Monday night at East Gaston High School, Shelby and the Gaston Braves staged a “throwback game” of sorts as the teams battled for more than three hours before Shelby outlasted the host Braves 17-16.

The 33 runs tied for the second-largest combined run total in N.C. Area IV since the 2018 rule change – and the Braves’ 16 runs tied for largest total for a losing team in an Area IV game in that time frame.

In their second regular season meeting of the season – and 18 days after the Braves won 14-1 in Shelby – the visitors took an early 1-0 lead after ending the scoreless tie in the top of the third inning.

The Braves responded with three runs in the bottom of the third for a 3-1 lead before Post 82’s offense really got untracked with four runs in the fourth and six runs in the fifth and sixth innings to build what seemed an insurmountable 17-7 advantage.

In truth, Shelby was a mere scoreless bottom of the fifth inning away from a “mercy rule” victory.

But the Braves battled and battled to the point of getting the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh.

Predictably in a game with so many momentum swings, the contest ended in an unusual way.

Trailing by the by final score, what looked to be a wild pitch to advance the potential tying run to second glanced off the home plate umpire and was retrieved by Shelby catcher Landry Ohmstead in time to fire to second base to gun down the would-be base stealer.

By game’s end, the teams had combined for 33 runs, 30 hits, 14 walks, three hit batters, five fielding errors and 323 total pitches.

Nine players had multi-hit games – led by Shelby’s Ohmstead (4 hits), Wyatt McSwain (3 hits) and Caleb Costner (2 hits, 7 RBIs) and the Braves’ Trey Costner (3 hits, 2 home runs, 3 RBIs) – and 11 pitchers were used.

There was only a single 1-2-3 inning – Braves reliever Zeke Pruitt retired Shelby in order in the top of the seventh inning – and six of Shelby’s 17 runs were unearned and four of the Braves’ 16 runs were unearned.

Area schedule/results:
x-non division games

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
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. – Richland 5-3
x-Cherryville vs. Florence, S.C. – Florence 9-7
x-Florence, S.C. at Shelby – Florence 6-4

Monday, June 22
Shelby vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston) – Shelby 17-16

Tuesday, June 23
Asheville at Gastonia – Asheville 13-1 in 5, Gastonia 6-4
Cherryville at Rutherford County – Cherryville 11-0 in 5
Shelby at Caldwell County – Shelby 15-11

Wednesday, June 24
Gastonia at Cherryville – Cherryville 11-3: Starter and winner Adam Rogers (5 innings, 5 strikeouts), Nate Rollins (2 hits, 2 RBIs), Cason McGinnis (2 hits, 3 RBIs), Tucker Sigmon (2 hits, 3 RBIs, 3-run HR) and Elliott Dellinger (2-2) led Cherryville and Isaac Aycock (2 hits) and Carter Mason (2 hits) led Gastonia.

Shelby at Asheville – Asheville 10-5

Thursday, June 25
Gaston Braves at Asheville
Rutherford County at Shelby

Friday, June 26
Burke County at Shelby
Gaston Braves at Cherryville
Gastonia at Hickory

Saturday, June 27
Cherryville at Burke County

Sunday, June 28
Asheville at Cherryville
Gaston Braves at Burke County
Gastonia at Caldwell County
Hickory at Shelby

Monday, June 29
Shelby at Cherryville

Tuesday, June 30
Asheville vs. Gaston Braves (at East Gaston)
Cherryville at Shelby
Gastonia at Burke County

Wednesday July 1
x-Anderson, S.C. at Shelby
Caldwell County at Burke County
Shelby at Rutherford County

Thursday, July 2
Caldwell County at Asheville
Hickory at Cherryville
Shelby at Gastonia
-END REGULAR SEASON

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Charlotte 10, Rochester 2: Dru Baker and Dustin Harris had three hits and a home run each as the Knights banged out 17 hits to win the second game of their six-game home series. The third game is at 7:04 p.m. on Thursday.

Here is the full Charlotte Knights’ 2026 schedule:

(43-34 record, 43-34 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 4-2 (L 5-9, W 5-1, W 4-0, W 10-5, L 2-4, W 5-0)
June 23-25 Rochester 1-1 (L 9-10, W 10-2)
-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

 

Gastonia 6, Lexington 3: The Ghost Peppers won their 10th straight game – and have now had two double-digit winning streaks this season.

Here is the full Gastonia Ghost Peppers’ 2026 schedule:

(37-19 record, 37-19 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 6-0 (W 10-4, W 9-6, W 26-3, W 11-4, W 12-3, W 13-8)
June 23-28 at Lexington 2-0 (W 4-3, W 6-3)
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 (Corey Heim)
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.