Perdue had hits in all three of the Cougars’ games last week.
Southwestern Randolph is rated as one of the top Class 2-A teams in the state. Already having secured the Piedmont Athletic Conference title, the Cougars will be aiming for postseason success beginning next week.
Perdue, a senior, has provided boosts throughout the season. She scored a run in each of the team’s victories in PAC games last week.
For the season, she entered this week among the Southwestern Randolph leaders in batting average (.358), on-base percentage (.433), runs (17), stolen bases (12) and doubles (3) in the first 17 games.
Tyler Parks of Southwestern Randolph makes a throw in the field earlier this season. (Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – Tyler Parks is trying to make the most of his final games in high school baseball.
The Southwestern Randolph senior has quite a bit ahead of him, but there are immediate matters that are important for now.
“I just try to live in the moment and enjoy high school and not really think ahead,” Parks said. “I’m trying to just have as much fun as I can right now. Hopefully, we can get to win some games and that will be a whole lot more fun for me.”
Parks, an infielder, is a North Carolina signee, so Division I baseball is in his future.
“He’s relaxed,” Southwestern Randolph coach Ethan Parks said. “He’s not worried about being the Carolina guy.”
Parks, who also has played for Randolph County Post 45 on the American Legion level, said he knows his status might gain him extra attention from opposing pitchers. He tries to stick with what works for him.
“The more I see pitching, the better I feel at the plate,” he said. “My pitch selection, going up there and finding the best pitch to hit, not wasting that pitch. It’s not settling for something I don’t really want to hit.”
Southwestern Randolph senior Tyler Parks (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)
Parks’ numbers look good going toward the final stretch of the season, with a .434 batting average and team-best marks in on-base percentage (.565) and runs batted in (22). He has homered twice, belted five doubles, scored 20 runs and recorded 11 stolen bases.
“He has been consistent,” Marsh said.
That has come with holding a key spot in the heart of the team’s lineup.
“I see a lot of off-speed. That’s normal. That’s going to happen,” Parks said. “It’s a little different. Sometimes it’s tough.”
Parks has played shortstop and occasionally been a pitcher for Southwestern Randolph. On past summer teams, he usually played as a third baseman, second baseman or outfielder.
The Cougars entered the final week of the regular season with a 9-10 overall record. A four-game winning streak ended with last week’s 9-1 non-conference home loss to state power Orange.
“I think we’ve just got to find a way to put it together,” Parks said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys in the mix. Find a way to play clean defense and put the bats together and get it all rolling.”
Eastern Randolph’s softball team has had lots to cheer about this season despite last week’s loss to Southwestern Randolph. (File photo)
RANDLEMAN – Randleman avenged a loss from three nights earlier to defeat visiting Trinity 6-1 on Friday night and secure another Piedmont Athletic Conference baseball championship.
The Tigers (17-4 overall, 10-2 PAC) won their regular-season home finale. They’ll be the top seed for the conference tournament as a prelude to their bid for a third consecutive Class 2-A state championship.
Second-place Trinity won 3-2 earlier last week behind Cade Hill’s complete-game pitching and Landon Mowery’s home run. The Bulldogs went up 3-0 on Randleman starter Seth Way and held on.
Randleman has completed its regular-season conference schedule, while the other six teams all had two games to play entering this week. Trinity, Uwharrie Charter Academy and Providence Grove can all finish in second place.
** Providence topped Eastern Randolph 7-3 at home with Tyler Foust going 3-for-3 and scoring two runs and Lemuel Coltrane driving in two runs. Three nights later on the road, the Patriots upended Eastern Randolph 4-3. Andrew Thomas and Andrew Canter picked up the pitching victories as the Patriots reached the 12-win mark – two more than all of last season.
In between those outcomes, Providence Grove dropped an 8-3 home decision to Burlington Williams in non-league play.
** UCA beat Wheatmore twice last week, winning 1-0 at home behind Jake Hunter’s three-hit pitching.
In the rematch, Carter Brown homered in a 7-2 road victory that included Brett Smith’s complete-game pitching.
In between, UCA’s Ben Medinger hit a two-run, first-inning home run in a 5-2 non-league home triumph against Ledford.
** In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, Asheboro lost 1-0 at Ledford and then pulled out a 5-4 home victory against the same opponent. Tanner Marsh and Davis Gore homered in the Asheboro victory, which marked just the team’s second triumph in its last eight outings.
Softball
Southwestern Randolph suffered its first loss of the season with Friday night’s 3-0 home setback to Hickory Ridge.
It was a non-league showdown between teams that both held 16-1 records when the game was finished.
Hickory Ridge scored one run in the third inning and two more in the seventh.
Southwestern Randolph won the previous two days in PAC play to clinch the regular-season crown. The Cougars topped host Eastern Randolph 4-0 and visiting Wheatmore 9-0. Macie Crutchfield struck out 13 Eastern Randolph batters and Alyssa Harris fanned 12 Wheatmore batters.
** Skyler Pugh and Addie Flinchum homered as Eastern Randolph nipped host Uwharrie Charter Academy 9-8.
Also last week, the Wildcats defeated Wheatmore 7-0 with Flinchum hitting a home run and Logan Beaver scoring two runs. Pugh and Flinchum combined to strike out 19 batters.
** UCA had a better result with a 13-8 home victory against Randleman with Kynley Brewer rapping three hits and scoring two runs. Also, UCA drubbed visiting Trinity 24-0 with Brewer homering and driving in three runs. Emory Johnson also homered and Kaitlyn West was credited with a three-inning no-hitter.
** Providence Grove senior pitcher Emma Mazzarone eclipsed the 800-strikeout mark for her career while throwing a no-hitter in a 16-1 road romp against Trinity. She posted 12 strikeouts.
Providence Grove suffered a 5-4, eight-inning loss at Southern Guilford in a non-league game despite Gracie Smith’s two runs batted in.
** Asheboro’s 11-10 non-conference victory against visiting Wheatmore came with five runs in the bottom of the seventh. Avery Dykes had four hits and scored two runs for Wheatmore.
Girls’ soccer
A matchup between the PAC first-place and second-place teams didn’t turn out to be much of a showdown as undefeated Wheatmore whipped host Providence Grove 10-1 last week. Summer Bowman scored five goals and Ellie Garrison had four goals.
Brecken Snotherly had a wide array of ways to score with Eastern Randolph’s girls’ basketball team. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Eastern Randolph senior relishes sports journey
RAMSEUR – Brecken Snotherly’s path has taken a few turns during high school, but generally the Eastern Randolph standout athlete has reached her destinations.
She put the basketball in the hoop at an alarmingly successful rate and she knows her way around running courses as well.
Basketball became her passion and she’ll continue in that sport for East Tennessee State.
“Basketball is my main thing,” she said. “I’ve been playing basketball since kindergarten. I just have a real love for the game.”
That makes sense considering her scoring prowess and ball-moving abilities. Snotherly poured in more than 2,000 points in a prep career that included time with Winston-Salem Christian.
But once the pandemic passed, she said she knew she wanted to be back home at Eastern Randolph.
The Wildcats have been glad to have her.
“One of the hardest-working kids I’ve seen at this level,” Eastern Randolph girls’ basketball coach Jeff Davis said. “Just her IQ. She studies and studies the game and wants to keep learning.”
That example helped set the tone as the Wildcats racked up a 19-8 record during the recently completed season.
As a senior, Snotherly scored 30.7 points to go with 9.7 rebounds per game.
“She’s a player we’ve been battling with it seems like forever,” Randleman coach Brandon Varner said.
With 51 points against Trinity during a game this winter, she re-set her single-game school record.
While Snotherly has a smooth jumper, it’s not like she relied on 3-point shooting. She’s efficient on fast breaks and well-equipped to carve through defenses.
“Some of it comes from transition,” Davis said. “It’s more of a desire.”
It was noticeable every time she was on the court.
“That kid is a nice player,” said Eastern Alamance coach Tim Krotish, who topped the career 500-win mark during the season. “She’ll pull up and knock that thing down in your face. She can go right, left.”
Ask Snotherly about that mid-range shot, and she’ll widen her smile.
“My little pull-up jumper, that’s my specialty,” she said.
Snotherly, a top 10 finisher in past state meets in cross country and track and field, has been excelling again in middle-distance and distance events this spring. So there’s more to do before she takes her basketball skills to the collegiate level.
Snotherly committed to East Tennessee State before her senior season. She had multiple college offers, but decided it was best to lock in on one school before her final go-around with the Wildcats.
So there’s more places to go and things to accomplish. For Snotherly, it seems to fit right in.
“It has been my journey,” she said. “I wouldn’t change it.”
Coach Brandon Varner had Randleman’s girls’ basketball team on a winning path. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
RANDLEMAN – Brandon Varner’s wildly successful five-season stretch as Randleman’s girls’ basketball coach has come to an end.
“Just time to step away,” Varner said. “The biggest thing was the time I was putting into basketball. There’s really no breaks.”
Under Varner, the Tigers went 103-20, with half those defeats coming in his first season when the team went 15-10.
Varner, 40, will remain as athletics director at Randleman Middle School, where he also is on the football staff.
“It was just getting to be a lot of time and going back and forth to the high school,” Varner said.
Randleman finished 27-2 during the past season following a 25-1 record in 2021-22. The Tigers were the Class 2-A West Region top seed in each of those seasons, reaching the regional semifinals this year for the fourth season in a row.
“It was so much fun and so many memories,” he said. “So proud of what (the players) accomplished and how hard they worked. They bought in to accomplish everything as a team and were dedicated to being a championship team.”
Varner took charge of the program beginning with the 2018-19 season. The Tigers have rung up a 56-4 record in regular-season conference play during his time.
Randleman was 24-3 in his second season and 12-4 in the pandemic-shortened slate in the 2020-21 academic year.
There will be transition in the lineup as well. Senior standouts Gracyn Hall, Elizabeth York and Jordan Booker completed their eligibility. Gracie Beane and Audra Petty figure to form the nucleus for next season.
“It should be a very appealing job,” Varner said. “There’s a talented group of girls who work really hard and know how to win.”
Varner said his duties with Randleman Middle School that include driving the bus for some teams has kept him on the go. He said he sensed the need for near-constant attention on the girls’ basketball program, particularly without an assistant coach at all practices.
“I felt it needed to be year-round if we’re going to be good,” he said. “I felt like that’s what we needed to do. During the season, if we’re not practicing, I felt like somebody is getting ahead of us.”
Varner said he wouldn’t rule out returning to a coaching role if a season or two away has him itching to return. He also said a small-coaching assistant coaching position might be attractive as well.
Logan Fox of Providence Grove had a role in tight baseball games with Randleman last week. (Randolph Record file photo)
Providence Grove did what might have seemed like the unthinkable in Piedmont Athletic Conference baseball last week.
The Patriots knocked off state power Randleman and ended a multi-year streak of domination.
“Probably was unexpected,” Providence Grove coach Glen Hunt said. “Not a lot of people thought we could go in and win that game.”
Providence Grove’s 3-2 victory halted Randleman’s 38-game winning streak against conference opponents that spread across parts of five seasons.
And two days later, the Patriots nearly did it again.
Providence Grove’s stunning victory came on Lemuel Coltrane’s three-run home run in the fourth inning at Randleman. How unusual was that?
It’s the only home run hit by the Patriots in what’s now 16 games played this year.
That blast off Seth Way followed singles by Andrew Canter and Joe Coltrane, that latter an attempted sacrifice bunt that turned into a single. Lemuel Coltrane, a right-handed batter, drove the ball over the fence in left-center field.
“He got ahold of a fastball and it went out,” Hunt said.
Freshman Andrew Thomas threw a three-hitter with three walks and seven strikeouts to frustrate an often-potent Randleman offense.
“That game really went fast,” Hunt said. “All of a sudden, I looked up and it’s the sixth inning and we’ve still got the lead.”
The Tigers hadn’t lost a game to a conference opponent since April 25, 2019, to Providence Grove. Two days earlier that year, the Patriots also defeated Randleman.
After that week, the Tigers went on their conference domination, including a May 2, 2019, victory against Providence Grove in the league tournament final.
The pandemic limited Randleman to one conference game in 2020 before the rest of that season was cancelled. The Tigers were 8-0 in PAC play this season before the loss.
The outcome ended Randleman’s nine-game overall winning streak this season.
Last Thursday, Randleman avenged that outcome with a 3-2 victory of its own against Providence Grove. Austin Lemons pitched a complete game while allowing one earned run and Hunter Atkins drove in two runs and Shawn Miller scored two runs for the Tigers.
“We played some pretty good defense in that game,” Hunt said.
Logan Fox had two of Providence Grove’s five hits off Lemons. Lemuel Coltrane doubled and scored, but Canter’s 5 2/3 innings on the mound went for naught. The loss means the Patriots can’t catch Randleman in the regular-season standings.
Only Trinity with two conference losses and four league games to go can move to the top. That would require beating the Tigers twice this week.
Providence Grove has split four conference series to hold a 4-4 PAC mark and 10-6 record entering this week.
“Hopefully, the kids realize what they can do,” Hunt said. “Beating a team like Randleman should solidify that.”
** Southwestern Randolph won twice against Wheatmore, posting a 7-3 road victory as Grant Little pitched into the sixth inning without allowing an earned run in the PAC game. Adam Cole and Tyler Parks both had two hits, including a double apiece, and Grant Kirk scored two runs.
Later in the week at Asheboro, Austin Harvell’s grand slam in the sixth inning clicked in the mercy rule in a 12-1 romp. Cole launched a three-run home run, Easton Clapp had three hits and scored three runs and Parks had two runs batted in. Jonah Campbell’s 5 1/3 innings on the mound earned him the victory.
In between those games, Southwestern Randolph hammered visiting Jordan-Matthews 18-6 as Eli Gravely drilled a home run and joined Harvell with three runs batted in.
** Jake Hunter and Brett Smith combined for Uwharrie Charter Academy’s 3-0 shutout of host Eastern Randolph.
In the rematch, UCA won 4-3 at home in 10 innings with Troy Carver and Caleb Brown knocking in runs in the 10th, which began with the score tied 1-1. The winning run scored on a passed ball. Eastern Randolph’s Stratton Barwick struck out 12 in seven innings.
UCA topped host Winston-Salem Atkins 11-2 in non-league play with Walker Wilkins driving in three runs in the Eagles’ first outing of a three-win week.
Asheboro’s Josh Meadows, left, Tanner Marsh and Davis Gore stand during the national anthem Saturday prior to a game at First National Bank Field in Greensboro. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
** At Greensboro, Asheboro finished 1-2 in a three-day tournament at First National Bank Field.
Asheboro salvaged the seventh-place game on Tanner Marsh’s game-winning double in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 2-1 victory against Northern Guilford on Saturday. Marsh struck out 10 in a six-inning pitching performance before Connor Adams worked the seventh for the victory.
Earlier, the Blue Comets lost 13-6 to Southeast Guilford and fell 2-1 to Western Alamance.
Macie Crutchfield has been stellar as Southwestern Randolph’s ace pitcher. (Randolph Record file photo)
Southwestern Randolph continued its dominance in softball with three more victories.
The biggest came against defending Piedmont Athletic Conference champion Providence Grove, which fell by 7-1 to the Cougars.
By week’s end, the Cougars held a 14-0 overall record and a 9-0 PAC mark, nearly wrapping up the regular-season title.
Macie Crutchfield struck out 14 Providence Grove batters with a four-hitter. She walked three. Maddie Strider scored two runs.
Southwestern Randolph then socked host Central Davidson 19-3 behind Madison Varner’s five runs batted in.
The Cougars capped the week with a 10-0 ripping of visiting Randleman as Caressa King rapped four hits.
** Providence Grove won 2-0 against visiting Union Pines on Thursday as senior pitcher Emma Mazzarone struck out 14. That increased her career strikeout total to 792.
TRINITY – Bear Bradley is taking a job as a football head coach at a school in Randolph County.
Even though it’s a different stop than in a previous role, he said it feels like a return to a comfort zone.
Bradley has become the football coach at Trinity, leaving a similar position at Southern Guilford.
“The more I got thinking about it, I think it was one of those things, I already had some of those relationships,” Bradley said. “To be back in Randolph County, and people you’ve known. There’s a family atmosphere and you’re welcomed.”
Bradley spent four seasons (2013-16) as head coach at rival Wheatmore. So he said he’ll be familiar with many of the families who will have players on his first Trinity squad.
Bradley, 44, compiled a six-season record of 24-38 at Southern Guilford, a Class 3-A team. The Storm went 6-5 overall last season, finishing third in the Mid-State 3-A Conference behind Greensboro Dudley and Eastern Guilford.
Bradley replaces Marlon Morris, who stepped away after three seasons and a 9-16 record. The Bulldogs have posted back-to-back 4-6 records, with seven of those victories coming in non-conference games.
So becoming more competitive in the Piedmont Athletic Conference is among the objectives.
Bradley coached from 2013-16 at Wheatmore with a 14-31 record. Previously, he spent time as an assistant coach for his alma mater, Smoky Mountain, and at Randleman.
Bradley had two sons playing for his Southern Guilford teams. Malachi Bradley, a center, will graduate this spring, while quarterback / linebacker Noah Bradley will join him at Trinity and be a junior on the 2023 team.
Coach Bradley said he’ll embrace the culture at Trinity.
“It’s a very appealing situation,” he said. “They’re more than ready and know what it takes to compete. They were always scrappy, blue-collar kind of people.”
Even though his new school will be a neighboring one from his role at Wheatmore, he considers this a chance “to come back to a place with business left unfinished.”
Clashing with traditional powers such as Greensboro Dudley and Southeast Guilford should prove beneficial, Bradley said.
“As a coach, you learned and grew,” he said. “It really challenges your knowledge of the game and pushes you to expand what you do.”
Bear Bradley will finish the school year as a teacher at Southern Guilford, where he instructs weightlifting. He said he’ll make the approximate 14-mile commute in afternoons to address topics with the football program at Trinity.
Emma Mazzarone of Providence Grove fires a pitch earlier this season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Providence Grove senior pitcher holds dominating form
CLIMAX – Emma Mazzarone doesn’t mind the workload that comes with being Providence Grove’s ace softball pitcher.
She keeps on striking out batters at a staggering rate.
“Before every game, I’ll try not to put a number in my head,” Mazzarone said of strikeout totals. “I try to pitch to certain batters to strike them out. And if they get a hit, more power to them. I’m really just focused on what I’m going to pitch to each and every batter in the lineup and what they have.”
Mazzarone is in her final season for the Patriots before she goes on to play collegiately for Virginia Tech.
For Providence Grove coach Tim Brown, he remembered years ago coming across Mazzarone. She was barely in youth leagues at the time.
“She told me, ‘I’m going to pitch for you.’ ” he said.
Sure enough, she has logged so many innings the past couple of years that she became a fixture in the circle. The Patriots went through the regular season undefeated last year and they’re off to another good start this year.
Mazzarone struck out a state-leading 364 batters in 2022. That comes with a lot of innings.
“Last year I would throw a full seven innings,” she said. “I have to have a lot of arm care. It’s just mentally tough first. I have it physically right now. I just have to keep my mental game straight to play three games a week.”
Mazzarone makes multiple visits a week to Athletic Training & Conditioning in Asheboro to help keep her arm in pitching shape.
Double-figure strikeout totals from Mazzarone are the norm. That works out well for Providence Grove’s fielders.
“It makes the defense easier,” Brown said. “We only have to make four or five plays a game.”
Mazzarone, who can appear imposing even at 5-foot-11 in the circle, said she hasn’t stopped her pursuit to improve. She knows the competition is aiming to solve her pitching.
“Every girl in Randolph County, I’ve played with for at least one season somewhere. Even in travel ball or practice,” she said. “So I know most of them and they know me. … I went to a lesson and changed a few things. I’m just trying to get better spin-wise and location-wise.”
She has nine complete games in 11 pitching appearances this year, recording 160 strikeouts in 72 innings – or more than two strikeout victims per inning. She has issued 21 walks and allowed seven earned runs.
Early in the recruiting process, she said college coaches seemed most interested in what she could do at the plate. The pitching dominance became too much to ignore.
Mazzarone, 17, is a major threat at the plate, even though she’s constantly assessing what she can do better with the bat.
“Hitting is not there for me right now,” she said earlier this season. “I’m trying some different stuff out and working on a few different things to just better myself. We’ll get it figured out.”
Midway through the regular season, she’s batting a team-leading .531 with four home runs and 12 total extra-base hits.
Mazzarone, who was an All-Piedmont Athletic Conference player in volleyball, plays center field in the rare cases when she’s not pitching.
It helps the Patriots having her in the lineup to go with what she normally has done with firing pitches past opposing batters.
Eastern Randolph’s Brecken Snotherly goes up for a shot vs. Wheatmore during the past season. Snotherly was named the Player of the Year in Piedmont Athletic Conference girls’ basketball. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Here’s a list of the Piedmont Athletic Conference’s major award winners and all-conference selections for winter sports:
Boys’ basketball
Player of the Year: Dominic Payne (Trinity)
Coach of the Year: Matt Kiser (Southwestern Randolph)
All-Conference
Eastern Randolph: Davonte Brooks, Timothy Brower, Pierce Leonard, Nicah Taylor
Southwestern Randolph: Sean Adkins, Nathan Ellis, Thomas Leal, Landon Williamson.
Co-Coaches of the Year: Michelle Hinson (Wheatmore), Tammie Swaim (Trinity)
All-conference
Wheatmore: Emily Cribbs, Sydney Hall, Paisley Hollifield, Victoria Joyce, Ava Williamson.
Randleman: Emma Herring, Kendall Fortson, Samantha Marin, Mackenzie Roach.
Trinity: Callie Jones.
*****
Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Grayson Roberts pins South Davidson’s Jesse Pope during the Class 1-A East Region final at 170 pounds. Roberts was voted as the top upper-weight wrestler in the Piedmont Athletic Conference. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Wrestling
Lower Weight Wrestler of the Year: Aldo Hernandez (UCA)
Upper Weight Wrestler of the Year: Grayson Roberts (UCA)
Coach of the Year: Chris Waddell (UCA)
All-conference
Uwharrie Charter Academy: Lorenzo Alston, Corbin Grissom, Aldo Hernandez, Ethan Hines, Jadon Maness, Jack McArthur, Grayson Roberts, Carson Robinson, Jair Ulloa, Brennan Worrell.
Trinity: Lawson Coltrane, Levi Dennis, Brayden Hall, Gavin Hardister, Spencer May, Gavin McCall, Bear Schaefer, Joey Smith, Edgard Mora Vasquez.
Southwestern Randolph: Jose Flores, Erick Lopez, Luke White.
