Weekend sports update: Hammerheads win, state track title for North Brunswick + more

MOREHEAD CITY, NC (WWAY) — The Pasco Hernando baseball team defeated Southeastern Community College on Sunday afternoon 9-8. The victory puts Pasco Hernando in the Region X title game on Monday night. Southeastern Community College will now have to beat Catawba Valley on Monday afternoon in order to advance to Monday’s title contest. The Region X winner will advance to the national junior college baseball tourney later this month.

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GREENSBORO, NC (NCHSAA) -— Reneazia Collins led Monroe to the women’s team championship with an outstanding effort on Saturday in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2-A track and field championships at the Irwin Belk Track at North Carolina State A&T University.

Collins was the Most Valuable Performer in the women’s meet, with first place finishes in all four events she entered. She won the 100, 200 and 400 while anchoring the victorious four by 100 relay team. Monroe won the 2-A title after taking the championship last year in 1-A, but moving up in the current realignment. Collins was the MVP in the ’13 1-A meet.

Monroe tallied 82.5 points to 57 for runner-up Carrboro, which had won the last three 2-A team titles. Durham School of the Arts was third with 51, followed by Burlington Cummings (48) and High Point Andrews (46.33). A total of 48 schools scored in the women’s meet.

Kayla Moore of Cummings took first place in both hurdle events while Carrboro’s Maysa Araba was a double winner, winning the 800 and 1600. In field events, Bunn’s Tainasha Vines took individual crowns in both the long jump and triple jump.

Catherine Armstrong of SouthWest Edgecombe won three wheelchair events.

The men’s meet went right down to the last event to determine the team champion. Winston-Salem Carver led North Brunswick by 2.5 points entering the four by 400 relay, and Carver but not qualify for that race while North was in the faster heat of two according to times.

North won that relay and earned the title with 57.5 points to 50 for Carver, followed by Marshville Forest Hills (42), Cummings (38) and Claremont Bunker Hill (34). There were 59 men’s teams scoring points in the meet.

Isaiah Moore of Cummings captured first place in three events in the men’s meet, setting a new 2-A record in the 110 high hurdles while also winning the long jump and the 300 hurdles. He was named the meet MVP.

Brian Sessoms of Carver also had a greet meet, as he was involved in four state championship performances. Sessoms finished first both the 100 and 200 and ran the lead leg on a pair of victorious relay teams.

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Note: WWAY first posted the this draft news on Saturday evening shortly after the NFL Draft ended on Twitter. We’ll have a full feature on the Jermaine Jones (New Hanover grad & St. Aug grad) on Monday on WWAY. Exact time TBA.

RALEIGH, NC (ST. AUG RELEASE) — Two-sport standout Jermaine Jones (Sr./Wilmington, NC) of Saint Augustine’s University has been invited to the New York Jets rookie mini-camp, which will be held this week.

Jones, a wide receiver, said the minicamp will not prevent him from competing in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held the following week in Michigan. Last year’s 200 meter champion, Jones will help the Falcons defend their men’s national title.

The Jets were among several teams enamored with Jones’ speed leading up to the NFL Draft, which was held May 8-10. Jones ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds at North Carolina State University’s Pro Day on March 24 and has been timed as low as 4.4.

In football, Jones used his blazing speed to outrun defenders and get behind the defense for receptions. During his four-year career, Jones caught 86 passes for 1,154 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also returned 48 kickoffs for 975 yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore, Jones led the Falcons with 13 total tackles on special teams.

As a junior, Jones was named the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year after keying the Falcons to the national crown in 2013. He was the anchor runner on the 4×100 relay team which set the Division II record twice at the 2013 Outdoor Championships. The Falcons are the only Division II team to run under 39 seconds (38.91) in the 4×100 relay. His time of 20.64 in the 200 meters is currently the fastest in Division II in 2014.

Jones graduated from Saint Augustine’s University May 4 with a degree in human performance and wellness.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (UNCW) -– No. 23 Penn State stormed back after losing the doubles point to win at the top four singles positions and defeat No. 50 UNCW, 4-2, in a first-round pairing of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Regionals early Saturday at the University of Virginia’s Snyder Tennis Center.

The Seahawks, two-time Colonial Athletic Association defending champions, had a nine-match winning streak halted and closed out the season with a 15-7 record after battling 11 nationally-ranked opponents this spring. Penn State, 22-5, moves on to face top-seeded Virginia for the opportunity to play in the Sweet Sixteen.

“I’m very proud of how our team competed today,” said Mait DuBois, UNCW’s seventh-year head coach and the 2014 CAA Coach-of-the-Year. “We put ourselves in a position to win the match. It was a very quality tennis match and it just came down to a couple points that went Penn State’s way.”

In a tightly contested match, UNCW grabbed control early with victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles before Penn State used strong singles play to come from behind for the win. The teams completed doubles and had a few games under their belt before inclement weather caused a 90-minute rain delay and forced the two teams inside to the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club to complete the match.

In doubles, UNCW’s No. 3 team of Zach Hublitz and Christiaan Van der Burgh edged Matt Barry and Roman Trkuja, 8-6, and the top tandem of Rafael Aita and Sam Williams upset No. 26 Russell Bader and Leonard Stakhovsky, 8-7 (0), for a 1-0 lead in the match.

But the Nittany Lions roared back in singles to stay alive. Bader defeated UNCW senior Pedro Mol, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 2 singles to even the match and Matt Barry topped UNCW’s Kaue Pereira, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 4 position for a 2-1 advantage.

PSU’s Alex Fennell extended the margin to 3-1 by beating Williams, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 3 singles before UNCW sophomore Christiaan Van der Burgh sliced into the lead with a 6-4, 7-5 decision over Nika Dolidze.

Stakhovsky, ranked 37th by the ITA, then rallied from behind twice to outlast Aita, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, at No. 1 singles to clinch the match.

“It was a tough transition to indoors, but I thought we handled it well,” said DuBois. “It was only the third time this season that we played inside. We came out a little big flat in singles. When we made the move indoors, we got some momentum back.”

Aita, from Lima, Peru, was up a break at 4-2 and 5-4 against Stakhovsky, but the PSU netter rallied back in the entertaining match. Aita finished with a 14-5 singles record and wound up with 64 career wins, second all-time at UNCW.

“It was a real pleasure to play here in front of about 300 fans. Most of them were Virginia fans who just like to watch good tennis. It was a great college tennis environment today.”

It marked the fifth NCAA appearance for the Seahawks in the last six years and their fourth consecutive trip to the tournament. UNCW now stands 1-5 in NCAA Tournament matches.

“I’m very proud of the strides we made from the fall to this point in the spring,” DuBois noted. “This team has come a long way and I’m very, very proud of how they competed today. The worst thing is saying goodbye to our three seniors and the fact that we won’t be able to play another match together.”

In last year’s tournament, UNCW upset No. 18 South Carolina in the first round, 4-0, before falling to No. 9 Duke, 4-0, at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham.

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WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW) — Luke Dunlap doubled in three runs and four Seahawks had multi-hit games as UNCW raced past The Citadel, 9-3, on Senior Day to win the non-conference series on Sunday at Brooks Field.
The Seahawks improved to 25-24 with their second straight win while the Bulldogs tumbled to 20-31. UNCW has now won three of its last four series.

Will Shepley (2-0) earned the win retiring all nine batters he faced in relief.
Austin Livington (2-7) suffered the loss, allowing five runs, one earned, on three hits and three walks in two innings pitched.

Casey Golden, Ryan LaGrange, Dillon Bass and Drew Farber each had two hits to fuel the 11-hit attack of the Seahawks. LaGrange connected on his fifth homer of the season and scored three runs. Bass collected two RBI’s and Farber scored twice.

Hughston Armstrong went 2-for-3 for the Citadel and Bo Thompson drove in three runs.

Up next: The Seahawks cap their non-conference slate with a 6 p.m. start on May 13 at Campbell.

How it happened: UNCW broke the game open with five runs in the second and three more in the third to take a commanding 8-2 lead. Dunlap’s bases-clearing double highlighted the second inning and LaGrange led off the third inning with a homer to left.

Inside the box score: The Seahawk pitching staff held the Bulldogs to one two-out hit and a pair of hits in RBI opportunities … UNCW, led by Farber’s two hits, went 5-for-12 with two out … UNCW knocked in six runs with two outs on the day … Shepley needed just 23 pitches to retire the nine batters he faced.

Notes: Senior Mat Batts as listed in the designated hitter spot in the starting lineup, but never made a plate appearance … Dunlap finished the series going 7-for-12 (.583) with two doubles and four runs batted in … UNCW held the Citadel to a .191 batting average and compiled a 1.04 ERA over the weekend … UNCW clinched a spot in the upcoming CAA tournament following Col. of Charleston’s win … The Seahawks remain the only school in the conference to play in every baseball championship tournament (since 1985).

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TALLAHASSEE, FL (UNCW) -– UNCW senior Lori Beth Adams posted a one-under-par 71 in the final round of the 2014 NCAA East Regional Saturday at the SouthWood Golf Club.

A native of Burlington, N.C., Adams finished the 54-hole event in a five-way tie for 29th with a tournament scorecard of two-over-par 218 (68-79-71).

Starting on the front nine of the par 72, 6,257-yard layout, Adams opened her round with a birdie on the par-5 first hole before back-to-back bogeys on the par-4 fifth and par-3 sixth moved her to one-over-par for the day. Adams would get back to even par with a birdie on the par-4 eighth and made the turn with an ever-par-result of 36.

A birdie on the par-4 10th hole got Adams to one-under-par while consecutive birdies on the par-3 13th and the par-4 14th saw her move to three-under-par for the round. Adams cooled off slightly with back-to-back bogeys on the par-5 16th and the par-3 17th, but a par on the par-4 18th gave her a one-under-par 71 and her second her second sub-par round of the tournament. “Lori Beth had an excellent round today and did a great job staying focused and regrouping from a tough second round,” said UNCW Head Coach Cindy Ho. “Her ball striking was much improved today as she hit 15 greens and gave herself many chances for birdie. “LB got off to a great start making birdie on the par-5 first hole. She gave back two shots on back-to-back three putts on six and seven, but she didn’t let that get her down. She made birdie on the 8th to get settled down and then birdied four out of the next six holes.”

Adams finishes her UNCW career as one of the most decorated players in program history. A three-time All-CAA honoree with two First-Team All-CAA selections, Adams posted the second-lowest career stroke average in school history (75.95), just behind former standout Carmen Perez-Narbon’s school mark (75.35).

The 2012-13 Colonial Athletic Association player of the year, Adams turned one victory, nine top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes in 43 events played. With her participation in this week’s East Regional, Adams became only the fourth UNCW player to participate in NCAA Regional competition in all four years of her career, joining Michelle Jarman (2003-06), Becky Berzonski (2002-05) and Amelie Farrah (2002-05) on the exclusive list. “Lori Beth is one of a handful of players who has competed in every NCAA Regional Championship during their UNCW career, which is a major accomplishment and something to be incredibly proud of,” said Ho. “Lori Beth is one of the top 100 female amateurs in the world and has been a tremendous ambassador for UNCW Women’s golf. She made significant progress from a freshman to where she is now as a player and became an impact player for our program and one of the best players in the CAA. “It is extremely rewarding as a coach to watch your players develop as students, golfers and human beings. Lori Beth will always be a Seahawk and I wish her all the best in her career.”

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DANIEL ISLAND, SC (HAMMERHEADS) — Charleston, SC – The Charleston Battery lost to the Wilmington Hammerheads by a score of one goal to nil Saturday night at Blackbaud Stadium in front of 4,487. Hammerheads midfielder Paul Nicholson scored the lone goal in the 4th minute to lead Wilmington to victory.

The goal came after Charleston defender Colin Falvey tangled with Wilmington’s Sammy Ochoa just outside the box and the referee awarded a free-kick. Midfielder Danny Lovitz bent his shot around the wall but Charleston goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper managed to get down and tip the ball away.

Nicholson was first to react to the loose ball and drove his shot home from an acute angle.

Charleston’s best chance to level the game in the first half came in the 25th minute after the ball was slipped through to forward Adam Mena. Mena got his shot away but the ball was blocked wide by the lunging tackle of defender Ashani Fairclough.

In the 49th minute the Battery threatened again after defender Quinton Griffith beat his man and broke to the bye-line. Griffith picked out midfielder Andre Lewis at the near post but Lewis’ shot was saved by Wilmington goalkeeper Quillan Roberts.

The game changed on the hour-nark after Wilmington’s Manny Aparicio was ejected for receiving a second yellow card giving the Battery a man advantage for the final thirty minutes.

Wilmington retreated as the Battery pressure built and Charleston created several good chances. Substitute forward Haviel Cordoves hit the cross-bar with a stinging shot from distance in the 77th minute and then five minutes later Quinton Griffith saw his left-footed drive deflected over the bar by a Wilmington defender.

With time running out the Battery finally carved out a quality chance after the ball was set to striker Mamadou Diouf ten yards from goal. Diouf drilled a shot at the goal but Roberts was well positioned and parried the ball away to safety.

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