6-30-21 roundup: Pro baseball, Little League baseball, Legion baseball, College baseball
By Richard Walker
Cherryville and Cleveland County ended their North Carolina Area IV regular seasons by finishing tied atop Western Division standings with 10-4 records Wednesday’s games.
Cherryville knocked off Burke County 3-1 as Noah Huss threw a four-hitter with six strikeouts and Zach Wilson (triple), Colin Robinson (double), Zane Brockman (one hit, one RBI) and Jacob Hamrick (one hit, one RBI) led Cherryville’s offense.
And Shelby split a doubleheader against Rutherford County at Forest City’s McNair Field, winning 6-4 in the opener and losing 3-1 in the nightcap.
In the opener, Boone Cartee (two hits), Luke Reynolds (one hit, two RBIs) and Porter Hall (one hit, two RBIs) led the Cleveland County offense and Cartee started and went six innings for the victory and Tyler Smart the last inning for a save.
In the nightcap, Bradley Jordan was a hard-luck loser and Cartee (two hits) and Ryan Emery (one hit, one RBI) led the Cleveland County offense.
The share of the championship gives Cherryville its 23rd Area IV regular season title in history and second straight and gives Cleveland County its first regular season championship since 2018 and 17th overall.
Mint Hill 11, Lincoln County 6: Mint Hill (8-2) moved into first place of the Eastern Division with the win at Lincoln County (4-2).
Union 6-5, Gaston Braves 3-6: Jackson Risk hit a one-out, three-run double for the Braves as they won in walkoff fashion 6-5 in the nightcap of a doubleheader at South Point’s Raider Field. Risk’s hit drove in Logan Agosta, Ayden Ledford and Caleb Burr one batter after Burr had drawn a bases-loaded walk to drive in Liam Brady for the first of four runs scored by Post 144-266 in that inning.
Reliever Greyson Thomas pitched four scoreless innings for the win as the Braves ended their regular season with a 6-6 record.
In the first game, Burr (one hit, two RBIs), Risk (one hit), Grayson Guy (one hit, one RBI) and Riley Hawkins (one hit) led the Braves’ offense.
Little League baseball
Host Cherryville knocked off Boiling Springs 10-4 on Tuesday to win the N.C. District 1 11-12-year-old title.
Coach Tyler Sain’s team advances to the state tournament in Charlotte next week.
Pro baseball
Here’s an update on local professional baseball players with statistics through Tuesday:
Emilio Pagan (former Gardner-Webb and Belmont Abbey): The right-handed pitcher is 4-0 with a 3.51 ERA in 36 appearances for the San Diego Padres.
Jeffrey Springs (South Point 2011 graduate): The left-handed pitcher is 4-1 with two saves and a 3.15 ERA in 33 appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Will Wilson (Kings Mountain 2016 graduate): The shortstop is hitting .254 with nine home runs and 22 RBIs in 44 games for the Class A West Eugene Emeralds in the San Francisco Giants’ organization.
Alec Burleson (East Lincoln 2017 graduate): The outfielder, promoted earlier this season by the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization, is hitting .297 with six home runs and 19 RBIs in 35 games for the Class AA Central Springfield Cardinals.
Jake Buchanan (North Gaston 2007 graduate): The right-handed pitcher is 1-4 with a 10.01 ERA in nine appearances (six starts) for the Class AAA West Salt Lake Bees in the Los Angeles Angels’ organization.
Reilly Hovis (Forestview 2012 graduate): The right-handed pitcher, signed by the Toronto Blue Jays after starting the season with the Independent League Gastonia Honey Hunters, is 0-1 with a 11.57 ERA in one start for the Class AA Northeast New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
Tyler White (former Gastonia Post 23 Legion and Gastonia Grizzlies): The infielder is hitting .240 with one home run and 14 RBIs in 36 games for the Class AAA East Buffalo Bison in the Toronto Blue Jays’ organization.
Garrett Davila (South Point 2015 graduate): The left-handed pitcher is 2-1 with two saves and a 1.04 ERA in 13 appearances for the Class A Central Quad Cities River Bandits in the Kansas City Royals’ organization.
Mason Fox (former Gardner-Webb): The right-handed pitcher is 2-2 with a 10.02 ERA in 14 appearances for the Class AA Central San Antonio Missions in the San Diego Padres’ organization.
Christopher Proctor (Burns 2015 graduate): The catcher has played for three teams in the Detroit Tigers’ organization and is currently hitting .500 with one RBI in three games in the Class A Lakeland Flying Tigers.
Chandler Redmond (former Gardner-Webb): The infielder and outfielder is hitting .236 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 35 games for the Class A Central Peoria Chiefs in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.
Blake Brown (North Gaston 2016): The right-handed pitcher is 0-0 with three saves and a 4.70 ERA in 14 appearances for the Class A East Jersey Shore Blue Claws in the Philadelphia Phillies’ organization.
Dylan Smith (Forestview 2015, Belmont Abbey): The right-handed pitcher was just traded by the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball’s High Point Rockers to the New York Boulders of the Frontier League. Smith went 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in two appearances for High Point.
College baseball
The 2021 CWS pairings and results:
Saturday’s games
Game 1: N.C. State 10, No. 9 Stanford 4
Game 2: No. 4 Vanderbilt 7, No. 5 Arizona 6 (12 innings)
Sunday’s games
Game 3: Virginia 6, No. 3 Tennessee 0
Game 4: No. 7 Mississippi State 2, No. 2 Texas 1
Monday, June 21
Game 5: Stanford 14, Arizona 5 (Arizona eliminated)
Game 6: N.C. State 1, Vanderbilt 0
Tuesday, June 22
Game 7: Texas 8, Tennessee 4 (Tennessee eliminated)
Game 8: Mississippi State 6, Virginia 5
Wednesday, June 23
Game 9: Vanderbilt 6, Stanford 5 (Stanford eliminated)
Thursday, June 24
Game 10: Texas 6, Virginia 2
Friday, June 25
Game 11: Vanderbilt 3, N.C. State 1
Game 12: Texas 8, Mississippi State 5
Saturday, June 26
Game 13: N.C. State (37-19) vs. Vanderbilt (48-16), no contest (N.C. State eliminated)
Game 14: Mississippi State 4, Texas 3 (Texas eliminated)
Finals – Vanderbilt (48-16) vs. Mississippi State (48-17)
Best-of-3
Game 1: Monday, Vanderbilt 8-2
Game 2: Tuesday, Mississippi State 13-2
Game 3: Wednesday, Mississippi State 9-1 (Mississippi State wins series 2-1)
Pro baseball
The Gastonia Honey Hunters fell to 12-16 after Wednesday’s 12-8 home loss to Southern Maryland.
Gastonia continues a 10-game homestand on Thursdsay at 6:50 p.m. against Southern Maryland.