By Richard Walker A pair of North Carolina schools that haven’t won an ACC tournament in years and a pair of teams with titles within the last 10 years square off today in the ACC baseball semifinals. Duke, which has never won an ACC tournament and hasn’t won an ACC baseball title since 1961, meets […]
By Richard Walker Three teams punched their tickets to Saturday’s ACC baseball tournament semifinals with wins on Thursday as Duke, Georgia Tech and N.C. State were victorious in back-to-back-to-back nail-biting finishes. Duke edged Miami, Fla., 3-2 in Thursday’s opener to wrap up the Pool D championship, then Georgia Tech edged Louisville 9-8 in 12 innings […]
By Richard Walker Kings Mountain’s boys and Cramer’s girls claimed the team titles at the two-day Big South Conference track on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Cramer track. Kings Mountain racked up 228 team points in the boys race, to finish ahead of Forestview (133). Cramer (118), Ashbrook (39), Crest (36), Huss (30) and North […]
By Richard Walker Local favorite North Carolina was eliminated from championship contention on Tuesday night in the first day of the ACC baseball tournament at Charlotte’s Truist Field. Pitt (23-19), which entered the tournament on a seven-game losing streak, disappointed a partisan crowd of 3,235 as Ron Washington Jr.’s two-run home run in the eighth […]
By Richard Walker A former East Lincoln High standout is headed to the NCAA softball super regionals. Kylie Thress, a 2020 East Lincoln graduate, scored one run in each of James Madison’s three wins as a pinch-runner in the Knoxville regional last weekend as the Dukes improved to 37-31 on the season by increasing their […]
By Richard Walker The pool play schedule has been set for this week’s ACC baseball tournament at Charlotte’s Truist Field. Atlantic Division champion Notre Dame and Coastal Division champion Georgia Tech are the top-seeded teams in the tournament that will be completed next weekend with a four-team, single-elimination bracket to determine a champion. The pool […]
By Richard Walker Pool play has been set for this week’s ACC baseball tournament at Charlotte’s Truist Field. Atlantic Division champion Notre Dame and Coastal Division champion Georgia Tech are the top-seeded teams in the tournament that will be completed next weekend with a four-team, single-elimination bracket to determine a champion. The pools, where each […]
By Richard Walker When the American Legion World Series makes its return to Shelby after being cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Veterans Field and Keeter Stadium will be allowed full capacity. This comes after N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper’s May 14 announcement that most restrictions put in place to control the spread of COVID-19 […]
By Richard Walker UNC Charlotte was more than a century old before it added a baseball program. But the 49ers, who moved to an on-campus stadium shortly after their birth in 1979, quickly became a championship-winner that produced professional baseball talent under four head coaches – and new coach Robert Woodard certainly hopes to add […]
By Richard Walker South Point High’s all-time leading receiver has made a decision about where he’ll play college football after announcing on twitter he’ll be transferring to East Carolina. Ray Rose announced via his twitter account at 11:25 a.m. on Sunday he’ll be playing for the Pirates after entering the transfer portal on March 25 […]
By Richard Walker Two former local products for Belmont Abbey College were among those honored by Conference Carolinas for the 2021 baseball season. Dylan Smith, a 2015 Forestview High graduate, was named first team relief pitcher after going 2-2 with four saves and a 2.31 ERA in 17 appearances for the Crusaders. And Sam High, […]
By Richard Walker The winningest high school baseball coach in Gaston County history became the 14th person with local ties to be inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame when Henry Jones and seven others were honored on Saturday at Embassy Suites in Cary. Jones’ induction class of 2020 had […]
By Richard Walker There’s little doubt American Legion baseball has been big in Cherryville since it started in 1937. But if you want to point to the teams that forever made Post 100 an annual power, look no further than Cherryville’s 1981 and 1982 teams. The 1981 team won a state title and the 1982 […]
By Richard Walker Less than a week after its 2021 spring season ended, Gardner-Webb University has its full 2021 fall football schedule that includes seven league games for the first time in Big South Conference history. An inaugural member of the Big South in 2002, Gardner-Webb and coach Tre Lamb will play an 11-game schedule […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb’s Devron Harper and Ty French took major honors on Big South Conference postseason football awards and five other Bulldogs players were honored. Harper, a sophomore from Conyers, Ga., was named special teams player of the year and earned all-league honors at three different positions; He was named 1st team kickoff return […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb’s abbreviated 2021 winter/spring football season came to a close on Saturday in a 20-7 Big South Conference loss at Charleston Southern. The Bulldogs ended the season with a 2-2 overall record and 0-2 Big South Conference mark with two games cancelled due to COVID protocols. In Saturday’s finale, Gardner-Webb drove inside […]
By Richard Walker Hubert Davis may well go on to become a great college basketball coach. University of North Carolina fans certainly hope so. But what does history tell us about Davis’ future prospects? Introduced officially on Tuesday as the Tar Heels’ new 20th head coach in school history after serving nine seasons as an […]
By Richard Walker The Charlotte 49ers will have a spring game and coach Will Healy couldn’t be happier. Not only will the school host a spring game on April 24 at noon, but they’ll be allowing 3,890 fans into Richardson Stadium – or more than double that were allowed in fall 2020 regular season games […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb dropped to 2-1 on the season after pushing defending Big South Conference champion and preseason favorite Monmouth for a half before falling 48-19 on Saturday before 1,412 fans at Spangler Stadium. The visiting Hawks outscored Gardner-Webb 28-0 in the second half after a record-setting punt return helped the Bulldogs (2-1, 0-1) […]
By Richard Walker The Lincoln County American Legion Post 455 baseball team has historically struggled. The team will enter the 2021 season with a 276-410 all-time record and one winning record in the last 12 seasons. But that season, 2013, was special indeed for the Cardinals of coach Bruce Bolick. Lincoln County made its only […]
By Richard Walker The Gastonia Honey Hunters have added another Gaston County product to their roster as they prepare for their inaugural 2021 season in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Honey Hunters announced on Tuesday they had signed former Forestview High standout Reilly Hovis. A 2012 Forestview High graduate, Hovis was an ACC […]
By Richard Walker Local products area helping two local teams into this week’s NCAA tournament along with three coaches who either grew up locally or coached local teams. Also, five Carolinas colleges and universities, seven ACC teams, a team coached by a former Charlotte Hornets assistant coach and a team with the future Gaston College […]
By Richard Walker Chase threatened one of the longest streaks in national high school history on Friday before Shelby rallied for a 47-41 home win. Chase (1-2) has still never beaten Shelby in a rivalry that started in 1959. The Golden Lions’ series lead is now 53-0-1 with the tie coming in 1968. The visiting […]
By Richard Walker South Point High’s boys soccer team clinched its first league title since 1998 with a 5-1 home win over Chase on Thursday night for the Southwestern 2A championship. The Red Raiders finished with an 11-1 league record and 11-3 overall record. South Point tied Shelby for league honors but the Red Raiders […]
By Richard Walker The NCAA annually plays the song “One Shining Moment” with highlights of that year’s NCAA tournament. More often than not, Carolinas colleges are prominently profiled in the segment. That doesn’t appear to be changing in this most unusual of college basketball seasons. Winthrop clinched a berth on Sunday, Appalachian State and UNC-Greensboro […]
By Richard Walker Local high school players and coaches dominate the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association All-District 10 selections announced on Tuesday. Shelby’s Class 2A state championship-winning team leads the girls selections and Crest’s Western N.C. 3A runner-up team leads the boys selections. Shelby’s Maraja Pass, named MVP in the N.C. 2A state title game, […]
By Richard Walker Local products helped Appalachian State gain its third NCAA tournament appearance on Monday night as the upstart Mountaineers won the Sun Belt Conference title in Pensacola, Fla. Former Piedmont Community Charter and Kings Mountain high star Adrian Delph scored 22 points, including three free throws in the final 32.5 seconds, as Appalachian […]
By Richard Walker A fourth-quarter touchdown by Carmelo Bess proved decision for Ashbrook in a 9-7 win over Forestview Saturday afternoon at Stuart Cramer High School. The victory was head coach Darius James’ first win and evens the Green Wave record at 1-1 entering Friday’s game at Crest. It also improved Ashbrook’s all-time series lead […]
By Richard Walker South Point bounced back emphatically from last week’s 28-27 season-opening loss to Burns with an impressive win at longtime rival East Gaston. The Red Raiders beat East Gaston 44-6 to even their record at 1-1 entering next week’s game at Cramer. It marks South Point’s 14th straight win in the “Black Friday” […]
By Richard Walker Belmont Abbey swept a basketball doubleheader Thursday that puts both of the school’s teams into Sunday’s Conference Carolinas championship games. The Lady Crusaders defeated King 68-59 in the women’s semifinal game in the opener, then the Crusaders rallied from a halftime deficit against Chowan to win 70-58 in the men’s semifinal in […]
By Richard Walker After a successful winter/spring football season opener that featured a second half offensive explosion, Gardner-Webb gets back to work Saturday at 1 p.m. against longtime rival Presbyterian College. Coach Tre Lamb is delighted with how his team fought through adversity last week but wants to see how it will handle success this […]
By Richard Walker Late free throw shooting lifted Campbell past Gardner-Webb 63-57 Monday night in the Big South Conference basketball quarterfinals. The loss ends Gardner-Webb’s season at 11-15 overall. The Runnin’ Bulldogs of coach Tim Craft finished fifth place or better in the league for a sixth straight season. In Monday’s tournament game, Gardner-Webb was […]
By Richard Walker The N.C. High School Athletic Association basketball playoffs head to the regional finals on Tuesday with four local teams – the boys teams from Lincoln Charter, North Lincoln and Crest and Shelby’s girls – pursuing wins for for berths in the Saturday’s state championship games. Here’s the full pairings of NCHSAA regional […]
By Richard Walker Gaston Christian battled visiting Asheville Christian Academy tough throughout but dropped a 74-68 decision in the N.C. Independent Athletic Association Class 3A state boys basketball title game. It was the Eagles’ first-ever appearance in a boys basketball state title game and ended their season with a 9-19 record that includes losses to […]
By Richard Walker The boys basketball teams from Crest, Lincoln Charter, Mountain Island Charter, North Lincoln and Shelby and the Shelby girls basketball team were victorious in Thursday’s N.C. High School Athletic Association second round of the playoffs. Each team advanced to Saturday third round playoff matchups. Here are Thursday’s second-round results: 3A boys Crest […]
By Richard Walker Junior wide receiver Izaiah Gathings spoke for a lot of his Gardner-Webb University football teammates at the recent Big South Conference media day when asked about his excitement level for the 2021 winter/spring season that begins with Saturday’s 3 p.m. home game against Elon. “I’m just looking forward to getting out there,” […]
By Richard Walker Five former local products will be helping Western Carolina in Saturday’s 1 p.m. Southern Conference game at Samford. Last week, in the Catamounts’ 35-7 loss at Furman, three players made defensive contributions led by senior linebacker Trevor Childers’ eight tackles. Childers is a 2017 East Lincoln High graduate. Also contributing for WCU […]
By Richard Walker The boys basketball teams from Gaston Christian, Crest, Lincoln Charter, Mountain Island Charter, North Lincoln and Shelby and the Ashbrook and Shelby girls teams advanced in the N.C. High School Athletic Association state playoffs with Tuesday night victories: Each advanced to the next round, with Gaston Christian hosting the N.C. Independent Schools […]
By Richard Walker Gaston Day’s basketball season ended Monday with road playoff losses. The Spartans boys team fell 80-49 at the top-seeded Burlington School to finish 10-10 overall. And Gaston Day’s girls lost 61-35 at second-seeded Davidson Day to finish 11-8 overall. High school basketball Here is Tuesday’s state playoff basketball schedule: NCISAA 3A boys […]
By Richard Walker Bessemer City High was the winner of an tiebreaker to separate an unprecedented five-way tie for the Southern Piedmont 1A Conference girls basketball championship. Bessemer City won the drawing to receive the league’s automatic No. 1 playoff seeding. The Yellow Jackets won a share of their third regular season girls basketball title […]
By Richard Walker You hear Gardner-Webb College played in a bowl game in only its fourth year as a senior college and you expect to hear a season filled with successes and little to no adversity. It’s actually quite the opposite, which is probably what drove coach George Litton’s Bulldogs to an unexpected postseason appearance […]
By Richard Walker Crest High’s boys basketball team wrapped up only the fourth unbeaten conference championship season in school history. The Chargers knocked off visiting Kings Mountain 66-50 on Friday night to complete a 12-0 record against Big South 3A Conference competition this season. Crest (13-1 overall) will next play a home game next Tuesday […]
By Richard Walker A former major leaguer and a longtime baseball coach has been selected as the first manager of the Gastonia Honey Hunter in their inaugural season the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The team announced Thursday that Mauro “Goose” Gozzo will be the team’s 2021 manager and oversee all baseball operations, including player […]
By Richard Walker A pair of former Cramerton Middle School and South Point High basketball standouts have helped York, S.C., Prep Charter School to the school’s first-ever state playoff appearance. Kendall Davis and Kory Davis, who played for Cramerton in 2017 and 2018 and at South Point in the 2018-19 season, are junior guards for […]
By Richard Walker Gaston Christian’s boys basketball team and Gaston Day’s boys and girls basketball team will begin their pursuit of N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association state championships this week. On Tuesday, boys boys teams host opening round games; No. 3 seed Gaston Christian hosts Hickory Grove Christian in a Class 3A game on Tuesday, […]
By Richard Walker For the second straight Friday, a Bessemer City High School sophomore set a Gaston County single-game scoring record. This time, it was boys standout Randall Pettus whose 60 points supplanted Bessemer City’s Tony Byers as the county’s all-time single-game record-holder in a 91-62 home victory over Piedmont Community Charter. Pettus also had […]
By Richard Walker Hunter Huss and Shelby came out on top Thursday in high school boys basketball meetings of the oldest rivalries in Gastonia and Cleveland County, respectively. Huss won 56-52 at Ashbrook in a makeup game from Jan. 26. It was Huss’ fourth straight win in the rivalry and eighth in the last nine […]
photo: GW-Tre Lamb-2020practice1 By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb is a preseason last-place pick for the upcoming 2021 Big South Conference spring football season. But that doesn’t diminish the enthusiasm new coach Tre Lamb has for a roster that includes 10 Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties has for this unconventional season. “Our guys are pumped,” Lamb said […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville High boys basketball coach Scott Harrill got a two for one on Friday night as he became Gaston County’s all-time basketball coaching winner while also leading his team to a victory over one of its oldest rivals. Cherryville won 78-67 at Bessemer City as Harrill took the 380th victory over his […]
By Richard Walker Seven local products were named to the N.C. Volleyball Coaches Association all-state teams. In Class 1A, Cherryville’s Rileigh Kiser was named player of the year and Mountain Island Charter’s Jim Seidel was named coach of the year. Kiser is the first all-state selection in Cherryville history and Seidel helped the Raptors become […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb College has had 27 major league draft picks, helped produce three major leaguers, claimed 10 conference championships and won more than 1,300 games in its baseball history since the school resumed athletics after World War II. Blake Lalli, Emilio Pagan and Jeremy Walker are the three major leaguers produced by the […]
By Richard Walker Former Ashbrook High and Gastonia American Legion Post 23 star Wes Helms will return as Charlotte Knights, the parent club Chicago White Sox announced on Wednesday. Helms, a 1994 Ashbrook High graduate, had been hired as Knights manager before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a cancellation of the 2020 season. It’ll be Helms’ […]
By Richard Walker As the nation prepares to watch Sunday’s Super Bowl matching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Kansas City Chiefs, four local products stand alone as previous winners of arguably the most signature annual athletic event in the country. Shelby native Bobby Bell, Gastonia native Scottie Patton, former Gardner-Webb standout Gabe Wilkins and […]
By Richard Walker Gardner-Webb football held its first official practice session in advance of the 2021 spring season on Monday afternoon at Spangler Stadium. First-year head coach Tre Lamb put his players through 18 periods of non-contact work and drills on a breezy, overcast 40 degree day. At the end of the month, the Runnin’ […]
By Richard Walker The Cleveland County Community College baseball team won its first game in program history 12-2 at Surry Community College on Saturday. The Yetis of coach Gene Bowles play again next Saturday at Florence-Darlington Tech in a noon doubleheader. College men’s basketball Belmont Abbey 62, North Greenville 59: Sean Halloran (19 points, 4 […]
By Richard Walker Lincoln Charter’s boys basketball team improved to 8-0 overall and 7-0 in the Southern Piedmont 1A Conference with a 90-32 home win over Bessemer City. The Eagles, who hosts Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy on Tuesday, had a balanced attack led by Troy Fulton (23 points, 7 of 8 3-pointers), Sam Cogan (19 […]
North Carolina and the National Junior College Athletic Association Region X area that also includes schools from South Carolina and Virginia has a rich basketball history that dates to the 1920s. We’re doing a four-part series on that history. Part 1: The early years from 1929 to the 1950s when Belmont Abbey was one of […]
By Richard Walker East Lincoln hasn’t lost a regular season high school soccer match since Nov. 24, 2018. Rival Lincolnton came close on a rainy Wednesday night at Lincolnton’s Battleground Stadium, but Landon Graden’s game-winner on his first career goal in the second overtime period allowed the Mustangs to escape with a 2-1 victory. Graden’s […]
By Richard Walker Visiting South Point edged rival Stuart Cramer 60-57 in boys high school basketball on Monday night after the host Storm had won the boys junior varsity and girls basketball games. Garrett Hunt’s 17 points led South Point (4-2) to the boys victory while Mason Craig (15 points), Justin Rocquemore (14 points, 9 […]
By Richard Walker Freshman guard D’Maurian Williams scored a career-high 21 points as Gardner-Webb rolled past Charleston Southern 74-62 on Sunday afternoon in a Big South Conference basketball game. The win was the Runnin’ Bulldogs second straight and improved their record to 5-9 overall and 4-5 in the league entering Monday’s 4 p.m. game against […]