Draughn trio wins WHC baseball awards
Individuals from EB, Patton also collect top honors
Several all-conference lists for local high school spring sports teams were recently announced, highlighted by the Draughn baseball team sweeping the top honors in the Western Highlands 1A/2A Conference.
Appalachian State University signee Tate Jensen was named WHC player of the year, while fellow senior Griffin Stephens — who will play at Young Harris College next spring — was named pitcher of the year and second-year head coach Kenny Stephens was named coach of the year.
Listed as an outfielder/first baseman/pitcher, Jensen batted .476 with 30 hits including three home runs, eight doubles, and four triples, and he also recorded 32 RBIs, 23 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases. Furthermore, he posted a 7-4 record, a 2.12 ERA, and 113 strikeouts in 11 pitching appearances (all starts) spanning 56 innings, also throwing the third no-hitter of his prep career in March.
Pitcher/infielder Griffin Stephens finished with a 6-1 record, a 1.54 ERA, two saves, a no-hitter, and 84 strikeouts in 11 appearances (nine starts) spanning 54 2/3 innings. At the plate, he batted .319 with 22 hits including seven doubles to go with 10 RBIs, 21 runs scored, and eight stolen bases.
Kenny Stephens guided the Wildcats to their fourth consecutive WHC title as they finished 15-9 overall, 11-1 in league contests, and 10-2 at home, where they are a combined 45-7 since the beginning of the 2022 season. Draughn ultimately reached the third round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1A state playoffs after also reaching Round 3 in Stephens’ first year at the helm.
Other Wildcats on the All-WHC baseball team included Jacob Mull, Tyler Lange, Nolan Ballard, Gage Dula, Chase Yambor, and Cayden Barker.
Also of note, East Burke seniors Kolby Byrd (boys co-field athlete of the year) and Cadence Willis (girls distance runner of the year) received individual awards from the Catawba Valley 2A Conference for their efforts during track and field season, with the Cavaliers’ coaching staff earning boys track coach of the year honors, EB sophomore Luke Borders being named CVAC boys tennis player of the year, and the Cavs’ Fred Brown earning boys tennis coach of the year recognition. Additionally, Patton freshman Elisabeth Sawdy (most valuable girls track athlete) and senior Cayden Roscoe (most valuable boys field athlete) were among the top track performers in the Mountain Foothills 7 1A/2A Conference.
Byrd ended his prep career with a first-place throw of 54 feet, 7.5 inches in the shot put during the 2A state championship meet on May 17 at Marcus T. Johnson Track at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. He also previously won the shot put when the Cavs hosted the 2A West Regional meet on May 9 and when they hosted the CVAC championship meet on May 2 (he won the discus throw during the latter meet as well).
Willis was the league champion in the 800 meters, the 1600 meters, and the 3200 meters, with EB finishing second at the CVAC meet among both boys and girls teams. Joining her and Byrd on the All-CVAC track team were teammates Kendall McFalls, Michelle Cook, Sarah Cook, Emmonie Haith, and Kyndal Morrison on the girls side and Kendale Cook, Ossie Burkeen, Elijah Baker, and Nathan Rees on the boys side (Bandys’ Raelle Brown, Mika Langdon, and Sean Reed were girls sprinter of the year, girls field athlete of the year, and boys distance runner of the year, respectively, while the Trojans’ coaching staff took home girls coach of the year honors, Bunker Hill’s Logan Starnes was boys sprinter of the year, and West Caldwell’s Javier Maxwell shared boys field athlete of the year with Byrd).
Sawdy was the MF7 champion and the 2A West Regional champion in the 1600 meters and the 3200 meters, while Roscoe finished first in the high jump, the long jump, and the triple jump at the conference championship meet on April 30 at Polk County. Patton’s Charlotte Rigsbee, Madison Turner, and the Lady Panthers’ 4x800-meter relay squad joined Sawdy on the All-MF7 girls team, while other individual awards went to Hendersonville’s Emory Freeman (most valuable girls field athlete, overall girls MVP), Polk County’s J. Alan Peoples (girls coach of the year), and Brevard’s Elijah Griffin (most valuable boys track athlete, overall boys MVP) and Ben Morgan (boys coach of the year).
Borders finished 18-2 in singles play and was ultimately defeated by eventual three-time state champion Alphonso Sison of Franklin Academy in the quarterfinals of the 2A individual state tournament on May 9 at Ting Park in Holly Springs. Also the runner-up during the 2A West Regional tournament May 2-3 at Gardner-Webb University and the first-place finisher during the CVAC tournament last month at Maiden — where EB captured a team title as well — Borders helped the Cavs post a 10-3 overall record and a 6-1 league mark while also qualifying for the dual-team state playoffs for the first time since Brown became the head coach in 2019.
Other All-CVAC boys tennis honorees for EB included Haiden Dale, Noah Ramsey, and Wyatt Stotts (honorable mention).
The following all-conference lists were also recently announced: Draughn’s All-WHC softball selections, Patton’s All-MF7 baseball selections, Freedom’s All-Northwestern 3A/4A Conference baseball and girls soccer selections, and the full teams for All-MF7 softball, boys tennis, and boys golf as well as All-CVAC baseball, softball, and girls soccer.
Draughn’s All-WHC softball selections included Lindsey Hensley, Maria Medrano, Avie Helton, and Cydnee Deal, with Braylen Clontz and Bailey Winkler receiving honorable mention nods. Meanwhile, Patton put Cohen Christian and Laine Barrier on the All-MF7 baseball squad, Freedom was represented by Kaden Michaels, Jonah Griggs (honorable mention), and Zach Carson (honorable mention) on the All-NWC baseball team, and Freedom’s All-NWC girls soccer honorees included Maria Perez Rodriguez, Drew Rogers, Kiley Carver (honorable mention), and Leah Kirksey (honorable mention).
Patton’s Kara Redwine and Jolann Buff were named to the All-MF7 softball team (R-S Central’s Alexis Nanney and Todd White were player and coach of the year, respectively, while Chase’s Montana Honeycutt was offensive player of the year and East Rutherford’s Chloe Adair was pitcher of the year), the Panthers’ Bryant Arrowood landed on the All-MF7 boys tennis squad (Hendersonville’s Izaiah Campos was player of the year, while R-S Central’s Brad Deudne was coach of the year), and Patton didn’t have a representative on the All-MF7 boys golf team (East Rutherford’s Jacob Holland and Tyler Smith were player and coach of the year, respectively).
And the remaining All-CVAC selections from EB were as follows: in baseball, Maddox Mosteller, Mason Mosteller, Cannon Morrison, Barger Shook, and honorable mentions Gabe Wittenberg and Colt Butcher (no players of the year were identified); in softball, Kyndal Morrison, Amanda McLean, and honorable mentions Raegan Carter and Alyssa Shoemaker (no players of the year were identified); and in girls soccer, Piper Chapman, Macy McNeil, and honorable mentions Gracie Kaylor and Victoria Villegas (Bandys’ Madi Hatley was offensive player of the year, while Newton-Conover’s Hadleigh Swagger and Carlos Arias were selected as the top defensive player and coach, respectively).
NOTE: The local All-WHC, All-CVAC, and All-NWC boys golf selections were announced in a previous edition, while additional all-conference high school spring sports teams will be announced as they are released by conferences, generally following the conclusion of all teams’ seasons.
More local summer camps announced
Dates and other details for four more summer sports camps around the county were recently announced.
The Draughn basketball camp for rising second- through eighth-grade girls and boys will run July 7-9 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Cost to register is $40 (and guarantees a camp T-shirt) through June 27 or $50 afterward, and registration is available online at shorturl.at/1ZZNz.
The East Burke cheer camp will be held June 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for pre-K students through rising fifth graders and from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for all rising middle schoolers. Registration is $25 (available online at shorturl.at/7xFZf), and those who register by May 25 will receive a camp T-shirt. For more information, contact EBHS cheer coach Sabrina Baker at sabrinabaker@burke.k12.nc.us.
The Freedom girls basketball camp for rising kindergartners through ninth graders runs July 28-30 from 6-8 p.m. Registration cost is $40. For more information, contact FHS head coach Amber Reddick at amberreddick@burke.k12.nc.us.
And the Heritage Middle School volleyball camp runs July 14-16 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. for elementary students and from 1-4 p.m. for middle schoolers. Registration cost is $40, available online now at shorturl.at/GL7sg, and those who register by June 27 will receive a camp T-shirt. For more information, contact HMS coach Anna Lowman at annalowman@burke.k12.nc.us.
Thompson, Overcash conquer Bear Crawl
Kevin Thompson of Charlotte and Kristen Overcash of Charleston, S.C., won the male and female six-mile elite races, respectively, on May 17 at the 2025 Bear Crawl Obstacle Course Run in Morganton.
Thompson, 30, completed the course in a time of 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 43 seconds to finish ahead of second-place Daniel Little of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and third-place Baxter Hummel of Newnan, Ga.
Overcash, 48, finished in 1:51:49, ahead of second-place Jessica Wong of Huntersville and Heather Cox of Tucker, Ga.
Hal Latner of Marion was fourth overall, and the highest Morganton finishers were Patton High School teachers/coaches Catherine Causby, Autumn Helms, and Brittany Vinesett.
Ashley Barr of Myrtle Beach, S.C., won the event’s six-mile open race, and Zachary Farris of Rutherfordton won the three-mile open race.
Hickory FC off to 2-0 start
Hickory’s semi-professional men’s soccer team, Hickory FC, began its second year in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) with a 2-0 road victory over Charlottetowne Hops FC on May 10 before knocking off visiting Bristol Rhythm AFC by a 4-2 score on May 16 at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Moretz Stadium to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Hickory FC received goals from Ronan O’Mahony and Alvaro Sanchez in the season opener, while its goals on May 16 came from Antonio Pineda (Daniel Almeida assist), Leo Souza (Adolfo Pino assist), Almeida (Souza assist), and Tomas Pollacchi.
Hickory FC visits Appalachian FC — which currently leads the NPSL Southeast Conference with a 3-0 record — tonight (Saturday, May 24) at 7 p.m. at Appalachian State University’s Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex, while the next home match for Hickory FC will be against Greenville United on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Hickory FC’s roster includes a number of players from North Carolina, including Patton High School senior Isai Jimenez, who was a goalkeeper for a Panthers squad that finished 19-5-3 overall and 9-1-2 in Mountain Foothills 7 1A/2A Conference play while reaching the fourth round of the 2A state playoffs last fall. Hickory FC’s head coach is L-R men’s soccer coach Carlos Rubio.
Josh McKinney and Paul Schenkel can be reached at 828-445-8595 or josh@thepaper.media and paul@thepaper.media.
