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ZooKeepers scoreboard June2023

ZooKeepers finish CPL baseball season with positives

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By the end of many games, the scoreboard numbers didn’t add up well for the Asheboro ZooKeepers. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – The good times for the Asheboro ZooKeepers mostly came late in the season for the collegiate summer baseball team.

The ZooKeepers finished with a 20-24 record in the Coastal Plain League, winning just two of their last six games. Their 12-11 mark in the second half was the second-best record in the West Division.

That was improvement from 2022, when Asheboro’s 14-33 overall record was the worst in the CPL.

The leading batter for the ZooKeepers was second baseman Cole Laskowski at .290 among players with enough plate appearances to qualify on the official league list.

Todd Hudson and Jared Beebe were tops for Asheboro in home runs with six apiece. Beebe led the team in runs batted in with 39 and Hudson was next with 27.

Tyler McPeak had a team-leading nine doubles despite not playing for nearly three weeks to end the season.

Pitcher Daniel Thompson posted a 2.05 earned run average in nine outings, including five starts. Jacob Halford had the most pitching victories as he racked up a 5-1 record.

First-year general manager Melissa Godwin said pitching depth became a shortcoming for the team. That was particularly evident late in the season.

The ZooKeepers began the season playing home games at UNC Greensboro’s baseball stadium because of a renovation project at McCrary Park that didn’t make it feasible to have fans at the ballpark.

Lleyton Lackey of Asheboro ZooKeepers enjoys a moment late in the season after hitting a home run. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

In the CPL’s official listing, the ZooKeepers were second-to-last among the 14 teams in home attendance with 609 spectators per opening.

The ZooKeepers were eliminated from postseason contention with the result in their final home game. The Forest City Owls won 4-2 at McCrary Park. Hudson and Dallas Callahan drove in the Asheboro runs.

Then there were three road games remaining on the schedule.

The first of those was cancelled because of weather at Martinsville, Va. Then came an 8-1 loss to the Florence Flamingos, with Asheboro’s run coming on Dylan Driver’s second home run of the season. Jaden Stockton took the loss.

Then Saturday night at Boone, Asheboro won 9-4 as Hudson drove in three runs and Driver and Laskowski both had three hits. Starting pitcher Drew Siegner worked five innings for his first victory of the season.

ER boys postgame video at South Stokes

Widespread success reshapes Eastern Randolph’s reputation

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Among the thrills for Eastern Randolph during the past school year came following a road victory against South Stokes in the boys’ basketball state playoffs as coach Johnny Thomas and the team celebrate. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

 

RAMSEUR – Eastern Randolph had a different kind of school year in 2022-23.

For athletics director Foster Cates, the perception of athletics at the school might be changing.

That’s because the Wildcats advanced to the Class 1-A state championship game in boys’ basketball. That had never happened before.

“It has been such a football and baseball dominant school forever,” Cates said. “I wanted to make it a one-stop shot. You can come to school and do all three.”

The Wildcats won the Piedmont Athletic Conference title in football last year. They followed that with the PAC crown in boys’ basketball, coinciding with a strong regular season and postseason from the girls’ basketball team.

The fan support followed, with Eastern Randolph drawing big crowds at home and on the road for basketball games.

“It gave the community something to rally around after football season,” Cates. “That’s a long wait before the next (football) season. It was great for the community.”

Cates said the boys’ basketball team’s high-scoring games heightened the interest.

“It’s entertainment,” he said.

The girls’ basketball team had a late-season eight-game winning streak and later won two games in the state playoffs.

In football, after a first-round bye in the state playoffs, the Wildcats won two games before they were eliminated. Combined with the basketball success, there were certain positives.

“Probably getting as far as we did in both sports,” then-senior running back / linebacker Devonte Brooks said of the school year’s highlights.

There seemed to be nonstop attention on Eastern Randolph.

“It was pretty exciting,” Brooks said. “I just wanted to make it a basketball and football school, not just a one-sport school. Leave it better than I found it, that’s all I’m trying to do.”

The buzz around Eastern Randolph athletics continued in the spring.

The baseball team advanced to the Class 1-A West Region finals, extending its season to late May. The softball team won three games in the state playoffs.

PG girls basketball new coach Johnathan Gainey

Providence Grove finds next girls’ coach

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CLIMAX – Providence Grove moved quickly this summer to hire a new girls’ basketball coach.

Johnathan Gainey is the new coach, filling the vacancy caused by the departure of Dylan Eppley.

Gainey previously coached girls’ teams at Winston-Salem Prep and Winston-Salem Reynolds. He also was the boys’ basketball coach at his alma mater, Kernersville Glenn.

Eppley left Providence Grove after three seasons to become the boys’ basketball coach at Southern Alamance.

“I felt like this was a move that I needed,” Eppley said of a chance to expand his professional experiences.

Eppley’s Providence Grove teams had a 26-37 record, including 6-18 last season.

Eppley, 30, said he embraced his coaching opportunity with the Patriots as it was his first role as a varsity head coach. Former athletics director Calvin Brown, who became the football coach at Asheboro last winter, was supportive, he said.

“Calvin sold me on Providence Grove,” said Eppley, who also was on the football coaching staff. “He built an athletic department that was very connected.”

Eppley goes from one school nicknamed Patriots to another with the same nickname. He’ll be in a rebuilding phase at Southern Alamance, which is moving from Class 4-A to Class 3-A and is coming off a three-year stretch with an 18-44 record. That includes last season’s 6-19 mark.

Klaussner_3

Asheboro-based Klaussner Furniture Industries, Inc. to close all facilities

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ASHEBORO – Klaussner Furniture Industries, which once had been the largest employer in Randolph County, is shutting down operations at all its facilities, the company announced Monday.

The company was tightly tied to Asheboro, which housed its corporate headquarters.

According to a news release: “Klaussner’s lending source has unexpectedly refused to continue to fund the Company’s operations. This outcome was not reasonably foreseeable, but due to these unexpected circumstances, Klaussner can no longer sustain its operations.”

There will be more than 3,800 job losses, with a majority of those connected to Asheboro and Randolph County, based on some reports. The company’s announcement said the process of shuttering all its facilities began Monday.

The company is working to provide additional information and resources for its displaced employees.

“This information will be communicated directly to employees via contact information we have on file,” the company’s release said.

Klaussner Home Furnishings has been a leading solutions provider to the furniture industry since 1963. The company manufactures more than 70 percent of its products domestically through its five manufacturing campuses in North Carolina.

A published report in 2020 said that about 4,000 people were employed in the state by Klaussner. There were also facilities in Candor and Robbins after more than 160 workers were impacted by a Greensboro plant closing. That was believed to be the first time the company closed a plant.

FurnitureToday, a trade site, reported Monday that based on multiple industry sources “the company had been challenged recently to maintain current payments with key suppliers and had difficulty receiving goods.”

According to Furniture World Magazine, the company was founded by Stuart Love in 1963 and purchased by Hans Klaussner in 1979. Klaussner’s management team acquired the company in 2011, then sold it to private equity firm Monomoy Capital Partners in 2017.

Brands that might be most recognizable that were manufactured by Klaussner Furniture are Trisha Yearwood Home Collection and Stacy Garcia Home.

Klaussner Furniture’s announcement follows the March closing of a furniture manufacturer in Thomasville. Creative Metal and Wood, Inc., had been in business since 1954.

In June, Cox Manufacturing in Hickory shut down after 90 years in operation.

Post 45 logo for web

Post 45’s season ends with 11-inning loss in Southeast Regional

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ASHEBORO – It took most of Saturday night before Randolph County Post 45 was dismissed from the Southeast Regional.

The host team battled for 11 innings with Florence (S.C.) Post 1 before suffering a 5-4 loss at McCrary Park.

“We’ve been playing all night,” Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said. “This was a classic. Our guys sucked it up and played.”

Florence (29-5) is unbeaten in the double-elimination regional and will play Fuquay-Varina Post 116 (30-6) at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. If Fuquay-Varina wins, another winner-take-all game will follow.

Post 45 ended the season with a 25-8 record, going 2-2 in regional play for the second year in a row.

This one came with an array of twists and turns.

“I thought for sure we were going to win it,” shortstop/pitcher Hunter Atkins said. “That’s how it goes. There was ups and downs.”

Post 1’s Josh Williams tripled to begin the 11th and scored on Noah Moore’s sacrifice fly.

Post 45 tried to match it, with Carter Brown starting the bottom of the inning with an infield single and moving to second on Caleb Dunn’s sacrifice bunt. Tanner Marsh drew a two-out walk and then a wild pitch moved up the runners before Atkins walked. Tyler Parks, who held the hero’s tag several times during the game, fouled out to end it.

“You can’t ask for anything else out of your team,” Parks said.

Atkins threw 87 pitches, the most he has thrown in a game at any level. He struck out seven in six innings of relief.

“We played a baseball game here and everybody was into it,” Pugh said. “I would much rather go out in a game like this than get beat 7-1. … We were capable of winning this tournament.”

Post 45’s dramatics cranked up in the fifth inning. Florence reliever Collin Minshew walked Marsh and Atkins before Parks lofted a home run to left field to put Randolph County ahead 4-3.

Marsh pitched five-plus innings, giving up singles to the first two Post 1 batters in the sixth. Atkins worked out of the jam.

“You had to be tough (in this game),” Atkins said. “You couldn’t be mentally soft.”

Parks, the third baseman, had spectacular glove work in the seventh after Post 1’s Collin Minshew led off with a double. Parks made a sliding catch of Jackson Moore’s foul popup for the first out. Minshew scored on a two-out wild pitch, but Parks’ play might have prevented a big rally.

Parks was at it again in the 10th, starting a double play with a nifty stab and throw after the first batter reached on a single.

Atkins led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and Parks was intentionally walked, but Post 45 couldn’t produce the winning run.

Randolph County’s Pierce Leonard went 3-for-4 with a walk. Parks and Brown each had two hits.

Earlier, Williams hit his second home run of the regional to open the scoring. Zach Hunt rapped a two-run double in the third.

Post 45 put its first two batters in the third inning on base with singles by Alex Martinez and Marsh. But Florence right field tracked down Atkins’ deep drive and Parks grounded into a double play.

Randolph County loaded the bases with one out in the fourth and scored on Dunn’s walk, but another double play ended the threat.

This marked the first extra-inning game in the regional.

In Saturday’s first game, Fuquay-Varina drilled West End (Va.) Post 361 by 14-2 in a game reduced to five innings by the mercy rule.

Asheboro Blue Comets logo with big A

Blue Comets to stage first Fan Fest on Friday

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Asheboro High School seeks community interest

ASHEBORO – The first Blue Comets Fan Fest for Asheboro High School athletics will be held Friday night at Lee Stone Stadium on campus.

Athletics director Wes Berrier said the objective is to create a massive community event.

“The main reason is trying to bridge that gap between the school and community,” Berrier said. “More or less building school spirit and building community spirit. It’s a great way for us to introduce our fall athletes and kind of showcase these teams.”

Fall sports teams will be featured.

The event begins at 7 p.m. and continues until 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The evening’s activities are a lead-up to the football team’s midnight madness practice that’s expected to run for about 90 minutes beginning at midnight.

Admission is free, though wristbands will need to be purchased to use a bounce house and inflatable water slides along with chances to throw at the dunking booth. Concessions will be sold and the Booster Club will have spirit gear for sale.

The idea for the Fan Fest came from new football coach Calvin Brown, formerly of Providence Grove where the Patriots had a similar event. Berrier said meetings with the Booster Club began in the spring to put this together.

It will extend beyond the high school Blue Comets. Middle school football players and cheerleaders and youth football and cheerleaders also will be recognized. The school’s marching band will perform.

Asheboro is the largest high school in Randolph County. It’s the only school in the county that’s a member of the Mid-Piedmont Conference.

While the emphasis is on fall sports, the school’s wrestling team and girls’ soccer team will be involved with concessions and face painting.

Those in the dunking booth, in half-hour intervals, include Brown, principal Ryan Moody, boys’ basketball coach Brian Nance, superintendent Aaron Woody, school counselor Allyson Key and Berrier. There’s a reason that Berrier goes last because he ”hopes everyone’s arm is tired” by that point.

Berrier said the goal is for a festival atmosphere and “to make this a huge school / community event that will continue to grow every year.”

New coaches

In addition to Brown, there are several new coaches leading fall teams for Asheboro.

The cross country coach is Griffin Dozier, son of former coach Angela Dozier. She’ll move to a role as assistant coach.

Griffin Dozier is a former Asheboro runner from the Class of 2017.

Dwayne Lester will take over as girls’ golf coach, replacing Heather Norris.

Kelly Smith was named the new volleyball coach last winter.

American Legion Southeast Regional logo

Glitch in plan pins loss on Post 45 in Southeast Regional opener

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ASHEBORO – Parts of a plan for Randolph County Post 45 played out well on the first day of the Southeast Regional for American Legion baseball.

But there were a few things that Post 45 couldn’t anticipate Wednesday night at McCrary Park and that was part of the downfall.

Columbia (Tenn.) Post 19 had two big innings and those turned into a 7-5 victory.

“We had a plan and we executed it for the most part,” Randolph County manager Ronnie Pugh said. “They had two big hits.”

Now Post 45 takes on Belleview (Fla.) Post 284 in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. It’s a double-elimination tournament, which wraps up Sunday.

“Win one and go to the next day,” Post 45 outfielder Carter Brown said of the objective.

Post 19’s No. 9 batter Baylan Tuten blasted a bases-clearing two-out triple over right fielder Tyler Parks’ head to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 7-4 lead in the fifth inning.

Post 45 had trouble generating much with its seven hits. The team had been off since July 17 when it failed to reach the Area 3 final.

“Hitting, a few of us didn’t have it,” outfielder Connor Adams said.

Post 45 was without center fielder Braylen Hayes because of an injury and catcher Grat Dalton because of a family situation. Pitcher Drake Purvis was absent due to another baseball endeavor.

Pugh said Randolph County has enough personnel to extend the season to the weekend.

“It’s tough coming off losses, but so is (Belleview),” he said. “We’ve got to win one game a day.”

Randolph County used Robert Garner for three innings as the starting pitcher. Reliever Samuel Asbill breezed through the fourth inning before trouble brewed in the fifth. A one-out single and two two-out walks triggered Columbia’s rally.

Earlier, Columbia loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning but a popup and two strikeouts allowed Post 45 to escape.

Randolph County didn’t waste its chances in the bottom of the inning, with Josh Meadows’ one-out single driving in two runs. Braxton Walker followed with a run-scoring triple.

Columbia converted in the second on Cam Vaughn’s one-out ground-rule double to pull within 3-2 and tacked on two more runs in the inning. In the third, Hunter Atkins doubled and scored on Meadows’ groundout before Walker’s single put Post 45 back ahead.

Walker was the only Post 45 player with more than one hit.

So after the layoff, the offseason looms unless Randolph County can make a quick turnaround.

“It was a long break, but we’re all happy to get back,” Brown said.

“We want to win it,” Adams said, suggesting the energy could increase a notch with the season the line.

In Wednesday’s earlier games, Owensboro (Ky.) topped Evans (Ga.) 5-1, West End (Va.) edged Belleview 7-4, and Florence (S.C.) defeated North Carolina state champion Fuquay-Varina 9-5. There are also games Thursday at 9 a.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Post 45 Pierce Leonard fielding July2023

Leonard takes baseball path with Post 45; Southeast Regional set to begin in Asheboro

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 Second baseman Pierce Leonard of Randolph County Post 45 makes a play in the field earlier this season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Pierce Leonard is a first-year member of the Randolph County Post 45 baseball team. There’s a reason that he pursued American Legion baseball this summer.

Having finished his final high school year at Eastern Randolph after transferring from Uwharrie Charter Academy, Leonard chose baseball as a preference in terms of a sport to play in college.

“I figured I could go farther with baseball than I could basketball,” Leonard said.

He said he’ll play baseball at Guilford Tech.

But first, Leonard will be part of the Post 45 team aiming for a resurgence in this week’s Southeast Regional at McCrary Park. Games begin Wednesday.

Leonard, who was a defensive back in football, was one of the standouts in Eastern Randolph’s key players during a record-setting basketball season that extended into March in the Class 1-A championship game.

Days later, he was on the baseball field for the Wildcats.

“I hadn’t played baseball since my freshman year,” Leonard said. “I feel baseball is natural to me. I’m just loose up there.”

Leonard, after fouling a ball off his shin, was out for most of the recent Post 45 postseason games. Randolph County manager Ronnie Pugh said Monday that Leonard was pretty much at full speed at a weekend practice in advance of the regional.

“He should be good to go,” Pugh said.

Post 45 holds a 23-6 record, with four of those losses coming to Rowan County and the other two to High Point-Thomasville. Randolph’s spot in the regional was secured because of an automatic bid reserved for the host team.

When Post 45 failed to advance to the Area 3 finals, it meant the team would have more than a two-week layoff before the Southeast Regional.

Post 45 has numerous players with experience from last year’s regional. Among those are lineup regulars Tanner Marsh, Braylen Hayes, Tyler Parks and Josh Meadows plus Alex Martinez and Robert Garner.

Martinez, a catcher and utility player, is with Post 45 after a season with Brunswick Community College. He didn’t play much in the spring, in part because he was behind Tatum Marsh, a former high school teammate at Asheboro and ex-Post 45 mate. 

Checking the regional …

The five-day regional includes teams from seven states. It’s a double-elimination format.

There are four games the first two days and then three games Friday, two more Saturday and one or two games Sunday.

Post 45 will play the nightcap each day if it’s in the winner’s bracket. Randolph County opens Wednesday against Columbia (Tenn.) Post 19. That game is set for 7:30 p.m.

Other first-day games are Evans (Ga.) Post 192 vs. Owensboro (Ky.) Post 9 at 9:30 a.m.; Belleview (Fla.) Post 284 vs. West End (Va.) Post 361 at 12:30 p.m.; and Florence (S.C.) Post 1 vs. Fuquay-Varina Post 116.

Belleview, Evans, Owensboro and Columbia all played in the regional last year at McCrary Park. Post 45’s only game against any of those teams came with an eight-inning victory against Evans on the second day in a winner’s bracket game, but Randolph County lost its next two games and was eliminated.

Fuquay-Varina won the North Carolina state tournament, topping Wayne County Post 11 in Saturday’s final in Buies Creek.

The regional winner advances to the American Legion World Series next week in Shelby.

ZooKeepers Dallas Callahan swing 2023

ZooKeepers find different values in season

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Dallas Callahan has been with Asheboro’s Coastal Plain League team even before this year. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Tyler McPeak and Dallas Callahan have given the Asheboro ZooKeepers a veteran presence in different ways during the Coastal Plain League baseball season.

McPeak is looking to polish his swing and plate approach in advance of a final season at Lenoir-Rhyne, where he has been a record-setting slugger.

“I’ve always been a guy that feels there’s something else to be desired,” McPeak said. “Chasing perfection in an imperfect game.”

Callahan opted for a final go-around in a collegiate summer league even though he’s done playing at UNC Greensboro.

“I wanted to stay ready in case somebody wants to give me a shot,” said Callahan, 23.

Callahan, the son of first-year ZooKeepers general manager Melissa Godwin, started 53 games this year for UNCG (25-34), batting .195 in 55 games overall. He hit seven home runs.

Callahan, a catcher, played for Asheboro in the summer of 2021, when the team’s nickname was Copperheads.  Last year, hip surgery kept him out of a summer circuit.

More recently, he had two-hit outings four times in a six-game stretch for the ZooKeepers.

“I’m here for the game,” Callahan said. “I’m not ready to give it up.”

Tyler McPeak has made big contributions at the plate for the Asheboro ZooKeepers. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

McPeak has been out of the lineup for two weeks with ailments after being the team’s biggest offensive threat. Yet even with the missed time, the first baseman entered the last week of the regular season second on the team in home runs (4) and runs batted in (23) behind Jared Beebe. McPeak’s nine doubles top the team and he holds a .314 batting average.

McPeak, a North Lincoln product, will be entering his sixth season in a college baseball program. He was on the Campbell team prior to transferring to Lenoir-Rhyne, where his 18 home runs this year set a single-season school record.

“It would be nice to break that record again,” he said.

Until then, time in a summer league was a good option again.

“I’m just trying to have fun,” McPeak said. “I know this is probably my last year of summer ball.”

Thompson honored

Daniel Thompson of the ZooKeepers was named the CPL Pitcher of the Week. Across two outings, the right-hander for UNC Greensboro struck out 12 batters in 8 2/3 innings and picked up one victory.

It also was a big week for Asheboro’s Daniel Hudson. He had the game-winning single against the Boone Bigfoots in a 13-12 comeback home victory and then homered twice the next night against the High Point-Thomasville HiToms at Finch Field. The 20-10 outcome against the HiToms gave the ZooKeepers a five-game winning streak, which was snapped the following night by the Wilson Tobs.

Note: The final regular-season home game of the season for the ZooKeepers is Tuesday night (Aug. 1) vs. the Forest City Owls.

Post 45 Braylen Hayes swings v Rowan July2023

Hayes backtracks to Post 45, carves new path

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Braylen Hayes takes a swing for Randolph County Post 45 this summer. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Braylen Hayes didn’t anticipate being back with Randolph County Post 45 this summer, but he’s glad that opportunity existed.

It’s turning out to be a good thing for Post 45 despite his unexpected availability.

The former standout outfielder for Randleman didn’t make it to the finish line in his first college season at UNC Greensboro.

“Just having too much fun in college. It went downhill and ended up not having the best grades,” Hayes said. “It was all on me. It’s good, though, I’m going to get back right.

Braylen Hayes will play next year for Guilford Tech. (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)

Hayes is the center fielder and bats third in the lineup for Post 45, which will be the host team for the American Legion’s Southeast Regional next week at McCrary Park.

So this is a summer to regroup for Hayes, who has committed to attend Guilford Tech and play a season with that junior college team.

He was lined up to play for the Asheboro ZooKeepers, a summer college team in the Coastal Plain League. But when grades interfered and he dropped off the UNCG roster, he wasn’t eligible for that because he wasn’t in a college program.

“It was pretty hard,” Hayes said. “It was just weird. I had never had to go through anything like that. Had to figure out.”

And he needed a summer baseball destination.

“Would have had a crap summer, no baseball would be rough,” he said.

Fortunately for him, he’s young enough – just turning 19 – for another season of American Legion baseball. He also played for Post 45 last year.

Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said Hayes is a big part of the team.

“We know the things he can do,” Pugh said.

Hayes said he’s a much better player than last summer.

“Making more contact on balls, hard contact,” he said. “Knowing the strike zone a lot better from seeing pitching at the D-I level.”

Things didn’t go as Hayes planned at UNCG.

“I didn’t play the best in the fall. I was struggling a little bit,” he said. “Going from seeing alright arms, to really good arms really fast. It was just a huge jump. At the time, I wasn’t ready for it.”

When the 2023 season began, he was a reserve, gaining more playing time a few weeks into the season. Hayes batted .250 in nine games, including three starts. He was 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.

Yet his time with the Spartans didn’t go for naught. That has been evident with Hayes’ throws from the outfield.

“UNCG, they’ve got a great throwing program,” he said. “My arm has gotten so much stronger.”

Hayes was on three high school state championship teams – one at Uwharrrie Charter Academy and two at Randleman. In 2022, he shared Player of the Year honors in the Piedmont Athletic Conference with teammate future Boston Red Sox draft pick Brooks Brannon.

Now Hayes wants to turn the detour into something good after the Guilford Tech season.

“Go to a bigger D-I, hopefully,” he said.

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