7-8-23 roundup: Pro basketball, football, baseball and soccer, Legion baseball, NASCAR

By Richard Walker

Kings Mountain High School announced on twitter that it has a new head baseball coach.

Wil Sellers was promoted from assistant coach and replaces Brad Melton after Melton spent five years as Mountaineers’ head coach.

The KMHS athletic twitter account announced: “Kings Mountain High School proudly announces the appointment of Wil Sellers as the new head baseball coach. With an impressive background in baseball coaching and a commitment to developing young athletes, Sellers brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the position.”

A 2013 Kings Mountain High graduate, Sellers was an All-Big South Conference selection as a pitcher and shortstop for the Mountaineers. Sellers later pitched at Gardner-Webb from 2014 to 2018 with an 11-10 record with 24 saves and 4.16 ERA in 96 appearances (4 starts).

The 24 saves remain a school record and his best season in 2015 he set another current school record with 12 saves while earning All-Big South Conference honors.

Sellers becomes the 12th Kings Mountain head baseball coach since the school was an inaugural Southwestern Conference member in 1954.

Barry Gibson (141 victories) is the school’s all-time winner and he’s followed by Eric King (116) and Bruce Clark (100) with Clark (1989 and 1993) and Bobby Hussey (1969) guided the Mountaineers to state championships.

Melton has guided the last five Kings Mountain teams to winning records, including a 19-6 record with a Big South Conference title last season. It’s the longest stretch of consecutive winning records since Bruce Clark guided the Mountaineers to five straight winning seasons from 1989 to 1993.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legion baseball

Three of the four semifinal berths have been clinched for the Area IV semifinals with Cleveland County one win away from wrapping up the fourth berth.

The full Area IV Senior Legion playoff schedule:

-First round (July 1-5, best of 5)

West No. 1 Cleveland County, West No. 2 Cherryville, East No. 1 Queen City – byes

East No. 4 Matthews vs. West No. 5 Burke
Game 1 – July 1 at M – suspended with M leading 1-0 in 2nd
Game 1 – July 2 at B – M 8-7
Game 2 – July 2 at B – M 9-3
Game 3 – July 3 at M – M 6-4 (M wins series 3-0)

West No. 3 Asheville vs. East No. 6 Gastonia
Game 1 – July 1 at A – A 13-3 in 5
Game 2 – July 1 at A – A 9-4
Game 3 – July 2 at G – A 13-3 in 6 (Asheville wins series 3-0)

East No. 2 Mint Hill vs. West No. 7 Hickory
Game 1 – July 1 at M – postponed
Game 1 – July 2 at H – M 4-1
Game 2 – July 2 at H – H 7-6
Game 3 – July 3 at M – H 12-0 in 5
Game 4 – July 4 at H – M 9-6
Game 5 – July 5 at M – H 13-3 (Hickory wins series 3-2)

West No. 4 Rutherford vs. East No. 5 Lincoln
Game 1 – July 1 at R – R 13-5
Game 2 – July 2 at L – R 8-6
Game 3 – July 3 at R – R 9-7 (R wins series 3-0)

East No. 3 Gaston Braves vs. West No. 6 Caldwell
Game 1 – July 1 at GB – C 9-2
Game 2 – July 2 at C – GB 8-4
Game 3 – July 3 at GB – C 9-5
Game 4 – July 4 at C – C by forfeit (C wins series 3-1)

-Quarterfinals (July 6-11, best of 5)
West No. 1 Cleveland vs. East No. 4 Matthews
Game 1 – July 6 at C – C 5-0
Game 2 – July 7 at M – ppd., rain
Game 2 – July 8 at M – C 6-2: Colby Putnam (3 hits, double, 2 RBIs), Connor Gantt (2 hits, double), Aidan Taylor (2 hits, 1 RBI, Marshall McGowan (2 hits, 1 RBI), Steven Spaes (double), Parker Dixon (RBI single, 5 innings for the win) and Tyler Smart (2 innings for the save) led Cleveland County.
Game 3 – July 9 at C
Game 4 (if necessary) – July 10 at M
Game 5 (if necessary) – July 11 at C

West No. 3 Asheville vs. West No. 7 Hickory
Game 1 – July 6 at A – A 7-4
Game 2 – July 7 at H – A 3-2
Game 3 – July 8 at A – A by forfeit (A wins series 3-0)

East No. 1 Queen City vs. West No. 4 Rutherford
Game 1 – July 6 at Q – R 7-3
Game 2 – July 7 at Q – R 8-7
Game 3 – July 8 at R – R 7-6 (R wins series 3-0)

West No. 6 Caldwell vs. West No. 2 Cherryville
Game 1 – July 6 at Cville – Cville 2-1
Game 2 – July 7 at Caldwell – Cville 3-2 in 9
Game 3 – July 8 at Cville – Cville 10-2 (Cville wins series 3-0): Ashton Pope (3 hits, home run, 4 RBIs), Zane Brockman (2-run home run) and Brayden Reynolds (4 1/3 innings for the win) led Cherryville.

-Semifinals (July 12-19, best of 7)
West No. 1-East No. 4 winner vs. West No. 3 Asheville

West No. 4 Rutherford vs. West No. 2 Cherryville

-Final (July 20-22, 1 game or best of 3)

 

The full Area IV Junior Legion playoff schedule (All series best-of-3):

Area IV Playoffs (All series best-of-3):

-Quarterfinals June 30-July 4
No. 1 South Caldwell-1 (10-0) vs. No. 8 R-S Central (6-4)
Game 1 – June 30 at SC – SC 3-0
Game 2 – July 1 at R-S – R-S 10-3
Game 3 – July 2 at SC – SC 5-4 in 10 (SC wins series 2-1)

No. 4 Dallas (7-3) vs No. 5 Chase (7-3)
Game 1 – June 30 at Dallas – Dallas 8-1
Game 2 – July 1 at Chase – Dallas 13-1 (Dallas wins series 2-0)

No. 3 Matthews (8-2) vs. No. 6 Cherryville (6-4)
Game 1 – June 30 at Matthews – Matthews 11-8
Game 2 – July 1 at Cherryville – Matthews 6-1 (Matthews wins series 2-0)

No. 2 East Rutherford (9-1) vs. No. 7 South Caldwell-2 (6-4)
Game 1 – June 30 at ER – ER 9-4
Game 2 – July 1 at SC – ER 18-7 (ER wins series 2-0)

-Semifinals July 5-8
No. 1 South Caldwell-1 vs. No. 4 Dallas
Game 1 – July 5 at SC – SC 7-0
Game 2 – July 6 at Dallas – SC 13-3 (SC wins series 2-0)

No. 3 Matthews vs. No. 2 East Rutherford
Game 1 – July 5 at ER – ER 6-5 in 8
Game 2 – July 6 at M – ER 10-0 in 5 (ER wins series 2-0)

-Finals July 9-12
No. 1 South Caldwell-1 vs. No. 2 East Rutherford
Game 1 – July 9 at SC
Game 2 – July 10 at ER
Game 3 (if necessary) – July 11 at SC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro basketball

The Charlotte Hornets’ California Classic Summer League schedule in Sacramento:

July 3 vs. San Antonio Spurs (L 77-98)
July 5 vs. Golden State Warriors (L 83-98)

The Charlotte Hornets’ Las Vegas Summer League schedule:

July 7 vs. San Antonio Spurs (L 68-76)
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)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pro soccer

Charlotte FC 2, FC Cincinnati 2: Another game, another tie for Charlotte FC, which had a 2-0 lead turn into a 2-all tie.

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

(7-7-8 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 (T 0-0)
July 5 at New York City FC (T 1-1)
July 8 FC Cincinnati (T 2-2)
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 11, Jacksonville 8: Lenyn Sosa had four hits, including a home run, and two RBIs as the Knights rallied to beat the Jumbo Shrimp in the 5th game of their 6-game series in Charlotte. The finale is 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.

Here is the full Charlotte Knights’ 2023 schedule:

Overall record: 37-48
First half record: 35-40
Second half record: 2-8

-First half
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 (3-3)

-Second half
June 28-July 3 at Norfolk (1-4)
July 4-9 Jacksonville (1-4)
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, High Point 2: Manea (2 hits), Davidson (grand slam home run), De La Rosa (2 hits, 1 RBI) led the Honey Hunters to a win in the first game of the second half of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball season.

Here is the full Gastonia Honey Hunters’ 2023 schedule:

Overall record: 42-22
First half record: 41-22
Second half record: 1-0

-First half
April (3-0)
28 Spire City (W 10-4)
29 Spire City (W 8-6)
30 Spire City (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 Spire City (W 2-1 in 10)
10 Spire City (W 10-0)
11 Spire City (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 Spire City (W 6-0)
24 at Spire City (W 8-5)
25 at Spire City (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 (19-8)
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 Spire City (W 5-4)
10 at Spire City (W 12-7)
11 at Spire City (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)
22 at Lancaster (L 2-6)
24 at Staten Island (W 12-3)
25 at Staten Island (L 2-7)
27 High Point (W 8-3)
28 High Point (W 7-3)
29 High Point (L 1-11)
30 So. Maryland (W 15-0)

July (2-3)
1 So. Maryland (L 6-7)
1 So. Maryland (W 8-7)
2 So. Maryland (W 3-2 in 10)
4 at Spire City (L 3-4)
5 at Spire City (L 8-18)
6 at Spire City (L 4-6)
7 at High Point (L 1-8)
-Second half
8 at High Point (W 7-2)
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 Spire City
9 Spire City
10 Spire City
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 Spire City
30 Spire City
31 Spire City

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 (Ross Chastain)
Jul 2 NASCAR Cup Series at Chicago, Chicago IL (Shane van Gisbergen)
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