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Post 45 Hunter Atkins swings in June2023 v Cleveland County

Post 45 blasts off, keeps season going in Southeast Regional

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Hunter Atkins, above, and several of his Randolph County Post 45 teammates had strong offensive games in Friday’s Southeast Regional game. (Randolph Record file photo)

ASHEBORO – Hunter Atkins drove in three runs and six of his Randolph County Post 45 teammates racked up two runs batted in a 17-1 whipping of Owensboro (Ky.) Post 9 in Friday afternoon’s elimination game of the Southeast Regional at McCrary Park.

The American Legion baseball game ended after five innings. Post 45 (25-7) scored in every inning, including seven runs in the top of the fifth.

For the second year in a row, Randolph County has advanced to the second-to-last day of the regional. It will be one of four remaining teams when Saturday’s action begins at 4:30 p.m.

Tanner Marsh, Tyler Parks, Josh Meadows, Connor Adams, Carson Whitehead and Pierce Leonard all knocked in two runs. Adams had three of Randolph County’s 10 hits and he also scored three runs. Marsh rapped two doubles.

Post 45 drew six walks and had six batters hit by pitches.

Braxton Walker pitched the first four innings and Drew Harmon threw in the fifth for Post 45.

Owensboro finished with a 21-12 record.

The Randolph County / Owensboro game was the first of three games on Friday’s schedule. Post 45’s opponent Saturday will be the loser of Friday’s nightcap between Florence (S.C.) Post 1 and West End (Va.) Post 361.

Post 45 Austin Lemons pitches July2023

Lemons pitches gem as Randolph County Post 45 stays alive in Southeast Regional

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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.

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 Samuel Asbill at Chatham County June2023

Post 45 learns hard lessons as winning streak ends

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Samuel Asbill of Randolph County Post 45 throws a pitch during a victory at Chatham County. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – A dose of reality during the past week might not be as bad as it looked for Randolph County Post 45.

The American Legion baseball team had breezed through much of its schedule for the first month of the season. Then in a pair of Area 3 North Division games against High Point-Thomasville Post 87, things didn’t go its way.

“Ego got too high,” catcher Grat Dalton said. “We beat everybody. We thought less of this team and should have played a lot better.”

Post 87 made it a two-game sweep by winning 6-3 on Friday night at McCrary Park.

“Two pretty good ball games and they played better than we did,” Randolph County manager Ronnie Pugh said.

The first of those was Post 87’s 8-5 victory Tuesday night. Post 45 entered the stretch on a 13-game winning streak.

It’s far from a crisis for Randolph County, which improved to 17-3 with Saturday night’s 10-0 victory at Foothills Post 123.

“We’ve been playing real good so far,” Post 45 shortstop Tanner Marsh said of the season as a whole. “We just struggle hitting sometimes.”

Randolph County had gone more than a month without losing before the matchups with High Point-Thomasville.

“We seem to hit kind of a plateau,” Pugh said. “It will happen, and we’ll work through it. Sometimes you have to work your way through it.”

Pugh said player availability will fluctuate with some players having college coursework commitments. Plus, third baseman Hunter Atkins missed Friday’s game because of illness, Pugh said.

“You always think you’re going to win all of them,” Pugh said. “Sometimes you find some things out about your team and it can pay off later on.”

Dalton pointed to mental mistakes as contributing to the shortcomings vs. Post 87.

“Things have got to pick up,” he said. “Play with more intensity.”

High Point-Thomasville scored two third-inning runs, beginning when Jake Little lofted a misplayed double to deep right field and scored on Yates Sikes’ hit. Tanner Royals’ groundout plated the next run in the inning. Sikes stole home for the third run.

In the bottom of the inning Braylen Hayes’ two-out, RBI double and Tyler Parks’ run-scoring single tied the game. Post 87 went back ahead with three runs in the fourth and Randolph County’s only response came on Hayes’ RBI groundout in the fifth. Starting pitcher Drake Purvis of Post 45 took the loss, giving up five runs in four innings before Drew Harmon finished on the mound.

For Post 87, the week might have marked a turnaround.

“We finally started playing like a team and found a way to finish,” said shortstop Landon Mowery, a Trinity product who had two hits and a walk Friday night.

Tuesday night at Finch Field in Thomasville, Randolph County gave up seven runs in the Post 87’s last three at-bats in an 8-5 loss. The big blow was Tyler Shafer’s three-run homer in the fifth.

Post 45 didn’t get much going, scoring two runs in the third and two in the sixth – all on two-out fielding blunders that resulted in two runs on each play. It was 5-4 going to the bottom of the sixth, when Post 87 tacked on three runs off reliever Robert Garner. Dalton’s RBI single in the seventh accounted for the last run. Starting pitcher Austin Lemons took the loss despite benefitting from three double plays.

Post 45 bounced back Thursday night to defeat Chatham County Post 292 by 7-2 behind Samuel Asbill’s pitching as he worked into the seventh inning in Siler City. Marsh had three hits, including a two-run homer.

And after the second loss of the week, there was a strong showing against Foothills. Josh Meadows smashed a grand slam, Marsh homered and Garner threw six shutout innings. Connor Adams threw in the seventh to complete a one-hitter.

Sunday’s makeup game against Greensboro Post 53 has been cancelled as Post 53 has called off the rest of its season.

Post 45 Pierce Leonard batting spring2023

Returnees help Post 45 hit early groove

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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.

Wheatmore girls soccer Summer Bowman v East Davidson 2022

Prep Roundup: Homers highlight baseball action; Cougars stay unbeaten in softball

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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.

Wheatmore UCA softball March2023

Prep Roundup: Cougars stay on rise in softball

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Wheatmore’s Skylar Pittman tags Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Kenzie Hill at second base during Friday’s softball game. UCA won 11-1 in the home game. (Scott Pelkey/Randolph Record)

Southwestern Randolph’s softball team has been listed among highly ranked teams in the state and the Cougars have the results to back that up.

Southwestern Randolph won 1-0 in 10 innings against visiting Oak Grove last week as Carleigh Whitson drove in Kami Dunn to end the game.

Macie Crutchfield had a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts for the Cougars, who entered this week with an 8-0 overall record.

In the Piedmont Athletic Conference, Southwestern Randolph stopped host Wheatmore 12-0 with Alyssa Harris firing a five-inning no-hitter with 12 strikeouts and two walks.

** At Randleman, Providence Grove claimed a 6-2 road victory against the Tigers as Peela Von Der Hey had three hits and Emma Mazzarone struck out 17 with two walks.

Earlier in the week, Providence Grove won 4-0 vs. visiting Uwharrie Charter Academy as Mazzarone posted 15 strikeouts.

Also, Randleman collected a 16-0 PAC road romp past Trinity as Saniyah Deloatch knocked in three runs.

Baseball

Uwharrie Charter Academy delivered the first PAC loss on Trinity with Friday night’s 12-2 home victory, boosted by Jake Hunter’s three hits and two runs scored.

That result gave the Eagles three wins in a four-game stretch.

The Bulldogs (6-5, 5-1) had scored in double figures in their first four PAC games and then defeated visiting UCA 3-0 in last week’s first meeting. Trinity’s runs in that victory came on Jake Little’s two-run home run and Landon Mowery’s solo shot to support pitcher Cade Hill’s six-hitter.

Also, Ben Medinger homered twice as UCA won a non-conference road game against Caldwell Academy by 17-5.

** Trinity suffered a 16-6 non-league road loss to Asheboro in a game reduced to sixth inning when Josh Meadows homered to cause the mercy rule to be activated. Meadows drove in four runs and scored four runs. Connor Adams also drove in four runs for the Blue Comets, while Cohen Caviness homered.

** Providence Grove won 4-3 against visiting Northwood in a non-conference game on JC Cruz’s game-winning pinch-hit single in the seventh inning.

** Wheatmore swept two PAC games from Eastern Randolph, winning 5-2 at home and 9-4 on the road.

Track and field

At Troy, Randleman’s high jumpers were among the top finishers from Randolph County entrants in Saturday’s Timberwolf Invitational at Montgomery Central.

Chase Farlow of Randleman won the boys’ competition with a leap of 6 feet.

Randleman’s Ava Jones placed second in the girls’ high jump at 4-6.

Wheatmore’s Zach Hazelwood was the runner-up in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10 minutes. 53.60 seconds. Hazelwood placed third in the 1,600 in 4:54.38.

Other area entrants did well in field events.

In the boys’ long jump, Randleman’s Tristan Chriscoe was second at 19-4. Randleman’s Amarion Moton claimed fourth in the boys’ shot put at 40-3.

Rylee Reidling of Wheatmore was fourth in the girls’ shot put with a toss of 30 feet and Alexis Vaughn of Randleman was sixth at 27-2.

Chloe Gentry of Wheatmore was fifth in the girls’ triple jump at 28-9.

Grant Little photo Post 45 file photo

Little comes up big as Post 45 pulls out victory in Southeast Regional opener

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Grant Little’s return to action turned out to be timely for Randolph County Post 45. (File photo)

ASHEBORO – The game barely started and Randolph County Post 45 needed big help in the Southeast Regional.

That came from Grant Little, who hadn’t pitched in more than a month.

Little calmed things down for Post 45 before the offense caused commotion in what became a 14-8 victory against Rock Hill (S.C.) Post 34 in the nightcap of the first day of the American Legion regional Wednesday night at McCrary Park.

“We realize what we’re playing for,” Post 45 shortstop Tanner Marsh said.

Little gave up one run across 3 2/3 innings – until a misplayed pop-up on the first batter after he was lifted resulted in two more runs. But what Little accomplished was big by putting a halt to Rock Hill’s momentum and allowing the Post 45 bats to finally get going.

Post 45 (30-11), which rallied from a five-run deficit, plays again at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Evans (Ga.) Post 192 in a winners bracket game of the five-day, double-elimination event.

The offensive highlights were numerous. Josh Meadows drove in four runs, Blake Marsh and Tanner Marsh both rapped three hits and Adam Cole was on base five times and scored three runs – just to list a few.

Little, though, turned out to supply perhaps the most clutch performance. The Uwharrie Charter Academy player had been nursing a sore labrum that put him on the sideline.

“I didn’t know how long I was going to be out,” he said. “I wasn’t even expecting to pitch (in this game).”

Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said Little threw in the bullpen a couple of times in last week’s state tournament.

“You just think the opportunity might come for him,” Pugh said. “That opportunity came and look what he did with it.”

A seven-run fifth inning gave Post 45 a lead for the first time.

“We kept the faith,” Tanner Marsh said. “The coaches kept telling us we just need base runners.”

Randolph County went ahead on Meadows’ two-run single with one out. Tyler Parks followed with a two-run triple. By the time the uprising was complete, Post 45 held a 9-5 lead.

“We just didn’t give up,” said Meadows, who broke out of a slump. “I was told once you find it, it’s going to feel amazing. I was just missing the pitches I wanted and (Wednesday night) I finally fulfilled it. It felt amazing.”

Trey Way had two singles in the fifth.

Randolph County kept going in the sixth. Cole sliced an RBI single and Meadows knocked in a run with a ground-rule double before Tatum Marsh’s groundout resulted in another run.

With a run in the seventh, Post 45 scored in the final five innings.

“We wait until later to turn it on at the offensive end,” Little said.

There was a different tone set earlier when Rock Hill, the South Carolina state champion, poured on four first-inning runs against Robert Garner. Josh Wimmer’s lead-off homer in the second against Little made it 5-0 before – from Post 45’s perspective – order was restored.

The offense had quite a bit to do with it as well. In the state tournament, Post 45 managed a total of 16 runs in four games before nearly matching that in the regional opener.

“We had clutch base hits,” Pugh said. “We finally got people on with no outs or one out. I thought we showed a lot of discipline.”

Wednesday’s scores

Camden, S.C. 10, Owensboro, Ky. 0

Evans, Ga. 5, Columbia, Tenn. 0

Belleview, Fla. 8, Wilmington 5

Randolph County 14, Rock Hill, S.C. 8