7-29-21 roundup: Legion baseball and softball, College football, Pro baseball
By Richard Walker
Cherryville and Fuquay-Varina clinched their spots in Saturday’s semifinals with wins on Thursday in the N.C. American Legion baseball state tournament at Cherryville’s Fraley Field.
Cherryville routed Rowan County 17-1 in six innings by the 10-run mercy rule in the final game of pool play. It came a few hours after Fuquay-Varina beat defending state champion Wilmington 11-3 convincingly.
Both Cherryville and Fuquay-Varina are 2-0 in their respective pools after two days of the tournament that ends the pool play phase of the event on Friday with four more games.
Earlier Thursday, Kannapolis beat Rutherford County 9-4 and Wayne County edged Port City 7-6.
After Friday’s games, single-elimination semifinals and finals will be played on Saturday and Sunday.
The 2021 N.C. Legion state tournament winner advances to the Mid-Atlantic Regionals in Asheboro that start on Aug. 4.
Here is the full tournament schedule and results for the 2021 state championship:
Wednesday, July 28
Rowan County 3, Port City 2
Wilmington 6, Rutherford County 3
Fuquay-Varina 10, Kannapolis 2
Cherryville 8, Wayne County 2
Thursday, July 29
Kannapolis 9, Rutherford County 4
Wayne County 7, Port City 6
Fuquay-Varina 11, Wilmington 3
Cherryville 17, Rowan County 1 (6 innings)
Friday, July 30
Rutherford County vs. Fuquay-Varina, 10 a.m.
Wayne County vs. Rowan County, 1 p.m.
Port City vs. Cherryville, 4 p.m.
Kannapolis vs. Wilmington, 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 31
Semifinals at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 1
Championship game at time to be determined
Standings:
(Stars division)
Cherryville 2-0
Rowan County 1-1
Wayne County 1-1
Port City 0-2
(Stripes division)
Fuquay-Varina 2-0
Wilmington 1-1
Kannapolis 1-1
Rutherford County 0-2
Ticket prices are the following:
Wednesday through Friday: $15 per session (2 sessions per day) or $20 day pass
Saturday: $15
Sunday: $10
All-tournament pass: $50
Legion softball
Pairings have been announced for next week’s N.C. American Legion softball state tournament that will be played at Crest High School.
Area champions Wayne County (1), Robeson County (2), Davidson County (3) and Hickory (4) join host Shelby Post 82 in the five-team field for the double-elimination tournament.
Complete pairings follow:
Monday, Aug. 2
Game 1 – Hickory vs Davidson County, 2:30 p.m.
Game 2 – Wayne County vs. Robeson County, 5 p.m.
Game 3 – Shelby vs. Game 1 winner
Tuesday, Aug. 3
Game 4 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1 p.m.
Game 5 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 4
Game 7 – Game 6 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 8 – Championship game: Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 1 p.m.
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 3.54 ERA in 43 appearances for the San Diego Padres.
Jeffrey Springs (South Point 2011 graduate): The left-handed pitcher is 5-1 with two saves and a 3.38 ERA in 40 appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Will Wilson (Kings Mountain 2016 graduate): The shortstop is hitting .203 with two home runs and seven RBIs for the Class AA Northeast Richmond Flying Squirrels in the San Francisco Giants’ organization. Wilson was promoted to Richmond on July 6 after hitting .251 with 10 home runs and 26 RBIs for the Class A West Eugene Emeralds.
Alec Burleson (East Lincoln 2017 graduate): The outfielder is hitting .289 with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs in 58 games for the Class AA Central Springfield Cardinals.
Jake Buchanan (North Gaston 2007 graduate): The right-handed pitcher was 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 before he was placed on the injured list on July 1.
Reilly Hovis (Forestview 2012 graduate): The right-handed pitcher is 0-1 with a 5.30 ERA in four starts for the Class AA Northeast New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
Tyler White (former Gastonia Post 23 Legion and Gastonia Grizzlies): The infielder is hitting .267 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs in 54 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 4-2 with three saves and a 2.78 ERA in 18 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 was 2-3 with an 11.69 ERA in 16 appearances (one start) for the Class AA Central San Antonio Missions in the San Diego Padres’ organization before he was transferred to the developmental list on July 7.
Christopher Proctor (Burns 2015 graduate): The catcher has played for three teams in the Detroit Tigers’ organization and is currently hitting .091 in four games for the Class A Central West Michigan Whitecaps.
Chandler Redmond (former Gardner-Webb): The infielder and outfielder is hitting .235 with 11 home runs and 29 RBIs in 54 games for the Class A Central Peoria Chiefs in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.
Blake Brown (North Gaston 2016): The right-handed pitcher is 0-1 with four saves and a 4.24 ERA in 22 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 is 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA in nine appearances for the New York Boulders of the Frontier League.
College football
Three-time Shelby High state champion Dorian Davis has landed at Southern Illinois University.
A 6-foot, 190-pound cornerback, Davis helped Shelby to state titles in 2015, 2016 and 2018 before origninally signing with James Madison.
Davis instead played at Western Carolina where had 42 tackles and three pass break-ups in nine games (five starts) to earn All-Southern Conference freshman team honors.
Pro baseball
The Gastonia Honey Hunters improved to 25-30 on the season and wrapped up a 2-1 home series victory over the High Point Rockers on Thursday night with a 2-1 victory at CaroMont Health Park.
Gastonia starts a 10-day road trip to Long Island, West Virginia and Lexington on Friday.