Among the thrills for Eastern Randolph during the past school year came following a road victory against South Stokes in the boys’ basketball state playoffs as coach Johnny Thomas and the team celebrate. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
RAMSEUR – Eastern Randolph had a different kind of school year in 2022-23.
For athletics director Foster Cates, the perception of athletics at the school might be changing.
That’s because the Wildcats advanced to the Class 1-A state championship game in boys’ basketball. That had never happened before.
“It has been such a football and baseball dominant school forever,” Cates said. “I wanted to make it a one-stop shot. You can come to school and do all three.”
The Wildcats won the Piedmont Athletic Conference title in football last year. They followed that with the PAC crown in boys’ basketball, coinciding with a strong regular season and postseason from the girls’ basketball team.
The fan support followed, with Eastern Randolph drawing big crowds at home and on the road for basketball games.
“It gave the community something to rally around after football season,” Cates. “That’s a long wait before the next (football) season. It was great for the community.”
Cates said the boys’ basketball team’s high-scoring games heightened the interest.
“It’s entertainment,” he said.
The girls’ basketball team had a late-season eight-game winning streak and later won two games in the state playoffs.
In football, after a first-round bye in the state playoffs, the Wildcats won two games before they were eliminated. Combined with the basketball success, there were certain positives.
“Probably getting as far as we did in both sports,” then-senior running back / linebacker Devonte Brooks said of the school year’s highlights.
There seemed to be nonstop attention on Eastern Randolph.
“It was pretty exciting,” Brooks said. “I just wanted to make it a basketball and football school, not just a one-sport school. Leave it better than I found it, that’s all I’m trying to do.”
The buzz around Eastern Randolph athletics continued in the spring.
The baseball team advanced to the Class 1-A West Region finals, extending its season to late May. The softball team won three games in the state playoffs.
Baseball player Landon Mowery of Trinity has made a college choice. (Bob Sutton / Randolph Record)
THOMASVILLE – Landon Mowery has had an eye on becoming a Division I college baseball player for quite some time.
From his perspective, there might be no sense in putting that off.
Mowery, a Trinity standout, is considering reclassifying and heading to college a year early to join the Western Carolina program.
Last week, he committed to play for the Catamounts and by the end of the week things had accelerated.
“A big decision to be made,” Lowery said. “They want me to come up early to hopefully win a spot.”
Mowery, who plays for the High Point-Thomasville Post 87 American Legion team, will need to finish coursework this summer at Trinity to become eligible to head to Cullowhee.
“Ever since I was a kid growing up, to play for a Division I school is a dream come true,” he said.
Lowery is a 5-foot-8, 185-pound shortstop who says he takes pride in being a steady contributor. He was a three-year starter for Trinity.
“I’m not a numbers guy,” he said. “You have to see me.”
If early entry to college doesn’t pan out, Lowery, 18, said he plans to play his senior season for Wesleyan Christian in High Point after holding key roles in Trinity’s 35-21 record across the past two seasons.
There could be openings in Western Carolina’s middle infield. Pascanel Ferreras started all 54 games at shortstop as a junior and batted a team-best .325. He has been a first-team All-Southern Conference selection the past two seasons and is a potential draftee this month. Second baseman Brandon Butterworth is transferring to North Carolina State after two seasons with the Catamounts.
Post 87 teammates Yates Sikes and Wyatt Stanley are also heading to Western Carolina, though they finished senior seasons of high school.
Mowery said a strong showing last year in the State Games of North Carolina in Chapel Hill boosted his profile. He batted .423 with three home runs and 11 doubles in his final season at Trinity.
“I’m more of a contact hitter, gap to gap,” he said.
Southwestern Randolph’s Adam Cole runs behind teammate Eli Gravely during a 2022 football game. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Southwestern Randolph product seeks more fast times in football
ASHEBORO – Adam Cole figured out pretty early that the best way to make an impression was to do it fast.
He sprinted to a special high school career for Southwestern Randolph.
It mostly came about through football and baseball, allowing his foot speed to set him apart.
By his senior year, he became the face of the football program.
“It’s kind of a role I have to take,” he said. “It’s not like I control it. I definitely like it. It gives me a sense of responsibility, too. I like that. I definitely think I’m a leader on the field.”
That helped translate into a record career, setting the school standard for career touchdowns. He was a receiver and cornerback.
A center fielder on the baseball field, he gave track and field a try and ended up in the Class 2-A state meet as a junior.
But football has had his attention.
“I’m just not this big, huge guy you’d look at and say he’s going D-I,” Cole said this spring. “I’m 180 pounds.”
While the speed component is nice, a commitment to build himself as an overall athlete allowed him to excel.
“I was playing at 150 pounds last year,” he said last August in reference to his junior season. “I’m about 170. I want to be about 185. Just playing baseball and football and going to camps every day, I really haven’t had a day off this summer. It’s definitely not letting me gain as much as I want to.”
The workload largely paid off as Cole ended his high school career by being selected as the Male Athlete of the Year in the Piedmont Athletic Conference.
Faster, faster
Cole’s speed puts others in awe, but he looks at the fine print.
“I’ve always been fast,” he said. “I was running a 4.7 40(-yard dash). That’s honestly terrible for a receiver if you’re trying to go play college football. I’ve put in a lot of work over the summer. I’d get up early before we had baseball practice or before football practice, go do field work. I’d go do work. I work out every day. I went from a 4.7 40 to a 4.4.”
For Southwestern Randolph, Cole’s speed gave the Cougars a valuable weapon.
“Fastest dude I’ve seen around here,” said Easton Clapp, a classmate and quarterback. “No one can keep up with him, if not the best athlete we got. Crazy fast. He can run routes like crazy.”
Opponents knew it, too.
“He’s crazy fast,” Randleman linebacker Thomas Dobias said. “He’s probably the fastest kid in our conference, for sure.”
Prior to his freshman year, Southwestern Randolph coaches had an inkling Cole might be an impact player. They had him work with varsity players in summer camps.
“I started enjoying it because I knew by my sophomore, junior, senior year, I would really be one of the best around,” he said.
A broken ankle mostly derailed that first season in high school. He called his junior season the best when he scored 23 touchdowns.
Cole accepted the attention that followed.
“It makes me play better because I know I have a standard to play up to,” he said. “I know people are watching and really expecting a lot of me. I like that. I like the pressure knowing I have to be something. It just gives me a sense of confidence.”
As the touchdown totals soared, his reputation as a speedster grew.
“They joke about it all the time. Yeah, they know,” Cole said of reaction from teammates. “I don’t remember any time in four years of high school football, I don’t think I’ve ever been run down.”
Betting on himself
Cole is joining the East Carolina football program as a preferred walk-on. Division I scholarship offers weren’t coming his way, but he didn’t want to settle for anything else.
“I’m not trying to be cocky in any way, but I feel like I’m more talented than to go D-II, D-III,” he said. “I’m just betting on myself. I’m going to work my way up and I think I’ll be on scholarship after a few years if I work as hard as I can and everything goes to plan.”
Here’s Adam Cole at Southwestern Randolph football practice last August. (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)Adam Cole had a notable baseball career while with Southwestern Randolph (here) and Randolph County Post 45. (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)Adam Cole competed in select track and field meets for Southwestern Randolph. (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)
Yet he sensed interest from the Pirates and assistant coach Roy Tesh, who was his primary recruiter. Cole’s workout last year in Greenville made a difference.
“I just showed out at that camp,” he said. “They talked to me more consistent than really any other school did which is surprising.”
At the outset, he’ll be pegged as a defensive back.
“I would rather be scoring touchdowns, but I like defense, too,” he said.
He might also try punt returns and kickoff returns.
Too fast, this time
While getting to spots on the field faster is generally a bonus, it doesn’t always have the greatest results.
That’s what happened in the Cougars’ third-to-last football game last fall. Randleman’s Chesney Welch made a catch and took off toward the end zone.
“It was a play across the field and I chased him down and punched the ball out,” Cole said. “When I punched, I hit just his elbow with this pinky right here. It snapped this bone right here.”
He was pointing to his right hand.
But on that mid-October night, Cole wasn’t finished. He stayed in the game, ending up filling in at quarterback in the Cougars’ 34-7 loss.
“I played through the game,” he said. “I didn’t really feel it until I came off.”
It marked his final high school football game. The next day he went for an exam. Surgery was scheduled.
Cole sent a photo of X-ray to Welch, who probably could have done without a reminder of the sequence.
“Adam running his 4.3 came down and poked it out,” Welch said. “You don’t want to be chased by him.”
Even now, there’s a sliver of satisfaction for Cole that came from that play. He not only caused the fumble, he recovered the ball.
Cole said he made the most of the rehabilitation.
“My grip strength increased because I did therapy for it,” he said.
Adam Cole puts down a bunt for Randolph County Post 45 during last year’s Southeast Regional. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Burning up base paths
Cole’s baseball numbers might suggest a future in that sport. He led the Cougars this year by batting over .490 in addition to swatting four home runs. He had been a mainstay in the Randolph County Post 45 lineup for two years, and even spent a couple of weeks with the team this spring prior to football commitments in Greenville.
“I don’t really enjoy baseball like I do football,” he said. “I go out of my way to go put in work for football. Baseball, I just kind of go out there and play.”
Played it quite well. Classmate Tyler Parks, a North Carolina baseball signee, saw up close what Cole’s speed could do.
“With baseball, speed doesn’t slump,’ Parks said. “He can fly. He has always been fast. As he got older, he just got faster. He just keeps getting faster. I work out with Adam. It’s just unreal how quick he is.”
Show it on the track
While Cole’s speed wasn’t camouflaged, it hadn’t been on display in the most obvious way – on the track – until his junior year.
“I was joking around with the track coach: When you going to put me on the roster and let me run?” Cole remembered.
Next thing he knew, he was sprinting in the 100 meters and then taking off to go play baseball.
Adam Cole competed in the 2022 Class 2-A state meet. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
It resulted in more than a spring fling. Cole became the Class 2-A Midwest Regional champion in the 100 in 2022.
“I didn’t expect to go out there and win regionals, and went to the states,” he said. “I’d never run track in my life. Definitely pretty cool.”
For the most part, track became a part-time pursuit.
“I don’t practice track,” he said. “I just go to baseball.”
But extra sprinting had side benefits.
“It’s really good for me,” he said. “Because baseball isn’t a ton of running, it’s keeping me in shape. Keeping me fast. Last year when I needed to go to camps to get recruited, it helped my 40-yard dash a lot. It’s helped my form. It’s a good way to compete.”
That might have been the biggest factor. A chance to test himself in a different forum.
“Really, I just like to compete,” he said. “That’s the big thing.”
Still, at this spring’s Randolph County Championships, Cole said there were doubters. He referred to it as guys talking smack.
For his part, Cole won the 100 and 200 meters.
“It’s in one ear and out the other,” he said. “I’m a baseball player. I’m fast, too, and I can do good in things like this. Coming out here not training for track and just being able to win all these track meets like I am makes me feel good. Really, I like to win.”
Here’s the Southeastern Randolph Middle School baseball team after winning the county’s tournament title. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Southeastern Randolph Middle School won the Randolph County Middle School baseball tournament last month.
That made the Wildcats tournament and regular-season champions.
Maddox Dunn of Southeastern Randolph Middle School heads to second base on a hit during the Randolph County Middle School baseball championship game last month. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)Randleman Middle School’s Carson Luther tags out Southeastern Randolph Middle School’s Miles Cox at second base. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
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.
UCA’s Jake Hunter throws a pitch against North Moore in Game 1 of the Class 1-A state finals. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
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.
