By Richard Walker Mountain Island Charter continues its history-setting high school baseball season after the Raptors advanced to the Western N.C. 1A championship with 4-3 win over visiting Lincoln Charter on Saturday. The Raptors (13-2), who had one playoff victory in school history entering this season, have won three postseason games and will seek a […]
American Legion 2021 Area IV standings (thru June 19) Eastern Division Division Overall Lincoln County Post 455 1-0 1-0 Queen City 2-1 2-1 Gaston Post 144-266 1-1 1-1 Mint Hill 1-1 1-1 Gastonia Post 23 1-2 1-2 Union County Post 535 0-0 0-0 Pineville Post 337 0-1 0-1 Western Division Division Overall Asheville Post 70 […]
By Richard Walker After winning its third straight Big South 3A Conference baseball title, Crest took two of the top honors in postseason voting done by the league’s coaches. Crest senior pitcher and shortstop Ben Hodge was named the league’s player of the year after hitting .500 and going unbeaten (6-0) as a pitcher. And […]
American Legion 2021 Area IV standings (thru June 18) Eastern Division Division Overall Queen City 2-1 2-1 Gaston Post 144-266 1-1 1-1 Gastonia Post 23 1-1 1-1 Mint Hill 1-1 1-1 Lincoln County Post 455 0-0 0-0 Union County Post 535 0-0 0-0 Pineville Post 337 0-1 0-1 Western Division Division Overall Asheville Post 70 […]
By Richard Walker Five Gaston and Lincoln county teams remain alive in the N.C. High School Athletic Association baseball playoffs that move into the second round on Thursday night. In Class 2A, East Lincoln will host Thomasville Ledford and South Point will visit R-S Central. And in Class 1A, Mountain Island Charter will visit Hayesville, […]
American Legion 2021 Area IV standings (thru June 16) Eastern Division Division Overall Gaston Post 144-266 1-0 1-0 Queen City 2-1 2-1 Lincoln County Post 455 0-0 0-0 Pineville Post 337 0-0 0-0 Union County Post 535 0-0 0-0 Gastonia Post 23 0-1 0-1 Mint Hill 0-1 0-1 Western Division Division Overall Asheville Post 70 […]
American Legion 2021 Area IV standings (thru June 15) Eastern Division Division Overall Gaston Post 144-266 1-0 1-0 Queen City 1-1 1-1 Lincoln County Post 455 0-0 0-0 Mint Hill 0-0 0-0 Pineville Post 337 0-0 0-0 Union County Post 535 0-0 0-0 Gastonia Post 23 0-1 0-1 Western Division Division Overall Maiden Post 240 […]
By Richard Walker Former Crest baseball standout Jack Millen was honored Monday as the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy athletic department Julie Berke Rookie of the Year Award male winner for the 2020-21 season. Millen, a 2020 Crest High graduate, also was named the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year after he helped the Mariners advance […]
American Legion 2021 Area IV standings (thru June 14) Eastern Division Division Overall Queen City 1-0 1-0 Gaston Post 144-266 0-0 0-0 Lincoln County Post 455 0-0 0-0 Mint Hill 0-0 0-0 Pineville Post 337 0-0 0-0 Union County Post 535 0-0 0-0 Gastonia Post 23 0-1 0-1 Western Division Division Overall Maiden Post 240 […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville American Legion Post 100’s Jerry Hudson was inducted into the North Carolina American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Raleigh during the annual North Carolina American Legion convention. Hudson, currently the N.C. Area IV commissioner, also is a longtime Cherryville Post 100 athletic officer. Hudson was inducted with Rowan […]
American Legion 2021 Area IV standings Eastern Division Division Overall Queen City 1-0 1-0 Gaston Post 144-266 0-0 0-0 Lincoln County Post 455 0-0 0-0 Mint Hill 0-0 0-0 Pineville Post 337 0-0 0-0 Union County Post 535 0-0 0-0 Gastonia Post 23 0-1 0-1 Western Division Division Overall Maiden Post 240 1-0 1-0 Asheville […]
By Richard Walker Wingate University completed its comeback run through the NCAA Division II World Series to finish as 2021 baseball national champions. And former Crest standout Logan McNeely was named tournament most valuable player after helping the Bulldogs beat Central Missouri 5-3 in Saturday’s championship game at the USA National Training Complex in Cary. […]
American Legion 2021 Area IV standings Eastern Division Division Overall Gaston Post 144-266 0-0 0-0 Gastonia Post 23 0-0 0-0 Lincoln County Post 455 0-0 0-0 Mint Hill 0-0 0-0 Pineville Post 337 0-0 0-0 Queen City 0-0 0-0 Western Division Division Overall Asheville Post 70 0-0 0-0 Burke County Post 21 0-0 0-0 Caldwell […]
By Richard Walker Wingate wasn’t just satisfied with making its first NCAA Division II World Series. The Bulldogs’ fourth straight win at the event at the USA National Training Complex in Cary – an 8-7, 11-inning thriller over Angelo State – will give the school the chance to play for a national championship on Saturday. […]
By Richard Walker Crest, East Lincoln, Mountain Island Charter and R-S Central have clinched at least a share of their respective league titles as the regular season comes to a close this week – and Cherryville and Lincoln Charter play a huge matchup that’ll decide the area’s other league title. Crest (11-0, 11-0) will take […]
By Richard Walker Cherryville American Legion Post 100 opened its 2021 season in dramatic fashion. Post 100, whose 2020 season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, played its first game since the 2019 state tournament at home Saturday night in a non-division matchup with Rock Hill, S.C. And Cherryville scored all of its run […]
By Richard Walker Ever since Cherryville Post 100 began its American Legion baseball program in 1937, success has often followed. Cherryville has set Area IV records for championships (18) and regular season titles (22) in addition to building one of North Carolina’s top programs with seven state titles, five state runner-up finishes and 11 state […]
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 North Carolina American Legion baseball has long been big in the area and 2021 will be no different as top Legion officials make preparations for the new season after the coronavirus pandemic cancelled all games and tournaments in 2020. The pandemic did cause a shift of plans for the N.C. American Legion […]
By Richard Walker Every summer, most American Legion fans expect Cherryville Post 100 to annually compete for top honors in the area, the state and possibly the nation. It wasn’t always that way. Before the 1997 season, Post 100 had won two state titles, five N.C. Area IV championships and eight regular season titles. In […]
By Richard Walker The N.C. American Legion state tournament only began in 2000 but has seen all sorts of drama, history and spectacular performances. That includes a 2006 state final featuring two future major leaguers – Morehead City’s Lonnie Chisenhall and Caldwell County’s Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner would later turn in one of the best pitching […]
By Richard Walker Bessemer City American Legion Post 243 fielded 27 teams from 1946 to 1996. Due to one of the smallest areas from which to draw its players, it suffered through predictable struggles. But Post 243 did enjoy success in two seasons in the late 1980s when it paired championship-winning Bessemer City High players […]
By Richard Walker As anyone who lives in the area knows, American Legion baseball has made its World Series home in Shelby. But even before Shelby became the permanent host to Legion’s signature event, this region has been a frequent host to national tournaments – and that started 90 years ago in Gastonia. Gastonia became […]
By Richard Walker Kings Mountain High School’s Lancaster Field is set to become a first-time host of the North Carolina American Legion championship tournament The facility was granted the 2020 tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled all Legion tournaments locally, regionally and nationally. And the 2021 event is based on COVID-19 conditions and has to […]
By Richard Walker With seven state titles in history, many think Cherryville Post 100 has always been an American Legion baseball power. It just seems that way, but it all started with the magical summer of 1953. That season, a first-year coach more known for his time at Gardner-Webb took over a program that had […]
By Richard Walker Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties have never ranked ranked near the top of the North Carolina population. But they do have arguably the most interest in American Legion baseball as 12 local posts have sponsored teams over the years and won more than 100 championships including two American Legion World Series titles. […]
By Richard Walker Any longtime baseball observer will tell you there’s nothing like the buzz that’s created when major league scouts pack a high school stadium to watch a hard-throwing pitcher. In the late 1950s in Lincoln County, that was every game that eventual major leaguer Tony Cloninger – nicknamed the “Rock Springs Rifle” – […]
By Richard Walker North Carolina has hosted 70 national American Legion baseball tournaments over the years. And local teams like Cherryville Post 100, Gastonia Post 23 and Shelby Post 82 have benefitted with championship success. Gastonia’s 1935 World Series championship came in the old Gastonia High School Stadium that is now a parking lot off Garrison […]