8-2-21 roundup: Legion baseball and softball, College athletics, Pro basketball
By Richard Walker
After a year off due to the coronavirus, American Legion baseball begins national playoff competition on Wednesday with start of regional play among 64 teams in eight regions across the country.
Those 64 teams came out of 3,045 teams that registered to play this season. All state champions will participate along with host teams and runner-up teams from the states that sponsor the most teams.
The last three American Legion World Series champions – Idaho Falls, Idaho of 2019, Wilmington, Del., of 2018 and Henderson, Nev., of 2017 – have qualified and four teams extended long regional appearance streaks.
Columbia, Tenn., has the longest current streak as it makes its 11th straight regional appearance. Other long streaks belong to Tallahassee, Fla. (six straight), Shrewsbury, Mass. (five straight) and Troy, Ala. (five straight).
There are 13 first-time participants.
The eight regional winners will advance to Shelby for the Aug. 12-17 American Legion World Series played at Keeter Stadium at Veterans Field.
Here’s the regional pairings and Wednesday’s first day schedule:
Northeast at Shrewsbury, Mass.
New York (Hamburg Post 527) vs. Rhode Island (Newport Post 18)
New Hampshire (Portsmouth Post 6) vs. Connecticut (Windsor Locks Post 36)
Maine (Bangor Post 75) vs. Massachusetts (Beverly Post 331)
Vermont (Essex Junction Post 91) vs. HOST (Shrewsbury Post 397)
Mid-Atlantic at Asheboro, N.C.
Pennsylvania runner-up (Harrisburg Paxton Post 370) vs. Delaware (Wilmington Post 1)
Maryland (Ridge St. Mary’s Post 255) vs. Pennsylvania (Pottstown Norchester OS)
North Carolina (Fuquay-Varina Post 116) vs. Virginia (Chesapeake Post 280)
New Jersey (Allentown OS) vs. HOST (Randolph County Post 45)
Southeast at Pelham, Ala.
Florida (Tallahassee Post 13) vs. Tennessee (Columbia Post 19)
South Carolina (Florence Post 1) vs. Mississippi (Tupelo Post 49)
Louisiana (New Orleans Post 285) vs. Alabama (Troy Post 70)
Georgia (Covington Post 32) vs. HOST (Shelby County Post 555)
Mid-South at Hastings, Neb.
Kansas (Pittsburg Post 64) vs. Missouri runner-up (Oak Grove Post 379)
Iowa (Dubuque County Post 137) vs. Colorado (Grand Junction OS)
Arkansas (Cabot Post 71) vs. Nebraska (Gretna Post 216)
Missouri (Washington Post 218) vs. HOST (Hastings Post 11)
Great Lakes at Morganton, W.Va.
Illinois runner-up (Barrington Post 158) vs. Michigan (Midland Berryhill Post 165)
Illinois (Rock Island Post 200) vs. Kentucky (Owensboro Post 9)
Indiana (Rockport Post 254) vs. West Virginia (Bridgeport Post 68)
Ohio (Harrison Post 199) vs. HOST (Morgantown Post 2)
Central Plains at Sioux Falls, S.D.
North Dakota (West Fargo Post 308) vs. Minnesota (Osseo Post 172)
Minnesota runner-up (Hopkins Post 320) vs. North Dakota runner-up (Fargo Post 400)
Wisconsin (De Pere OS) vs. South Dakota (Renner Post 307)
Wisconsin runner-up (La Crosse Post 52) vs. HOST (Sioux Falls Empire Baseball OS)
Northwest at Gillette, Wyo.
Washington (Yakima Valley OS) vs. Montana runner-up (Billings Royals Post 4)
Idaho (Idaho Falls Post 56) vs. Montana (Helena Post 2)
Oregon (Eugene OS) vs. Wyoming (Cheyenne Post 6)
Alaska (Eagle River) vs. HOST (Gillette Post 42)
Western at Fairfield, Cal.
Utah (Herriman Post 40) vs. Hawaii (Honolulu OS)
Arizona (Boulder Creek OS) vs. New Mexico (Rio Grande OS)
Texas (League City Post 554) vs. California (Petaluma Post 28)
Nevada (Henderson Southern Nevada Post 40) vs. HOST (Fairfield Expo Baseball OS)
Legion softball
Davidson County took two wins on the opening day of the 2021 N.C. American Legion softball state tournament at Crest High School.
Post 8 beat Hickory 9-0 in the tournament’s first game on Monday, then edged host Shelby 5-4 in Monday’s finale.
In between those two games, Wayne County defeated Robeson County 9-1.
Complete results and schedule follow:
Monday, Aug. 2
Game 1 – Davidson County 9, Hickory 0
Game 2 – Wayne County 9, Robeson County 1
Game 3 – Davidson County 5, Shelby 4
Tuesday, Aug. 3
Game 4 – Hickory vs. Robeson County, 1 p.m.
Game 5 – Wayne County vs. Davidson County, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 – Game 4 winner vs. Shelby, 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.
College athletics
Cleveland Community College placed 32 athletes on the 2020-2021 Region 10 All-Academic Team.
To earn All-Academic honors, an athlete must have completed at least 24 credit hours while earning a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The student athlete also must have competed in their sport during in-season competition.
Here are the Yetis’ honorees by sport:
Baseball:
Michael Greene, Shelby, NC
Zachary Wilson, Lawndale, NC
Davis Turner, Mooresville, NC
Patrick Hogan, Cypress, TX
Dawson Labauve, Brusly, LA
Blake Decker, Johns Creek, GA
Logan Rose, Margate, FL
Avery Bridges, Polkville, NC
Derek Ortiz, Cape Coral, FL
Noah Sigmon, Denver, NC
Jack McKinney, Rutherfordton, NC
Riley Cash, Shelby, NC
Greg Johnson, Buford, GA
Carter Hensley, Rutherfordton, NC
Brennen Herbert, Hope Mills, NC
Quinten Romo, Royal Palm Beach, FL
Mason Dugas, Cape Coral, FL
Graham Brown, Harrisburg, NC
Dylan Arms, Dallas, NC
Ricky Dees, Burgaw, NC
Nate Roof, Lexington, SC
Lawrence Gallo, Grovetown, GA
Ryan Blake, Marion, NC
Bowden Witcher, Loganville, GA
Chris De Varona, Coconut Creek, FL
Tyler James, Westminster, SC
Cross Country:
Noah Lesser, Denver, NC
Softball:
Alley Ogle, Kings Mountain, NC
Macey Earl, Lawndale, NC
Payton Saleet, Bessemer City, NC
Elizabeth Hartsell, Concord, NC
Savannah LaCount, Bessemer City, NC
Pro basketball
The opening day of free agency on Monday has seen two players leave Charlotte.
The Associated Press reported that redstricted free agent Devonte’ Graham has been sent to the New Orleans Pelicans in a sign-and-trade deal that will net the Hornets a lottery-protected future first round draft pick.
The Hornets also lost veteran center Cody Zeller, who agreed to a one-year contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Pro basketball summer league
The Charlotte Hornets announced their Las Vegas Summer League roster that includes recent draft picks James Bouknight, Kai Jones and Scottie Lewis, 2021 rookies Vernon Carey, Jr., Nate Darling, Nick Richards and Grant Riller and 2021 NBA rookie of the year LaMelo Ball’s older brother LiAngelo Ball.
Rookie draft pick J.T. Thor is expected to be added to the roster once the trade with the Detroit Pistons that brought draft selection and Mason Plumlee to Charlotte becomes official.
The team will be coached by Dutch Gaitley.
The roster:
No. Name Position Ht. Wt. Birthdate School NBA experience
8 LiAngelo Ball F 6-5 230 11/24/98 Vytautas Prienu (Lithuania)/USA R
5 James Bouknight G 6-5 190 09/18/00 Connecticut/USA R
22 Vernon Carey Jr. F/C 6-10 255 2/25/01 Duke/USA 1
27 DJ Carton G 6-2 200 08/05/00 Marquette/USA R
30 Nate Darling G 6-5 200 08/30/98 Delaware/Canada 1
23 Kai Jones F/C 6-11 221 01/19/01 Texas/Bahamas R
18 Arnoldas Kulboka F 6-10 209 01/04/98 Retabet Bilbao Basket/Lithuania R
16 Scottie Lewis G 6-5 185 03/12/00 Florida/USA R
34 Denzel Mahoney G/F 6-5 220 01/18/98 Creighton/USA R
12 Cameron McGriff F 6-7 220 09/30/97 Oklahoma State/USA R
14 Nick Richards C 6-11 245 11/29/97 Kentucky/Jamaica 1
7 Grant Riller G 6-3 190 02/08/97 Charleston/USA 1
31 Xavier Sneed F 6-5 215 12/21/97 Kansas State/USA R
24 Kenny Williams G 6-4 190 3/17/94 Louisville/USA 5
Hornets Head Coach: James Borrego (College – San Diego)
Hornets Summer League Head Coach: Dutch Gaitley (College – Temple)
Assistant Coaches: Jay Triano (College – Simon Fraser), Chad Iske (College – Kansas), Jay Hernandez (College – Hofstra), Nick Friedman (College – Miami)
Head Athletic Trainer: Joe Sharpe (College – Old Dominion)
Associate Head Athletic Trainer: Quinton Sawyer (College – North Carolina)
And here is Charlotte’s schedule with game times and television network:
Aug. 8 Portland, 6 p.m. (NBA TV)
Aug. 9 Sacramento, 6 p.m. (NBA TV)
Aug. 12 San Antonio, 3 p.m. (ESPNU)
Aug. 14 Toronto, 7 p.m. (NBA TV)
Aug. 16 or 17 TBD