UCA, baseball
Brown continued his strong postseason play with a stellar Class 1-A championship series.
He went 3-for-4 with a triple in the clinching game against North Moore on Saturday in Holly Springs. Combined with his one hit in Game 1, he was 4-for-7 in the state finals.
That helped the junior right fielder be selected as the Most Valuable Player in the championship series.
Coach Rob Shore, here during the Class 1-A state finals, directed Uwharrie Charter Academy to a state championship in his first season as head coach. (P.J. Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
HOLLY SPRINGS – Uwharrie Charter Academy’s baseball team looked the part of state champion.
The Eagles kept their crisp play in place all the way through the Class 1-A state finals.
UCA won the title for the second time in four seasons by sweeping North Moore in the best-of-3 series at Ting Stadium.
Saturday’s clincher came in the form of an 8-1 victory with pitcher Brett Smith firing a five-hitter. He struck out two and walked two.
Both teams ended up with 22-10 records, but UCA took home the desired hardware.
North Moore scored first on Bradley Mauldin’s second-inning double. Then UCA went to work, scoring four times in the third inning. The Eagles went ahead on Ben Medinger’s two-out, two-run single.
Carter Brown, Jake Hunter and Landen Zephir also had singles and Walker Wilkins rapped a run-scoring double.
UCA added runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Caleb Stickle’s two-run single came in the fifth.
Brown went 3-for-4 and was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the series, while Wilkins finished with two hits.
The championship came under the direction of first-year coach Rob Shore, who moved into that position after one season as an assistant coach with the Eagles.
UCA also won the 2019 championship, then the 2020 season was cancelled statewide in early March because of the pandemic so there was no champion that year.
Uwharrie Charter Academy first baseman Ben Medinger tags out North Moore’s Elliot Furr as part of a pick-off play during Game 1 of the Class 1-A state finals Friday. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
HOLLY SPRINGS – Freshman Jake Hunter threw a complete game as Uwharrie Charter Academy defeated North Moore 2-1 in the opening game of the Class 1-A state championship series Friday at Ting Stadium.
Game 2 in the best-of-3 competition is at 11 a.m. Saturday, with a third game, if necessary, at 5 p.m.
“Game 1 is really big,” Hunter said. “It’s hard to win two games in a row against the same team, so we just came out here and played baseball and won Game 1, and hopefully we can win one (Saturday).”
Pitching and defense did the job for UCA in the series opener.
“That’s kind of what we’ve done throughout the playoffs,” Eagles coach Rob Shore said.
North Moore (22-9) scored in the top of the third inning. UCA (21-10) answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Troy Carver and Ben Medinger drove in runs for the Eagles.
North Moore pitcher Ethan Dunlap threw a five-hitter and impressed Shore.
“He gave up two runs and our guy gave up one, and that was (good) enough for today,” Shore said.
Hunter allowed eight hits and two walks while striking out four. He was supported by solid defense.
“I didn’t really know I was pitching Game 1 until about two days ago,” Hunter said. “I thought I was pitching Game 2.”
Ben Medinger has been a key hitter for Uwharrie Charter Academy’s baseball team this year. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – It wasn’t all great for Uwharrie Charter Academy’s baseball team this season.
But the Eagles have good timing.
That’s why they still have games to play entering June.
UCA will compete for a state championship.
“We started out a little slow and we found a rhythm,” senior left fielder Peyton McCollum said. “We felt like we had the potential.”
The Eagles (20-10) take on North Moore (22-8) in the best-of-3 Class 1-A state championship series beginning Friday at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs. Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 will be held Saturday.
“We knew we had it in us to get here,” UCA outfielder Carter Brown said. “It was a matter if we wanted it enough.”
For Rob Shore, who’s in his first season as the team’s head coach after one year as an assistant, months ago he tried to plant the idea that the Eagles could play on the last weekend of the season.
“I told our guys back in like November that we could do something like this,” Shore said. “We were getting so much back (from the 2022 team), I knew we had a chance. If you can put that in their heads early, and we just kept preaching it.”
It didn’t look so bright across the first few weeks of the season. The Eagles entered April with a 4-8 record.
A week later, they lost 15-0 to visiting Central Davidson.
“We were all crushed after that game because we knew we should have never lost that bad,” McCollum said.
It also marked a turning point. UCA won its next nine games.
The Eagles insist they’re not surprised to be playing at this stage of the season.
“Absolutely not,” second baseman Troy Carver said. “We knew that once playoffs got here, we’d be better.”
Navigating the Piedmont Athletic Conference certainly helped. The Eagles tied for second place in the league, which is comprised mostly of Class 2-A teams.
“They are young, but I’ve told people all year that the conference we’re in has been preparing us to be on the stage that we’re on,” Shore said. “With some of the teams we played in non-conference and playing in those games a step above us, that has completely prepared our young guys.”
So at times the Eagles were knocked around, but they weren’t knocked out.
“I think our biggest thing is we just don’t back down,” McCollum said.
UCA swept Eastern Randolph in the West Region finals, which ended Thursday night.
The East Region finals was extended to Monday because Saturday’s scheduled Game 3 was rained out. North Moore edged host Voyager Academy 5-4 in Durham in the decisive game, sending the Mustangs to their first state finals.
A compelling clash
The matchup with North Moore pits two schools about 25 miles apart. These players have crossed paths on the youth circuit, and both schools had entries in a fall league at Asheboro’s McCrary Park.
UCA won the 2019 state title. That postseason march included a victory against North Moore in the first round when the teams were in the same conference and thus in the same region.
This year, Eastern Randolph defeated North Moore 13-5 in an early April meeting during spring break at Southwestern Randolph, so they have a common opponent.
North Moore is also part of a split conference.
Shore has experience in a championship series when he was on the 2018 coaching staff at Ledford, which reached the Class 2-A state finals.
“I kind of know what to expect,” Shore said.
Many of the underclassmen who UCA depends on might not have such a clear picture.
Sophomore Brett Smith and freshman Jake Hunter figure to be the starting pitchers for UCA, with sophomore Logun Wilkins available for that role as well.
“I feel confident in our pitching,” Shore said.
Along with the youth, there are four seniors, including leading hitter Ben Medinger, on the roster.
“We’re trying to give them one last chance,” said Carver, a junior.
Indeed, the Eagles are still playing.
UCA, baseball
McCollum is a senior outfielder for the Eagles, who’ll play this week in the Class 1-A state finals. He has been a key hitter during the state playoffs.
In Game 1 of the West Regional finals vs. Eastern Randolph, McCollum provided two hits, scored a run and drove in a run. He also had two hits in the third-round game against North Stokes and the fourth-round game against Draughn.
McCollum and first baseman Ben Medinger are the only seniors who’ve regularly been in the starting lineup this season for UCA.
Uwharrie Charter Academy pitcher Brett Smith will be throwing off the Ting Stadium mound in Holly Springs in the Class 1-A state finals. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – The baseball team from Uwharrie Charter Academy knows where it will play its Class 1-A state championship series.
The Eagles will have to wait a little longer to learn their opponent.
UCA (20-10) wrapped up the West Region title by winning Thursday night at Eastern Randolph to complete a two-game swept of the best-of-3 three regional finals.
It’s not so clear in the East Region. North Moore (21-8) and Voyager Academy (22-6) each have won a game apiece. Their series finale slated for Saturday night in Durham was postponed.
The teams have reset Game 3 for 2 p.m. Monday at Durham Athletic Park.
The road team has won each game. North Moore won 4-2 on Wednesday night. Game 2 was Friday night, with Voyager Academy winning 8-1 to extend the series.
UCA coach Rob Shore said Saturday night that he has been informed by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association that the Eagles will play in the state finals at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs. It will be one of two title series at that site, while two other classifications will meet at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
Shore is awaiting the specific game times, but Game 1 will be Friday and Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 will be Saturday.
Shore attended Game 2 of the East Region finals Friday night. He said he’s uncertain if he’ll be present for Monday’s Game 3.
UCA team members gather after winning the Class 1-A West Region title.
Clutch late-inning work boosts UCA’s baseball team
RAMSEUR – It was pretty much a matter of Uwharrie Charter Academy’s baseball team making the best of tough situations Thursday night.
By doing so, the Eagles are heading to where they want to go.
UCA completed a Class 1-A West Regional finals sweep of Eastern Randolph by winning 8-1 in Game 2, scoring all their runs in the last two innings.
“It still hasn’t sunk in,” UCA senior Ben Medinger said of the chance to play for a state title.
The Eagles (20-10) will play in the state championship series against North Moore or Voyager Academy on June 2-3 in either Burlington or Holly Springs. Game 2 of the East Region finals is set for Friday night, with a possible Game 3 on Saturday.
After a tense series with Eastern Randolph, the Eagles will have a few days to relax. UCA and Eastern Randolph are the Piedmont Athletic Conference’s only Class 1-A teams, and they made it through the bracket for this showdown.
“We just kind of ran out of steam,” Eastern Randolph coach Brent Haynes said.
UCA is now 4-0 vs. the Wildcats (8-19) this season, but it was far from easy.
Eastern Randolph pitcher Stratton Barwick blanked the second-seeded Eagles across the first five innings. UCA coach Rob Shore said the Eagles had trouble solving Barwick, a left-hander, during a 4-3, 10-inning victory more than a month earlier during the regular season.
Meanwhile, UCA had freshman pitcher Jake Hunter up to the task on the mound, though it was taxing for several reasons.
“I haven’t gone seven too often,” he said of the complete game.
There were concerns about him making it that far after he absorbed a line drive off Barwick’s bat for what became the last out of the fifth inning. The liner pelted Hunter in the stomach – and he had a sizable reminder imprinted on his midsection afterward.
Hunter keeled over, while second baseman Troy Carver retrieved the ball and recorded the out with a throw to first.
“It hurt in the beginning,” Hunter said.
“I think it scared him more than anything,” Shore said.
At the time, the Eagles trailed 1-0. They went ahead in the top of the sixth.
Grat Dalton’s one-out single brought in the tying run. Walker Wilkins’ sacrifice fly put UCA ahead.
In the bottom of the inning, No. 21 seed Eastern Randolph put a couple of runners on base without a hit with one out. Hunter responded with two strikeouts to thwart the threat.
In UCA’s six-run seventh, all the scoring came with two outs.
“We showed (relentlessness) with every one of those coming with two outs,” Carver said.
Carver’s two-out single began the scoring outburst. Medinger drove in the next two runs with his first triple of the season. The Eagles piled on more runs courtesy of some fielding blunders and Caleb Stickle’s two-run single.
“We put them up when we needed it,” UCA right fielder Carter Brown said of the runs.
That marked the end of Barwick’s pitching.
Hunter ended up with a three-hitter.
“Jake absolutely shoved,” Carver said.
Throughout the game, the good thing for Hunter was that he had third baseman Landen Zephir making a variety of defensive plays on his behalf. Those were among the reasons that potential Eastern Randolph threats were doused.
“We just could not get that hit,” Haynes said.
The Eagles achieved what they sought in their first road game of the playoffs. It was capped by a typical on-field celebration.
For Brown, a junior, the setting had significance.
“It meant 10 times more to me because this is my home (district),” he said of playing on Eastern Randolph’s field.
Eastern Randolph senior Pierce Leonard was on the flip side. He’s a transfer from UCA. Leonard scored the Wildcats’ only run.
Eastern Randolph doubled its win total during the state playoffs in Haynes’ first season.
“Guys knew they were better than a 4-17 record,” he said. “We just started finishing games. That kind of came back and got us (in this series).”
The Eagles scored nine of their 12 runs in the series in the sixth or seventh innings.
“We were a couple of outs away from being in a state championship,” Haynes said.
UCA also eliminated the Wildcats last year, though that came in a third-round clash.
In Tuesday night’s Game 1 at UCA, the Eagles broke a tie in the sixth inning for a 4-3 victory with Brett Smith and Logun Wilkins providing the pitching. Brown scored two runs and Carver rapped a triple.
Eastern Randolph held a 3-1 lead after posting three runs in the second inning with Alex Kivett’s run-producing double one of the big blows. Samuel Asbill pitched a complete game for the Wildcats.
Uwharrie Charter Academy softball players greet Molly Bulla as she approaches the plate after hitting a home run during a Class 1-A game last week against Highland Tech. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)
Several area teams are in action Tuesday in the third round of the state playoffs in baseball and softball.
Here’s a rundown:
Baseball
Class 2-A
East Davidson (20-4) at Randleman (22-4)
Class 1-A
North Stokes (23-5) at Uwharrie Charter Academy (16-10)
Eastern Randolph (6-17) at Highland Tech (13-12)
Softball
Class 2-A
Mount Pleasant (16-10) at Southwestern Randolph (21-1)
Class 1-A
East Wilkes (22-5) at Eastern Randolph (17-5)
North Stokes (7-16) at Uwharrie Charter Academy (14-8)
Members of the Eastern Randolph team pose for a team photo after the championship game. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
RALEIGH – Saturday was a special day for Eastern Randolph as the Wildcats played in a state championship in basketball for the first time.
The result was a loss to Wilson Prep in the Class 1-A boys’ final at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. Still, there were memorable moments as the team’s historic season came to a close.
The season concluded with a 29-3 record and plenty of positive memories for the Piedmont Athletic Conference and Class 1-A West Region champions.
Eastern Randolph coach Johnny Thomas consoles Devonte Brooks, left, as Will Stalker looks on after the Class 1-A state final. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
RALEIGH – The greatest basketball season in the history of Eastern Randolph had a sour ending.
The Wildcats needed one more comeback and couldn’t quite generate it, falling 84-73 to Wilson Prep in the Class 1-A state championship game for boys’ basketball Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum.
“These boys have dedicated everything they possibly could to the sport of basketball the last four months,” Eastern Randolph coach Johnny Thomas said. “We have nothing to be sad over.”
But that was the mode for the Wildcats (29-3), whose knack for generating excitement the past few months lasted all the way until the final minute.
Eastern Randolph just didn’t quite have enough. Wilson Prep (27-7) won the Class 1-A title for the second time in three years.
Thomas offered perspective as his first season concluded.
“One year ago, they come out and got 8-15 for the season,” he said. “We turned it into a 29-3 season. I’m proud of them. … This moment is sad right now, but when we look back on it, it’s going to be one of the most highlighted moments of these guys’ careers.”
Devonte Brooks churned out 34 points – 17 in each half – and 18 rebounds in his last game for Eastern Randolph. Teammate Timothy Brower posted 20 points and eight rebounds.
Eastern Randolph rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit to surge into the lead. Wilson Prep led 37-36 at halftime.
The Tigers built a 14-point lead in the third quarter, but the Wildcats were unfazed. They had overcome a 21-point second-half hole a week earlier in the West Region final against Bishop McGuinness and nearly pulled off another improbable comeback.
Eastern Randolph was within 73-70 and later pulled within 76-73. Wilson Prep scored the game’s last eight points.
The Tigers had to dig deep to withstand the Wildcats’ late push amid a wild environment.
“It shows you how tough mentally they are,” Wilson Prep coach Anthony Atkinson Jr. said. “The arena was crazy. To play in the environment like that.”
Jahmar Jones scored 20 points for Wilson Prep. Teammate Davis Ellis had 14 points and 19 rebounds and was named the Most Valuable Player from Wilson Prep.
Early on, Eastern Randolph struggled. Wilson Prep went up 13-2 as the Wildcats committed six turnovers.
“I understand the nerves,” Thomas said.