Austin Lemons throws a pitch earlier this season (Randolph Record file photo)
ASHEBORO – Austin Lemons made sure Randolph County Post 45’s season has a little more life.
Lemons threw a four-hitter as Post 45 defeated Belleview (Fla.) Post 284 by 3-0 in Thursday afternoon’s elimination game of the Southeast Regional for American Legion baseball.
Lemons, a former Randleman High School pitcher headed for UNC Greensboro, walked three batters and struck out seven. The game lasted only 79 minutes at McCrary Park.
The outcome puts Post 45 (24-7) in another must-win matchup at 12:30 p.m. Friday against the loser of Thursday’s game between Owensboro (Ky.) Post 9 and Florence (S.C.) Post 1.
Randolph County, which dropped Wednesday night’s game to Columbia (Tenn.) Post 19, bounced back behind several extra-base hits.
Tanner Marsh’s second-inning triple with two outs drove in Connor Adams, who began the inning with a single.
Josh Meadows homered with one out in the third. Hunter Atkins made it 3-0 when his two-out single in the sixth drove in former Randleman teammate Caleb Dunn, who reached on a lead-off single.
Atkins, who doubled earlier, and Dunn both finished with two hits. John Dobkowski had two of Belleview’s hits.
In Thursday’s first game, North Carolina state champion Fuquay-Varina Post 116 sent Evans (Ga.) Post 192 home with a 6-1 decision in an elimination game.
Alex Martinez of Randolph County Post 45 makes a catch in the outfield earlier this season against Chatham County. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – There have been some gaps in the schedule for Randolph County Post 45, but the American Legion baseball team might be back in a good groove.
Post 45 finished second in the Area 3 Northern Division by the time the regular season wrapped up last week.
The team won its final two regular-season games at home and then opened the Area 3 playoffs Sunday night by defeating visiting Davidson County.
That best-of-3 series was to continue this week. The Area 3 semifinals begin later this week in a best-of-5 format.
In the series opener, Randolph County’s 8-1 victory was boosted by two-run home runs from Braylen Hayes and Tanner Marsh. Hayes ended up with four runs batted in that helped support Robert Garner’s six innings of pitching before Marsh worked the seventh from the mound.
The goal for Post 45 is a state championship, but there are other benefits for extending the playoff run. The team is tournament host with an automatic bid for the Southeast Regional that’s scheduled for Aug. 2-6, so to avoid a huge break in the schedule it’s beneficial if Randolph County can keep going in the Area 3 playoffs.
Last week, Randolph County topped Foothills Post 123 by 7-3 and then defeated Chatham County Post 292 by 5-3.
Against Foothills, five pitchers went to the mound for Post 45. Carter Brown had two hits.
In the Chatham County game, Post 45 rallied from 3-0 hole as Hunter Atkins drove in two runs and Connor Adams scored two runs. Atkins and Marsh both had triples for Randolph County, while Austin Lemons was the winning pitcher with three innings of relief and Marsh recorded a save by logging a perfect seventh inning.
So that meant that Randolph County completed the regular season with a 19-3 record, including 6-2 in Area 3 divisional play. High Point-Thomasville Post 87 went 8-0 in the division to claim the top seed.
Davidson County was the third-place team in the Southern Division.
Rowan County Post 342 has already advanced to the Area 3 semifinals based on Foothills forfeiting the first-round series. It takes on the winner of the Randolph-County-Davidson County series.
Pierce Leonard takes a swing for Randolph County Post 45. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Randolph County Post 45 has been off a strong start to the American Legion baseball season.
The team has a good core of returning players who’ve produced across the first couple of weeks of the season.
Post 45 had a 7-1 record – capped with a 5-4 victory at Davidson County last week – before a five-day break in the schedule. The team is slated to be back in action this week.
The lone loss came by a 3-2 score at Rowan County. Twelve days later, Post 45 avenged the loss with a 10-5 home victory.
Tyler Parks drove in four runs in that triumph, while Ethan Frye and Braylen Hayes homered. Samuel Asbill was the winning pitcher.
Parks, Hayes, Tanner Marsh, Adam Cole, Josh Meadows, Drew Harmon, Connor Adams, Alex Martinez and Robert Garner are returnees from the 2022 team who’ve been key contributors this season.
Hayes homered twice as part of an 8-RBI night and Marsh scored four runs in a home romp past Davidson County. Meadows homered in a game at Mocksville-Davie County.
Cole won’t be with the team much longer as he reports for classes this month at East Carolina, where he’ll join the football program. Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said he welcomed Cole’s participation this spring even though he knew it would be on a short-term basis.
Outfielder Carter Brown, since helping Uwharrie Charter Academy to a Class 1-A state championship, has been produced upon joining Post 45. He drove in three runs in the Rowan County and Davidson County games.
Pitcher Drake Purvis, who was coming off surgery and didn’t pitch until late in the high school season for Randleman, has been a boost to the pitching staff along with high school teammate Austin Lemons.
Other Post 45 newcomers include former Randleman standout Hunter Atkins plus Ethan Frye and Pierce Leonard from Eastern Randolph’s team.
Because of delayed completion of renovations at McCrary Park in Asheboro, Post 45 has played home games at Randleman High School. The team has practiced at McCrary Park and should be playing games there by the end of next week. Last Wednesday’s home game against Mooresville was cancelled because of weather-related concerns.
RANDLEMAN – As the Class 2-A state playoffs began, Randleman’s baseball team cranked it up a notch.
The Tigers know what it takes this time of the year.
“We’ve got to keep up the energy,” senior second baseman Shawn Miller said. “We all know we’re good enough to be on the field.”
For the two-time defending state champions, the bats have awakened. With Friday night’s power display, it was reminiscent of a season ago – with mostly different guys taking the swings.
“More of what I expected throughout the year,” coach Jake Smith said of the offense. “Hopefully, we’re hitting our stride and continue to swing it.”
Five home runs helped in the second-seeded Tigers’ 13-3 victory against 15th-seeded Forbush.
So confidence could be soaring again for Randleman after a shaky stretch late in the regular season. The Tigers (22-4) next meet No. 7 seed East Davidson (20-4) on Tuesday night.
“It’s something about this time of the year,” catcher Caleb Dunn said. “We’re confident and we’re trying to reach our goal.”
The latest power display against Forbush (21-8) began early. Starting pitcher Austin Lemons belted a two-run homer to cap the three-run first inning.
“Every time he gets on the mound, he helps himself,” Smith said.
Lemons worked through five shutout innings, holding Forbush to two hits while striking out seven.
By then, the Tigers held an 8-0 lead.
In the fourth, Dunn’s ground-rule double knocked in one run. Then Hunter Atkins hammered a full-count pitch over the fence in center field off reliever Riley Campbell for a grand slam. It was quite the conclusion to a 13-pitch at-bat.
“The joy came really from fighting with two strikes, not really necessarily the grand slam,” Atkins said. “Really fighting with two strikes, no matter where the ball goes. Two strikes and get a big hit like that, I was definitely excited.”
Forbush produced three runs in the sixth with just one hit off reliever Drake Purvis, leaving the bases loaded.
Then with one out in the bottom of the inning, Randleman got going again. Atkins, Seth Way and Lemons hit back-to-back-to-back long balls.
“Those were no-doubters,” Smith said.
Then, per the script, it was Chesney Welch’s turn and he hammered a two-run double to right field to end the game via the mercy rule. He has had game-ending hits twice in a four-game stretch.
The production is coming throughout the batting order.
“We’re competing even more and getting hits and coming through,” Atkins said. “Anybody can do the job.”
That has been another encouraging sign. John Kirkpatrick had three hits vs. Forbush.
“I think the bottom of the lineup had real good at-bats,” Smith said of Friday night’s effort.
In the first round last Tuesday, Randleman ripped No. 31 seed Reidsville 17-2. Way and Purvis pitched.
The Tigers have allowed less than 2.5 runs per game this year. The pitching has been a staple.
“They work so hard,” Dunn said. “It’s paying off for them.”
Randleman’s Austin Lemons had a big night on the mound and at the plate in the PAC Tournament final. (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)
RANDLEMAN – There was so much going on with Randleman’s baseball team in the Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournament final.
Everything from Drake Purvis making his much-anticipated season debut to the Tigers racking up their 20th victory of the year.
Yet pretty much nothing could overshadow Austin Lemons.
The senior who mostly waited in the wings behind a stacked roster from a year ago emerged as the pitching and hitting standout in Randleman’s 4-0 victory against visiting Trinity on Thursday night.
“This is the biggest game I’ve probably ever pitched in my life and I feel like I handled it really well out there. I could trust my team. We got some runs. I knew right when we got those runs, I felt good about it.”
Make no mistake, the Tigers got their runs because of Lemons, who hit a two-run homer and later doubled to set up another run,
So he went from having a up-close view of Randleman’s record-setting 2022 season as a reserve to becoming one of the main participants for this year’s conference titlist.
“It definitely feels rewarding after working a lot,” Lemons said. “It’s not just for me. Hunter (Atkins) and Seth (Way) are the two that were in the lineup last year. They’ve been killing it this year. Everybody else had to fill really big roles and I think we’re doing a really good job of that.”
Lemons, a UNC Greensboro signee as a pitcher, must have been paying good attention last year.
“He has worked for this,” Randleman coach Jake Smith said. “He has seen people being successful in front of him.”
Lemons said he grew as a player last summer and in the fall on the travel ball circuit. Combined with what he learned from watching his former Randleman teammates, he applied it all to his final high school season.
“I feel like I just stuck through the process. I came out here and practiced just the same as everybody else,” Lemons said. “I took a lot of time to learn watching these guys on the field and I think it really carried over to this year.”
So that’s why the Tigers felt good about sending Lemons to the mound for the tournament final after he tossed two shutout innings in relief in Tuesday night’s eight-inning escape against Providence Grove in the semifinals.
“He competed and threw strikes,” Smith said. “His body language, his presence. He’s very focused.”
He gave Randleman six innings vs. Trinity, allowing two hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Lemons relies mostly on fastballs and sliders. He said his control tended to be a glitch in past years, but that’s an area where he made significant improvement.
“I definitely feel like I’ve always had some of the talent there,” he said. “There’s potential, but I really had to work. I feel the biggest thing that changed for me is my mental approach, just being more confident.”
Randleman (20-4), the two-time defending Class 2-A state champion, will hold a high seed when the state playoffs begin next week.
Perfect inning for Purvis
Now, they’ll have Purvis ready to contribute. He hadn’t pitched in competition in about 10 months because of elbow surgery.
Randleman’s Drake Purvis throws a pitch in the final inning against Trinity. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
The junior left-hander entered in the seventh – though Lemons stayed loose on the side – and pitched a perfect inning.
“A couple of days ago we knew this would be the night,” Purvis said. “Slowly returning back. This is what you want. The place was packed, a big crowd.”
Second baseman Shawn Miller fielded a grounder toward the hole and snagged a line drive for the first two outs before a called third strike ended the game. Purvis celebrated with an emotion-filled prance toward the dugout.
“Wanted to see some live hitters in game in game situations,” he said. “Have that playoff mode. I’m used to this. It’s not my first rodeo and definitely not my last, either.”
It pretty much went by design for the Tigers. Purvis pitched a no-hitter in last June’s Game 1 of the state championship series vs. Farmville Central.
“We had to get him in and see him, and it was a positive,” Smith said. “He was amped up, for sure. I don’t blame him, I would be, too.”
Some offense, too
In part because of Randleman center fielder Way’s diving catch in right-center field that likely saved a run to end the top of the fourth, neither team had scored. In the bottom of the inning, Atkins drew a lead-off walk and scored on Lemons’ second home run of the season.
Randleman players react to teammate Chesney Welch’s home run. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
The lead grew to 3-0 on Chesney Welch’s first varsity home run when he led off the bottom of the fifth with a blast to right-center field.
“I’m just getting out of my spring training phase,” Welch said of bolstering his production. “Sometimes they feel a certain way, and that (swing) was one of them.”
Soon after, Trinity starter Ethan Willard was gone. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out, but didn’t score again in the fifth.
Lemons’ lead-off double in the sixth resulted in the game’s final run after a couple of defensive miscues.
Randleman posted its first shutout in an 11-game span.
Trinity (15-10) failed to score in the tournament final for the second year in a row. Last year, the Bulldogs bounced back and reached the fourth round of the state playoffs.
Trinity used Andon Simmons’ two-hitter in a 4-0 semifinal victory against visiting Uwharrie Charter Academy with Landon Mowery and Brody Little both homering. The Bulldogs needed a fifth-run sixth inning to rally past seventh-seeded Eastern Randolph 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
Wheatmore’s Summer Bowman, shown here during the 2022 postseason, continues to be a force on the school’s girls’ soccer team. (Randolph Record file photo)
Home runs proved big for several Randolph County baseball teams last week.
Austin Lemons homered in Randleman’s 11-6 home victory against Uwharrie Charter Academy in the Piedmont Athletic Conference. Troy Carver homered for UCA.
In the rematch, Lemons struck out 14 in a complete game as the Tigers won 5-0 on the road. Caleb Dunn supplied three hits and John Kirkpatrick drove in two runs.
In between those games, Dunn homered in Randleman’s 5-2 home victory against Southeast Guilford.
Randleman is playing this week in a tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
** Southwestern Randolph’s Adam Cole and Tyler Parks homered in both PAC games against Eastern Randolph.
In the first meeting, Eastern Randolph routed host Southwestern Randolph 14-5 as Ethan Frye scored three runs. The Cougars got revenge with Friday’s 11-0 road whipping, aided by Jonah Campbell’s seven-hitter with nine strikeouts.
** Trinity and Providence Grove also split PAC meetings.
Trinity won 7-2 at home with Cade Hill knocking in three runs and Jake Little homering.
Providence Grove avenged the loss with Friday’s 10-3 home result behind Andrew Canter’s six innings of work on the mound without giving up an earned run and Jayten Beasley’s three runs batted in. Trinity’s Jacob Proctor had a two-run homer among his three hits.
** Asheboro’s Davis Gore had a two-run home run in Asheboro’s 15-8 non-conference triumph at Southwestern Randolph. Tanner Marsh helped the Blue Comets with three hits, including a pair of doubles, and scoring three runs and Amare Godwin drove in four runs.
Josh Meadows smashed a three-run homer and Marsh belted a two-run shot in Asheboro’s 6-3 home victory against Central Davidson in Mid-Piedmont Conference action.
** Wheatmore upended host Central Davidson 7-1 with Parker Kines working six innings without permitting an earned run in the non-league matchup.
Softball
Southwestern Randolph moved to 11-0 overall going into spring break.
The Cougars are more than halfway through their Piedmont Athletic Conference schedule with a 7-0 league mark. Next week, the have a home rematch with defending PAC champion Providence Grove.
Southwestern Randolph topped Uwharrie Charter Academy 4-3, with Carleigh Whitson and Maddie Varner both driving in two runs in their first game of last week.
When Southwestern Randolph flattened host Asheboro 14-0, Ky Perdue had two triples and scored two runs. Aylssa Harris was the winning pitcher with nine strikeouts in the five-inning game.
The Cougars capped another perfect week by winning 19-0 at Trinity in three innings.
Southwestern Randolph is off until April 11, when it takes on second-place and defending PAC champion Providence Grove at home.
** Eastern Randolph edged host Providence Grove 4-3 with Skylar Pugh holding the Patriots to one earned run. Providence Grove’s Emma Mazzarone homered and struck out 10 batters.
In Eastern Randolph’s 2-1 non-conference escape at Northern Guilford, Addie Flinchum recorded 14 strikeouts with two walks.
Then the Wildcats won again by defeating visiting Randleman 9-4 with Ziera Watson driving in three runs and posting three hits. Pugh struck out 14 and walked four.
** Providence Grove got back on track in a 17-1 pounding of visiting Trinity as Ruby Caudle struck out 11.
Then the Patriots returned to PAC play and Mazzarone homered twice and tripled while throwing a five-inning no-hitter with 15 strikeouts at Wheatmore. She walked one while facing 17 total batters.
** Wheatmore’s Carmen Turgeon struck out 13 in five innings of a 13-0 blistering of visiting Trinity.
Wheatmore had a different type of game with a 12-10 non-conference victory in nine innings at Southeast Guilford. The Warriors posted eight runs in the seventh inning,
** Uwharrie Charter Academy fell 10-9 at North Stanly despite Molly Bulla’s homer and double.
Girls’ soccer
Undefeated Wheatmore had a rare close game with last week’s 1-0 victory at North Davidson on Summer Bowman’s goal.
In 11 games, that’s the only outcome decided by fewer than six goals.
Then the Warriors won 9-0 at Southwestern Randolph and 9-0 against visiting Gray Stone Day School.
Southwestern Randolph was on both ends of nine-goal margins. The Cougars defeated host Eastern Randolph 10-1 behind Macy Allred’s four goals. Two nights later came the loss to Wheatmore.
