East Burke baseball drops unbeaten showdown

The East Burke Middle baseball team suffered its first loss of the season on Monday in a Foothills Athletic Conference first-place showdown at West McDowell but bounced back to win Wednesday and remain one game behind the Spartans.

The Raiders (5-1) fell by a 4-0 margin to open the week in Marion as Blade Carson led the way for East Burke with nine strikeouts over five innings of pitching work.

EBMS then defeated visiting Walter Johnson, 17-1, two days later as Cooper Ashley, Sam Elliott, Sawyer Houston, and Kaden Hudson each picked up hits and Houston gained the win from the mound, tossing two innings and striking out five.

Two other county teams also picked up wins this week.

Heritage burst past host Liberty on Monday, 22-9, before the Eagles returned home Wednesday and lost 12-0 against Table Rock.

For Heritage (2-4) on Monday, Nolan Russ (RBI) and Alex Mann (three RBIs) pounded out four hits each, while Asher Mishler doubled twice, Ian Meadows went 2 for 2 with three walks, and Anderson Clark went 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Russ (3 IP, 2 K) and Collin Clary (3 K) combined on the mound for the Eagles in the triumph.

Matthew Piercy (single, double, RBI) paced Liberty with two hits, and the Knights (1-5) also got a hit apiece from Marshall Keathley (double, two RBIs), AJ Duckworth (two RBIs), Judson Wilson, Edward Stoudenmire, and Hank Ledford.

Table Rock (3-3) hung onto fourth place in the conference thanks to Wednesday’s shutout win in Valdese in which the Falcons led 4-0 after an inning and 9-0 after two.

TRMS played error-free in the field behind winning pitcher Easton Tollison (4 IP, 2 H, 10 K), and the guests were led at the plate by Tollison (HR, two walks), Jaxxon Williams (double, four RBIs), and Jacob Nile (two RBIs) with two hits each.

The day before, TRMS lost 12-5 at West McDowell despite two hits and three RBIs from Williams and two hits from Spencer Wall.

Liberty also fell 5-0 at East McDowell on Wednesday after Walter Johnson (0-5) had lost to East McDowell at home Monday, 16-2. No more details were available on those games.

SOFTBALL

TR, Liberty remain on collision course

As they eye their first of two head-to-head meetings, rivals Table Rock and Liberty both pushed their conference records to 5-0 with a pair of wins this week.

The Lady Falcons won 13-1 at West McDowell on Tuesday and 15-5 at Heritage on Wednesday, while the Lady Knights were victorious over Heritage at home Monday, 13-0, and at East McDowell on Wednesday, 8-5.

TRMS’ Harper Best enjoyed a day to remember in Marion on Tuesday, both with the bat and from the circle. She struck out 12 and walked just two batters in a no-hitter that included an immaculate inning as she struck out the side on just nine pitches in the bottom of third. Best also finished the contest 4 for 4 with a double and five RBIs.

Megan Robinson went 3 for 3 with a home run for the Falcons, and Kelly Scales (double) and Lily Thompson also collected multiple hits apiece.

TRMS then did most of its damage in two innings Wednesday in Valdese, scoring seven times in the top of the first and tacking on five sixth-inning runs.

Thompson (hit) had a team-high four RBIs, and Robinson had a single, three walks, three stolen bases, and two RBIs. Best, Scales, Cheyenne Cook, and Sophia Davis had one walk and one RBI apiece, and Callie Harris, Bailey Heape, SophiAnn Smith, and Parker Thomas had a hit apiece.

Liberty also jumped on Heritage (1-4) early on Monday with three runs in the bottom of the first followed by a nine-spot in the second.

LMS’ Whitley Strange (2 IP, H, 5 K) and Malorie Messer (3 IP, H, 2 BB, 8 K) teamed up on a two-hit shutout from the circle, and the hosts were led offensively by Strange and Lyrikah Bristol with two hits, two RBIs, and two runs each.

Piper Ellis, Ava Hensley, and Lila Hudson also scored two runs apiece for Liberty, while Desirae Smith drove in two runs, and Finley Duvall doubled and scored a run.

Heritage’s hits came via Lainey Sigmon (double) and Emmalin Clark, with the battery of Ambria Baker (7 K) pitching and Marleigh Gidney catching the whole way.

In Liberty’s win Wednesday, Strange provided three hits (double), two runs, and two RBIs, and Ellis added three hits (double), a walk, a run, and an RBI. Hensley (double, run), Duvall (two runs), Messer (double, walk, run, three RBIs), and Smith (run) added two hits apiece.

The Falcons and Knights will square off March 25 at Table Rock and again on April 7 at Liberty.

And East Burke (2-3) remained in third place behind Liberty and TR with a wild 17-16 road win over West McDowell on Monday; no more details were available.

TRACK AND FIELD

Walter Johnson hosts dual meet

Walter Johnson hosted East McDowell in a FAC dual meet on Tuesday, claiming nine wins in individual events plus two relays despite the Trojans winning the meet by a 166-113 team score.

The Yellow Jackets’ ExZandria Horton won both the girls long jump (13’10”) and triple jump (27’1¼”) and teamed with Paris Conley, Nivaya Sajir, and Mari Mendoza Sajche on the winning 4x200 relay squad (2:06.59).

Conley also won the eighth-grade 100 meters (14.63), Sajche won the 200 meters (31.52), and Sajir won the eighth-grade 800 meters (3:16.05).

Also on the girls side, Melani Ixcoy Tarax claimed the sixth/seventh-grade 800 meters (3:35.96), and the 4x400 relay of Gabby Velasquez Mejia, Kelly McCrea, Ana Hernandez Iztep, and Kimberly Martin Santos (5:54.24) was victorious.

WJMS’ boys winners included JaZion Davidson Burgess in the sixth-grade 100 meters (13.65), Jace Connelly in the seventh-grade 100 meters (13.03), and James Russ in the sixth/seventh-grade 800 meters (2:54.71).

Also Tuesday, Table Rock was set to host Liberty and West McDowell, while Heritage was set to host East Burke. No details on either of those meets was available.