7-28-26 roundup: Pro football, baseball, basketball, auto racing, soccer and rodeo, Legion baseball

By Richard Walker

Unbeaten Garner and Union County are the finalists for the 2026 N.C. American Legion baseball state championship game on Wednesday at Gastonia’s Sims Legion Park.

Union County eliminated the Gaston Braves and Cherryville in back-to-back games on Tuesday, including an 11-6 nightcap over Cherryville that didn’t finish until 11:56 p.m.

N.C. state tournament pairings and results (at Gastonia Sims Legion Park):

(Friday, July 24)
Game 1- Host/Gaston Braves 12-13 vs. Area 4 No. 2/Shelby 20-10 – GBraves 10-3: Gavin Smith (3 hits, home run, 5 RBIs), Trey Costner (3 hits, double, 1 RBI), Zeke Pruitt (2-run double) and reliever and winner Corey Bean (2 2/3 innings) led the Braves and Luke Rayfield (2 hits, home run, 3 RBIs) led Shelby.

(Saturday, July 25)
Game 2- Area 3 No. 1/Rowan County 31-4 vs. Area 2 No. 2/Wilmington Red 22-5 – Wilmington Red 8-1: Gibson Todd and Owen Gore had two hits including a home run to lead Wilmington.

Game 3- Area 4 No. 1/Cherryville 24-5 vs. Area 1 No. 2/Wilson 16-9 – Cherryville 4-0: Starter and winner Tyler Gates (5 1/3 innings, 4 strikeouts), Cason McGinnis (double), Tucker Sigmon (triple) and Elliott Dellinger (1 hit, 2 RBIs) led Cherryville.

Game 4- Area 2 No. 1/Beulaville 13-7 vs. Area 3 No. 2/Union County 21-8 – Union County 7-4: Ryan Virgilio (2 hits, triple, RBI) led Union County.

Game 5- Gaston Braves vs. Area 1 No. 1/Garner 24-2 – Garner 13-3 in 5: Jack Piccini (2 doubles, 4 RBIs) led Garner.

(Sunday, July 26)
Game 6- Shelby vs. Rowan County – Rowan County 9-4 (Shelby eliminated): Cole Blevins (3 hits, 5 RBIs) led Rowan County and Blayne Richardson (3 hits) and Wyatt McSwain (2-run single) led Shelby.

Game 7- Beulaville vs. Gaston Braves – GBraves 6-0 (Beulaville eliminated): Starter and winner Canton Bare (2-hitter, 1 strikeout) and Danny Onkoniewski (2 hits) led the Braves.

Game 8- Rowan County vs. Wilson – Wilson 9-6 (Rowan County eliminated): Mattox McKeel (2 hits, double, 3 RBIs) led Wilson.

Game 9- Wilmington Red vs. Cherryville – Cherryville 4-3 in 9: Talon Dalton’s ninth-inning, game-winning RBI single led Cherryville.

Game 10- Union County vs. Garner – Garner 2-0: Colton Haire (2-hitter, 8 strikeouts) led Garner.

(Monday, July 27)
Game 11- Gaston Braves vs. Wilmington – GBraves 2-0: Brody Crawford (6-hitter, 6 strikeouts), Landon King (2 hits, RBI) and Zeke Pruitt (RBI single) led the Braves.

Game 12- Wilson vs. Union County – Union County 10-2: Starter and winner Tyler Cain (9-hitter, 6 strikeouts) and Nathan Wilson (4 hits, double, 3 RBIs) led Union County.

Game 13- Cherryville vs. Garner – Garner 9-2: Starter and winner Jared Hagwood (6 innings, 4 strikeouts) and Nate Mizzelle (3 hits, double, 4 RBIs) led Garner and Cason McGinnis (2 hits, double) led Cherryville.

(Tuesday, July 28)
Game 14- Gaston Braves vs. Union County – Union County 15-3: Starter and winner Ryan Virgilio (4 1/3 innings as pitcher, 3 hits as batter), Kyle Kroehler (2 doubles, 2 RBIs), Christian Pawl (grand slam home run) led Union and Landon King (3 hits, double) and Brandon Washington (2 hits) led the Braves.

Game 15- Cherryville vs. Union County – Union County 11-6: Reliever and winner Hagan Jones (4 innings, 3 strikeouts), Robert Jackson (2 hits, double, 2 RBIs) and Kyle Kroehler (2 hits, 2 RBIs) led Union County and Tucker Sigmon (2 hits, double, triple, 1 RBI) led Cherryville.

(Wednesday, July 29)
Game 16- Garner vs. Union County, 4 p.m.

Game 17 (if necessary)- If Game 13 winner loses Game 16, 7 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro soccer

The 2026 Charlotte FC schedule:

(7-6-4 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 (T 2-2)
Saturday, July 25 at New York Red Bulls (W 2-0)
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 basketball

The Charlotte Hornets have announced their 2026 preseason schedule that features two home games and two road games. The full 2026-27 regular season game will be released in the next few weeks.

The Charlotte Hornets’ 2026-27 schedule:

(Preseason)

Oct. 6 Brooklyn (at Spectrum Center), 7 p.m.
Oct. 11 Milwaukee (Spectrum Center), 7 p.m.
Oct. 14 at Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 16 at Memphis, 8 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro football

The Carolina Panthers got some positive news on the injury front on Tuesday as CB Jaycee Horn (lacerated foot) has been taken off the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list and has been cleared to practice.

The Carolina Panthers July 31 Fan Fest schedule:

5:00 pm: Gates open and Team Store
5:30 pm: Pre-practice entertainment begins
6:30 pm: Players begin on-field warmups
7:30 pm: Practice begins
Approx. 8:45 pm: Practice ends and autograph session begins
Post practice: Fireworks and laser show begins
PSL Owners will have access to pre-sale tickets on Thursday, July 9 at 10 a.m., while tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 10. Tickets are $5 each, with proceeds benefitting Carolina Panthers Charities.

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 6, Nashville 1: Ryan Galanie (2 hits, home run, 2 RBIs) led the Knights in the opener of the six-game road series. The second game is 7:35 p.m. Wednesday.

Here is the full Charlotte Knights’ 2026 schedule:

(56-46 record, 42-33 1st half, 14-13 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)
-2nd half
June 23-28 Rochester 2-4 (L 9-10, W 10-2, W 7-6 in 11, L 2-6, L 1-3, L 4-9)
June 30-July 5 at Memphis 2-4 (L 5-10, W 2-0 in 8, L 6-8, L 3-4 in 11, W 8-6, L 1-2 in 11)
July 7-12 Nashville 3-3 (W 8-2, L 3-6, W 9-2, L 9-11, L 2-4, W 12-4)
July 17-19 at Durham 1-2 (L 2-8, W 7-5, L 2-3)
July 21-26 Norfolk 5-1 (W 7-6, W 8-4, ppd, L 1-2, W 6-1, W 7-6 in 10, W 7-4)
July 28-August 2 at Nashville 1-0 (W 6-1)
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:

(50-35 record, 40-23 1st half, 10-12 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 4-2 (W 4-3, W 6-3, W 7-4, W 8-6, L 5-12, L 4-9)
June 30-July 2 Lexington 1-2 (L 7-9, L 1-11, W 14-6)
-2nd half
July 3-5 Charleston, W.Va. 2-1 (L 13-16, W 10-3, W 13-9)
July 7-12 at Hagerstown 1-5 (L 4-13, L 4-14, L 5-6, L 3-10, W 7-3, L 6-13)
July 14-19 Lexington 2-4 (L 2-9, W 16-5, W 12-11, L 0-9, L 5-7, L 2-6)
July 21-26 at Charleston, W.Va. 4-2 (ppd, L 8-9, W 9-8, W 5-1, L 4-9, W 11-3, W 15-6)
July 28, 30-31-Aug. 2 Hagerstown 1-0 (W 9-8)
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 (Shane van Gisbergen)
July 5 — Chicagoland (Chase Briscoe)
July 12 — Atlanta (Blaney-2)
July 19 — North Wilkesboro (Joey Logano)
July 26 — Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis) (Corey Heim)
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.