Ledford ousts rival North in first round

Jun. 17—WELCOME — Sixteenth-seeded Ledford beat top-seeded North Davidson 7-5 on Tuesday at North in the opening round of the NCHSAA 2A West baseball playoffs.

Gavin Sentell, Lucas Glover and Bailey Smith each had a hit and two RBIs to lead the Panthers (11-3), who won two out of three games this season against the rival Black Knights.

Sentell hit a two-run home run and Glover hit a two-run double in the seventh inning for Ledford, which scored three runs in the first inning before North tallied single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings to tie it 3-3.

Owen Finley and Devin Villaman each added a hit for the Panthers, who had five for the game.

Sentell got the win for Ledford, striking out eight in 2 2/3 innings, in relief of Smith, who struck out eight in 3 2/3 innings. Glover then pitched the seventh, striking out two.

The Panthers (11-3) will visit ninth-seeded East Lincoln (14-1) tonight at 7 in the second round.

OAK GROVE, MADISON

MARSHALL — Tenth-seeded Oak Grove topped seventh-seeded Madison 3-2 on Tuesday at Madison in the first round of the NCHSAA 2A West baseball playoffs. The Grizzlies (11-3) will host 15th-seeded South Rowan (13-3), which beat second-seeded West Stanly 6-2, in the second round tonight at 6.

RAGSDALE, PROVIDENCE

CHARLOTTE — Sixteenth-seeded Ragsdale fell 2-1 in 10 innings against top-seeded Providence on Tuesday at Providence in the first round of the NCHSAA 4A West baseball playoffs. The Tigers finished with a 9-6 overall record.

AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL

POST 87 HITOMS, MOCKSVILLE

THOMASVILLE — High Point Post 87 defeated Mocksville 5-3 in American Legion baseball Tuesday at Finch Field to start its season. Michael Peele (High Point Christian) had two hits while Avery Adams (Thomasville) had an RBI double in the sixth inning to lead the HiToms, who scored five runs over the fifth and sixth innings to lead 5-1. Eli Crump (High Point Christian) earned the win, striking out five in six innings, before Derek Martinez (Ragsdale/NC A&T) picked up the save. Post 87 will play again Friday at Mocksville.

TENNIS

REGIONALS SET FOR THIS WEEK

TRIAD — Area schools have qualified nearly 20 entries into the regional championships scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Doubles teams and singles players who qualified out of their conference tournaments are:

—1A West (Mount Airy High) — Bishop McGuinness' Isabella Ross/Allie Dennen in doubles, Lindsey Bergelin and Lourdes Lopez in singles;

—2A Mideast (Cedar Falls Park, Chapel Hill) — Wheatmore's Taylor Comer/Kara Comer in doubles, Hannah Carter and Logan Rogers in singles; Trinity's Thuy Ho/Autumn Gentry in doubles;

—2A Midwest (Salisbury High) — Ledford's Jada Welch/Mila Riggsbee and Sydney Carter/Kayleigh Batchek in doubles, Abby Dumbar and Casey Embler in singles; Oak Grove's Chloe Bethea/Marlie Stephenson in doubles, Jessica Fuchs in singles;

—3A Midwest (Les Myers Park, Concord) — Southwest Guilford's Audrey Serb in singles;

—4A Midwest (Hopewell High, Huntersville) — High Point Central's Olivia Perez/Mallory Cook in doubles; Ragsdale's Emma Hodge/Ruby Kemp in doubles, Ella Perez in singles.

The top four from each regional will then advance to next week's state championships. The ----1A/2A will play at Cary Tennis Park, the 3A will be at the Burlington Tennis Complex and the 4A will be at Millbrook Exchange Park.

This year, in place of the dual-team championships, team regional and state champions will be awarded in those tournaments based on a points system.