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Eli Gravely

Trinity girls bball Autumn Gentry Jan2023

College choices abound for area senior athletes

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Record-setting Autumn Gentry of Trinity plans to play basketball collegiately. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Here’s a list of additional college commitments and/or signings involving athletes at area high schools made during the past several months from members of the Class of 2023 (Others have been previously listed):

Baseball

** Two Randleman players are going to UNC Greensboro. Pitcher Austin Lemons joined infielder Hunter Atkins in the signing class for the Spartans.

** Catcher Caleb Dunn of Randleman signed with Division II Catawba.

Boys’ basketball

** Ashton Troutman of Uwharrie Charter Academy is going to Division II Carson-Newman.

Girls’ basketball

** Ashara Spruill of UCA picked Division I Texas Southern.

** Trinity’s Autumn Gentry, the program’s all-time leading scorer, is bound for Division III Bridgewater.

Girls’ golf

** Salem Lee of Asheboro is going to Appalachian State.

Football

** Quarterback Stratton Barwick of Eastern Randolph picked Division III Guilford College, where he also hopes to play baseball as a pitcher.

** Eastern Randolph lineman Mason Sechrest is going to Division II Winston-Salem State.

** Randleman tight end Chesney Welch signed with Division II Catawba.

** Adam Cole, a receiver and defensive back at Southwestern Randolph, will take a spot as a preferred walk-on at East Carolina.

** Tight end / long snapper Eli Gravely of Southwestern Randolph is heading to North Carolina Central.

** Trinity’s Ezra Hollifield, a lineman, chose Division III Greensboro College.

** Trinity’s Colby Peel, a lineman, is heading to Division III Averett.

Softball

** Morgan Coward of Asheboro selected Division II Belmont Abbey.

** Maddie Flinchum of Providence Grove will join the Division III Pfeiffer team.

** Southwestern Randolph teammates Madison Varner and Ky Perdue have picked Division III Pfeiffer as their college destination.

UCA baseball Jake Hunter pitches spring2023

Prep baseball: Eastern Randolph, UCA slide through first week of state playoffs

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Jake Hunter’s pitching has given Uwharrie Charter Academy a boost. (Randolph Record)

Eastern Randolph and Uwharrie Charter Academy took different paths to the third round of the Class 1-A state playoffs in baseball.

Each team won twice in the first week of the state playoffs.

No. 21 seed Eastern Randolph (6-17) won two road games, beginning with a 9-5 ousting of No. 12 seed Mount Airy.

Then the Wildcats went to No. 5 seed Hayesville, where Friday night’s game was suspended in the fifth inning. Eastern Randolph ended up with a 5-2 victory when the game concluded Saturday.

Eastern Randolph heads to No. 13 seed Highland Tech on Tuesday.

Second-seeded UCA (16-10) had a smoother time, stopping No. 18 seed Bishop McGuinness 10-4 as Jake Hunter threw five shutout innings.

Earlier in the week, UCA topped No. 31 seed Queen’s Grant 12-5 with Ben Medinger hitting a home run and Brett Smith notching the pitching victory.

UCA has a third-round home game vs. No. 10 seed North Stokes on Tuesday.

Class 2-A

In the first round, Trinity, which reached the regional semifinals last year, lost to No. 17 seed East Gaston by 6-4. The No. 16 seeded Bulldogs (15-11) received two hits from Jake Little. Cade Hill was the losing pitcher.

No. 18 seed Providence Grove lost 1-0 at No. 15 seed Forbush, which scored with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Andrew Thomas pitched the complete game for the Patriots (14-11).

No. 29 seed Wheatmore lost 7-0 at No. 4 seed West Stokes. The Warriors ended up with an 8-14 record.

Top-seeded Burns topped No. 32 seed Southwestern Randolph 10-8. Eli Gravely drove in four runs and Adam Cole had three hits and scored two runs for the Cougars (9-15), who nearly rallied from a 9-2 deficit. 

Class 3-A

At Salisbury, Asheboro’s season came to a close with Friday night’s 11-6 loss at No. 10 seed East Rowan.

Tanner Marsh scored twice and knocked in two runs for the No. 26 seed Blue Comets (13-12).

Asheboro began the playoffs by winning 13-7 at seventh-seeded Enka with Cohen Caviness collecting four hits and four runs batted in and Marsh scoring three runs and driving in three runs. Connor Adams was the winning pitcher.

ER baseball K Graham makes tag v N Moore April2023

Prep Baseball: Randleman rolls up wins in South Carolina; County teams split in Classic

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Eastern Randolph’s Kahlin Graham reaches to make a tag on North Moore’s Austin Patterson during a game in the ZooKeepers Classic last week at Southwestern Randolph. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Randleman’s baseball team went to the Mingo Bay Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and came away with a 4-0 mark in the event during spring break.

It began with a 4-3 victory against Woodson, Va., as Caleb Dunn drove in two runs in a four-run first inning.

The Tigers rode Seth Way’s bat and arm in a 9-3 victory against Robinson, Va. Way worked six innings on the mound, while he drilled a three-run home run and a double on his way to five runs batted in.

Austin Lemons threw a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts in an 8-1 romp past Buckhannon-Upshur, W. Va. Hunter Atkins had three hits, including a double and triple.

Then came a 4-1 victory against University out of Morgantown, W. Va., as Braxton Walker logged six innings in his first pitching start. Atkins tripled and drove in two runs.

Split decisions

The four Randolph County teams in the ZooKeepers Classic at Southwestern Randolph all split two games last week. The final day of competition in the event, which had pre-determined matchups, was wiped out by Friday’s rain.

Eastern Randolph got off to a good start by defeating North Moore 13-5 with Pierce Leonard providing two triples and four runs batted in. Apex Friendship defeated the Wildcats 11-1/

Southwestern Randolph fell 12-10 to Chapel Hill despite Eli Gravely’s home run. The Cougars then held off North Moore for a 10-9 victory as Kamden Carter drove in three runs.

Providence Grove lost 10-0 to Apex Friendship before pounding Jordan-Matthews 13-0.

Wheatmore began with a 9-0 whipping of Jordan-Matthews. But the Warriors fell short in a 6-4 loss to Chapel Hill.

Asheboro falls twice

In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, Asheboro lost by 7-2 at home and 8-3 on the road to North Davidson. Tanner Marsh homered in the home game for the Blue Comets.

This week, the Blue Comets are slated for games Wednesday through Friday as part of a tournament at First National Bank Field, which is home to the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

PG girls soccer v West Davidson March2023

Prep Roundup: Wheatmore girls start in good soccer groove; Mixed results in baseball, softball

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Providence Grove’s Rori Luther makes a move with West Davidson’s Marly Gouker approaching during last week’s game. West Davidson won 1-0. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Wheatmore opened the season with a 6-0 victory with Ellie Garrison scoring four goals against visiting Ledford last week in girls’ soccer.

Natalie Bowman and Summer Bowman had the other goals.

It was a nice start for the Warriors, who were undefeated Class 2-A state champions with a  25-0 record last year.

Here are some other items of note from the opening week of the spring season:

Baseball

** Randleman suffered an 11-0, six-inning loss March 1 at Northwest Guilford. That marked the first setback for the Tigers to in-state opponent since June 26, 2021, vs. Rutherfordton-Spindale Central in Game 2 of the Class 2-A state championship series. The Tigers responded later that day to win Game 3 and claim the title.

Last week’s opener went better for the Tigers, who defeated visiting Asheboro 13-2. The game ended in the sixth inning on Hunter Atkins’ three-run home run that clicked in the mercy rule.

** Eastern Randolph opened the season with an 8-3 home victory against Seaforth in coach Brent Haynes’ debut. In the Wildcats’ next game, Stratton Barwick struck out 10 batters in a 5-4 home loss to Eastern Guilford.

** Uwharrie Charter Academy lost its first game under new coach Rob Shore. That setback came by 6-5 at Ledford, where Shore coached a few years ago.

** Eli Gravely of Southwestern Randolph had a four-RBI outing in a 14-4 victory at Montgomery Central.

** Providence Grove opened the season with two non-conference victories for the first time since 2018, defeating visiting Southern Guilford 7-6 in eight innings and host Seaforth 4-2. Lemuel Coltrane had the game-winning hit against Southern Guilford.

** Parker Kines had 12 strikeouts in Wheatmore’s 10-0, five-inning victory against visiting Walkertown.

Softball

Providence Grove has had a couple of challenging games to begin the season.

The Patriots opened with a 4-2 home victory against Southern Guilford. Emma Mazzarone struck out 17 in the two-hitter. Gracie Smith drove in two runs.

Then came a 7-0 home loss to Oak Grove.

Last year, Providence Grove built a 24-0 record before a loss in the Class 2-A state playoffs.

** Southwestern Randolph went nine innings for a 2-1 victory against West Stanly, winning on Madison Varner’s game-ending single. Macie Crutchfield registered 17 strikeouts. The game was scoreless until the ninth inning.