RUNNING THE TABLE: Falcons finish first-ever undefeated baseball season with tourney title thriller

Fourth-year head coach Chandler Grindstaff said he asked his Table Rock Middle School baseball team to do one thing this season: Finish.

They finished on Thursday as the best Falcons team of all time.

No. 1 seed host Table Rock used a walk-off walk to rally from 9-7 down late for a 10-9, eight-inning victory over No. 2 West McDowell in the Foothills Athletic Conference tournament championship game to complete the program’s first-ever undefeated season with 13 wins, zero losses, and one regular-season tie.

The Falcons claimed their second FAC tourney title in three years in their third title game trip in Grindstaff’s four years.

“We set a couple goals the first week of the season knowing we had 11 eighth graders this year,” Grindstaff said. “We felt like we had the talent to win not only Table Rock’s first outright regular-season (FAC) championship but also do it with an undefeated season. When we took care of eighth-grade night on Monday against East Burke, we had checked two of those boxes, but we still wanted to finish it and go the rest of the year this last week in the tournament without a loss.

“Three games in four days was challenging, and there were times today when it wasn’t pretty, but they found a way.”

Table Rock led 7-1 early and could have led by even more, stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. A James Miller walk put TR ahead at 2-1, and his two-run single to left an inning later gave the Falcons their six-run cushion.

“I knew that it was a big moment, and I try to come up clutch,” Miller said of the at-bat, which at the time didn’t appear it would ultimately be game-deciding.

But West scored twice in the third and once in the fourth to trim the margin to 7-4. Two of the Falcons’ four total errors for the game followed in the fifth and allowed West to plate four runs, take a 9-7 edge, and threaten TR’s place in history.

Falcons catcher Luke Webb led off the fifth and seventh with walks and scored runs both times, in order, via a Cade Pritchard RBI groundout and tying Calloway Donnelly sacrifice fly.

In between those runs, Miller (2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K) pitched around back-to-back doubles to lead off the sixth as he recorded back-to-back strikeouts followed by a groundout.

“Getting those big outs and just keeping everybody hyped was a big shift in momentum to help us finish out the game,” Miller said.

It was Aiken Shade’s turn for a leadoff walk in the eighth, and West never got an out, as Easton Tollison was hit by a pitch to reach base for a fifth time in as many plate appearances, Spencer Wall induced his second walk, and Miller walked to represent his game-high fourth RBI of the title contest.

Wall (double, RBI), Shade, and Tollison each scored twice, Webb doubled and drove in two, Pritchard doubled, Donnelly singled twice, and Jaxxon Williams singled, stole a base, and scored a run.

Wall (4 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 5 BB, 5 K) was solid in a start from the mound, as was Webb (2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 BB, K) in the final two innings of relief to earn the decision.

“We jumped on them hot, took care of business for the first two innings,” Grindstaff said. “And then they made a pitching change, and we didn’t make any timing adjustments, we kinda started kicking the ball around and made some dumb plays on the bases to let them get back into it. But the boys didn’t hang their heads, kept fighting, and did what we asked them to do all year which was finish.”

Table Rock advanced to the title game with a 9-1 home win over fourth-seeded Liberty (7-6) in Tuesday’s semifinal round, getting a strong pitching performance from Tollison (7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, HBP, 12 K), who also had a home run, a double, two RBIs, and a run scored to go with three hits from Miller (double, two singles, two runs, two SB), two hits from Williams (two singles, RBI, two runs, two SB), and one hit apiece from Webb (three-run homer), Pritchard (single, RBI), and Wall (single, RBI).

AJ Duckworth doubled and Judson Wilson singled for the Knights, who also lost by a 9-5 final at Table Rock in Monday’s regular-season finale after suffering a 5-2 defeat at the hands of West McDowell on April 23 in Marion.

Wilson had two singles, scored two runs, and stole a base on Monday to go with a single apiece from Edward Stoudenmire (two RBIs), Cason Scott (RBI), Duckworth (two runs), Brody Lozano, and Lincoln Greer, while each of the following players recorded a single at West McDowell: Greer (run), Duckworth, Wilson, Hank Ledford, and Sawyer Cato.

Table Rock, meanwhile, was a 16-0 road winner over Walter Johnson (0-12) — which also lost by a 15-0 score to visiting West McDowell on Monday and didn’t report any individual statistics from either contest — on April 23 before topping Liberty to begin this past week.

Williams had three hits (double, two singles, RBI, two runs) for the Falcons on Monday, while Tollison (homer, two RBIs, two runs), Pritchard (single, two RBIs, run), Shade (single, RBI, two runs, two SB), Wall (double, RBI), Webb (single, run, three SB), Ames Miller (single, run, SB), and Callaway Donnelly (single) each recorded one hit. In addition, Webb (3 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 K) was the winning pitcher.

And on April 23, Ames Miller (3 K), Donnelly (3 K), and Calen Clark (2 BB, 3 K) each struck out the side in an inning on the mound to go with two hits each from Donnelly (two singles, two RBIs, three runs, SB), Bentley Mize (two singles, two RBIs, run, two SB), and RB Frenzel (two singles, run) and one apiece from Landyn Mize (single, three RBIs, two runs, SB) and Landon Crotts (triple, RBI, three runs).

Finally, Heritage (3-9) bounced back from a 10-0 road loss to East McDowell on April 23 — Tatum Gunter and Skylar Garland had singles in the defeat — with a 7-6 home triumph over East Burke (3-9) in the regular-season finale on Monday at Draughn High School.

The Eagles won their final game in walk-off fashion via a two-run single from Anderson Clark (two hits, four RBIs) in the seventh, with Luke Lowman adding two hits of his own, Garland recording a hit and two RBIs, Kayson Webb tallying a hit and an RBI, and Remy Treadway notching a hit and a sacrifice bunt that moved two runners into scoring position before both eventually crossed the plate in the opening inning.

Noah Clark (4 IP, 5 K) and Corban Mull (3 IP, 4 K) were solid on the mound against the Raiders, who got two hits from Miles Seagle (two singles, RBI, two runs, two SB) and one apiece from Fisher Huffman (single, run, SB) and Jace Wilson (single).

SOFTBALL

Liberty falls in finals of FAC tourney

The Lady Knights entered Thursday’s FAC tournament title game against West McDowell having won 25 consecutive contests against league opponents since the start of the 2025 season, and most of those victories came in dominant fashion.

Coming in, Liberty had outscored opposing teams by a combined total of 195-24 this spring, cruising to its second FAC regular-season title in a row. And with a third win over the Lady Spartans, the Lady Knights would make it back-to-back FAC tournament championships as well.

But the Lady Spartans had other ideas, avenging a pair of regular-season losses by rallying past Liberty, 9-4, on Thursday in Morganton.

The top-seeded Lady Knights (13-1) scored in the bottom of the first inning when Whitley Strange crossed the plate on a single from Malorie Messer, but an RBI double from Cassidy McHone pulled No. 2 seed West McDowell even in the top of the second.

Liberty regained the lead with single runs in the third and fourth innings, as Strange scored on a double from Emma Fish to make it 2-1 in the third before the Lady Knights grabbed a two-run advantage in the following frame courtesy of a Finley Duvall single that knocked in Lyrikah Bristol.

After West McDowell cut the deficit in half on an RBI groundout from Camryn Davidson in the fifth, the Lady Spartans took a 5-3 lead in the sixth thanks to a two-run homer from Mattie Creson (game-high three hits) and a solo shot from McHone two batters later.

From there, a single from Duvall plated Serenity Waycaster in the bottom half of the sixth before West McDowell completed the scoring with four runs in the seventh, including the final three on bases-loaded walks.

Despite the loss, the Lady Knights outhit West McDowell 10-5 behind the aforementioned two singles from Duvall, a double and a single from Fish, two singles apiece from Messer and Ava Hensley, a single from Presley McCoy, and a single from Victoria Bollinger. However, Liberty committed four errors and left nine runners on base.

The Lady Knights previously earned a 15-0 home win over fourth-seeded East Burke (5-8) in Tuesday’s semifinal round, with Messer tossing all three innings and allowing no hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Meanwhile, Liberty’s offensive standouts included Janiyah Benjamin (double, single, two RBIs, two runs, SB), Duvall (double, single, two RBIs, two runs), Hensley (single, two RBIs, two runs), Bristol (single, two RBIs, run), Fish (single, RBI, two runs, SB), Messer (double, RBI, three runs), Waycaster (single, RBI, run), and Strange (single, run).

Liberty also won by an 8-4 final on April 23 at West McDowell before defeating host Table Rock by a 23-4 score in three innings in Monday’s regular-season finale.

The Lady Knights got a homer, a single, two RBIs, and two runs scored from Fish during last week’s game, while Benjamin had a triple, a single, and two RBIs to go with two singles and two runs scored from both Hensley and Strange — the latter of whom also threw seven innings of two-hit ball during which she allowed four unearned runs while striking out four, issuing two walks, and hitting a batter — as well as a double, two RBIs, and a run scored from Duvall.

Then on Monday, Liberty outhit the Lady Falcons 14-0 — Table Rock’s only two RBIs came from Kelly Scales, who also scored a run — behind four hits from Strange (two doubles, two singles, five RBIs, three runs), two apiece from Duvall (double, single, four RBIs, four runs), Benjamin (two singles, three RBIs, two runs, SB), and Fish (two doubles, two RBIs, two runs), and one each from Hensley (single, three RBIs, three runs), Bristol (double, RBI, three runs), Messer (triple, RBI), and Waycaster (single, run). Furthermore, Messer struck out three, walked four, and hit two batters in an abbreviated complete game.

Third-seeded Table Rock (8-5) also fell by a 14-4 final in the FAC tournament semifinals on Tuesday at West McDowell, with the Lady Falcons’ offensive leaders including SophiAnn Smith with two hits and Megan Robinson with one hit and two RBIs.

Prior to that, Table Rock was a 22-0 road winner over Walter Johnson (0-12) — which didn’t report any individual stats from that contest or Monday’s 15-0 home loss to West McDowell — on April 23. Kendal Coffey (2 IP, 5 K) was the winning pitcher for the Lady Falcons, who also received multi-hit performances from Coffey, SophiAnn Smith, and IvyRose Whisenant, three walks from Ella Avery, and multiple stolen bases from Avery, Willow Smith, Scarlet Smith, and Maddie Gordon.

In other recent action, Heritage (4-8) lost to East McDowell by a 7-6 final on April 23 in Marion before earning an 8-6 home victory over East Burke — which didn’t report any individual stats — on Monday at Draughn High School.

The Lady Eagles’ Piper Smith finished with three hits, an RBI, and a run scored at East McDowell, while Brianna Maynor had two hits and two RBIs to go with two hits, an RBI, and a run scored from Keagan Sigmon. Additionally, Lainey Sigmon (three hits, two RBIs, two runs), Marleigh Gidney (two hits, two RBIs, run), Brown (two hits, RBI, two runs), and Dylan Boykin (hit, RBI, run) were Heritage’s offensive standouts against the Lady Raiders, with Brown (5 IP, 4 K) and Smith (2 IP, 2 K) handling the pitching duties.