8-30-21 roundup: Pro football and baseball, College football, High school football and volleyball, Middle school football and softball
By Richard Walker
Four local high school products are currently on NFL rosters following the 2021 preseason – former Crest standout Jonathan Bullard, former South Point standout Tanner Muse, former East Lincoln standout Chazz Surratt and former East Lincoln and Lincolnton standout Sage Surratt.
Here is a look at how each player is doing:
Bullard: The 2012 Crest High graduate had four tackles, including two quarterback sacks, in three games as a defensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons. Bullard, a six-year NFL veteran, and the Falcons are slated to open their regular season Sept. 12 at home against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Muse: The 2015 South Point graduate had eight tackles and a half quarterback sack in three games as a linebacker for the Las Vegas Raiders. Muse, who missed his rookie season due to a toe injury that required surgery, and the Raiders are slated to open their regular season Sept. 13 at home against the Baltimore Ravens.
Chazz Surratt: The 2016 East Lincoln graduate had a team-high 14 tackles in three games as a linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings in the preseason. A third-round draft pick out of North Carolina, Surratt and the Vikings are slated to open their regular season Sept. 12 at the Cincinnati Bengals.
Sage Surratt: The 2017 Lincolnton graduate played in three games for the Detroit Lions without making a catch as a wide receiver. An undrafted free agent, Surratt and the Lions are slated to open their regular season Sept. 12 at home against the San Francisco 49ers.
Pro baseball
Here’s an update on local professional baseball players with statistics through Sunday:
Emilio Pagan (former Gardner-Webb and Belmont Abbey): The right-handed pitcher is 4-0 with a 3.23 ERA in 55 appearances for the San Diego Padres.
Jeffrey Springs (South Point 2011 graduate): The left-handed pitcher went 5-1 with two saves and a 3.43 ERA in 43 appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays before suffering a season-ending knee injury on July 31.
Will Wilson (Kings Mountain 2016 graduate): The shortstop is hitting .201 with five home runs and 19 RBIs for the Class AA Northeast Richmond Flying Squirrels in the San Francisco Giants’ organization.
Alec Burleson (East Lincoln 2017 graduate): The outfielder is hitting .238 with one home run and 12 RBIs in 22 games for the Class AAA East Memphis Redbirds.
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 2-4 with a 5.32 ERA in 10 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 .293 with 10 home runs and 54 RBIs in 82 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 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two appearances for the Class AA Central Northwest Arkansas Naturals in the Kansas City Royals’ organization.
Mason Fox (former Gardner-Webb): The right-handed pitcher is 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.
Christopher Proctor (Burns 2015 graduate): The catcher is hitting .157 with one home run and five RBIs in 15 games for Class AA Northeast Erie SeaWolves in the Detroit Tigers’ organization.
Chandler Redmond (former Gardner-Webb): The infielder and outfielder is hitting .292 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 17 games for the Class AA Central Springfield Cardinals in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.
Blake Brown (North Gaston 2016): The right-handed pitcher is 2-1 with seven saves and a 3.41 ERA in 31 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 5.31 ERA in 18 appearances for the New York Boulders of the Frontier League.
Kyle Halbohn (Belmont Abbey): The right-handed pitcher is 0-0 with nine saves and a 4.06 ERA in 33 appearances for the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
College football
Here’s some more local products who will playing and/or coaching this season:
Johnson C. Smith: Nigel Hatten (Hunter Huss 2019 graduate) is a junior defensive tackle and Johnson “Jeep” Hunter (East Lincoln 1985) an assistant head coach for the Golden Bulls, who open their season Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. at home against Allen.
Newberry: Todd Knight (Gardner-Webb 1989) is head coach for the Wolves, who open Saturday at 2 p.m. at Barton.
West Virginia State: Freshman offensive lineman Keith McClure (Hunter Huss 2021) and freshman wide receiver Malik Corry (Hunter Huss 2021) play for the Yellow Jackets, who open Saturday at Shippensburg at 1 p.m.
High school football
High school football teams into the third playing date of the season this week.
One game, South Point at R-S Central, has been cancelled due to COVID issues at R-S Central but South Point is trying to find another opponent.
Here is Friday’s current schedule for schools from Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties:
Blacksburg, S.C. at Cherryville
Central Cabarrus at Huss
Crest at Shelby
East Gaston at Cramer
Foard at West Lincoln
Forestview at Freedom
Kings Mountain at Burns
Lincolnton at East Lincoln
North Gaston at Chase
Northwest Cabarrus at North Lincoln
Pine Lake Prep at Bessemer City
South Point at R-S Central, cancelled
West Meck at Ashbrook
Winston-Salem Carver at Highland Tech
High school football standings
Conference record listed first followed by overall record:
BIG SOUTH 3A
South Point 0-0, 2-0
Cramer 0-0, 1-1
Kings Mountain 0-0, 1-1
Ashbrook 0-0, 0-0
Crest 0-0, 0-1
Huss 0-0, 0-1
Forestview 0-0, 0-2
North Gaston 0-0, 0-2
WESTERN FOOTHILLS 3A
East Lincoln 0-0, 2-0
Statesville 0-0, 2-0
North Lincoln 0-0, 1-1
North Iredell 0-0, 0-1
West Iredell 0-0, 0-1
Foard 0-0, 0-2
Hickory 0-0, 0-2
St. Stephens 0-0, 0-2
CATAWBA VALLEY 2A
Bandys 0-0, 2-0
Bunker Hill 0-0, 2-0
Maiden 0-0, 2-0
West Lincoln 0-0, 2-0
East Burke 0-0, 1-1
Newton-Conover 0-0, 0-1
West Caldwell 0-0, 0-1
Lincolnton 0-0, 0-2
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT 1A/2A
Burns 0-0, 2-0
Shelby 0-0, 2-0
Thomas Jefferson 0-0, 1-0
Cherryville 0-0, 1-1
East Gaston 0-0, 1-1
Highland Tech 0-0, 0-1
Bessemer City 0-0, 0-2
SOUTH MECK 4A
Berry Academy 0-0, 1-0
Kell 0-0, 1-0
Olympic 0-0, 1-0
Harding 0-0, 1-1
Myers Park 0-0, 1-1
South Meck 0-0, 1-1
SOUTHWESTERN 4A
Catholic 0-0, 2-0
Butler 0-0, 1-1
Providence 0-0, 1-1
Garinger 0-0, 0-1
Independence 0-0, 0-1
East Meck 0-0, 0-2
Rocky River 0-0, 0-2
QUEEN CITY 3A/4A
Chambers 0-0, 2-0
Hough 0-0, 2-0
West Meck 0-0, 2-0
West Charlotte 0-0, 1-0
Hopewell 0-0, 1-1
Mallard Creek 0-0, 0-0
North Meck 0-0, 0-1
OTHERS
Chase 0-0, 2-0
Clover 0-0, 1-1
Mtn Island Charter 0-0, 2-0
R-S Central 0-0, 0-1
High school volleyball
West Lincoln 3, Cherryville 1: Cherryville fell to 3-4 overall despite top play from Rileigh Kiser (20 assists, 16 digs, 4 kills), Terayha Bess (9 kills), Taylor Digh (6 aces, 10 digs) and Addie Eaker (7 kills). West Lincoln also won the junior varsity match 2-0.
Pro football
The Panthers added defensive depth on Monday by acquiring defensive end Darryl Johnson from the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round pick.
Johnson, 24, has played in 31 games the last two seasons with two sacks. A seventh-round pick out of N.C. A&T in 2019, Johnson was 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference defensive player of the year.
Carolina will have to cut down its active roster to 53 players by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Here’s the Panthers’ 2021 regular seaso nschedule:
Sept. 12 New York Jets, 1 p.m.
Sept. 19 New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Sept. 23 at Houston, 8:20 p.m.
Oct. 3 at Dallas, 1 p.m.
Oct. 10 Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Oct. 17 Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Oct. 24 at New York Giants, 1 p.m.
Oct. 31 at Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Nov. 7 New England, 1 p.m.
Nov. 14 at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
Nov. 21 Washington, 1 p.m.
Nov. 28 at Miami, 1 p.m.
Dec. 5 BYE WEEK
Dec. 12 Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Dec. 18 or 19 at Buffalo, TBD
Dec. 26 Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Jan. 2 at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Jan. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m
Middle school football
In the week two schedule, Chavis will visit Holbrook on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. and Belmont plays at Grier, Bessemer City is at Cramerton, York Chester visits Southwest and W.C. Friday plays at Mount Holly on Wednesday.
Middle school softball
Cramerton 14, Mount Holly 1 (4 innings): Winning pitcher Kayla Johnson struck out seven and Johnson, Cailey Evans, Madison Bridges, Addeyson Payseur, Kaitlyn Baker, Taylyn Ledford and Josie Grimes all had hits as well as RBIs and runs scored.
Chavis 20 – Southwest 0 (3 innings): Raylei Gidney struck out nine in a no-hitter and Gidney, Kate Mulvey and Kennedy Weathers each had inside-the-park home runs to lead an offense that also got hits from Landry Beam, Kate Bookout, Addison Davis, Maddie Avery, Abi Canipe and Jenna Anthony.
Holbrook 14, W.C. Friday 2 (5 innings): Alyssa “Bean” Couick struck out nine and Christina Ramsey (two hits), Layla Love (four runs), Couick, Madison Flint, Parker Gordon, Mackenzie McCaskill, Ava Mullis and Breauna Whitener all scored runs.
Stanley 15, Bessemer City 0: Madison P. was the winning pitcher and Kendra A. and Morgan S. led the Stanley offense.
Pro baseball
The Gastonia Honey Hunters had Monday off as they prepare to visit High Point in a three-game series matching the division-leading Rockers (14-9) against second-place Gastonia (13-10) in the second half standings of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.