Mount Airy baseball is currently riding the program’s longest winning streak in more than 50 years.

Mount Airy’s Josh Penn is recognized by the Granite Bears on Senior Night.

Mount Airy’s Reece McDuffie is recognized by the Granite Bears on Senior Night.

Mount Airy’s Reece Deaton is recognized by the Granite Bears on Senior Night.

Mount Airy’s Logan Dowell is recognized by the Granite Bears on Senior Night.

Though they may have lost a few members along the way, Mount Airy baseball’s class of 2022 is experiencing success that the program hasn’t seen in more than 50 years.

The Granite Bears defeated Elkin 5-2 in the opening round of the Northwest 1A Conference Tournament. With the May 2 victory, the Bears win their seventh consecutive game and improve to 17-7 overall. According to Mount Airy historian Doug McDaniel, Mount Airy last won eight games in a row in 1958 and most recently won at least 16 games in a season in 1939.

Mount Airy (17-7, 10-2 NW1A) began its current win streak on April 13. Since then, the Bears have defeated Surry Central twice, Alleghany twice and Elkin three times. The Bears have outscored opponents 75-23 during this run, which includes four games scoring in double figures.

The Bears, ranked No. 1 in the 1A West by MaxPreps, closed the season with a Senior Night game against Alleghany. Mount Airy’s four senior team members are: Josh Penn, Logan Dowell, Reece McDuffie and Reece Deaton.

Ashton Gwyn got the win on the mound, while Dowell and Gallimore also spent time on the bump. Gwyn tossed six strikeouts, and Dowell and Landon Gallimore each had three.

Deaton and Rylan Venable each had two hits against the Trojans, and Brison George, Cameryn Wilson and Kamden Hawks each had one. Nine different Bears scored in the 12-2 victory.

The Alleghany win helped Mount Airy secure the No. 2 seed in the NW1A Tournament, allowing the Bears to host Elkin on May 2.

Dowell pitched five innings for Mount Airy and threw five strikeouts, one walk and allowed one run on three hits. Gwyn pitched the remainder of the game and had three strikeouts, two walks and allowed one run on three hits.

Deaton and Landon Cox racked up two hits each, and George, Wilson, Penn, Dowell and Hawks each had one.

Reach Cory on Twitter @MaNewsSports

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Surry Central recognized seven baseball seniors before an April 29 home game against East Surry.

Spencer LeClair, Dakota Mills, Kade Norman, Austin Cave, Kayden Gage, Brady Edmonds and Kendall White were honored for their contributions to the Golden Eagles’ program, with many being with the team throughout their entire high school careers.

In the Senior Night game, Central held East Surry to its second-lowest scoring total of the season at three runs. However, the Eagles struggled to score and came up short 3-0 in the regular season finale.

The Golden Eagles entered the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed and dropped their quarterfinal game to No. 4 West Wilkes 7-3.

Surry Central qualified for the 2A State Playoffs as the No. 26 seed and opened the tournament at No. 7 Lincoln Charter. The Golden Eagles rallied late in the game when faced a big deficit, but four seventh-inning runs weren’t enough to bring Central back.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — A walk-off hit by Folger Boaz lifted East Surry to a 3-2 playoff win over R-S Central on Thursday.

The Cardinals initially took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. East held the visiting Hilltoppers from scoring additional runs through the sixth, then R-S Central tied things up in the top of the seventh. Strong defense from East kept the visitors from taking the lead, and hits from Luke Bowman and Boaz sealed the win for the Cards.

“It’s a mixture of emotions for us,” said East Surry coach Chad Freeman. “There’s nervousness, even though the game is over and we know the outcome. There’s excitement. There’s joy for our guys. Honestly, there’s heartbreak for their team. R-S has a quality coaching staff, their kids battled, they’ve got good kids; that’s the type of team you want to go up against.

“At the end of the day, it was two solid teams going after each other and we were fortunate to come away with the win.”

East Surry (23-1) put runners on base in each of the first two innings, but couldn’t score to match R-S Central’s run from the top of the first. This changed in the third inning when Bowman reached first on a fielder’s choice then moved to second on an error by the Hilltoppers. Boaz was intentionally walked with two outs, and a passed ball allowed Bowman to score.

The score was now tied 1-1 with the rain picking up. Luke Brown was walked, and Anthony Ayers singled to load the bases. Another passed ball sent Boaz home to give East Surry its second run.

R-S Central (19-7) took Drew Yelton off the mound after East Surry’s second run. Yelton threw 2.2 innings, allowed two runs on three hits and walked three batters. Hayden Wheeler took over on the mound and ended the inning with a strikeout

The Cardinals struggled against Wheeler through the sixth inning. The Hilltopper junior struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced; one East Surry player grounded out, another flied out and only one – Boaz in the fifth – got on base via error.

“The first kid was a little bit craftier and more off-speed oriented, and [Wheeler] threw a little harder. We tried to get our guys to make an adjustment and be ready for the fastball, and we didn’t do a good job of that the first few innings he was on the mound. Finally that last inning, when we swung up to the top of our lineup, we did a little bit better job of it.”

The Hilltoppers also had chances to build a lead, leaving runners on base in each of the first six innings. Trey Shearer opened the fourth with a double, and Audrey Scruggs bunted for a single that moved Shearer to third as well.

Brown, who spent five innings on the mound for East Surry, struck out the next batter, then Ayers checked the runner on third before throwing a runner out at first. R-S Central sent a hit to left field that would’ve scored at least one run had it not been caught by Gabriel Harpe.

One inning later, R-S Central’s Tanner Boone singled and teammate Caleb White was walked. A balk put the runners on second and third with two outs, but Brown struck out his final batter to leave the runners stranded.

“Luke may not have had his best stuff today, but he battled and came up big,” Freeman said. “Part of it is a credit to R-S: they took phenomenal approaches, and their two-strike approaches were on point.”

Ayers took over on the bump in the sixth inning and East continued to stave off R-S Central’s comeback attempts. Even when the visitors managed to score the game-tying run in the top of the seventh, Freeman said his guys were able to stay calm due to their experience in high-pressure games.

One such game Freeman referenced was East Surry’s 2021 playoff opener against Community School of Davidson. The Cards, who went on to win the 1A West Regional Championship, were nearly upset in the first round by that CSD team.

“I think last year’s CSD game gave them the composure to not get rattled against Hendersonville, and even tonight when we had the shot to get the tying run at the plate and didn’t execute there,” Freeman said. “We’ve been through it enough that we’ve come back before. We’ve been in tight situations before and our guys didn’t panic, so that’s a credit to them.”

The Cards got out of the top of the seventh by forcing two fly outs, including one chased down by Harpe in left field, and got the third out when Bowman threw to Trey Armstrong at second to catch a runner stealing.

Bowman then went up to bat and picked up the first East Surry hit against Wheeler. The Cards already had one out on the board in the bottom of the seventh, then the second came on a fly out. Boaz approached the plate with two outs and hit right over the left fielder’s head. Bowman sped around the bases and reached the plate just as the ball made its way back into the infield.

As the celebration settled, Freeman praised the Cardinals for the resilience shown against a very good R-S Central team. East Surry’s goal is to survive and advance, and he said that’s exactly what they did.

East Surry will host the winner of No. 5 East Rutherford (20-5) and No. 12 Morehead (19-5) in the Sweet 16.

East Surry recognized five soccer seniors during halftime of a May 4 home match against Alleghany.

The Cardinals held a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes when four players and one manager paraded onto the field with members of their families: Brianna Whitaker, Liannette Chavez, Samantha Blose, Jamariah Lowery and manager Nick Lowery.

The Lady Cardinals went on to win the match 3-1. Blose scored both goals in the first half, with the second being assisted by Chavez. Morgan Bryant added an insurance goal in the 56th minute.

East Surry out-shot Alleghany 16-5 in the match. Cardinal keeper Katie Collins saved three of the Trojans’ shots, and one went off frame.

The win over Alleghany was East Surry’s fifth consecutive win, marking the Cards’ longest winning streak of the season. It is also East’s longest winning streak since the 2017 team won nine straight games.

The Lady Cards sit at 11-5-2 on the season, marking the program’s first season of double-digit wins since the aforementioned 2017 team finished 13-8. East Surry also finished third in the Foothills 2A Conference at 8-4.

When asked about his expectations for his senior season, Mount Airy senior Reece McDuffie said the following at his college signing in November 2021:

“I don’t know the last time we had a home playoff game, so that’s a huge goal. I think it’s very possible with the team we have.”

McDuffie’s words came to fruition nearly six months later as Mount Airy hosted Queen’s Grant High School on May 10. The Granite Bears put on a show against the Stallions, winning 11-1 in five innings to advance to the second round of the 1A State Playoffs.

Mount Airy’s most recent home playoff game – prior to Tuesday – was nearly a decade ago on May 14, 2013. The 2013 Bears dropped that game 4-2 to visiting Albemarle.

The 2022 Granite Bears kept their historic season alive by shutting the Stallions down. After scoring one run on two hits in the top of the first inning, Mount Airy held Queen’s Grant (9-8) to one hit for the remainder of the game.

Rylan Venable and Ashton Gwyn split time on the mound for the Bears (18-8). The duo allowed just three hits, walked one player and struck out 10 batters.

Mount Airy finished with 12 total hits, including a team-high four hits from Logan Dowell. Venable and Reece Deaton each had two hits, while Kamden Hawks, Cameryn Wilson, Landon Cox and Brison George each had one.

Hawks and George each hit doubles, and Venable had a 2-run home run.

Ian Gallimore scored Mount Airy’s first run in the bottom of the first inning. The sophomore was walked, moved to third on a Dowell single then scored on a ground out hit by Hawks.

Wilson and John Penn added runs No. 2 and No. 3 in the next inning. Wilson led the inning with a single, and Penn was walked. An error on a George hit brought Wilson in, then Penn scored on a hit from Venable.

Dowell crossed the plate for run No. 4 in the bottom of the third thanks a bomb hit to the center field fence by Hawks.

After slowly building a lead through three innings, Mount Airy exploded for six runs in the fourth. George, who was the first of 12 batters for the Bears in the inning, led with a double, then Venable smashed a homer to increase Mount Airy’s lead to 6-1.

Gallimore was walked to prompt a pitching change for the visitors. The substitution didn’t pay off, though, as Gallimore stole second then scored on a Dowell single.

Dowell advanced to third on a wild pitch, then Hawks was walked to put runners on the corners. Cash Hemric, running for Hawks, took a lead off of first and Queen’s Grant attempted to pick him off. An errant throw sent Hemric to second and scored Dowell to increase the lead again to 8-1.

Deaton scored Hemric with an RBI single, then Deaton scored on a hit from Landon Cox to make it 10-1.

The Stallions last chance to put runs up ended after three batters after Gwyn struck out three-in-a-row in the top of the fifth. Dowell had his fourth single in the bottom of the inning and stole his way around the bases before scoring on a Deaton hit.

No. 8 Mount Airy advances to the Round of 32 and will host No. 9 Bethany on May 13. Bethany (18-9) finished second in the Northwest Piedmont 1A Conference and defeated No. 24 Mitchell 8-3 in the opening round.

Queen’s Grant – 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, X, X = 1

PINEHURST — After finishing State Runner-Up in 2019 and 2021, East Surry’s golf team finally won the ultimate prize in 2022.

The Cardinals dominated the second day of competition at Foxfire Resort’s Red Fox Course to secure the 2A State Championship. The title is East Surry’s seventh in school history, and the program’s first since winning four consecutive titles from 2005-2008.

“I’m so proud and excited for those young men who worked so hard to get here,” said East Surry coach Darrin Haywood. “I would probably say that it was more of a feeling of relief than anything else. We have been so close and right there on the cusp so many times. Me and the boys were waiting for all scores to be counted, saying ‘We’re not believing it until it’s up on the board.’ Then they called me up there and it was just surreal.”

Haywood called the entire second day of competition a “very exciting but nerve-wracking five hours.”

East Surry finished the first day of competition tied for top overall spot with Midway High School. Though the Cards were in a prime position to win the state title, the team felt it hadn’t performed up to its potential through the first 18 holes.

“Monday, when we posted our score we knew that was not our best golf,” Haywood said. “We didn’t feel great being the first ones to post, but when we saw we were even with [Midway] it kind of relaxed our guys. Our kids knew that we had a lot left in us, and even though we didn’t play to East Surry’s standard of golf we were still tied for first.

“We weren’t behind anyone and it was ours for the taking. The kids showed a lot of confidence, saying ‘we’ve been here before. We’ve done as bad as we’ve done all year and are still in the perfect position to win.”

After combining to shoot 328 after the first day, East Surry bested Midway’s foursome by eleven strokes, 326 to 337, on the second 18 holes.

The Cardinals were led both days by Bradley Davis Jr. Davis shot 75 (+3) on the first 18 holes, which was just one shot in back of the overnight leader, Drew O’Neal from Beddingfield.

Davis matched his +3 round from the first day on the final day to put up a superb 6+ total for the tournament. Midway’s Logan Atkins posted the only even-par round of the tournament in the Final Round to pair with his opening round 76 (+4), winning the individual title by two shots over his counterpart from East Surry.

Atkins won the individual championship with a two-day total of 148, and Davis finished as State Runner-up with a total score of 150

“The thing about Bradley is that he’s just so consistent,” Haywood said. “He stays even keel and never gets rattled, and those are just some of the qualities that make him a very good golfer. He knew he was in the running for the top spot this week, and never got worried even when he didn’t play his best – which was still very good – in the first round.

“Brad might hit a rough shot then look at me and ask how everybody else was doing. It says a lot about him as a young man to care first about the team accolades. These guys love each other and wanted each other to succeed. It was always team-first with them.”

Following Davis, East Surry also got outstanding rounds from the rest of their scoring foursome to solidify the victory on the final day of the event. Chase Harris shot 78 (+6) thanks to a pair of matching 39’s on the front and back nine. Connor Key and Anderson Badgett contributed an 86 and an 87, respectively.

Also contributing to the Cards’ success was what Haywood called a ‘caravan of fans’ supporting the team.

“So much of the community was there and I was so surprised,” Haywood said. “There were people I never thought I’d see there just because they didn’t have a family member playing. It was incredible to see.

“Those kids see that everybody is there supporting them; not to make them nervous or add pressure, but to offer genuine support and see good golf. It helped the kids relax and feel like home. They were surrounded by people they grew up around and saw their entire life there to cheer them on. I think that really helped.”

East Surry added another piece of hardware when the N.C. High School Athletic Association presented the 2A Men’s Golf Championship Sportsmanship Award to Jordan Davis.

The third time was the charm for Elkin in its dual team series against Mount Airy.

After both regular season meetings went to the Granite Bears, the Buckin’ Elks went on the road Monday to face Mount Airy in the third round of the 1A State Playoffs. Mount Airy first defeated Elkin 6-3 on March 24, then secured the Northwest 1A Conference Championship by defeating the Elks 5-4 on April 12.

Another close match went the way of the Elks this time. Elkin defeated Mount Airy 5-4 on May 9 to advance to the 1A West Regional Championship. The Buckin’ Elks set up another third meeting in the regional final, as Elkin is set to face Bishop McGuinness for a shot at the 1A State Championship.

The May 9 edition of the Bears-Elks rivalry saw Elkin win three singles matches for the first time; Mount Airy held a 4-2 advantage after singles in each of the previous two meetings. Similar to the teams’ two regular season matches, Mount Airy won the top three singles matches: No. 1 Georgie Kriek defeated Owen Jennings 6-1, 6-4, No. 2 Carson Hill defeated Thomas McComb 6-1, 6-2, and No. 3 John Juno defeated Jack Zamudio 6-0, 6-3.

In addition to the top three spots, Mount Airy won No. 6 singles in its first meeting with Elkin and No. 5 singles in the second meeting. This time, however, Elkin swept courts No. 4-No. 6: Luke McComb topped Connor Sechrist 6-4, 6-1, Clay Sebastian bested Kieran Slate 6-1, 6-1, and Addison Blackwelder defeated Martin Cooke 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4).

Just as Mount Airy won the top three singles matches in all three meetings against Elkin, the Bears also won No. 1 doubles in all three. Kriek and Hill were the victors each time, defeating Jennings and Luke McComb in the first two meetings and topping Thomas McComb and Zamudio in round three, 8-2.

Elkin slid its top singles player, Jennings, to No. 2 doubles for the playoff match. Jennings teamed with Blackwelder to defeat Juno and Dylan Tilley 8-1.

This left all eyes on No. 3 doubles where Luke McComb and Sebastian took on Cooke and Jared Pinto. Elkin took a 1-0 lead before Mount Airy won back-to-back games. Luke McComb and Sebastian responded with two-straight wins, then Mount Airy tied the game score at 3-3 behind Pinto’s serve.

Elkin won three-straight to make it 6-3. The Bears won on Pinto’s serve again to cut the lead to 6-4, but Elkin won the next two games to seal the victory.

Mount Airy’s season ends at 15-5 overall. Monday’s loss was the Bears’ only defeat at the hands of a fellow 1A team.

Elkin improves to 14-5 with the playoff victory. The Elks will need another strong performance to get past Bishop McGuinness (15-1), who previously defeated Elkin 7-2 on March 30.

East Surry recognized six seniors prior to an April 28 home game against Surry Central.

The Cardinals honored Peyton Inscore, Tristen Mason, Anthony Ward, Trey Armstrong, Luke Bowman and Anthony Ayers ahead of the team’s final regular season home game at Barry Hall Field. East Surry went on to win the game 8-1.

East won the Foothills 2A Conference Regular Season Championship with a 12-0 conference record, then went on to defeat West Wilkes and North Surry to win the FH2A Tournament Championship.

The Cardinals (21-1) earned the No. 4 seed in the 2A West and will host No. 29 Hendersonville (9-13) on May 10.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry softball recognized four senior softball players ahead of an April 27 home game against West Stokes.

The four seniors – Rosie Craven, Maegan Banks, Haley Chilton and Clara Willard – were all four-year members of the varsity softball team. The Lady Cards dropped their Senior Night game 9-1, but turned around and won the regular-season finale the next night by defeating Surry Central 8-3.

East Surry finished the 2022 season 5-14 overall and 4-8 in the Foothills 2A Conference.

North Surry recognized seven senior student-athletes during an April 29 home match against North Wilkes.

The seven Greyhound seniors are: Savannah Seal, Camila Flores, Isabel Delfin, Weatherly Reeves, Nydia Cabrera, Callie Allen and Eve Bodnar.

North Surry defeated North Wilkes 6-0 to win its second Foothills 2A Conference match. The Greyhounds finished 2-10 in the FH2A Conference.

Mount Airy softball’s four senior players helped the team end a seven-year playoff drought.

Skylar Partin, Sofia Stafford, Sydney Seagraves and Savannah Horne were in the fifth grade the last time the Granite Bears made the playoffs. The 2015 team finished the regular season 6-11 overall and was named the No. 26 seed in the 1A West, where the Bears faced No. 7 Avery County in the opening round and lost 13-3.

Mount Airy finished just outside the playoff picture in 2016 and 2017, then wasn’t able to field a varsity team in 2018 – the class of 2022’s eighth-grade year.

This senior class has faced tough odds during its four years. The 2019 Bears had just two upperclassmen and played a brutal conference schedule that included four games against the eventual 1A State Champion North Stokes.

Things were looking up for the 2020 Bears after picking up a program-defining road win against East Wilkes, but then the season was shut down just days later due to COVID-19. The 2021 season was also an anomaly as teams were only allowed to play a maximum of 14 games, but the team showed improvement by starting the season 4-1.

The 2022 Bears lost some key pieces from the year before, but that didn’t stop them from competing. This year’s team finished the regular season 4-15 overall and 4-8 in the Northwest 1A Conference.

Seagraves was selected for the NW1A All-Conference squad, while Stafford and Partin were named All-Conference Honorable Mentions.

Mount Airy, seeded No. 27 in the 1A West, travels to No. 6 Cornerstone Charter on May 10. Cornerstone finished the regular season 14-2 overall and finished first in the Northwest Piedmont 1A Conference.

Local tennis players competed in the NCHSAA Individual State Championship Tournaments on May 6-7.

Three singles athletes and two doubles teams from local schools qualified for their respective state tournaments. One singles player from Mount Airy competed in the 1A State Tournament held at Cary State Park, while two singles players from East Surry and two doubles duos from Surry Central competed in the 2A State Tournament at Ting Park in Holly Springs.

The 1A Tournaments featured eight entries per bracket, and the 2A Tournaments had 16 entries per bracket.

Mount Airy junior Georgie Kriek reached the 1A State Tournament for a second consecutive season. In 2021, Kriek was one of eight state qualifiers and fell to Raleigh Charter’s Ryan Hill in a three-set thriller in the opening round.

Kriek had little trouble advancing to the state semifinals in 2022 after finishing second in the 1A Midwest Regional Tournament. The Granite Bear defeated Clover Garden’s Will Oldham 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round.

Kriek ran into Langtree Charter’s Nikhil Deshpande in the semifinals and fell 6-1, 6-2. Deshpande went on to win the 1A Singles Championship with a 6-1, 6-0 win in the finals.

Kriek’s season will continue as Mount Airy still stands in the 1A Dual Team State Playoffs.

East Surry’s No. 1 and No. 2 seeds this season both competed in the 2A State Singles Tournament. Both were first-time state qualifiers.

Top-seeded Cooper Motsinger, a senior, entered as the 2A Midwest Regional Champion. His Cardinal teammate Levi Watson, a sophomore, qualified as the fourth-place finisher at regionals.

Watson had the unfortunate draw of facing Pine Lake Prep’s Tyler Ramanata in the opening round. Ramanata, who won the 1A Singles Championship in 2021, defeated Watson 6-0, 6-1.

Motsinger defeated Lincoln Charter’s Connor Milligan 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round, then topped Franklin Academy’s Lance Keller 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Motsinger ran into Ramanata in the semifinals and fell 6-0, 6-0. Like Kriek’s semifinal opponent, Ramanata went on to win the 2A Singles Championship. Ramanata only lost a combined three games in his four matches at the state tournament.

All four of Surry Central’s state qualifiers competed in their first state tournaments.

Central’s top-ranked doubles team of senior Jacob Edmonds and junior Josh Pardue entered the tournament as the 2A Midwest Regional Runners-up, and the team of junior Michael Tucker and freshman Tripp McMillen were the No. 4 seed from the 2A Midwest.

Pardue and Edmonds dropped their first-round match to Community School of Davidson’s Luke Breen and Julian Rizo 6-1, 6-3. Breen and Rizo won their quarterfinal match in straight sets, then lost to the eventual state champions in the semifinals.

Tucker and McMillen fell to Lincolnton’s Zach Zagorkski and Piero Ravolino 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round. Zagorkski and Ravolino lost in the quarterfinals.

MORAVIAN FALLS — East Surry pulled away from North Surry on Thursday to win the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament Championship.

The game was closely contested until the No. 1-seeded Cards nearly doubled their number of hits and runs in an explosive sixth inning. The No. 3 Greyhounds continued to battle and scored again in the top of the seventh, and even had two players on base when the final strikeout was thrown.

A 9-4 win over its county foe gave East Surry its 14th conference tournament championship in the program’s history.

“We have a lot of respect for the North Surry baseball program, and Coach [Daryll] Johnson always has them well-prepared,” said East Surry coach Chad Freeman. “They won 10-of-11 coming into the championship so we knew they were a scrappy bunch. We made some mistakes, but came up with key hits at some key times.

“A lot of guys stepped up for us, so hopefully this will give us some momentum as we prepare for state playoffs.”

East and North Surry are two programs very familiar with conference tournament championship games. East won the Northwest 1A Conference Tournament Championship in 2013-15, 2017 and 2018, then finished tournament runner-up in 2019. North won the Western Piedmont 2A Conference Tournament Championship in 2019, and was runner-up in 2017 and 2018.

No conference tournaments were held in 2020 or 2021.

“I’m incredibly proud of the guys for fighting to get here and putting us in a position to compete for a championship,” Johnson said. “The box scores were almost identical, but East Surry was able to get his when they needed them and they made some big plays. They have a culture they live by and they’ve been very successful. We have culture too, and we want to be successful every time we go out there. Success is measured a lot of different ways, and I don’t always judge on what the scoreboard says.

“We’re not done. We’re gonna get ready for wherever we have to go if we’re blessed with a playoff berth.”

The road to the FH2A Championship

North felt it had unfinished business with top-seeded East Surry after the most recent meeting between the teams. The Cardinals came away with the 2-1 win despite not advancing past second base past the third inning. The Greyhounds loaded the bases three times after scoring their only run, but couldn’t convert a run.

“Honestly, I thought they outplayed us in that game at our place,” Freeman said. “We weren’t as sharp as we should’ve been, we were just fortunate to make the plays needed to pick up the win. As a whole, they were better prepared for game two even though we won the game.”

Knowing his team had shown they could compete with East, the top-ranked team in the FH2A Conference, served as extra motivation for Johnson and the Greyhounds.

“It was a bad feeling coming out of that game, and we took that game and grew from it,” Johnson said. “If the ball had bounced our way a few times when it didn’t, things might’ve ended differently. That game, like the ones against Forbush and the game at West Wilkes, was a wake-up call for us.”

North Surry’s 17-11 loss at West Wilkes on April 4 was a turning point for the team. The Greyhounds, who fell to 6-7 overall following the loss, committed a season-high nine errors against the Blackhawks.

“We had a team meeting and discussed some things that will stay between us as a team,” Johnson said. “They agreed it was unacceptable. We weren’t mentally tough at the beginning of the season and, while we’re not completely where we want to be, we’ve come a long way since then.”

The Greyhounds proceeded to win 10 of their next 11 games, including a 3-0 win over No. 2-seeded Forbush to reach the conference championship game. Forbush defeated North Surry 8-2 and 9-1 in their two regular season meetings.

“It’s been a long season, but it’s been a good season,” Johnson said. “I’ve watched other teams and seen how they respond to adversity, then take a look at mine. I wouldn’t trade my guys for anything…there’s a lot of respect in that dugout for the people inside our circle. That’s got us to where we’re at.”

East Surry, meanwhile, had to grind out wins in multiple close games to keep its undefeated conference campaign alive. This included two close games against Forbush, the aforementioned win over North Surry, a come-from-behind win at West Wilkes and a victory at Surry Central to close the regular season.

The No. 1 Cardinals defeated No. 4 West Wilkes 10-1 to reach the conference tournament championship.

“We made sure to emphasize in practice that we couldn’t take North Surry lightly, and the guys knew that,” Freeman said. “We talked about it and no one on our team has been part of a conference tournament championship team. It’s something special, and North is playing for the same prize.”

“Another wildcard is that we never faced Cam Taylor in the regular season either. He threw great for them the second half of the conference season, and we really weren’t sure what to expect.”

Freeman likened the tournament championship to a heavyweight boxing match.

“It was like two good boxers going back-and-forth with each other,” Freeman said. “One side would get on a run with a few quality punches, then the other would fight back and gain momentum. It was a great quality game, and that’s what you expect for a championship.”

North Surry (16-9) was first on the board with a run in the top of the first inning. Leadoff Ethan Edwards reached first on a Cardinal fielding error, moved to second and then third on a pair of wild pitches. James McCreary scored Edwards with a blooper over the third baseman’s head.

The Cardinals (21-1) mirrored the Hounds and put their leadoff on first after a fielding error. Trey Armstrong was hit by a pitch and then Folger Boaz was walked to load the bases with no outs. After picking up a strikeout, North Surry pitcher Cam Taylor walked Anthony Ayers to bring Luke Bowman across the plate to tie the game.

North faced another set of loaded bases after the walk, but turned a double play to end the inning. Caden Lasley hit a grounder to Edwards and first, and Edwards rifled a throw to Brodie Robertson at home for the force out. Robertson quickly threw back to Edwards at first for the third out of the inning.

East Surry added three runs in the bottom of the second to take its first lead of the evening. Matthew Keener and Bowman each singled, and Tristen Mason was walked to load the bases similar to the first inning. Armstrong, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the FH2A Tournament, hit a 2RBI single to Keener and Mason.

“Trey was just phenomenal all tournament; he really played out of his mind,” Freeman said. “He played great in the field and had that spectacular diving save. Throughout the entire tournament, he only got out once at the plate.”

A sacrifice fly hit by Boaz brought Bowman in to make it a 4-1 game.

North Surry returned fire in the top of the third when Edwards and Kolby Watson hit singles. A Cardinal error on Watson’s hit allowed the runners to advance to second and third, then Robertson joined his teammates after being hit by a Luke Brown pitch.

Myles Draughn scored Edwards with a single to make it 4-2. The Cardinals got Watson out when he attempted to go home, but a ground out hit by McCreary allowed Trevor Isaacs – running for Robertson – to score and make it 4-3.

The Cardinals added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Boaz grounded out to score Bowman. North Surry had chances to retaliate in the fifth and sixth, but left two runners on base each time.

The Hounds caught some bad luck in the sixth inning with runners on the corners. Edwards was up to bat and faced a 2-2 count. Edwards attempted to dodge a pitch thrown his way, but his bat inadvertently made contact with the ball. Taylor never got the chance to run home on the wild pitch since it was ruled a foul ball, and it made the count stay at 2-2 instead of going to 3-2. Brown struck Edwards out on the next pitch.

East Surry went to the top of the lineup in the bottom of the sixth and erupted for back-to-back doubles, put a runner on base with an intentional walk and then rattled off two more doubles to increase their lead to 9-3. North Surry led the hit-count 7-6 prior to the bottom of the sixth.

“We just took good approaches, and when we got pitches to hit we took advantage of it,” Freeman said. “We also had strong baserunning throughout the game.”

The Greyhounds continued to battle and added a run in the top of the seventh. The Cards committed two fielding errors that opened the door for Watson to score, but North once again left two runners on base.

“I’m proud of them, and I’ve been sure to tell them that,” Johnson said. “It’s been tough to get where we are, and it’s definitely not been easy. But, we don’t want it to be easy. That’s how you get better.

“Hopefully we get a good draw in playoffs. We played some bad games and had some bad performances, so we put ourselves here and now we’ve got to do something about it.”

Taylor spent 5.1 innings on the mound for North Surry. He threw two strikeouts, hit batters, walked three and allowed eight runs on eight hits. McCreary threw the final .2 innings and allowed one run on two hits.

Brown got the win on the mound for East by throwing six strikeouts, two walks, and giving up three runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings. Anthony Ayers pitched the final inning and had one strikeout, one walk and allowed one run.

The Surry Central softball team recognized its four senior athletes prior to an April 28 home game against East Surry.

Arial Holt, Alyssa Woods, Carlee Jones and Emma Gentry rode onto the field in style on the back of motorcycles. Each senior was presented gifts by the team and recognized before the start of the game. East Surry won the regular season finale 8-3.

Surry Central was given the No. 6 seed in the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament and traveled to No. 3 Wilkes Central on May 2. Surry Central broke a winning drought by upsetting Wilkes Central 15-4. Wilkes Central came into the conference tournament having won nine of its past 11 games, and its only two losses came against eventual conference champion and conference tournament champion Forbush.

The Golden Eagles faced No. 2 West Wilkes in the FH2A semifinals. West Wilkes jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but couldn’t put Surry Central away. The Eagles cut the lead to 4-2 with a 2RBI single hit by Kailea Zurita in the top of the fifth inning, then tied the game on a 2RBI double hit by Woods in the top of the sixth inning.

West Wilkes rallied and put up five runs in the bottom of the sixth, then held Surry Central scoreless in the top of the seventh.

Surry Central sits at 4-14 as it waits for a potential postseason bid to the 2A State Playoffs.

DOBSON — Surry Central hosted the 2022 Foothills 2A Conference Track and Field Championship on April 28.

Surry Central’s girls and Wilkes Central’s boys came away with the team conference championships. Points were awarded for each top-8 finish: 10 points for first place, 8 for second, 6 for third, 5 for fourth and one fewer point through eighth place.

Surry Central senior Mia McMillen was named FH2A Female Athlete of the Year, and Golden Eagle coach Kevin Pack was named Girls Coach of the Year.

Wilkes Central senior Terry Hayes was named Male Athlete of the Year, and his coach Anthony Smith was named Coach of the Year.

Team results and individual breakdowns are included below for each Surry County school. Full meet results can be found at bit.ly/3MMXWqY

Four of Surry Central’s eight gold medals were won by McMillen, who repeats as female athlete of the year.

McMillen was the only athlete at the conference championship – in boys or girls – that won four gold medals in individual events. McMillen took first in the long jump, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash.

Yeira Munoz had Surry Central’s remaining gold in track events by winning the 3,200 meters, and Ivy Toney added a gold from a field event by winning pole vault.

Toney and Munoz helped the Lady Golden Eagles win gold in two relays. Toney, Andrea Gonzalez, Ella Priddy and Madelyn Wilmoth won the 4×400, and Munoz, Priddy, Toney and Wilmoth won the 4×800.

Surry Central had two second-place finishes and three third-place finishes.

Priddy finished second in the 400 meters, while Cassie Sneed took silver in the discus throw.

Toney finished just behind Priddy in the 400 meters, Munoz took third in the 1,600 meters and Lanie Fitzgerald was third in pole vault.

East Surry finished first in two events: discus throw and the 4×100 relay.

Clara Willard won discus for the Cardinals, and also took third in shot put. The team of Faith Braithwaite, Madeline Dayton, Ember Midkiff and Arianna Liberatore won the 4×100 relay.

East’s 4×100 team also finished second in the 4×200. Two of those relay members helped the Lady Cards win three other medals: Dayton finished second in triple jump, and Braithwaite finished second in the 200 meters and third in the 100 meters.

The Cards’ remaining top-3 finish came from Chloe Anne Tew, who finished second in high jump.

Greyhound freshman Ella Riggs had both of North Surry’s top-3 finishes. Riggs won gold in shot put, then took third in discus throw.

North Surry had two girls finish just outside the top-3: Isabel Delfin finished fourth in the 400 meters, and Anna Escobar was fourth in shot put.

Ignacio Morales and Allen Huffman each won four medals for the Golden Eagles.

Morales finished first in the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters, while also finishing second in the 800 meters and third as part of Surry Central’s 4×800 relay team. Morales was joined in the 4×800 by Brangly Mazariegos, Jonathan Avila and Sebastian Sanchez.

Huffman had the Golden Eagles’ other gold medal finish by winning the 300 hurdles. He joined Isaac Eller, Josue Rodriguez and Chris Nava on the 4×400 team that finished second, and was part of two relay teams that finished third. The team of Huffman, Ayden Wilmoth, Brian Williams and Evan Wall won bronze in the 4×100, and Huffman, Wilmoth, Wall and Rhylee Anderson finished third in the 4×200.

Mazariegos had Central’s remaining medal performance by taking third in the 1,600 meters.

Cardinal sophomore Isaac Vaden swept the throwing events by winning discus throw and shot put. Vaden’s wins were the Cardinals’ only gold medals.

Cooper Motsinger added a silver medal by taking second in the 3,200 meters, and the relay team of Layton Allen, Kyle Zinn, Colby Johnson and Lindann Fleming finished second in the 4×100.

Colby Johnson and Eli Becker each added a third-place finish. Johnson won bronze in triple jump, and Becker finished third in shot put.

North Surry’s three medal-winning performances were all achieved by junior Jared Hiatt. Hiatt won the FH2A Championship in long jump and triple jump, while finishing second in high jump.

Hiatt and Hayes had the only two performances in the meet that met the MileSplit US Second Team Standard. Hiatt did so by leaping 22-11.50 feet in the long jump, and Hayes was only 3.50 inches behind him. No other athlete jumped within 3.80 feet of either Hayes or Hiatt.

Aaron Mauck finished just outside the top-3 with a fourth-place finish in discus throw. North Surry also had two relay teams finish fourth: Hiatt, Chuck Powers, Jake Simmons and Matthew Senter did so in the 4×100, and Powers, Simmons, Senter and Elijah Shelton were fourth in the 4×200.

Millennium Charter baseball closed its regular season with the program’s longest winning streak.

The Lions (6-12, 3-7 Northwest Piedmont) won back-to-back games on April 21 and 22 for their first winning streak since joining the N.C. High School Athletic Association. Following a 5-4 walk-off win over rival N.C. Leadership Academy, Millennium went on a hot streak and scored 51 runs over its next three games.

MCA’s first obstacle as the season was winding down was Oak Ridge Military Academy. Millennium trailed 2-1 in the April 27 game, then exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second inning. ORMA scored one run in the top of the fourth, then the Lions responded with a 10-run inning.

Millennium went on to defeat Oak Ridge 17-4.

The Lions hammered 16 hits against ORMA. Tristan Shockley, Zeke Harrison, Calvin Devore, Hartley Devore, Ethan Holladay and Phillip Byrd each recorded two hits in the victory, while Aryan Hira, Landon Martin, Landon Jarrell and Evan Key recorded one hit each.

Byrd led the Lions with four RBIs, and Shockley had three.

Byrd, Martin and the Devore’s split time on the mound, combining to throw five strikeouts, four walks and allow three hits.

Millennium closed the regular season with a Senior Night double-header against Carver. The Lions’ six senior players were recognized before the start of game No. 1: Key, Harrison, Jarrell, Shockley, Calvin and Hartley Devore.

The seniors went home happy with wins of 16-1 and 18-0.

Byrd pitched one game and nine strikeouts while allowing no hits. Hartley Devore and Holladay threw the other game, combing to strike out three batters.

Across two games: Byrd and Hartley Devore each had six hits; Shockley, Holladay and Key each had three hits; Martin had two hits; and Harrison, Jarrell and Calvin Devore each had one hit.

Millennium and N.C. Leadership Academy tied for fourth in the NWPC and played each other in the first round of the conference tournament. NCLA won that game 7-1 to advance to the tournament semifinals.

Millennium now waits to see if it will receive a bid for the 1A State Playoffs.

WALNUT COVE — No. 5 ranked South Stokes handed No. 4 Mount Airy its first loss of the season on Friday with a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime win in the Northwest 1A Conference.

With the win, the Sauras tied the Bears atop the conference with one loss each.

“The girls played as a team, and we kept our composure in a very physical game,” said Sauras’ coach Danny Bowman. “We maintained during the first half, but we also allowed them to control too much of the game. In the second half, we slowed down a little and played our game. We stepped up in the overtime period and scored our third goal early. It gave us the confidence we needed to hold on and get the win.”

The Bears’ Grey Moore gave her team an early 1-0 lead at the 31:14 mark of the first half. The senior scored on a header with the help of a pass from Karyme Bueno off a corner kick.

Mount Airy was able to take advantage of the physicality between both teams with 22 minutes left in the first half. The Sauras were called for a foul so Moore lined up for a free kick from 25 yards out. Moore’s kick bounced over the Sauras’ initial front line and then took a spinning bounce past goalie Alicia Rangel for a 2-0 advantage into the half.

Both teams had moments of control in the first 10 minutes of the second half until South’s Ella Carroll closed the gap with a goal with 29:49 left in the contest.

Mount Airy controlled the next 20-plus minutes of play, keeping the ball on the Sauras’ defensive side of the field. Rangel continue to make saves in the goal to keep her team within striking distance.

With 8:57 left in the match, senior Jenna Shotton, who committed to play for Guilford College earlier in the day, took an unexpected shot from 40 yards out on the right hash. The senior’s kick sailed over multiple Bear defenders and found the back of the net, tying the contest and eventually sending the game into overtime.

The teams played two 10-minute overtime periods, with the Sauras scoring with 5:45 left in the first 10 minutes on of a corner kick by Shotton. Her kick found Abby Tilley in the middle of the field, and she placed the ball over the out-stretched hands of the Bears’ goalie Mackenzie Hudson giving the home team’s its first lead of the game.

The Sauras held strong and were able to withstand a fury of kicks by the Bears in the last minute of the game to get the win and draw even in the standings.

Rangel finished the game with 14 saves on 22 shots from the Bears. Hydson recorded 13 saves on 20 South Stokes’ shots.

South Stokes improved to 14-3 overall and 8-1 in league play after its 7-0 win over county-rival North Stokes on Tuesday. Shotton scored her conference leading 29th and 30th goals of the season in the win.

Mount Airy dropped to 14-1-4 overall and 8-1 in league play.

The Sauras travel to Elkin (11-3-1, 7-2) on Thursday and the Bears go to Alleghany (5-6, 5-5). The Elks gave South its only loss in league play with a 3-2 overtime victory in Walnut-Cove two weeks ago.

Robert Money can be reached at 336-749-1193.

LEXINGTON — New classification, same result.

East Surry captured its second consecutive regional golf championship on Monday by winning the 2022 2A Midwest Regional Championship. The tournament was held at the Sapona Country Club in Lexington on May 2.

The Cardinals won the 1A Midwest Regional Title in 2021, then secured the 2A Midwest Regional Title this season.

“Winning the regional is one goal that we set before the season started,” said East Surry coach Darrin Haywood. “It was great to watch the guys compete on a tough course that demanded accuracy. I also am proud of our individual scores from Monday.”

The Cardinals won the regional championship by 19 strokes, with East’s top four golfers all finishing in the top-10. The top three teams automatically qualified for the 2A State Championship Meet.

A total of 79 golfers competed in the 2A Midwest Regional. East Surry junior Anderson Badgett was the medalist at the event with a low score of 74.

Badgett’s Cardinal teammates Chase Harris, Connor Key and Bradley Davis also finished in the top 10. Harris was fifth at 78, Key was sixth at 79 and Davis was 10th at 83.

The top nine individuals that weren’t part of the three state-qualifying teams will compete as individuals at the 2A State Championship. Six local golfers fall into this category, and are listed below along with East Surry’s individual scores

The 2A State Championship will be held May 9-10 at the Foxfire Golf Club (Red) in Pinehurst. East Surry looks to win its first state title since 2008, which was also the last time the Cards had an individual state champion (John Welden).

Since winning it all in 2008, the Cardinals finished second in the state three times – 2014, 2019 and 2021 – and third three times – 2011, 2012 and 2013.

“In order to win the state title as a team we have a few things to improve in our game,” Haywood said. “We are at the point of tweaking a few things to continue to bring our scores down. I am so excited for next week and the challenge that lies ahead at Foxfire. We are approaching the tournament one hole at a time.”

Though they may have lost a few members along the way, Mount Airy baseball’s class of 2022 is experiencing success that the program hasn’t seen in more than 50 years.

The Granite Bears defeated Elkin 5-2 in the opening round of the Northwest 1A Conference Tournament. With the May 2 victory, the Bears win their seventh consecutive game and improve to 17-7 overall. According to Mount Airy historian Doug McDaniel, Mount Airy last won eight games in a row in 1958 and most recently won at least 16 games in a season in 1939.

Mount Airy (17-7, 10-2 NW1A) began its current win streak on April 13. Since then, the Bears have defeated Surry Central twice, Alleghany twice and Elkin three times. The Bears have outscored opponents 75-23 during this run, which includes four games scoring in double figures.

The Bears, ranked No. 1 in the 1A West by MaxPreps, closed the season with a Senior Night game against Alleghany. Mount Airy’s four senior team members are: Josh Penn, Logan Dowell, Reece McDuffie and Reece Deaton.

Ashton Gwyn got the win on the mound, while Dowell and Gallimore also spent time on the bump. Gwyn tossed six strikeouts, and Dowell and Landon Gallimore each had three.

Deaton and Rylan Venable each had two hits against the Trojans, and Brison George, Cameryn Wilson and Kamden Hawks each had one. Nine different Bears scored in the 12-2 victory.

The Alleghany win helped Mount Airy secure the No. 2 seed in the NW1A Tournament, allowing the Bears to host Elkin on May 2.

Dowell pitched five innings for Mount Airy and threw five strikeouts, one walk and allowed one run on three hits. Gwyn pitched the remainder of the game and had three strikeouts, two walks and allowed one run on three hits.

Deaton and Landon Cox racked up two hits each, and George, Wilson, Penn, Dowell and Hawks each had one.

Successful teams aim to peak at the right time in a season, and it appears North Surry softball is doing just that.

North Surry is riding a four-game winning streak in which the Hounds have outscored opponents 41-6. These four wins include: a 9-1 road victory against Surry Central, a 9-1 win over West Wilkes, an 11-0 Senior Night victory over North Wilkes and a 12-4 win over East Surry.

All four wins are significant as the Greyhounds (11-10, 7-5 Foothills 2A) battle for a playoff berth.

The win over Surry Central broke a three-game losing streak for North Surry; two of those losses were by one run to the teams that would finish first and third in the FH2A Conference. The remaining loss came against one of the top-ranked 1A teams in the state.

After beating Surry Central, North Surry posted possibly its biggest win of the year by upsetting West Wilkes. The Blackhawks had won eight-straight games and 13-of-14 prior to the game against North Surry. The Hounds’ 9-1 win handed West Wilkes its largest defeat of the season.

North Surry recognized seven senior players as part of the team’s Senior Night game against North Wilkes: Marissa Casstevens, Trista Berrier, Sara Bledsoe, Micah Felts, Kadie Fulk, Carley Puckett and Bella Aparicio.

Berrier was perfect in the five-inning shutout victory. The senior pitcher threw eight strikeouts while walking zero batters and allowing zero hits.

Offensively, North Surry scored all 11 of its runs in the third inning. Berrier led the way with three hits, including two doubles, while Aparicio had two hits, and Puckett and Sarah Mauldin each had one hit.

Like the North Wilkes game, North Surry scored all of its runs against East Surry in one inning. The May 2 FH2A Tournament game marked North and East Surry’s third meeting, with the first two going the way of the Hounds. East Surry took a 1-0 lead before North exploded for 12 runs in the fourth inning.

Aparicio and Fulk each had three hits and three RBIs in the win over the Cardinals. Jordan Snow had a pair of hits, and Mauldin, Felts, Puckett and Sadie Montgomery each had one hit. Snow had one double, and Aparicio had a triple.

The North Surry Greyhounds baseball team is running at full speed entering the postseason.

North Surry was 6-7 overall after dropping a home game to West Wilkes on April 4. Four days later, the Greyhounds beat West Wilkes on the road to begin a 5-game winning streak.

As of May 3, North Surry has won nine of its past 10 games to improve to 15-8 overall.

The Hounds have scored double-digit runs in seven of those nine victories. This includes a Senior Night victory over North Wilkes on April 29, as well as a 10-6 win over Wilkes Central in the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament.

North Surry’s five seniors – Alec Singleton, Trevor Isaacs, Keaton Hudson, Ethan Edwards and Caleb Collins – ended the regular season with an 11-1 victory to finish 7-5 in conference play. This set the No. 3 Greyhounds up against the No. 6 Wilkes Central Eagles in the opening round of the FH2A Tourney.

North Surry started with a 6-2 lead through three innings, but found itself in a tough spot when Wilkes Central battled back to tie the game at 6-6 in the fifth.

Myles Draughn led off in the bottom of the fifth with a ground rule double that bounced over the fence in left-center field. A wild pitch moved Draughn’s courtesy runner, Jay Eades, to third, then a sacrifice fly from Cam Taylor allowed Eades to score.

Wilkes Central put the potential game-tying run on first in the top of the sixth after being walked. North had just one out on the board, but kept the plate clean with a classic 6-4-3 double play.

Jackson Smith was up first in the bottom of the sixth and smashed a double down the right field line. Jake Beamer bunted to move Smith to third, and an overthrow at first base allowed Smith to score and Beamer to reach second.

Edwards kept the bats moving with a hit to left field. Wilkes Central’s throw home was off the mark, which allowed Beamer to score run No. 9 and put Edwards on third. North Surry added their final run when Edwards scored off a wild pitch.

Seven local tennis stars are headed to the Individual State Championship Tournaments.

One athlete from Mount Airy, Georgie Kriek, will compete in the 1A State Tournament as a singles competitor. The remaining six athletes will compete in the 2A State Tournament: East Surry’s Cooper Motsinger and Levi Watson qualified for the singles championship, while the Surry Central teams of Josh Pardue/Jacob Edmonds and Michael Tucker/Tripp McMillen will compete in the doubles championship.

Kriek reached the 1A West Regional Singles Championship before finishing second in the bracket.

Motsinger won the 2A Midwest Regional Singles Championship, while Pardue/ Edmonds were runners-up in the 2A Midwest Doubles Championship.

Watson finished fourth in the 2A Singles Tournament, and Tucker/McMillen finished fourth in the 2A Doubles Tournament.

Two Northwest 1A Conference rivals entered the 1A West Regional Championship on opposite sides of the singles bracket: Mount Airy’s Kriek and Elkin’s Owen Jennings. Kriek defeated Jennings twice during the regular season, and Jennings topped Kriek in the NW1A Singles Championship.

Kriek breezed through the first two rounds of regionals to qualify for the state tournament. The Granite Bear topped Cornerstone Charter’s Jacob Stanfield 6-3, 6-0 in the opening round, then beat Draughn’s Corey Powell 6-0, 6-1.

Kriek reached the championship round by defeating Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy’s Charlie Schweppe 6-2, 6-4. Schweppe went on to finish third in the bracket.

Jennings defeated Kriek 6-2, 6-2 in the finals.

Mount Airy also had a doubles team qualify for regionals: Martin Cooke/Jared Pinto. The duo of Cooke/Pinto fell to Bishop McGuinness’ Joshua Hanflink/Evan Sturgill in the opening round, while the Bishop team went on to finish third.

Motsinger and Watson were seeded No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, in the singles bracket.

Motsinger won without ever surrendering more than three total games in a match. Through four rounds of the tournament, he only lost a total of six games.

Motsinger defeated the No. 15 seed, West Davidson’s Ethan Ullring, 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round, then topped the No. 7 seed, North Wilkes’ Mitch Adams, 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Like the 1A singles and 2A doubles bracket, a Surry County team occupied half of the semifinal spots. East Surry’s Watson reached the semis by beating the No. 12 seed, West Stanly’s Nate Barringer, 6-3, 6-4, before topping the No. 4 seed, West Davidson’s Bain Bennett, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Motsinger advanced to the championship match by defeating Wheatmore’s Jagur Williams, seeded No. 3, 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals. Watson fell to Salisbury’s Will Koontz in the semifinals. Koontz was the top-seeded player in the bracket and defeated Watson 6-0, 6-1.

Koontz was undefeated on the year coming into the regional finals. Motsinger defeated Koontz 6-1, 6-2 to win the 2A Midwest Singles Championship.

Both Motsinger and Watson advance to the State Championship Tournament in hopes of becoming East Surry’s first-ever Singles State Champion.

East Surry’s lone doubles team in the Regional Tournament was the duo of Kade Talton/Nick Lowery. The team, seeded No. 10, defeated Walkertown’s No. 7 team of Kooper Bray/James Brown 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round, but fell to Mount Pleasant’s No. 2-seeded duo of Jadon Carnes/Gonzalo Gomez in the quarterfinals.

Surry Central’s Pardue/Edmonds entered as the No. 1 seed in the 2A Midwest Doubles Tournament. The duo defeated Forest Hill’s No. 16 team of Stephen Herrera/Keith Evan in the opening round, then beat North Stanly’s No. 8 team of Kaleb Burrage/Judson Busch 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Pardue/Edmonds won a marathon semifinal match over Salisbury’s No. 4-ranked team of Colin Donaldson/Gray Davis. The pair of undefeated teams went to two set-tiebreakers before a winner could be crowned.

Pardue/Edmonds won the first set of the semifinal 7-6, (7-5), and Donaldson/Davis won the second set 6-2. The tiebreaking set was also decided with a tiebreaker, which went the way of the Golden Eagles 7-6 (7-4).

Now 19-0 as a doubles team this season, Pardue/Edmonds faced yet another undefeated squad: Mount Pleasant’s Carnes/Gomez.

Carnes/Gomez defeated Pardue/Edmonds 6-1, 6-2 to win the Regional Championship.

Pardue/Edmonds aren’t the only Golden Eagles with a chance to become Surry Central’s first-ever Doubles State Champions. Tucker/McMillen entered as the No. 3 seeded team and posted back-to-back wins to qualify for the state tournament.

Tucker/McMillen defeated No. 14 Collin Burgess/Jacob Youngs of Wheatmore 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round, then topped Forbush’s No. 6-ranked team of Calvin Norman/Cooper Hennings 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Tucker/McMillen fell to Mount Pleasant’s Carves/Gomez in the semifinals, then lost to Salisbury’s Donaldson/Davis in the consolation finals.

North Surry High School senior Jair Gonzalez officially signed his NCAA National Letter of Intent and will continue his academic and soccer careers at Pfeiffer University.

“It feels unreal, but amazing,” Gonzalez said. “It’s everything I’ve been pursuing since I was little. At first I had my doubts because of the way I started out playing in high school. It was a completely different environment than middle school, but as time went on things clicked together for me.”

Jair has been a cornerstone of the Greyhounds soccer team for four years. He walked into Charlie Atkins Stadium and became a starter his freshman year, then went on to become an All-Conference and All-Region player that garnered the attention of college scouts.

“I never doubted him because I’ve seen how hard of a worker he is and what he’s willing to do to accomplish something,” said Eric Jessup, who served as North Surry head soccer coach from 2017-21 before swapping to an assistant role ahead of the 2021-22 season. “He puts a lot of time into the sport and plays year round. You could see him each year getting a little better, little better, little better… to the point where you thought ‘hey, this kid could definitely play at the next level.’”

Another coach that was present for Gonzalez’s development as both a player and a young man was Kevin Shore. Shore served as Jessup’s assistant coach during Gonzalez’s first three years, then took over as head coach for Jair’s senior year.

“When he came in as a freshman, a lot of times he just needed a little bit of guidance and maybe some parameters,” Shore said. “You could see him develop as a team player and as the leader of the team. This year, all the team members looked up to Jair.

“If there was some backbiting going on, you could look at Jair and he would end it. He’d say ‘This is what we’re going to do and this is how we’re going to go about things,’ and everything would get better. You need that leadership to be successful.”

Gonzalez’s soccer experience and natural abilities led to success on the field. He picked up the sport at a young age and played a lot of indoor soccer. As he entered middle school, Jair started getting more serious about playing in college and decided to play travel soccer. He later joined Northern Triad Soccer Club coached by Sam Lowe.

Gonzalez wasn’t the crucial piece of the puzzle just because he was a talented player at one or two positions. Rather, according to Shore, he was a talented player wherever the team needed him to play.

He said his natural position is in the midfield, which is where he started when he first came to North. But as older players graduated and holes opened up, Jair was moved to defense where he found his fit for the Greyhounds.

“Jair is one of the kids that we’d do a starting lineup and say ‘hey, what do you think,’” Shore said. “ He was one of the few players on the field that, of the 11, he had the green light if he needed to go from defense to striker and we would back his play. He was an asset all the way around.”

“If you really think about it,” Jessup added, “I don’t think we really took you out of a game this year. We’d just shift you somewhere else on the field if someone needed a break.”

After some discussion, the trio of Shore, Jessup and Gonzalez could only think of one instance throughout the entire 2021-22 season in which Jair was subbed out by the coaches excluding injuries and cards. The game in question was North Surry’s playoff game at Trinity, which marked the school’s first playoff appearance since 2018.

“That was just giving direction, making sure he had his mind right to go back out there and make an impact,” Shore said. “But what makes Jair so unique was that if he did take the freedom to push up to striker and there was a turnover, he would undoubtedly sprint back. He gave as much effort going up to the offensive end as he would coming back on defense. You can’t say that about everybody all the time; they weren’t that excited about it. But at the same time, he knew he was necessary to get those stops.”

“I just tried to play the best I could every game,” Gonzalez said. “I try not to get off the field unless it’s completely necessary for me to. I’ve always tried to bring everyone up as much as I could. We’ve always had our arguments, our differences, but we’ve always tried to work through them together.”

Even after his final high school season, Jair’s impact on North Surry soccer is still being felt.

“I think Jair set the standard for what it takes to lead on the team,” Shore said. “Even today in April, I’ve got kids talking about summer workouts and they’re saying ‘I want to take Jair’s spot. I want to be like Jair.’ It’s good to hear those comments because it shows his teammates realize what he brought to the table.”

Shore and Jessup spoke of how Jair’s college recruitment would serve as a shining example for upcoming North Surry soccer players. The coaches expressed their gratitude to Gonzalez for his dedication to the program and to his teammates over the years, and Gonzalez gave it right back.

“I really want to thank Coach Shore and Coach Jessup,” he said. “I honestly don’t think I would be at this point I’m at today without their help throughout these four years.”

Jair also extended thanks to his family for their unwavering support. Gonzalez mentioned wanting to succeed in the sport to have the experience that his dad earned but couldn’t experience.

“My dad’s been my main inspiration,” Jair said. “Back when he was younger he had the opportunity to possibly go pro, but did not because he was too young to leave home.”

With his parting words at Gonzalez’s signing, Jessup wanted to let Pfeiffer know what kind of person they were getting this fall.

“Jair is a winner, just all the way around,” Jessup said. “He’s going to be a winner in life, he’s gonna do great in college – whether hitting the books or playing on the field – and he’s going to do great with whatever he decides to do after.”

DOBSON — Each half of Wednesday’s soccer match between Surry Central and North Surry was like an entirely different game.

The first 40 minutes saw North Surry strike early and hold on to a hold halftime lead for the first time in more than three weeks. North’s defense took a major hit in the final minutes of the first half, which proved doubly brutal for the Greyhounds when the Golden Eagles played with new energy in the second half.

A trio of quick goals by Central turned the tides of the game, and a fourth goal later in the half put the exclamation point on the 4-1 win.

“We just came out completely different in the second half,” said Central coach Adan Garcia. “We played a little sloppy at the start and felt the effects. We didn’t have much luck against their defense in the first half either, but we were able to adjust and I’m proud of the girls for making the necessary changes.

“They (North) gave us a tough battle, regardless of the score line. That was a tough, tough win.”

Garcia said the Eagles completely changed their formation during halftime. As someone that traditionally plays a more conservative 4-4-2, Garcia decided to play risky and change to a 3-4-3.

“We thought we could contain them enough to keep them from outscoring us in the second half, but knew we wouldn’t have a chance if we didn’t put the ball in the net,” Garcia said. “We wanted to try and get around [Kim] Elias in the back so we tried to get to our outside mids, drag her out and find the wings.”

Central’s plan worked, and within five minutes had evened the game at 1-1.

North Surry’s defense was locked in during the first half. The Greyhound limited shots on the goal, and forced Central to try and fire from distance.

“Our defense hasn’t given up a many goals since we moved Weatherly Reeves and Kim Elias both back there,” said Greyhound coach Eric Jessup. “Those two work so well together and it’s fun to watch. Sometimes we’ll run a diamond in the back with both of them in the center, and then other times we’ll have three in the back with a sweeper.”

Elias also scored North’s lightning-fast goal early in the game. Central gave up a foul five yards outside the 18-yard box, and Elias sent an absolute firecracker into the net with the wind on her side.

North Surry’s defense had to call an audible after Reeves was injured late in the first half. She left the game and did not return.

“That was such a big loss for our team,” Jessup said. “She’s our team leader. Does a lot of the talking from the back, takes all the throw-ins, she knows where to be and what to do and helps others on the field as well. She’s really hard to replace.”

Jessup said he had to pull a midfielder back to Reeves’ spot on defense, then plug another player into the midfield spot. The sudden change led the team to a troublesome start to the second half, which, paired with Central’s offensive explosion, changed the entire dynamic of the game.

“That was a big loss for our defense, but I’m definitely not taking anything away from Coach Garcia,” Jessup said. “They played a great second half and were able to finish really well. They came out in the second half and scored three quick goals, so I know he drew up a great gameplan.

“Most of all I hate it for her (Reeves). I know not being able to play really hurts her.”

Lillian Orozco scored Central’s game-tying goal that sparked the strong second half. Estefany Avila sent a hard pass on the ground to Orozco in the middle to finish in the 45th minute. A few minutes later, Orozco took another shot that was blocked down by North’s keeper. Miranda Calderon swooped in and poked the ball in to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.

In the 57th minute, Central’s Dafne Salgado-Perez took a pass from Orozco up the sideline to set up a deep cross. Avila crashed from the left wing and redirected the cross with her knee into the goal.

The fourth and final goal for the Eagles came on an Orozco shot at the edge of the 18. Her shot was low and hard, and sailed over the line near the post.

“All we worked on this week was long-range shooting,” Garcia said. “It’s going to give us a little boost in the East Surry game and for the rest of the season.”

“Our girls played hard and we had some really good stretches, especially in that first half,” Jessup said. “Sometimes this is just how things go. We need to rebound and come out fighting again when we get back on the field.”

ROARING GAP — The Mount Airy golf team finished second at the Northwest 1A Conference Championship meet on Tuesday.

The meet was hosted at held at the Roaring Gap Club in Alleghany County and featured golfers from all seven NW1Aschools: Mount Airy, Elkin, North Stokes, South Stokes, East Wilkes, Starmount and Alleghany.

Elkin won the NW1A Tournament Title in a close three-man race against South Stokes and Mount Airy. The Buckin’ Elks won with an 18-hole team score of 332 despite not having the lowest score on either the front or back 9.

Elkin’s James Owings was the medalist at the conference championship with a final score of 77 strokes. Owings tied South Stokes’ Keelan Robertson for first, then won a one-hole playoff for the victory. Robertson went on to be named NW1A Golfer of the Year.

Mount Airy had the lowest score on the front 9, and South Stokes had the lowest score on the back 9. The Granite Bears and Sauras tied for second at the NW1A tournament at 334 strokes.

The trio of Mount Airy, South Stokes and Elkin also made up the top three of the regular season standings. South Stokes won the regular season championship, Mount Airy finished second and Elkin was third.

South Stokes coach Kent Mendenhall was named NW1A Coach of the Year.

*The top four individual performances contribute to team score. Scores are formatted as: front 9 score + back 9 score = total score

T-2. Mount Airy Granite Bears 165+169=334

The N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors completed its annual Spring Meeting on April 27.

According to a press release from the NCHSAA, Board members were hard at work addressing changes necessitated by the Association’s agreement (MOU) with the State Board of Education.

The Board took action on many items during its meeting. Highlights are as follows:

· Sanctioned the addition of Women’s Wrestling for the 2023-2024 athletic year.

· Sanctioned the addition of a 4A Classification State Championship in Women’s Lacrosse, effective 2022-2023.

· Approved a Five Quarter Rule for basketball allowing students to participate in five quarters of play in a single day. This was done to promote and sustain junior varsity programs across the state.

· Approved a 5% distribution from interest earned on the Association’s General Endowment Fund to member schools, including a 5.05% distribution from the Education/Health and Safety Endowment Fund.

· Approved Membership Fees remaining at $1.00 per pupil for 2022-2023. Board eliminated the $100 administrative fee for all member schools, effective 2022-2023.

· Revised NCHSAA revenue share to 20% for all Fourth Round contests in all team and bracketed sports. As a reminder, as a result of the MOU, the Association will receive its share in all rounds from the net revenues of all playoff and championships, rather than the gross receipts.

Commissioner Que Tucker said, “Today has been a landmark meeting for the NCHSAA, on many fronts. As we celebrate the 50th year since the passage of Title IX, our Board was able to sanction a new women’s sport, Women’s Wrestling, and add a new championship classification in Women’s Lacrosse.

We are proud to provide new opportunities for women to participate in education-based athletic programs and are excited to see the many ways that these new programs will benefit the student experience in our state.”

DOBSON — North Surry bounced back from a three-game skid with a 9-1 road win over Surry Central.

Both teams looked to build momentum for the Foothills 2A Conference tournament as the final week of the regular season began. Eleven hits by the Greyhounds led to multiple runs being scored in three separate innings during a four-inning stretch at Central. North Surry (8-10, 5-5 FH2A) also took advantage of six Surry Central errors to get back to .500 in conference play.

The Lady Greyhounds came into Monday’s game having just endured what was arguably their toughest three-game stretch of the season. In the span of six days, North Surry played two of the top three teams in FH2A conference – Wilkes Central (11-5) and Forbush (15-6) – as well as the No. 5-ranked team in the 1A West, South Stokes (14-4).

Surry Central (3-12, 2-9 FH2A), meanwhile, looked to pick up its first win in more than a month. The Golden Eagles’ previous three games saw the team come up just short in a close matchup against East Surry (4-12), then fall to the No. 6-ranked team in the 2A West, West Wilkes (17-2), as well as the No. 21 4A West team, West Forsyth (16-5).

Both teams put runners on third in the first inning, Sarah Mauldin for North and Alyssa Woods for Central, but both were left on base.

Once North Surry connected for a hit in the second inning the Hounds couldn’t seem to miss. Following a leadoff ground out, Micah Felts singled for North and went to second on an Eagle fielding error. Sadie Montgomery hit an RBI to score Felts, but was called out going to second.

Kadie Fulk and Carley Puckett repopulated the bases with a single and double, respectively. Bella Aparicio doubled to score both runners, then advanced to third on the throw home.

A fly out, strikeout and ground out in the bottom of the second put North Surry back up to bat. Trista Berrier led off by reaching first on a fielding error. The Eagles committed an error when attempting to get Berrier out at second on a Marissa Casstevens hit, so Berrier went to third to put runners on the corners. This set Berrier up to score on an error committed by Central when attempting to pick her off.

Jordan Snow joined Casstevens’ courtesy runner, Lexie Allen, on base with a grounder to third. The duo started on base with no outs, but would not advance any further in the inning.

Central’s Woods got on base for the second time in the bottom of the third, but another quick inning left the Eagles scoreless.

North had its second multi-run inning in the fourth. Puckett picked up her second hit of the game with a single, then moved to second on a ground out and third on a passed ball. Berrier doubled with two outs to score Puckett, then Berrier scored on a Casstevens hit that was overthrown.

The Eagles finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a well-timed double. Kaylin Moody led off with a single to center field, advanced to second on a passed ball and went to third on a ground out. Kailea Zurita crushed a fly ball to right-center to score Moody and reach second herself.

Zurita advanced to third on a ground out as the Eagles threatened to score again, but North’s Berrier tossed a strikeout to end the inning and prevent further damage. Berrier threw a complete game for the Hounds, striking out seven, walking one, and allowing one run on four hits.

Carlee Jones threw all seven innings for Surry Central. The Golden Eagle senior struck out three batters, walked one, and allowed nine runs on 11 hits.

North Surry’s leadoff batter got on base for the third consecutive inning in the fifth thanks to a Felts single. Central got outs on the next two batters and didn’t allow Felts to advance past second, hoping the Hounds’ scoring fest was coming to an end. Puckett played spoiler by hitting a line drive to center to score Felts, then moving to second on the throw home to make it 7-1.

Aparicio was up next and hammered a line to drive to score Puckett. An error in the outfield provided all the time Aparicio needed to circle the diamond and slide into home plate for run No. 9.

After the exciting four-inning stretch for North Surry, neither squad recorded a hit in the final 2.5 innings. The Hounds did have one batter walked during this stretch, and the Eagles put one player on base via error.

STATE ROAD — The East Surry Cardinals swept the Foothills 2A Conference’s top honors at Monday’s conference championship meet.

The meet, held at Cedarbrook Country Club, featured golfers from all seven FH2A schools: East Surry, North Surry, Surry Central, Forbush, West Wilkes, North Wilkes and Wilkes Central.

East Surry’s Connor Key was the medalist of the conference tournament with an 18-hole score of 74 strokes. Key was the only one of 38 golfers to shoot fewer than 40 strokes on both the front and back nine.

Key was followed by three Cardinal teammates in the individual standings to help East win the teams fourth consecutive conference championship. The Cards won conference titles in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

East Surry finished with a team score of 314, followed by Forbush at 345, North Surry at 348, Surry Central at 370, North Wilkes at 419, West Wilkes at 425 and Wilkes Central at 426.

East Surry senior Bradley Davis was named FH2A Player of the Year, and the Cardinals’ Darrin Haywood was named FH2A Conference Coach of the Year.

*The top four individual performances contribute to team score. Scores are formatted as: front 9 score + back 9 score = total score

MILLERS CREEK — With a road win over West Wilkes on Friday, East Surry clinches the Foothills 2A Conference Championship.

East Surry has won conference titles in seven of the past eight completed seasons (the 2020 season was cancelled), and the 2021-22 FH2A Title marks the team’s 19th conference championship since 1976. Conference title No. 19 holds a special place in the Cardinals’ record book as it marks the program’s first-ever “five-peat.”

East Surry first set the standard with the school’s first-ever “four-peat” in 2020-21. Prior to that season, the Cardinals had won three consecutive conference titles on three other occasions: 1982-84, 1999-2001 and 2013-15.

From the start of the 2016-17 season through Friday’s West Wilkes win, East Surry has a conference posted a total conference record of 49-3. The Cards were part of the Northwest 1A Conference in the 2017-21 seasons and had a 39-3 conference record. East is currently in its first season in the 2A division and sits at 10-0 with a week remaining in the regular season.

East Surry’s conference-clinching win saw the team battle back from a 3-run deficit in the fifth inning. The Cards had loaded the bases in the second inning and left runners on in the third and fourth, but never could get back to the plate.

Tristen Mason was walked to begin the top of the fifth, then Luke Bowman crushed a 2-run home run to get the Cardinals on the board. East followed up by putting two runners on base in the sixth inning, but both were left on after a strikeout.

West Wilkes then scored in the bottom of the sixth to increase its lead to 4-2. The Blackhawks had bases loaded with just one out when Brett Clayton caught a pop fly in the outfield. West had a player run home, but Clayton rifled a throw to the infield to get the third out before the insurance run could cross the plate.

Trey Armstrong led off in the top of the seventh. The Cardinal senior hit a grounder between third base and shortstop, but was narrowly called out at first. Folger Boaz and Luke Bowman followed with singles, then Anthony Ayers hammered a hit to the outfield for a single of his own that scored Boaz. Ayers’ hit was mishandled in the outfield, allowing Brown to score and letting Ayers get all the way to third.

Caden Lasley was up next for the Cardinals, now tied 4-4. Lasley took a 1-1 count and hit a triple to that rolled to the fence in right-center field. Ayers scored to give East Surry its first lead of the game.

Matthew Keener hit an RBI to score Lasley and extend the lead to 6-4 with just one out. Clayton hit a hard line drive up the middle that was caught, then the Blackhawks flipped the ball to second for a double play.

West Wilkes’ first two batters grounded out in the bottom of the seventh. An error by the Cards put a runner on base, then a Blackhawk RBI double cut the visitor’s advantage to one run at 6-5. East Surry forced a ground out to leave the game-tying run on base.

Brown and Ayers were the Cardinals’ two pitchers against the Blackhawks. Brown threw seven strikeouts, three walks and gave up four runs on nine hits in five innings. Ayers threw two innings, had one strikeout, one walk and allowed one run on two hits.

East Surry is now 16-1 overall entering the final week of the regular season. East will host back-to-back games against Surry Central and North Stokes on April 26 and 27, then will conclude the season at Surry Central on April 29.

DOBSON — A walk-off hit by Phillip Byrd led Millennium Charter to a 5-4 win over N.C. Leadership Academy on Friday.

The April 22 victory not only served as Millennium’s first win in the Northwest Piedmont 1A Conference, but it also gave the Lions their first winning streak since joining the N.C. High School Athletic Association. Less than 24 hours prior, MCA defeated another team out of Kernersville – Triad Baptist Christian Academy – by a score of 15-5.

In addition to his game-winning hit that scored Calvin Devore, Byrd earned the win on the bump against NCLA. The Lion freshman pitched four innings and had six strikeouts, three walks and allowed three runs on three hits. Hartley Devore threw the remaining three innings, recording three strikeouts, three walks and allowing one run on one hit.

NCLA (9-5, 3-5 NWPC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Millennium got on the board. Tristan Shockley and Aryan Hira each scored in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Falcons’ lead to 3-2, then Shockley and Calvin Devore each circled the diamond in the fifth inning to give the Lions a 4-3 advantage.

Leadership Academy tied things up in the top of the sixth inning. Zeke Harrison stole his way around the bases to reach third in the bottom of the inning, but a ground-out and fly-out by the Lions left Harrison stranded.

Millennium (3-11, 1-7 NWPC) held NCLA scoreless in the top of the seventh to keep the game at 4-4. Hira was walked to begin the inning, then Calvin Devore singled. Hira got out on a fielder’s choice hit by Hartley Devore, but a single Ethan Holladay kept pressure on the Falcons by loading the bases.

A full-count strikeout put the second out on the board and put Byrd up to bat. Byrd, who went hitless through his first three plate appearances, brought Calvin Devore in for the game-winning run.

Holladay led the Lions with three hits and four RBIs in four at-bats. Harrison, Byrd and Calvin Devore each had one hit, and Byrd had Millennium’s remaining RBI.

Shockley and Calvin Devore each scored twice, and Hira scored once.

The Lions wasted little time establishing their dominance against TBCA on Thursday. Millennium put up seven runs in the first inning alone in the 15-5 win via mercy rule.

Eight different Lions recorded hits against the Titans. Harrison and Byrd led the way with four hits each, including a home run by Byrd, while Hartley Devore had three hits, Calvin Devore had two, and Shockley, Hira, Holladay and Landon Martin each had one.

Byrd hit an incredible seven RBIs in Thursday’s win. Harrison added three RBIs, and the following Lions each had one: Shockley, Holladay, Martin, Hira and Hartley Devore.

Martin, Harrison, Calvin and Hartley Devore combined to pitch five innings. The quartet only gave up five hits, while striking out six and walking seven.

Millennium continues nonconference play against Oak Ridge Military Academy on April 27.

Triad Baptist Christian – 0, 0, 2, 0, 3, X, X = 5

Mother’s Day may not officially take place until May 8, but the East Surry’s girls soccer team didn’t want to wait to showcase the women that helped shape their lives.

The Cardinal soccer team recognized all the team moms – biological or not – as part of a Mothers Appreciation Night game. The game was held Thursday, April 21 when the Lady Cards hosted Surry Central.

“We came up with this idea because moms are so important in our everyday life, and especially during our soccer season,” said East Surry junior Katie Collins. “Our moms always make sure we’re fueled up for our games, make sure we’re at practice and always make sure we’re prepared to play our best.”

Themed soccer matches aren’t a new concept for East Surry soccer. Cardinal head coach William Hart has encouraged his players to host these theme nights for more than a decade, including his time as the boys soccer coach.

“I want to give our juniors an opportunity to have some sort of awareness night because it promotes good citizenship and provides an opportunity for a service project,” Hart said. “The girls do 99% of the work, and I provide announcements. It’s always a special night.”

During Hart’s tenure, players have elected to host games raising awareness for diseases that affected the families of team members, such as epilepsy, brain cancer and breast cancer, while also honoring causes such as military appreciation and mothers appreciation. The team has worn special jerseys in some of the past games as well.

Collins, Tara Martin, and Emory Taylor were the main juniors who organized this night.

“Every player wrote their moms a thank you card and we decided to wear pink socks to represent our mothers,” Collins said. “This was very exciting for us because our moms will always be there for us – win or lose.”

Each player was accompanied by a maternal figure of their choosing during Thursday’s pregame. This ranged from biological mothers, step-moms, host moms or other representatives. All were announced by Hart and ran out to midfield for the starting lineups.

The team also wanted to recognize a maternal figure they all share.

“Mothers Appreciation Night also included our team mom and assistant coach JoAnn Sutterby,” Collins said. “She always makes sure that our bodies are taken care of to play or practice”

“She definitely wears a lot of hats, serving as a coach, trainer, confidant, cheerleader and team mom,” Hart said of Sutterby. “We wouldn’t be having the season we are without her.”

East Surry defeated Surry Central 1-0 to improve to 8-5-2 on the season.

Mount Airy soccer seniors Mackenzie Hudson, Grey Moore and Morgan Hiatt have seen the best and worst of times during their four years with the team.

The trio started their high school careers with a bang by helping the team tie a school record with 15 wins. The 2019 Bears also reached the second round of the 1A State Playoffs.

Then came the lows. A promising sophomore season only made it two weeks before being cancelled, then Mount Airy was only allowed to play 13 total matches the following year due to statewide limitations. Six of the Bears’ 2020-21 matches came against conference teams that were ranked among the state’s best.

Playing their first full season since 2019, Hudson, Moore and Hiatt have made the most of their senior campaign in 2022. Following an April 21 win over Starmount, which also served as the Bears’ Senior Night, the team sits at 12-0-4 overall, 9-0-1 at home and 6-0 in the Northwest 1A Conference.

The Granite Bears, ranked No. 5 in the April 21 MaxPreps poll for the 1A West, have been on fire during the month of April. In six matches this month, Mount Airy: is 5-0-1, has five shutouts and has outscored opponents 25-1.

The undefeated Bears have scored 69 goals this season, including eight in the victory over Starmount, and only allowed nine. Starmount and Elkin are the only 1A teams to have scored on Mount Airy in 2022.

Hudson has 10 shutouts on the season as Mount Airy’s keeper. The senior has more than 100 saves, including three penalty kick saves. East Surry and Starmount are the only teams to score more than one goal on Mount Airy in a single game.

Junior Alex Rose leads the team with 23 goals this season, tied with Union Academy’s Shania Coppin for the most in the 1A West. Bear teammates Kate Deaton and Paola Ramirez have double-digit goals as well with 14 and 12, respectively. Mount Airy is the only school in the 1A West with three players ranked in the top-20 in goals.

Ramirez and Karyme Bueno each scored twice against Starmount, while Rose, Deaton, Moore and Hiatt each scored once. Hudson may not have scored against Starmount, but the keeper did leave the goal one week earlier to score a penalty kick against East Wilkes.

In addition to her two goals against Starmount, Bueno recorded her fourth game this season with multiple assists. She currently has 15 on the year, which ranks No. 3 in the 1A West.

Mount Airy sits atop the Northwest 1A Conference standings with a 6-0 record. The Bears have played every NW1A team once except for South Stokes, and have played Starmount twice.

South Stokes and Elkin sit in second place at 4-1; South lost to Elkin, and Elkin lost to Mount Airy. Starmount and Alleghany are next at 3-4, followed by East Wilkes at 1-5 and North Stokes at 0-6.

North and South Stokes are up next for Mount Airy. The Bears travel to Danbury on April 25, then go to Walnut Cove on April 29.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry outlasted Surry Central in a 1-0 war of attrition on Thursday.

The home Lady Cards and visiting Golden Eagles went scoreless for 71 minutes in the Foothills 2A Conference match, with each having opportunities to find the back of the net throughout.

A deflected East Surry shot in the final 10 minutes of the second half was cleared by Central, seemingly erasing the current threat. However, Cardinal senior Samantha Blose intercepted the clearance at the top of the 18-yard box and dealt the decisive blow.

“Every person that stepped on the field tonight contributed,” said East Surry coach William Hart. “I’m really proud of the girls for fighting all game long in a tough conference battle. They stuck with it for 80 minutes and came out on top against a talented Surry Central squad.”

Despite the loss, Surry Central coach Adan Garcia felt his team played one of its strongest matches of the season.

“That’s one of those games that could’ve easily gone either way,” Garcia said. “We held them as long as we could defensively, they just created that opportunity late and converted. The loss is unfortunate especially for our keeper, Fernanda Camacho, because she played such a great game and made a lot of crucial saves.

“East Surry is a good team and they made a good shot. My girls have nothing to be ashamed of.”

The goal-scoring drive, like most of the Cardinals’ offensive maneuvers in Thursday’s game, saw the team progress up the sidelines. East Surry was already pressed into Central’s half when Shirin Binder sent a through ball to Addison Goins in the corner. Goins cut into the 18 before firing a shot that was deflected down by Camacho.

Golden Eagle Anahi Duran swooped in to clear the deflection while the goal was unguarded. Blose was there to cut the clear off, then fired a shot to the far post.

“That entire run started with Shirin,” Hart said. “We kept telling the girls to stay the course and good things would happen against that strong back line, and we eventually got our shot.”

Persistence was key for the Cardinals. East Surry spent a lot of the first half on Central’s half, but the Eagles’ defense held the Cards to distant shots. Golden Eagle sweeper Lillian Orozco was the last line of defense for the visitors and saved multiple one-on-one opportunities.

Many of East’s shots never made it past Central’s back line as they retreated back to the box. Blose and Morgan Bryant each made runs up the left sideline early in the first half that were stopped before they reached the goal, and Goins’ runs led to a series of corner kicks that were booted from the danger zone.

Bryant and Liannette Chavez combined to take six corners for East in the first alone, including two in the final four minutes of the first half, yet the score remained 0-0 going into halftime.

The Golden Eagles’ offense controlled the pace of the game for much of the second half. Midfielder Yuri Ramirez distributed to the forwards, while also passing back to the defense and resetting when the situation called for it.

The first foul of the game wasn’t called until the 49th minute. Ramirez used the subsequent free kick to fire a shot on goal from 35 yards out, but it was saved by Cardinal keeper Katie Collins. Dafne Salgado-Perez picked up a steal in East’s defensive third a few minutes later and put a shot on target, but it too was saved by Collins.

Within 60 seconds of Salgado-Perez’s shot, Central’s Wendy Cantor placed a shot on goal from the middle of the field. This too was wrapped up by Collins, who finished the night with seven saves.

The Cardinals’ offense was rejuvenated once the game entered its final 12 minutes. Chavez and Goins operated up the right sideline on an attack, and Goins’ attempt on the goal – which was just East’s second shot of the second half – was deflected out for a corner kick. Chavez’s corner soared across the six-yard box and was nearly poked in by Bryant at the far post.

East Surry’s third shot was the charm when Blose scored with 9:30 on the clock. Central’s Orozco, who spent much of the second half pushed up on offense while Cantor moved to sweeper, put a shot on goal less than a minute after the goal but it was saved by Collins.

East spent the final few minutes of the game pressed up in Central’s half to hold on for the win.

The Cardinals (8-5-2) have won four of their past five matches, with their only loss in that time coming against one of the top-ranked teams in the state, Wilkes Central. All four wins have been shutouts, giving Collins a total of six for the season.

The Golden Eagles (5-9-3) came into April riding a three-match winning streak, but have dropped their past four matches. With the exception of a game at Wilkes Central, Surry Central has been competitive in each of those matches: a 2-1 overtime loss to West Wilkes, a 3-1 loss at Forbush and the 1-0 game against East Surry.

“West Wilkes was like the East Surry game where we were close the entire time, but just came up short in the end,” Garcia said. “The Forbush game was huge because we were tied with them at halftime. Forbush is a very talented team and one of the best in the 2A division, and that’s one of the most difficult places to play.

“In the end it sucks to lose, but we are going out there and competing with great teams. Where we are now is night-and-day compared to where we started the season, and I know good things are coming our way if we keep working.”

The second part of an intense rivalry played out in Toast on Friday.

North Surry hosted Surry Central in a game with conference tournament – and potentially 2A State Playoff – implications.

In their first game against North earlier in the week, Surry Central’s rally in the bottom of the seventh inning yielded one run but came up short as North won 4-3. Fast-forward three days to April 22 and all eyes were on the Greyhound batters.

With two men on base, the score tied 2-2 and a 2-2 count North Surry’s Cam Taylor hit a line drive to right field to bring in Ethan Edwards for the game-winning run. The walk-off secured the season sweep for the Hounds.

North Surry led 2-1 after the first inning, and the same was true after the fifth inning. Both sides had chances to build a lead, with the Eagles and Hounds combining for 12 hits and 11 bases on balls. However, eight runners were left on base by each team.

In addition to hitting the walk-off to end the game, Taylor spent 5.2 innings on the mound for North Surry. The junior struck out four batters, walked three, and gave up two runs on seven hits. James McCreary threw the final 1.1 innings and struck out two batters.

Justin Reeves pitched 6.2 innings for Central and threw four strikeouts, seven walks and allowed three runs on four hits. Clay Whitaker also spent time on the mound, walking one batter and giving up one hit.

Most of the scoring action went down in the first 20 minutes of Friday’s game. Central’s Dakota Mills led off in the game with a single, then a Whitaker triple to right field scored Mills. Whitaker had a chance to score on a Brady Edmonds hit, but was tagged out at the plate. North turned a double play to minimize the damage.

Following a ground out by the leadoff batter, McCreary hit a single and Edwards reached first on a fielding error in the bottom of the first. Central forced the second out when Edmonds caught a pop fly in right field, then rifled a throw back to the infield to keep the runners on the corners.

Brodie Robertson was walked to load the bases, then Taylor was walked to bring McCreary across the plate to tie the game at 1-1. Myles Draughn singled to right-center field to score Edwards. Robertson’s courtesy runner, Alec Singleton, rounded third and went home in hopes of scoring run No. 3, but Whitaker made the throw to Mills at the plate for the tag.

The Greyhounds only recorded two hits between Draughn’s RBI in the bottom of the first and Taylor’s walk-off in the bottom of the seventh: an Edwards double in the fifth inning, and an Edwards single in the bottom of the seventh. The Hounds did have six runners put on base via walks and another on a fielder’s choice.

The Golden Eagles put runners on base in each inning but the seventh, but could only add one run the rest of the game.

Central’s tying run came in the top of the sixth with two outs already on the board. Lucas Johnson, who singled twice on his earlier plate appearances, reached first on a Greyhound fielding error. Mason Jewell singled with a blooper to left-center field, and Spencer LeClair followed it up with a grounder to the same spot to load the bases.

Kendall White faced a 2-2 count with bases loaded when Taylor threw balls three and four to bring Johnson in for the tying run. The Hounds swapped McCreary onto the mound, and got out of the inning with a strikeout.

North went three up, three down in the bottom of the sixth, and Central did the same in the top of the seventh.

Reeves struck out two of the first three batters in the bottom of the seventh, with a single from Edwards sandwiched in-between. Whitaker took over on the mound with Reeves reaching his pitch count, and Robertson was walked to put runners on first and second. Taylor’s subsequent hit to right field gave Edwards enough time to round third and score the game-winning run.

The FH2A Conference’s top seed has already been decided since East Surry holds at least a four-game lead over the rest of the league. Second through fifth place will be determined during the final week of the regular season.

Surry Central and Forbush are tied at 6-4, West Wilkes’ conference season has already ended at 7-5, and North Surry is 5-5.

North Surry will compete in a series against North Wilkes (0-10 FH2A) to close the regular season, while Surry Central faces East Surry (10-0 FH2A).

North Surry High School played host to the 2021-22 Boys Tennis Foothills 2A Conference Championship on Thursday.

East Surry and Surry Central both had dominant performances, and each occupied both spaces in a championship round. The Singles Championship came down to East Surry vs. East Surry, and the Doubles Championship came down to Surry Central vs. Surry Central.

All four singles competitors and four doubles teams to reach the semifinal round automatically qualify for the 2A Midwest Regional Championship. East Surry earned three of the qualifying spots, Surry Central and North Wilkes each claimed two, and the final qualifying bid went to Forbush.

In singles: East Surry’s Cooper Motsinger won first, East Surry’s Levi Watson finished second, and North Wilkes’ Aiden Pennell and Mitch Adams reached the semifinals.

In doubles: Surry Central’s team of Josh Pardue and Jacob Edmonds won first, the Surry Central duo of Tripp McMillen and Michael Tucker finished second, while East Surry’s Kade Talton and Nick Lowery reached one semifinal and Forbush’s Calvin Norman and Cooper Hennings reached the other.

Surry Central swept the conference’s top regular season honors. Pardue was named FH2A Player of the Year for finishing the going 12-0 in singles and 12-0 in doubles against conference teams. Mason Midkiff was named FH2A Coach of the Year after guiding Surry Central to a 12-0 conference record and its first conference championship in at least 13 years.

Motsinger came into the FH2A as the No. 1 seed and earned a first-round BYE thanks to his 10-2 singles record against conference opponents.

The opening matches of each bracket played eight-game pro sets, while every subsequent round was contested in the standard 2-of-3 sets.

Forbush’s Samuel Crews defeated North Surry’s Colby Callaway 8-3 in the opening round, then Motsinger defeated Crews 6-0, 6-1. North Wilkes’ Adams defeated Surry Central’s Isaac Eller 8-2 in the opening round, then advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Wilkes Central’s Gage York.

On the bottom half of the bracket, North Wilkes’ Pennell earned a first-round BYE as the No. 2 seed then defeated Forbush’s Jacob St. John in the quarterfinals. No. 6 Watson defeated Maddox Martin of Surry Central 8-3, then upset No. 3 seeded Nick Hall of Wilkes Central 6-1, 6-1.

Motsinger defeated Adams 6-0, 6-1 in one semifinal. Watson won his first set 6-3 over Pennell, then led 4-0 when Pennell retired from the match.

Motsinger defeated his Cardinal teammate 6-2, 6-0 to win the FH2A Singles Championship.

Pardue and Edmonds were the No. 1 seed in the doubles tournament thanks to a perfect 12-0 record as a doubles team in conference play.

North Surry’s Jordan Inman and Ty Richardson defeated North Wilkes’ Caleb Parsons and Lucas Berrier 8-6 in the opening round. The Greyhound duo ran into Pardue and Edmonds in the quarterfinals and lost 6-1, 6-1.

East Surry’s Talton and Lowery, seeded No. 4, defeated a team from West Wilkes 8-1 in the first round (West Wilkes doesn’t have a roster available on MaxPreps), then the Cardinal pair beat Forbush’s Wyatt Graham and Caden Funk 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Forbush’s Norman and Hennings were the No. 2 seed. East Surry’s Lupe Chavez and Noah Hopkins defeated North Wilkes’ Marshall Welborn and Evan Dubuque 8-0 in the opening round, then Norman and Hopkins defeated the Cardinal team 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

The No. 6-ranked team of Surry Central’s Tucker and McMillen defeated a team from West Wilkes 8-0 in the opening round, then topped North Surry’s No. 3-seeded team of Holdin Hall and Nathan Lattimore 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals.

Pardue and Edmonds beat Talton and Lowery 6-0, 6-3 in one semifinal, and the team of Tucker and McMillen defeated Forbush’s Norman and Hennings 6-0, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Pardue and Edmonds defeated their Golden Eagle teammates 6-2, 6-2 to capture the FH2A Doubles Championship.

North Surry High School recognized three senior tennis players prior to an April 19 match against North Wilkes.

The trio of Holdin Hall, Nathan Lattimore and Colby Callaway were honored as part of the school’s Senior Night festivities. The three were also part of the Greyhounds’ season-closing 6-3 win over North Wilkes.

North Surry (4-10, 4-8 Foothills 2A) finished fifth in the conference standings with the win, and trailed Wilkes Central by just one match.

The Hounds won four singles matches, sweeping courts three through six.

Callaway defeated North Wilkes’ Marshall Welborn 6-0, 6-4 in No. 3 singles, Jordan Inman defeated Caleb Parsons 6-4, 6-4 in No. 4 singles, Ryan Woodruff defeated Lucas Berrier 6-2, 6-1 in No. 5 singles, and Ty Richardson defeated Evan Dubuque 6-0, 6-0 in No. 6 singles.

North Wilkes won the top two singles matches. The Vikings’ Aiden Pennell defeated Hall 6-0, 6-0 on court No. 1, and Mitch Adams defeated Lattimore 6-2, 6-0 on court No. 2.

North Wilkes’ third and final win of the afternoon came in No. 1 doubles, where the duo of Pennell and Adams topped Hall and Lattimore 8-1.

The remaining doubles matches went the way of the Greyhounds.

Callaway and Woodruff defeated Parsons and Berrier 8-2 in No. 2 doubles, and Inman and Richardson joined forces to beat Welborn and Dubuque 8-3 in No. 3 doubles.

CHARLOTTE – The Surry Community College softball team is ranked 20th in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II softball poll.

The Lady Knights are currently 29-8 overall and 17-5 in conference play.

Offensively, Surry ranks second among Region 10 colleges in slugging percentage (.604) and home runs (41), while ranking third in batting average (.373) and on-base percentage (. 425).

The Lady Knights have several offensive weapons including: Kelsey Craven (Eastern Randolph High School), who currently leads the team in batting average (.478), home runs (9) and RBIs with 48; Taylor Allen (Alleghany HS) with a .465 batting average, seven home runs and 34 RBIs to the lineup; Kaylee Snow (Surry Central HS) posts a .473 batting average along with two home runs and 19 RBIs.

Surry’s Megan Atkins (Surry Central HS) is hitting at a .455 clip to go along with three home runs and 29 RBIs. Rachel Cooke (Maiden HS) has supplied power to the lineup with seven home runs and 36 RBIs, while teammates Abbigail Draughn (North Surry HS) and Makara Woodbury (North Surry HS) have added five and four home runs, respectively.

On the mound, Draughn leads the Lady Knights with a 13-4 record and 2.57 earned run average. The right-hander has pitched 106.1 innings, allowing 95 hits while striking out 71 batters. Atkins currently has a 6-3 record along with a 4.18 earned run average. In 70.1 innings pitched, Atkins has allowed 93 hits while striking out 56 batters.

Defensively, the Knights lead Region 10 with a .962 fielding percentage and have gotten stellar play from catcher K.G. White (Starmount HS) who has not committed an error, along with fellow catcher Allie Bruner (East Surry HS) with just one error on the season.

Region 10 was represented by three teams in the latest NJCAA National poll with Louisburg College (27-3) ranked fourth, Pitt Community College (25-7) ranked 17th and Surry ranked 20th.

Des Moines Area Community College from Iowa is currently ranked first with a 40-3 record.

The Lady Knights continue play on April 23 by hosting Cleveland Community College at 1:00 pm in a doubleheader.

Singles and doubles champions were crowned at the 2021-22 Northwest 1A Conference Boys Tennis Tournament held April 19-20.

The Elkin Buckin’ Elks won both the singles and doubles titles, and also earned three of the conference’s six qualifying spots for the 1A West Regional Championship Tournament; two doubles teams and one singles competitor. Mount Airy had two of the remaining three spots – consisting of one singles competitor and one doubles team – and the final qualifying spot went to a singles player from East Wilkes.

The top three finishers in each bracket qualified for regionals. This is a change from previous years when the top four of each bracket would advance to the regional competition.

In singles: Elkin’s Owen Jennings finished first, Mount Airy’s Georgie Kriek finished second and East Wilkes’ Braxton Long took third.

In doubles: Elkin’s team of Luke McComb and Clay Sebastian finished first, Elkin’s Thomas McComb and Jack Zamudio finished second, and Mount Airy’s Martin Cooke and Jared Pinto finished third.

Mount Airy swept the conference’s top regular season honors. Kriek was named NW1A Player of the Year for finishing the going 10-0 in singles and 10-0 in doubles against conference teams during the regular season. Luke Graham was named Coach of the Year after guiding the team to the NW1A Championship with an undefeated 10-0 record

Kriek and Jennings entered the singles tournament as the top two seeds. In the regular season, Kriek went 10-0 in the conference and Jennings went 8-2. Jennings’ only conference singles losses came against Kriek.

Kriek opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 win over a Starmount player (no Starmount roster listed on MaxPreps), then reached the championship by defeating East Wilkes’ Long 6-0, 7-5.

On the bottom half of the bracket: Jennings defeated South Stokes’ Cohen Boak 6-0, 6-0, and Mount Airy’s Carson Hill defeated East Wilkes’ Luke Macemore 6-1, 6-3. Jennings topped Hill 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the championship.

Jennings became the first NW1A player to defeat Kriek in singles by winning the championship 6-4, 6-1.

Hill and Long went three sets in the consolation finals. Long won the first set 6-2, Hill took the second set 6-3 and Long won the third set 6-2.

Zamudio and Thomas McComb defeated East Wilkes’ James Cook and Weston Cook 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, then topped Mount Airy’s John Juno and Dylan Tilley 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in the semifinals. Juno and Tilley had reached the semifinal round by beating South Stokes’ Wyatt Simmons and Ian Clark 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinal round.

The bottom half of the bracket also saw teams from Mount Airy and Elkin advance to the semifinal.

Cooke and Pinto defeated South Stokes’ Nick Leophard and Noah Leophard 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round, then beat East Wilkes’ Cole Macemore and Nathaniel Burchette 6-4, 6-0.

Elkin’s Sebastian and Luke McComb beat a Starmount doubles team (no Starmount roster listed on MaxPreps) in the quarterfinals 6-1, 6-1, then topped Cooke and Pinto in the semis 6-1, 6-3.

Sebastian and Luke McComb defeated Elkin teammates Zamudio and Thomas McComb 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to win the NW1A doubles title.

Similar to the first meeting between the two teams seven days earlier, a third-inning momentum shift helped Mount Airy defeat Surry Central on April 20.

When the Granite Bears and Golden Eagles played in Dobson on April 13, Mount Airy’s lead slowly grew with one or two runs per inning. On Wednesday, Mount Airy went from no runs to 13 runs in the span of two innings.

The Bears tacked on three runs as insurance in the sixth inning, going on to defeat their county foe 16-7.

Mount Airy (13-7, 7-2 Northwest 1A) racked up 15 hits in Wednesday’s win. Ian Gallimore and Logan Dowell each had three hits, and Rylan Venable and Cameryn Wilson each had two. Venable led the way with five RBIs – including a 3-run home run that gave Mount Airy its first lead of the night – while Dowell and Landon Cox each had three RBIs.

Wilson threw six innings for the Granite Bears, and Ashton Gwyn pitched the final inning. Wilson struck out four batters, walked three and allowed seven runs on seven hits. Gwyn struck out all three of his batters in the seventh inning.

The Golden Eagles utilized four different pitchers in Wednesday’s game. Max Lambert, Aiden Shropshire, Spencer LeClair and Lucas Johnson combined to throw seven strikeouts, walk five batters and allow 16 runs on 15 hits.

Lambert started on the mound for Central for the first time in more than a month. While the Bears did put five runners on base in the first two innings, Lambert’s three strikeouts helped the Eagles hold Mount Airy scoreless during this time.

Central (11-8, 6-3 Foothills 2A), meanwhile, didn’t want a repeat of the first Mount Airy game in which the Eagles left six runners on base through three innings.

Dakota Mills led the game off with a double before stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch. In the second inning, Kendall White hit a 2RBI single to score Johnson and Mason Jewell, then a fielding error on a Clay Whitaker hit allowed LeClair to score run No. 4.

The tides began to turn in the third inning. Jewell had a single for Central, but was the only Eagle to get on base in the inning’s top half. Then in the bottom of the inning, the Bears’ first two batters – Dowell and Reece Deaton – each singled and moved to scoring position by stealing.

An error on a Wilson hit allowed Dowell to score, then an error on a Brison George hit scored Deaton. Central forced a ground out at first for the second out, but the score would soon be tied after Cox hit a 2RBI single. The leadoff Gallimore doubled to put Cox on third before Venable hammered a 3-run homer to make it 7-4 for the home team.

Surry Central didn’t just roll over, though. Mills made his way around the diamond after being walked, going to second on a balk and stealing third. The inning could’ve ended when Mills was caught in a pickle between second and third with two outs, but a miscue by the Bears kept the inning alive.

Mills was sent home soon after when Brady Edmonds crushed a double to the center field fence. Kade Norman scored Edmonds with a single, closing the gap to 7-6.

Similar to the bottom of the third inning, two singles and a walk for Mount Airy immediately put the Bears in position to score. Gwyn was hit by a pitch with loaded bases to score the eighth run, then a single by error hit by Cox made it 9-6. Central managed to pick up the second out, but it was followed by back-to-back 2RBI hits from Venable and Dowell to increase the lead to 13-6.

Neither side scored in the fifth inning. Mills scored for a third time by starting the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run, however, this would be Central’s only hit of the last three innings.

Mount Airy put Gallimore and Venable on base in the sixth inning, then Dowell scored Gallimore with an RBI single. Kamden Hawks scored both Venable and Dowell later in the inning with a 2RBI double that made it 16-7.

Both the Bears and Golden Eagles will compete in key conference matchups on April 22.

Mount Airy is currently second in the NW1A Conference with a 7-2 record, trailing first-place South Stokes (9-5, 8-1 NW1A) by one game. The Bears need to win out and hope the Sauras lose to make the NW1A title picture interesting. Mount Airy travels to Elkin (6-10, 1-8 NW1A) on Friday.

Surry Central is in a similar situation in the FH2A Conference. The Golden Eagles sit at 6-3 and are the only team in the conference capable of tying East Surry (15-1, 9-0 FH2A) for first. In order to tie for first, all three of these must happen: Surry Central defeats North Surry (11-8, 4-5 FH2A) on Friday, East Surry loses to West Wilkes (11-8, 7-4 FH2A) on Friday and Surry Central beats East Surry twice next week.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry recorded its second no-hitter in seven days with a 7-0 win over West Wilkes on April 19.

East Surry clinched at least a share of the Foothills 2A Conference Regular Season Championship with Tuesday’s victory. The Cardinals are 9-0 in conference play, and the FH2A’s second-place team – Surry Central – dropped to 6-3 in the conference with a loss to North Surry.

The Cardinals (15-0) can clinch the FH2A title outright by winning one of its next three conference games.

Junior pitcher Folger Boaz was on the mound for both of the Cards’ recent no-hitters. Boaz threw 16 strikeouts in seven innings in an April 12 win over North Wilkes, then threw 11 strikeouts in 5.2 innings against West Wilkes.

Anthony Ayers closed the West Wilkes game by throwing three strikeouts in 1.1 innings.

The Blackhawks (10-9, 7-4 FH2A) had seven players get on base against the Cardinals, but the visitors only advanced past second base one time. West Wilkes players were walked five times, one reached first on an East Surry fielding error and another struck out but made it safely to first after a dropped third strike.

After Boaz’s third strikeout of the fourth inning was dropped and the player safely reached first, the junior pitcher struck the next batter out to leave two men stranded. The Cards also executed two double plays when runners did get on base.

Even though West Wilkes was held hitless, there were plenty of hits to go around from players in red jerseys.

Ayers, Luke Bowman and Caden Lasley each recorded multiple hits for East Surry. Bowman and Lasley each had two singles, and Ayers had two singles and a double. Bowman and Tristen Mason each scored twice, while Boaz, Trey Armstrong and Matthew Keener each crossed the plate once.

Boaz set the tone early with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, which was hit off the first pitch thrown his way. Trey Armstrong led off the bottom of the third with a double, then used two ground outs by Boaz and Brown to score East’s second run.

The Cardinals added three runs in the fourth inning after leaving two Blackhawk baserunners in scoring position in the inning’s top half. Keener got things going with a single, then Brett Clayton was hit by a pitch. Mason laid down a bunt intended to serve as a sacrifice, but made it to first after a West Wilkes miscommunication at first.

Bowman placed a pop fly just inside the right-field line to score Keener, then Armstrong scored Clayton on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-0. Boaz was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. This nearly paid off as Brown hit an infield fly for the second out, but a single hit by Ayers brought in run No. 5.

East went scoreless in the fifth, but padded the lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. A sacrifice bunt from Armstrong scored Mason, and a single from Brown scored Bowman.

East Surry returns to FH2A action on Friday by traveling to West Wilkes.

Four Surry County wrestlers were recognized as some of the best in the state by HighSchoolOT.

HighSchoolOT’s awards not only featured student-athletes from all four public school classifications in the N.C. High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), but private schools and homeschools in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA).

This season marks the second consecutive season in which HSOT has recognized All-State Wrestling teams. There are two wrestlers per weight class on the first, second and third teams respectively. Then, 20 honorable mention All-State wrestlers are selected without regard to weight class.

This year’s teams feature 45 repeat selections.

Surry County wrestlers recognized on the teams are listed below in alphabetical order.

East Surry’s Eli Becker was named Third-team All-State in the 182-pound weight class.

Becker qualified for the NCHSAA State Championship Meet for the second time in his career as a junior, previously finishing third in the 1A 182-pound bracket as a sophomore. In 2021-22, Becker started the season 27-0 and won the Foothills 2A Conference and 2A Midwest Regional Championships in the 182 class.

Becker reached the 2A 182 State Championship and finished runner-up.

Mount Airy’s Connor Medvar was named Second-team All-State in the 170-pound weight class.

Medvar is one of the 45 repeat selections, having been named to the HSOT Wrestling All-State Third Team as a junior.

Medvar qualified for his fourth NCHSAA State Championship Meet as a senior. He previously finished third in 1A 138 bracket as a sophomore and won a state title in the 1A 152 bracket as a junior.

In 2021-22, Medvar was named Northwest 1A Conference Wrestler of the year and won the NW1A Title, 1A West Regional Title and 1A 170 State Titles with a 34-1 record.

Medvar helped Mount Airy win the dual team conference titles for both the regular season and conference tournaments.

Surry Central’s Jacob Price was named Third-team All-State in the 145-pound weight class.

Jacob qualified for his second NCHSAA State Championship Meet as a sophomore. He competed in the 2A 138 bracket as a freshman, but did not place.

In 2021-22, Jacob was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Foothills 2A Conference Tournament, won the FH2A Championship, 2A Midwest Regional Championship and 2A 145 State Championship with an overall record of 32-2.

Jacob helped Surry Central win the dual team conference titles for both the regular season and conference tournaments.

Surry Central’s Jeremiah Price was named First-team All-State in the 152-pound weight class.

In addition to being on of 45 total repeat selections, Jeremiah was one of just 11 wrestlers to be selected for the All-State First Team for a second time.

Jeremiah qualified for his third NCHSAA State Championship Meet as a junior. He won the 2A 145 Championship as both a freshman and a sophomore.

In 2021-22, Jeremiah was named Foothills 2A Conference Wrestler of the Year, won the FH2A Championship, 2A Midwest Regional Championship and 2A 145 State Championship with an overall record of 43-0. He was also named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2A State Championship.

Jeremiah helped Surry Central win the dual team conference titles for both the regular season and conference tournaments.

Mount Airy High School senior Noah Hart officially signed his NCAA National Letter of Intent and will continue his academic and soccer careers at Concord University.

“I feel awesome,” Hart said. “The only thing I’ve ever wanted to do was play at least somewhat professionally, so this is the next step. I want to do the best I possibly can at college and improve every year.

“I’ve always loved sports, especially soccer. I’ve been all around and have competed in swimming, baseball and tennis, but this has always just been special to me. I grew up watching England’s Premier League with my dad. It’s just my passion.”

Hart is a four-year member of the Granite Bears’ soccer program, and was a varsity starter his junior and senior years. During those two seasons, Mount Airy: finished 20-0-1 in conference matches and 35-2-3 overall, went undefeated inside Wallace Shelton Stadium, didn’t lose a single regular season match, won two Northwest 1A Conference Championships and finished 1A West Regional Runner-up.

The 2021-22 Bears team won 26 consecutive games, a school record, and lost its only match in the 1A West Regional Championship to the private school that won the state title.

“Noah meant a lot to the team both of his years on varsity,” said Mount Airy coach Will Hurley. “As great as he was his junior year, I think, this past year, he was just phenomenal. He was part of that big push we needed. He was a true leader.”

Hart gave Mount Airy an advantage over most opponents with his rare skill set. Instead of playing the traditional left back position on defense, Hart had the green light to push up the field as an additional midfielder or forward. Being left footed allowed him to create instant offense with runs up the sideline.

“Through his high school career I put him everywhere, but when we moved him there we knew it was his spot,” Hurley said. “People would doubt his ability to dribble as a defender, so we dribbled down their throat. He didn’t just do it once or twice a game; we wore it out. Because, well, it worked.”

Hart was primarily used on offense as a JV player. Hurley said he loves taking players with offensive experience and putting them on the back line because they know what they’re going against. That experience on offense also honed Hart’s ability to spread the field and find open teammates when he did push up.

“Manchester City uses it, and so does Leicester,” Hart said. “I was watching them play and my dad said, ‘hey, look at this guy,’ and we saw him pushing up. I looked up the formations and it worked, so I thought I’d try it. I first asked about it at my club team, and just started working it and eventually took it to the high school.”

Hart immediately put his skills to use during his first varsity game. Mount Airy opened the 2020-21 season at Bishop McGuinness and trailed 2-0 at halftime. The Bears cut the lead to 2-1 early in the half, and tied things up when Hart made a run up the left sideline.

“I had seen Elkin [Lopez] at the six-yard box right in front of the goal and he wasn’t offsides, so I passed to him. Well, he missed the header and it went straight over the goalie’s head to make it 2-2. It was insane because I had already looked away. We went on to win 3-2 in overtime.”

Despite being a defensive player, Hart was second on the team in assists as a junior and third as a senior. He also scored seven goals those two seasons.

Defensively, Mount Airy only allowed 17 goals during its 27 games in 2021-22 for an average of 0.63 goals per match. The Bears had 16 shutouts.

“He was worthy of being an All-State player, and anyone that watched him would agree, but it was difficult to put on paper just how integral he was to our success,” Hurley said. “His contributions came on both sides. He was absolutely a great defender, but what made him special was how he was a key to our offense most of the year.”

Hart had numerous people to thank for helping him get to this point.

On coaches Will and Holden Hurley: “No matter if we were losing, we were winning, how bad we thought we were doing…they’d always be the drive that we needed. Coach [Will] Hurley would always have so much passion for everything, even when he sounded like he was mad but really wasn’t.”

On Coach Wes Hurley, who previously served as an assistant coach: “When Coach Wes was still here, he pretty much pushed me to be a part of everything and to keep going. I never thought of giving up, but I kind of lost hope and Wes was always there to push us up and get our limits sky high. I needed some ego and self-confidence, and he really pushed everybody’s out. That’s why we would always come out and scare people the first time they played us.”

On former teammate Juan Gomez Rios (class of 2021): “One person I really want to thank is Juan. Whenever he was a sophomore I was bigger than him, and I was small. He grew so much and is now playing for Emory & Henry, a great program in a tough division. He proved to everyone on the team that he could make it to the college level.”

On his dad: “When I was a freshman I thought it was so embarrassing, but every single day he would come and watch us practice. He’d be the only parent out there. I just realized that he loved to watch me play. When we’d lose, he was never one to be mad… he’d just tell me ‘You can be mad about it for a minute, but forget about it the rest.’ He really taught me to be competitive, but if you lose to learn from it. Crying and screaming over it doesn’t do any good.”

On his teammates: “This is the best team I’ve ever had. The chemistry is there, the talent is there and the teamwork is definitely there. Everybody gets along. It really was a family and so much more than a team to me.”

East Surry High School senior Bradley Davis Jr. officially signed his NCAA National Letter of Intent and will continue his academic and golf careers at Gardner-Webb University.

“It’s awesome to finally sign and it’s awesome that everyone’s here for it,” Davis said. “Ever since I’ve been playing it’s been the dream to make it to the next level. I always wanted to just keep going up in levels, and so hopefully after college golf I can turn pro and try to make it there.”

Davis is a four-year member of the golf team at East Surry, and has helped the Cardinals bring home a good amount of hardware each season.

“Bradley has dedicated himself to this and he’s reaping the rewards of that with this offer from Gardner-Webb,” said East Surry coach Darrin Haywood. “He’s a great ball-striker. He has a great temperament with golf and stays on level. He’s developed over time, he’s worked at it and he’s spent hours upon hours practicing.”

Haywood said Davis has been in the Cardinals’ starting lineup since his freshman year. Davis has also been the team’s No. 1 seed as a junior and senior.

“Shooting No. 1, that’s a lot of pressure on you every time you go out there and he’s done well with that,” Haywood said. “We’ve placed well because of people like Bradley.”

Before he was tearing it up in the high school ranks, Davis recalled getting his start in the sport at the age of five.

“I really just started because my grandpa cut down a club and put some electric tape on it and I started playing with that,” Davis said. “It took off from there; I played when I was young and then through middle school. I started playing tournaments, and kept doing that throughout high school…all the North Carolina and South Carolina Tournaments.”

Some of the tournaments in which Davis competed were held by the Carolinas Golf Association (GCA), American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA).

One of his crowning achievements on the tournament circuit came in April 2021 when he won the AJGA Preview Series Event at the Anderson Creek Golf Club in Spring Lake. The event featured 54 golfers from 18 states ranging from Florida to California to Massachusetts. Davis won the event with a score of three-over par, which was three strokes better than the second-place finisher.

“Finally winning the AJGA tournament last year was awesome,” Davis said.

Davis has completed two golf seasons at East Surry: 2019 and 2021, since the season was cancelled in 2020. In those two seasons, East Surry has won: two conference championships, one regional championship and two state runner-up trophies.

Davis was East Surry’s top finisher in both the 1A Midwest Regional and 1A State Championship in 2021. He finished eighth out of 37 competitors at regionals, then tied for the third-best score out of 48 competitors at the state championship.

“Bradley has matured tremendously over the past few years,” Haywood said. “He’s stepped up: both as a golfer and as a leader. His maturity kind of settles everyone else. There’s a time and place to have a good time, but a time to be serious and he’s one of the ones that’s figured out how to stay level. As a coach that means a lot and makes my job a whole lot easier.”

For 2022, Bradley said his goal as an individual is to win Foothills 2A Conference Player of the Year.

“His No. 1 competition for golfer of the year is a teammate, and I think that’s great,” Haywood said. “It breeds competition, and they both have stepped up their game this year.”

Haywood also mentioned placing high in the state rankings as a goal for Davis this season.

As for the Cardinals’ goals as a team, Haywood said: “We have plaques in the office from regional championships and being state placers, but our goal is to bring home the big one. He knows that goal, and I know that goal.”

“We’ve got two runner-up trophies, so hopefully we can get it done this year,” Davis said. “We didn’t lose anybody last year, so we should be the same team if not better.”

Davis extended his thanks to his coaches, at all levels, and his family for helping him reach this point in his career. He also thanked former Cardinal golfer Landon Barnes (Class of 2020), who signed his own NLI with Guilford College, for “playing a huge part in getting me to college since he’d already been through most of it being two years older than me,” Davis said.

“I just can’t say thank you enough to everybody for helping me get here.”

The Mount Airy boys tennis team secured the Northwest 1A Conference Championship by closing the season with seven consecutive wins.

By finishing 10-0 in the conference, Mount Airy captures its first outright conference championship since 2010. The Bears won conference titles during the 2010s, but always shared the title with Bishop McGuinness since the schools would split meetings.

Mount Airy earns the NW1A Conference’s automatic playoff bid and will compete in the NCHSAA Dual Team 1A State Playoffs. The playoffs are being held for the first time since 2019; the 2020 season was cancelled, and no dual team playoffs were held in 2021.

The Granite Bears finish the regular season 13-4 overall, and all four losses were to teams in higher divisions.

DOBSON — Surry Central hosted four other schools on Wednesday for its second outdoor track and field meet of the 2022 season.

Three other teams from the Foothills 2A Conference – North Surry, East Surry and Forbush – joined Surry Central at the meet. West Stokes, of the Mid-State 2A Conference, also took part in the meet.

Forbush’s girls and East Surry’s boys came away with team victories. Points were awarded for each top-5 finish: 6 for first, 4 for second, 3 for third, 2 for fourth and 1 for fifth.

Team results and individual breakdowns are included below for each Surry County school.

Mia McMillen was the only athlete at the April 14 meet – male or female – to win four gold medals in individual events. The Surry Central senior finished first in the 100-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and long jump.

Ivy Toney and Lanie Fitzgerald also had first-place finishes that helped the Lady Eagles finish second in the team competition. Toney won in pole vault, and Fitzgerald won in the 3,200 meters.

In addition to the Eagles’ six first-place finishes in individual events, the school finished first in two relay races. The team of Toney, Madelyn Wilmoth, Ella Priddy and Yeira Munoz won the 4×800, while the team of Toney, Priddy, Aylin Soto and Andrea Gonzalez won the 4×400.

Central finished in the top-3 six additional times: Soto was second in the 200 meters followed by Toney in third, Priddy was second in the 400 meters, Wilmoth was third in the 300 hurdles, and Cassie Sneed finished third in both shot put and discus throw.

The Lady Cardinals had eight top-3 performances, three of which won gold medals.

Clara Willard had the team’s only individual win of the meet by finishing first in the discus throw.

East Surry’s 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams also finished first. Faith Braithwaite, Merry Parker Boaz, Reese Edmonds and Chloe Anne Tew made up the 4×100 team, and Boaz, Braithwaite and Edmonds were joined by Arianna Liberatore for the 4×200.

The Lady Cards also had relay teams finish second and third in their respective events. Jada Lindsay, Kenadie Ayers, Alexis Cummings and Chloe Cruise made up the 4×800 team that finished second, and Liberatore, Karlee Bryant, Grace Needham and Sara Colasuonno finished third in the 4×400.

Braithwaite, Tew and Liberatore had the Cardinals’ other top-3 performances. Tew took second in high jump, Liberatore was second in long jump and Braithwaite finished third in the 100 meters.

Ella Riggs had the Lady Greyhounds’ lone first-place performance. The Greyhound freshman finished first in shot put by more than five feet, and also finished fifth in discus throw.

North’s 4×100 relay team took second in the event, but team members were not listed on Milesplit.

No Greyhound girls finished third, but Isabel Delfin and Anna Escobar each had fourth-place finishes. Delfin finished fourth in the 200 and 400 meters, while Escobar did so in shot put.

Sophomores Ignacio Morales and Evan Wall each had first-place finishes for the Golden Eagle boys. Morales finished first in the 800 and 1,600 meters, while Wall won the 200 meters.

Allen Huffman had a second-place finish individually in the 300 hurdles, and was also part of the Eagles’ 4×400 relay team that finished second. Huffman was joined by Morales, Brangly Mazariegos and Cannon Gates in the 4×400. Surry Central’s other second-place finish came in the 4×800 relay thanks to the team of Edinson Gonzalez, Daniel Urquiza, Chris Nava and Jonathan Avila.

Wall and Brian Williams added individual third-place finishes, doing so in the 100 and 200 meters respectively. Surry Central’s 4×100 relay team also finished third, but team members were not listed on Milesplit.

The Cardinal boys finished first in seven events, comprised of four individual events and three relay races.

Individually: Isaac Vaden swept the throwing events with first-place finishes in shot put and discus throw, Cooper Motsinger won the 3,200 meters and Kyle Zinn won the 100 meters.

The relay team of Zinn, Layton Allen, Lindann Fleming and Colby Johnson won both the 4×100 and 4×200 relays. East’s team of Jonathan Parker, Joe Cook, Banks Johnson and Noah Felts won the 4×800.

Three East Surry boys had second-place finishes in the meet: Allen in the 100 meters, Zinn in long jump and Eli Becker in shot put.

Four East Surry boys finished third in their respective events: Tyler Reeves in high jump, Colby Johnson in long jump, Layton Allen in triple jump and Kole Pruitt in shot put.

Jared Hiatt had all three of North Surry’s first-place finishes on the boys’ side. He won the high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Hiatt was also part of the Greyhounds’ 4×100 team that finished second in the event. Team members included Hiatt, Talan Vernon, Jake Simmons and Matthew Senter. Vernon, Simmons and Senter also earned a silver medal in the 4×200 relay, this time joined by Chuck Powers.

Derek Vannieuwkoop had North Surry only second-place finish in an individual event by being runner-up in high jump. Vannieuwkoop was also one of two Greyhounds to finish third in an individual event, doing so in the 400 meters. The other third-place individual finish was Aaron Mauck in the discus throw.

North’s final top-3 finish came in the 4×400 relay, including team members Vannieuwkoop, Ray Pell, T. Kole Bryant and Elijah Shelton.

Full meet results can be found at bit.ly/3KUOTUw

PILOT MOUNTAIN — For the second consecutive season, East Surry is riding a win streak of more than 10 games.

Of the 100 baseball teams in the 2A division – 52 in the West Region and 48 in the East Region – only two have yet to lose in 2022: East Surry in the West, and East Duplin in the East. Recent wins over North Wilkes and Starmount have the Cardinals at 14-0 overall and 8-0 in the Foothills 2A Conference.

East Surry opened the week with a home game against North Wilkes on April 12. Junior Folger Boaz threw a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts, and East Surry won 7-0 for its second shutout of the year.

Luke Bowman and Trey Armstrong led the Cardinals with two hits each; Bowman had a single, a double and was walked once, while Armstrong had two singles and was walked once. Boaz, Luke Brown, Caden Lasley and Brett Clayton each added hits for the Cards.

Bowman scored three of East’s seven runs, and Armstrong, Caden Lasley, Brett Clayton and Tristen Mason each scored once vs. the Vikings.

East Surry was back in action the next night in a home nonconference game against Starmount.

The Rams became one of the few teams this season to hold a lead against the Cardinals thanks to a 3-run second inning. East trailed 3-1 until tying the game in the bottom of the third, and then neither team scored again until the seventh inning.

Anthony Ayers was East’s lead batter in the bottom of the seventh. Ayers took the second pitch thrown his way and sent it over the fence at Barry Hall field for the walk-off home run.

The Cards only had more than four players bat in an inning one time, finishing with six overall hits. Bowman had two hits in the Starmount game, a triple and a single, and Ayers had a single to go with his solo homer. Armstrong and Clayton each added one hit.

Matthew Keener threw 6.0 innings and struck out four batters, walked one, and gave up three runs on four hits. Ayers pitched the final inning and finished with one strikeout and one walk.

East’s bats came alive the next night in the second game against North Wilkes. Eight different Cardinals combined for 11 hits in the 15-2 win, highlighted by a Boaz home run, triples from Bowman and Clayton, and doubles by Mason and Lasley.

Brown threw all five innings in the mercy rule victory. The junior pitcher struck out seven batters, walked one, and gave up two runs on four hits.

East Surry is currently first place in the FH2A Conference with an 8-0 record. Surry Central is second at 6-2 after dropping back-to-back games to West Wilkes, who is in third at 7-3. Forbush is fourth at 4-4, followed by North Surry at 3-5, Wilkes Central at 2-8 and North Wilkes at 0-8.

The Cardinals have six games remaining in the regular season. East Surry will play a two-game series against West Wilkes, a two-game series against Surry Central and a pair of home games against Davie and North Stokes.

The Cards are back in action on April 19 in a home game against West Wilkes.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — A steady stream of runs through the five innings was enough to lift East Surry past Surry Central.

The Cardinals recorded 15 hits and scored at least once in each of the first five innings. East Surry errors opened the door for a Surry Central comeback when leading 7-3, and the Eagles took advantage with two quick runs in the top of the sixth. The Eagles put two more runners on base, but the Cards left the potential game-tying runs stranded on base in the sixth inning.

East held on to the 2-run advantage to win the Foothills 2A Conference game 7-5.

Cardinal pitcher Elise Marion finished the game with 12 strikeouts, one base on balls and gave up three runs on five hits. Riley Pennington also spent time on the mound for East, allowing two hits and two runs.

Marion, Rosie Craven and Bella Hutchens each had three hits for East Surry: Hutchens had three singles, Craven two singles and a double, and Marion two singles and a triple. The trio each scored for the Cardinals (4-10, 3-6 FH2A) as the home team built a 3-0 lead through two innings.

Craven led the game off with a single and was scored by a Marion RBI triple. Clara Willard followed Marion’s triple with an RBI double to make it 2-0. In the second inning, Hutchens led with a single, stole second and was scored on a Craven double.

Surry Central pitcher Carlee Jones left East Surry runners on base to keep the lead from growing even more. Jones, who pitched a complete game for the Eagles (3-9, 2-7 FH2A), had four of her six strikeouts in the first two innings.

Central’s offense got going in the top of the third inning. Erica Coe singled with two outs, and was scored on a hit from Arial Holt. Holt herself rounded the bases and scored the Golden Eagles’ second run to make it a one-run game.

East Surry maintained a slim lead as both squads continued to score through the fourth inning: Haley Chilton scored on a Hutchens RBI in the bottom of the third, Kaylin Moody hit a home run for Surry Central in the top of the fourth and Craven scored on a Marion RBI in the bottom of the fourth.

The Cards built their largest lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Hutchens recorded her third single with two outs, and Sara Scott followed with a single for her first hit of the night. Addy Sechrist scored both teammates on a 2RBI single, then Sechrist herself reached third due a fielding error.

The Golden Eagles were at the top of the lineup in the top of the sixth, now down four runs. Holt and Emma Gentry each singled, and Moody scored both to cut the lead to 7-5 with only one out. The next out came when Moody was tagged out at second base, but Central battled back by putting Jones and Kailea Zurita on base. Both runners were left on after Marion threw her 10th strikeout.

Willard and Chilton each had singles in the bottom of the sixth inning, but neither scored as East was held scoreless for the first time in the game.

Central’s last chance to put up runs came in the top of the seventh. However, two strikeouts thrown by Marion and fly out ended the game.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry completed its season sweep of North Surry with a 2-0 shutout victory on April 12.

Addison Goins got the Cardinals on the scoreboard early with a goal eight minutes into the first half. Samantha Blose added the cushion on East Surry’s lead by scoring on a quick strike with just 31 seconds remaining in the first half.

Liannette Chavez assisted both goals.

“It was a great team win tonight,” said East Surry coach William Hart. “I felt like we had a pretty good hold on the midfield, and that really opened up a lot of doors for us. Lia and Sam did a great job of controlling the pace of play and distributing.”

Tuesday’s win moves the Lady Cardinals to 6-4-2 overall and 5-3 in the Foothills 2A Conference. East has won three of its past four matches.

“The girls have worked hard this year,” Hart said. “We got a couple girls back from injury that we’re trying to incorporate into the rotation, so we’re excited about that as well.”

North Surry coach Eric Jessup applauded his team’s improvement from their first meeting against East Surry, which the Cardinals won 6-0 on March 18. Jessup felt his team competed all 80 minutes, however the Greyhounds were plagued with an issue that’s impacted them all season.

“We’ve had a lot of trouble this season finding the back of the net in these close games,” Jessup said.

North Surry (2-10, 1-7) lost its leading scorer of the past two seasons, Cynthia Chaire, to an injury early in the season. The Hounds’ first few games following Chaire’s injury were lopsided losses, but five of the team’s next six losses were decided by just one goal.

“The team really is improving as a whole, and I’m very proud of our girls for that,” Jessup said. “We’re hanging in these close games against comparable teams, and we’re playing teams tighter the second time around like Mount Airy and East Surry. We’re getting more offensive opportunities, we just have to find a way to score.”

The Lady Cards’ midfield and back line remained pressed up for most of the match, which put pressure on the Greyhounds’ defense. North Surry two center-backs, Weatherly Reeves and Kim Elias, were able to bend but not break for most of the match, which kept East Surry’s from firing too many shots from inside the 18-yard box.

Jessup said there wasn’t a lot his team could’ve done to prevent the first goal, as East Surry made a strong run and finished it off decisively. The second goal, however, he thinks could’ve been prevented had the team made a few minor tweaks.

East Surry’s second goal was set up by a Cardinal run up the right sideline. Unable to cross near the end line, East cut back and looked to funnel a pass into the center. Chavez found Blose near the semicircle at the top of the 18, and Blose, despite numerous defenders crowding the box, sent a line drive to the lower-90 for the goal.

“Their first goal was a great one, but the second one we really could’ve – and probably should have – stopped before it got to the goal,” Jessup said. “The shot itself was strong, but we had so many people in the box that could’ve got in the way had we been on our toes. We’re holding pretty good teams to one, two or three goals, so the defense has been playing pretty good, but that one lapse at the end of the half really hurt us.”

The Cardinals defense has also come into its own this season. East Surry keeper Katie Collins has four shutouts on the year, and only two teams have scored more than two goals in a single game: Forbush and Wilkes Central, which are both juggernauts of the 2A division.

Hart said the was proud of the progress his girls have made not only this season, but across multiple years. East Surry only played a combined 16 matches the past two seasons due to the pandemic, but his team has continued to put in work during the times of uncertainty.

“Of our four seniors, three have been with the team all four years: Liannette, Sam and Brianna [Whitaker],” Hart said. “I’m so happy that they’re finally getting a full season and have seen great success so far, which is something they’ve been working toward for four years. Obviously we still have things we want to improve on, but I’m grateful to see their hard work yielding results on the field.”

As North Surry pushes into the final stretch of the regular season, Jessup said he knows his girls will get over the hump and start putting games away like he knows they’re capable of.

“We’ve been learning how to play as a unit, and we’re getting a lot better every time we step on the field,” Jessup said. “We’ve got some winnable games down the stretch, but we as coaches as well as the girls know it’s not going to be easy; we wouldn’t expect it to be.”

Addison Goins goal on Liannette Chavez assist (ES) 8’, Samantha Blose goal on Liannette Chavez assist (ES) 40’

DOBSON — A 15-strikeout performance on the mound paired with a 10-hit night lifted Mount Airy to an 8-1 win over Surry Central.

Surry Central had chances to pile runs on early in the game, but left six runners on base through the first three innings. Mount Airy, held scoreless through the first two innings, took over in the top of the third. The Granite Bears scored at least once in each of the remaining five innings to pick up win No. 11 on the season.

Both squads came into Wednesday’s nonconference game in need of a win.

The Golden Eagles (11-5, 6-1 Foothills 2A) were less than 24 hours removed for their first conference loss of 2022. After winning eight of its past nine games, Central fell 14-9 at West Wilkes on Tuesday.

Mount Airy faced a similar situation. The Bears (11-7, 6-2 Northwest 1A) had won 6-of-7 conference games and were hot off a 7-0 win over North Stokes. Mount Airy went on the road on April 8 and lost 10-3 in the rematch against North Stokes, then dropped a close nonconference game to South Iredell on April 11.

Rylan Venable pitched a complete game for the Bears with 15 strikeouts. In seven innings, Venable walked three batters, hit three batters and gave up one run on four hits.

Despite three of Central’s four hits coming in the first two innings, the Eagles wouldn’t score until the bottom of the fifth.

Leadoff Dakota Mills singled to begin the bottom of the first after the Bears went three up, three down in the top of the inning. Clay Whitaker was then hit by a pitch, and both players shifted to scoring position on stolen bases. Venable kept the board clean with three consecutive strikeouts.

Another quick batting appearance for the Bears put the Eagles at the plate once again. Lucas Johnson nailed a single to right-center field, and Spencer LeClair soon joined him on base with a single of his own. Mills was walked to load the bases with two outs, but Venable fired his sixth strikeout of the game to leave all three runners on base.

Momentum shifted in the top of the third when Brison George hit a double for the Bears’ first hit of the evening. Central’s Aiden Shropshire threw his first of two strikeouts when he faced the next batter, but gave up a single to Landon Cox that put George on third. A balk moved Cox to second and scored George.

From here, Mount Airy’s lead continued to slowly grown. Surry Central used four different pitchers for varying lengths of time, but none could completely contain the Bears. Shropshire led the way with 4.1 innings pitched, Mills and Mason Jewell each threw one inning and LeClair pitched 0.2 innings. The quartet combined to throw six strikeouts and walk four batters.

The Granite Bears’ lead doubled in the fourth inning when Logan Dowell went home on a Golden Eagle error. It doubled once again in the fifth when George, Cox and Ian Gallimore each had singles.

Central got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mills was hit by Venable’s first pitch of the inning, then Whitaker was hit by Venable’s next pitch. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and a ground out by Kade Norman provided the distraction for Mills to score. Venable tossed his 12th strikeout to prevent additional scoring.

Surry Central had two batters walked, one in the sixth and one in the seventh, but neither player advanced past first base.

Mount Airy, meanwhile, added one run in the sixth and three in the seventh. Dowell was walked as the leadoff hitter, and singles from Kamden Hawks and Reece Deaton scored the fifth run. The bases were loaded with no outs as the Bears looked to pad their lead even more, but Central executed a defensive play that – after much discussion – resulted in a double play.

Josh Penn hit a short grounder that was fielded by Johnson and thrown to Mills at the plate for the force out. Mills turned and fired a throw toward first, but the ball hit Penn instead of Kade Norman’s glove. The umpires met and called Penn out for interference, then had George and Hawks move back to second and third. Central’s Jewell then picked up the third out with a strikeout.

The Bears made up the difference in the seventh inning with three final runs. Dowell scored Gallimore on an RBI double, a wild pitch scored Venable and an Eagle fielding error allowed Dowell to score run No. 8.

Surry Central and Mount Airy will play again on April 20, this time in the Granite City. In the meantime: Surry Central travels to West Wilkes on April 15 and Mount Airy hosts Elkin on April 19.

DOBSON — No one in Dobson seems to know when Surry Central’s most recent conference championship was.

Some say it’s been well over a decade, while others estimate an even longer drought. The one thing Golden Eagle fans can agree on is that teams won’t have a problem answering that question moving forward.

Surry Central completed its perfect conference campaign on Wednesday by defeating East Surry 6-3.

“I am so excited for my guys and our community,” said Golden Eagle coach Mason Midkiff. “We have had such great support from the students, staff and entire Central district all season. At the beginning of the season our team made it a goal to win a conference title. I am extremely proud of the dedication this team has shown to improve every day, and especially thankful for the leadership of our senior captain Jacob Edmonds in achieving that goal!”

Surry Central finishes the regular season 13-1 overall and 12-0 in conference play. In addition to the conference championship victory, the Eagles also celebrated Edmonds as part of the team’s Senior Night.

The Cardinals, who finish second in the conference, pushed the Eagles like no other FH2A team this season. When the two teams met in Pilot Mountain earlier this season, East (11-6, 10-2 FH2A) handed Central its first singles and doubles losses of 2022, but still came up short 7-2. Four singles matches had to be decided by third-set tiebreakers that day.

This time around only two singles matches went to third-set tiebreakers, but most of the matches were still hotly contested.

East Surry’s two singles victories came on courts No. 3 and No. 5.

Noah Hopkins defeated Maddox Martin 6-2, 6-4 in No. 5 singles. Hopkins led 3-2 in the first set before winning the next three games. The two traded wins in the second set until Hopkins closed the match with three-straight wins.

East’s Kade Talton and Central’s Michael Tucker needed two tiebreaker to determine a winner on court No. 3. Tucker won the first set 6-1, then Talton led most of the second set but couldn’t put Tucker away. Once the two were tied 6-6 in games they played a 7-point set tiebreak, which Talton won 7-4.

By winning the second set, Talton forced a third-set 10-point tiebreak. Tucker led 5-4 at one point, but Talton won six of the next seven points to win 10-6.

Surry Central’s singles wins came on courts No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6.

The Eagles’ Tripp McMillen and Isaac Eller each won in straight sets. McMillen defeated Lupe Chavez 6-0, 6-2 in No. 4 singles, and Eller defeated Hayden Douglas 6-4, 6-1 in No. 6 singles.

The final two singles matches to finish were on the top two courts. Edmonds topped Levi Watson 7-5 in the first set, but Watson won the second set 6-3. The Central senior led at each switch, first 4-2 then 7-5, before going on to win the 10-point tiebreak 10-7.

Though court No. 1 did not feature a tiebreak set, the match between Central’s Josh Pardue and East’s Cooper Motsinger was by far the longest of the afternoon. The pair went to war, and by the end of the match had the attention of a huge crowd. Pardue came away with the win in the end 7-5, 6-4.

Pardue finishes the season 14-0 in singles. Motsinger, who finishes 14-2 in singles, is the only one of Pardue’s opponents to win more than four combined games in a single match.

Also finished undefeated was the No. 1 doubles duo of Pardue and Edmonds. The pair defeated East’s Talton and Hopkins 8-1 to finish the regular season 14-0.

Tucker and McMillen teamed together in the No. 2 doubles match to take down East’s Motsinger and Nick Lowery 8-4. The Cardinal team cut the Eagles’ lead to 4-3, but Central closed out strong for its sixth individual win of the match.

East Surry got its third overall win of the match in No. 3 doubles. Watson and Colsen Semones initially trailed 2-1 against Central’s Martin and Eller, but the Cardinals’ battled back to win 8-5.

East and Central will likely have individuals meet again at the FH2A Tournament, which is scheduled for April 21 at North Surry.

DOBSON — Surry Central High School announced that Mr. Marty Behrens will be the school’s new varsity boys basketball coach.

Principal Misti Holloway and Athletic Director Wes Evans introduced Behrens to the community at a meet-and-greet in the school’s gymnasium Tuesday afternoon.

“I just can’t tell you how excited I am for this opportunity,” Behrens said at the meet-and-greet, sporting the Surry Central insignia on his shirt for the first time. “I can’t thank Coach Evans, Mrs. Holloway as well as the rest of the interview committee enough for giving me this opportunity.”

Behrens is a 1991 graduate of Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., that earned his teaching certification in 1998. He began teaching and coaching basketball the same year at Bennett High School, located in his home state of Colorado. Behrens went on to teach and coach at multiple other schools, including Lake Gibson High School in Florida, as well as North Wilkes and East Surry High Schools in N.C.

“We are excited for Coach Behrens to join our Golden Eagle family,” said Holloway in a press release. “Our interview committee was impressed with Coach Behrens’ knowledge of basketball, enthusiasm for coaching, experience with building a positive culture, and ability to create strong, hard-working relationships with players. Many former coaching colleagues and athletic directors speak highly of Coach Behrens’s determination, mindset and love of helping players grow in their basketball abilities.”

Behrens’ most recent coaching stint came at East Surry High School from 2018-2021. The Cardinals posted a record of 39-24 in those three seasons, made back-to-back playoff appearances and won the Northwest 1A Conference Tournament in 2020 – which was the school’s first conference tournament championship in 12 years.”

“We are pleased and excited to have Coach Behrens working with our basketball program,” Evans said. “His breadth of knowledge, experience and personable demeanor will be a very positive influence on the players in the program and the students in our school. We look forward to what we believe to be great things at Surry Central.”

Behrens told the crowd at Tuesday’s gathering that he believed his coaching career was finished after departing from East Surry following the 2020-21 season. However, he just couldn’t stay away. When Surry Central’s Myles Wilmoth announced he was stepping down as head coach after six seasons, Behrens saw his opportunity to get back in the game.

”Taking those few months off, I found out that I still had that fire burning,” Behrens said. “I always admired this program and the kids here during my years at East Surry and North Wilkes. It just seems like a place I’ve always wanted to be a part of quite honestly.

”I grew up in a small farming community out in Colorado, which is where I was born and raised, and Dobson reminds me a lot of that community. I’m excited to get to know you guys, build some relationships and get started.”

Behrens currently serves as the boys lacrosse coach at West Stokes, but said he’s ready to hit the ground running at Surry Central as soon as lacrosse season ends.

The Golden Eagle community is optimistic regarding the boys basketball program moving forward. Central returns seven varsity players from the 2021-22 team that tied for the most wins for an Eagles team in a decade, and the school’s JV team finished 19-2.

The road won’t be an easy one, though, as the Foothills 2A Conference is expected to be just as competitive next season.

“I’m very familiar with the challenges we have in front of us with the conference we’re in, and I know of the success of the top three teams in our conference last year,” Behrens said, referencing North Surry, Forbush and East Surry. “That being said, I know how close y’all were to beating all three of those teams at different times throughout the year.”

The 2021-22 Eagles took both East Surry and Forbush to overtime, and played North Surry – who went on to finish 2A West Regional Runner-up – to a pair of single digit games. Surry Central only lost to North Surry by a point in the FH2A Conference Tournament, after which North Surry won the conference championship by 17 points and three of its four playoff wins by double digits before falling to the eventual state champion.

“Hopefully, we can take that next step through hard work and dedication. Like I said, I’m just excited to meet y’all and get started.“

Behrens and his wife Julie have been married since 1993. They have two children: Kayleigh Bobbitt, who lives in King with her husband Taylor and their two children, Lane and Keo, and Troy Behrens, who lives in Wilkesboro with his wife Keri and two children, Brayden and Bristol.

© 2018 The Mount Airy News