Hough reaches state baseball semifinals

In only its second year as a program, Hough will play in the 4A regional finals after defeating I-Meck foe Mallard Creek 4-2 in the fourth round of the playoffs Wednesday.

With the game being postponed because of storms Tuesday night, the Huskies (21-10) were able to bring ace pitcher Brandon Gragilla onto the mound.

Despite being on short rest, having pitched against South Caldwell Friday, the 6-foot-5 junior left-hander, who’s 11-1 for the year, had another strong performance.

“He wanted it tonight,” said Hough coach Jimmy Cochran. “He did what he’s done all year for us.”

But Gragilla had a slow start, allowing the first Maverick batter he faced in the game, Jamel Harbison, to lead off with a triple. After the Huskies got the next two batters out, Kyle Bynum drove in Harbison to get Mallard Creek (20-9) the early 1-0 lead.

But Hough answered in its next outing, as A.J. Girting, who reached first on a walk to start the second inning, was driven in by a Nick Daddio single to tie the game.

In the top of third, the Huskies got the lead when Jared Sobo scored off a Johnny Piedmonte sacrifice fly. Daddio would go on to again score Girting.

Mallard Creek’s David Folk scored in the bottom of the inning, but Hough would add to its buffer in the fourth, when Eric Siler reached home off a Maverick error at first base.

Gragilla, whose only lost of the year came against the Mavericks, was glad to get the key win.

“It’s a great accomplishment to get this far,” he said. “Our team has done a good job. It feels good.”

Hough will face East Forsyth in the best-of-three, home-and-away state semifinal series, which begins Thursday.

“It’s amazing,” said Cochran. “I’m happy beyond belief for my guys. Last year we struggled and it wasn’t really a fun experience for our guys, but they stuck it out and came back hungry. It’s paid off.”

Hough plays Mallard Creek for spot in state semifinals

Mallard Creek, the I-Meck regular-season champion, will host the I-Meck tournament winner Hough at 7 p.m. in the fourth round of the 4A playoffs.

Mallard Creek, the conference's top seed, goes into the state quarterfinals with a 19-8 record after a tough 4-2 win on the road at Asheville T.C. Roberson Friday.

Hough also won on the road, defeating South Caldwell 3-2 Friday, heading into the game with a 20-10 mark.

Regardless of who wins Tuesday night between the two teams, the I-Meck will be represented in the regional finals. The winner will play either West Forsyth or Mount Tabor.

Davidson Day's Brown wins state titles

Jordan Brown claimed three state track championships this past weekend for Davidson Day.

Brown won the 100- and 200-meter titles as well as the 4x200 relay championship (along with Aaron Seward, Miles Boone and Jordan Young) at the 1A/2A independent school track and field championships.

State champs Lake Norman lead the way in all-conference lacrosse team

Lake Norman's Danny Brown and coach Kevin Gowin were named Conference 10 player and coach of the year, respectively.

Here is the entire boys' lacrosse all-conference team:

Goalie: John Clark, Lake Norman Charter; CJ Schiemer, Lake Norman

LSM: Randon Hassell, Lake Norman Charter; Cole Maxon, Lake Norman

Midfield: JT Del Tufo, Lake Norman; Jake Koferi, Lake Norman Charter; Micharl Hart, Hough; Andrew Gobble, Lake Norman Charter; James, Hopewell (no first name listed); Bryan Kos, Lake Norman; Brendan Friss, Mooresville; Ben Craig, Hough; Sanders Poff, Hough

Attackers: Danny Brown, Lake Norman; Will Scott, Lake Norman; Josh Ford, Lake Norman Charter; Matt Wine, Lake Norman Charter; Hunter Howe, Hough; Joey Ruggerio, Hough

Defenders: Kyle Gradert, Lake Norman; Ryan Breman, Lake Norman; Ben Douglas, Hough; Ian Radcliff, Lake Norman; Taylor Day, Lake Norman Charter; Zachary Friss, Mooresville

I-Meck's all-conference tennis, golf teams announced

Hough's David Sargent was named I-Meck golfer of the year, while Mooresville's Jake Combs and Hough's Ryan Wydra split the conference boys' tennis player of the year honors.

Lake Norman's Chris Carroll was tennis coach of the year. No coach of the year for golf was announced.

Here are the rest of the all-conference teams:

Boys' golf

PEYTON WHITE                HOUGH

CONNER LEWIS                HOUGH

SETH GANDY                     HOUGH

DAVID YANG                     HOUGH

PHILLIP PARRISH              NORTH MECK

CLAY BROWN                   HOUGH

NOLAN WATTS                 MOORESVILLE

ANDREW JOHNSON        LAKE NORMAN

TYLER MURPHY               MALLARD CREEK

ALEX COHLMA                 LAKE NORMAN

BRANDON HOLST            HOPEWELL

Boys' tennis

Armato, John (Hopewell)

Black, Collin (Hough)

King, Noah (Hough)

Ciuffo, AJ (Hough)

Duncan, Marquis (Vance)

Jacobo, Jeff (North Meck)

Llewellyn, Spencer (Mooresville)

Lowery, Patrick (Lake Norman)

Rajan, Shravan (Lake Norman)

Coody, Hamit (Lake Norman)

Dow, Greg (Lake Norman)

Gallagher, Sean (Lake Norman)

Two area teams in soccer semis

Hough's undefeated girls' soccer team will host Providence at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Cornelius. The Lady Huskies are playing in the4A  state semifinals. The winner will face either Wilmington Hoggard or Raleigh Green Hope.

South Iredell will host Cuthbertson in the 2A state semis Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Lake Norman Charter lost to Thomas Jefferson in the state semifinals Saturday. 

North Lincoln is lone area team left in softball playoffs

North Lincoln will travel to Madison High in Marshall Tuesday to play its fourth-round 2A playoff game Tuesday.

The Knights (17-6) defeated West Lincoln 3-2 in the third round.

Lake Norman to play for lacrosse title Friday night

Lake Norman's boys' lacrosse team will face Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons at 7:30 p.m. in Cary for the state championship.

The Wildcats, which defeated Myers Park 13-7 Wednesday, go into the title game with a 22-0 record. Cardinal Gibbons is also undefeated this season with a 20-0 mark.

Lake Norman has outscored its opponents 350-76 this year.

Playoff update (May 18)

Other sports' playoffs are well under way, here are the games scheduled for Friday and Saturday (local teams in bold):

Baseball (third-round games to be played Friday)

2A
East Davidson at East Lincoln


4A
Hough at South Caldwell

Softball (third-round games to be played Friday)

1A
Lake Norman Charter at Bessemer City
Lincoln Charter at South Stanly

2A
West Lincoln at North Lincoln


4A
Hough at Alexander Central

Girls' soccer (fourth-round games)

1A
Thomas Jefferson at Lake Norman Charter (state semifinal to be played Saturday)

2A
South Iredell at Shelby (Saturday)

4A
Lake Norman at Hough (Friday)

*For full playoff brackets, follow the links in each subhead.

Two Lincoln County athletes claim state titles

East Lincoln's Marcus "Bubba" McDowell and North Lincoln's Allie Castro both won individual state championships at last weekend's 2A track and field meet.

McDowell, a senior, won the 400-meter title with a 48.72. Castro's 11:18.62 time in the 3,200 meters allowed her to claim her state title. She was more than eight seconds faster than the state runner-up.

North Lincoln's Andrew Fea was second in the 1,600 meter run with a 4:27.80, while Ryan Shannon was third in the 3,200 meters (9:54.30).

Lake Norman Charter participated in the 1A state meet, where they were led by Stephanie Zaino's third place finish in the 3,200 meters as well as the boys' 4x800 meter relay team (Michael Westbay, Nathan Farber, Stephen Hack, Chris Hack) that finished as state runner-up. Here are the full 1A results.

South Iredell tennis player is state runner-up

South Iredell’s Patrick Hensley had a good weekend at the 2A boys’ tennis state championships, winning three matches to reach the state final match.

Hensley, a senior, defeated Central Davidson’s Levi Bruff 6-3, 6-1 in the first round before coming back from behind to beat Hillsborough Cedar Ridge’s Zac Marion 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

On the second day of the tournament, Hensley defeated Eben Wells (Kill Devil Hills First Flight) 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinal before losing to Salisbury freshman Michael Ogden 6-4, 6-0 for the state championship.

Hensley was state runner-up for a second year in a row.

Other Lake Norman area players didn't fare as well.

Jake Combs (Mooresville) dropped his first-round match 6-1, 6-0 to Greensboro Page’s Austin Ansari, while Greensboro Grimsley’s Will Albright and Graham Pearson defeated Ryan Wydra-Collin Black (Hough) 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of doubles play.

Lake Norman playoff update (May 14)

This past weekend was a busy one in playoff action. Here is a recap of results (Lake Norman area teams in bold).

Baseball

1A

Lake Norman Charter def. North Moore 5-3

2A

East Rutherford def. North Lincoln 2-1

East Lincoln def. South Iredell 3-2

Bandys def. West Stokes 20-3

4A

Mooresville def. Olympic 7-3

Hough def. Porter Ridge 2-1

Lake Norman def. Sun Valley 3-0

Asheville Roberson def. Hopewell  6-5

Tuesday's second round games:

Lake Norman Charter at Hendersonville

Shelby at East Lincoln

Bandys at Wilkes Central

Lake Norman at Mallard Creek

Mooresville at Hough

Click here for full baseball brackets.

Softball

1A

Lincoln Charter def. East Montgomery 5-2

Lake Norman Charter def. Hiwassee Dam 5-3

2A

Chase def. East Lincoln 5-4

North Lincoln def. South Iredell 3-1

Bandys def. West Davidson 11-1

4A

Olympic def. Hopewell 10-1

Hough def. Sun Valley 5-4

Lake Norman def. Butler 13-0

Asheville Roberson def. Mooresville 22-2

Tuesday’s second-round games:

Lincoln Charter at North Moore

Lake Norman Charter vs. Cherokee/Mitchell

Polk County at North Lincoln

West Lincoln at Bandys

Hough at Olympic

Porter Ridge at Lake Norman

Click here for full softball brackets.

Girls' soccer

1A

Lake Norman Charter def. Union Academy 5-0

2A

Shelby def. Bandys 4-1

Polk County def. East Lincoln 3-2 OT

South Iredell def. Wheatmore 8-6 OT

4A

Lake Norman def. Olympic 4-1

Hough def. Sun Valley 3-1

Tuesday’s third-round games:

Central Academy at Lake Norman Charter

Polk County at South Iredell

Lake Norman at Asheville A.C. Reynolds

Hough at Asheville T.C. Roberson

Click here for full girls' soccer brackets.

Boys' lacrosse

Lake Norman's 18-3 win against Greensboro Grimsley Friday will send the Wildcats to the state semifinals against Myers Park.

Lake Norman (21-0) will host the Mustangs (17-3) Tuesday night. The winner of that  game will play for a state championship against either Raleigh Athens Drive or Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons.

Girls' lacrosse

Lake Norman dropped a 16-7 game to Marvin Ridge in the state quarterfinals Friday to end their quest for a state championship.

The Lady Wildcats finished the year 13-6 after being runners-up in Conference 7 to Myers Park, which dropped the other western quarterfinal to Charlotte Catholic. For a bracket, go here.

Independent school brackets released

The N.C. Independent School Athletic Association released its baseball, girls' soccer, boys' tennis and boys' lacrosse playoff brackets.

Check out these links to see who made these postseason tournaments:

• Baseball
• Girls' soccer
• Boys' tennis
• Boys' lacrosse

Baseball, softball playoff brackets released

The N.C. High School Association released its baseball and softball playoff brackets Wednesday morning. First-round play is slated to be played by Friday.

Here are the first-round match-ups for Lake Norman area teams (in bold):

Baseball

1A
No. 3 North Moore (13-8) at No. 2 Lake Norman Charter (10-12)

2A
No. 3 North Lincoln (13-13) at No. 1 East Rutherford (17-5)
No. 5 South Iredell (12-11) at No. 1 East Lincoln (20-4)
No. 4 Bandys (16-7) at No. 1 West Stokes (20-3)

4A
No. 2 Porter Ridge (8-17) at No. 2 Hough (17-10)
No. 3 Mooresville (15-7) at No. 1 Olympic (19-5)
No. 4 Hopewell (14-10) at No. 1 T.C. Roberson (24-2)
No. 5 Lake Norman (13-9) at No. 1 Sun Valley (12-13)

Softball

1A
WC Lincoln Charter (15-2) at East Montgomery (20-5)
No. 4 Hiwassee Dam (10-10) No. 3 Lake Norman Charter (11-8)

2A
No. 3 East Lincoln (10-12) at No. 1 Chase (14-3)
No. 5 South Iredell (7-14) at No. 1 North Lincoln (14-6)
No. 3 West Davidson (9-12) at No. 1 Bandys (17-5)

4A
No. 4 Butler (14-11) at No. 1 Lake Norman (22-1)
No. 2 Sun Valley (7-13) at No. 2 Hough (17-4)
No. 3 Hopewell (14-7) at No. 1 Olympic (14-5)
No. 4 Mooresville (10-9) at No. 1 T.C. Roberson


For complete baseball and softball brackets, click on the respective links.

Boys' tennis championships set for this weekend

Singles and doubles titles are up for grabs this weekend as the N.C. High School Athletic Association holds its annual boys' tennis individual tournament championships May 11-12.

Semifinalists in both singles and doubles at the regional level qualify for the state championships.

The 4A championships are scheduled for Millbrook Exchange Park in Raleigh, while both the 1A and the 2A championships are set for the Cary Tennis Center. The 3A championships will be held at the Burlington Tennis Center.

Here is a list of qualifiers (Lake Norman area players in bold):

1A-Cary Tennis Center

SINGLES--FIRST ROUND

Matt Kessler (Mount Airy) vs. Tommy Arline (Gates County)

Harrison Tucker (Franklin Academy) vs. Tyler Macy (Elkin)

Dillon Cuttington (Rosewood), default

Jacob Fuqua (Hendersonville) vs. Jin Kang (Durham N.C. School of Science and Math)

DOUBLES--FIRST ROUND

Mitch Kessler-Jordan Lawson (Mount Airy) vs. Coy Cameron-Harrison Stone (Durham Voyager Academy)

Dakota Capiz-Chase Conner (Riverside-Martin) vs. Kevin Weckworth-Lane Kiser (Kernersville Bishop McGuinness)

Jonathan Tseng-Houston Parks (Raleigh Charter) vs. Jeremiah Morrison-David Bullins (Elkin)

Brackin Kirkland-Charles Colhoun (Hendersonville) vs. Tanner Lynk-Evan Guthrie (East Carteret)

2A -Cary Tennis Center

SINGLES--FIRST ROUND

Eben Wells (Kill Devil Hills First Flight) vs. J.P. Gemborys (Durham School of Arts)

Garrett Lakey (Wilkes Central) vs. Grant Buckner (Burnsville Mountain Heritage)

Zac Marion (Hillsborough Cedar Ridge) vs. Lane Long (Tarboro)

Patrick Hensley (South Iredell) vs. Levi Bruff (Central Davidson)

Ray Webb Parker (Shelby) vs. Lucas Shelton (West Stokes)

Max Fritsch (Carrboro) vs. David Beard (Newport Croatan)

Michael Ogden (Salisbury) vs. Zach Huffman (Maiden)

Anthony Brennan (Swansboro) vs. Drew Guerra (Durham School of Arts)

DOUBLES--FIRST ROUND

Hunter Lane-Dallas Hollingsworth (East Duplin) vs. Aaron Stafford-Jordan McClure (Trinity Wheatmore)

Jesse Massucco-Evan Day (Wilkes Central) vs. Bobby Decker-Eli Hile (Black Mountain C.D. Owen)

Kia Brewington/Nathan Woolard (Siler City Jordan-Matthews) vs. Edson Garcia-Ben Jones (East Duplin)

Miles Poage-Joseph Hendrick (Shelby) vs. Josh Walker-Ben Lunning (Cuthbertson)

Ryan Lampe-John Tate (Newton-Conover) vs. Shaun Howell-Roland DesLauriers (Cuthbertson)

Owen Ryan-Camil Craciunescu (Durham School of Arts) vs. Foster Hawkins-Brady Trevison (Hampstead Topsail)

Alan Lebowitz-Abraham Post (Salisbury) vs. Oscar Zamora-Ben Keefer (Black Mountain C.D. Owen)

Kirk Robertson-Parks Tompkins (Hampstead Topsail) vs. Chris Cole-Zafer Estill (Pittsboro Northwood)

3A -Burlington Tennis Center

SINGLES--FIRST ROUND

Chaz Fitzpatrick (Eastern Wayne) vs. Pierce Beary (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons)

Joey Hatala (Waxhaw Marvin Ridge) vs. Daniel May (Hickory)

Matt Daly (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons) vs. Soren Wonde (Cleveland)

Paul Hogan (Lenoir Hibriten) vs. Victor Nechar (Concord Cox Mill)

Chaney Barnes (Kings Mountain) vs. Hayden Faulkenbury (China Grove Jesse Carson)

Eric Greene (Western Alamance) vs. Nick Jones (Wilson Fike)

Kyle Johnson (Charlotte Catholic) vs. Isaac Sluder (Waynesville Tuscola)

Russell Turner (Eastern Wayne)) vs. John Dangerfield (Cameron Union Pines)

DOUBLES--FIRST ROUND

Will Hoff-Michael Kearney (Pikeville Charles B. Aycock) vs. Ricky Ydrovo-Thomas Freeman (Thomasville Ledford)

Matthew Martinez-Zach Sachee (Charlotte Catholic) vs. Alex Arditti-Luke Kessel (Hickory)

Killian Steer-Matt Galush (Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons) vs. Julian Marrero-Eric Joyner (Northern Nash)

Sandler Gensch-Logan Andrew (Belmont South Point) vs. Bobby Hatala-Woody Watson (Waxhaw Marvin Ridge)

Tito Poplawski-David Howerton (Asheville) vs. B.J. Beecher-Mason Croley (Concord)

Aaron Weber-Bryan Zhang (Chapel Hill) vs. Edwin Burnett-Patrick Evans (South Brunswick)

Parks Thompson-Julian Hawkins (Statesville) vs. Michael Turlington-Adam Greer (West Henderson)

Phillip Packard-Drayton Williams (Wilson Fike) vs. Andrew Stephenson-Jack Harrison (Burlington Williams)

4A - Millbrook Exchange Park, Raleigh

SINGLES--FIRST ROUND

A.J. Stilwell (Wilmington Laney) vs. Kelly Patch (Cary Green Hope)

Scott Gallimore (Davie County) vs. Jim Fan (Charlotte Ardrey Kell)

Graham Duncan (Apex) vs. Josiah Boda (Scotland)

Michael Smith (Watauga) vs. Warren Bryan (Greensboro Page)

Mike Roberts (Charlotte Ardrey Kell) vs. Matt Tutton (High Point Central)

Tyler Pyle (Durham Jordan) vs. Alex Gaines (Wilmington New Hanover)

Austin Ansari (Greensboro Page) vs. Jake Combs (Mooresville)

Grey Hamilton (Southern Pines Pinecrest) vs. Matt Stachowiak (Apex Middle Creek)

DOUBLES--FIRST ROUND

Noah Milliken-Matt Johnson (Wilmington Hoggard) vs. Brad Meir-Ricky Meir (Raleigh Millbrook)

Will Albright-Graham Pearson (Greensboro Grimsley) vs. Ryan Wydra-Collin Black (W.A. Hough)

Bo Boyden-Jensen Martin (Raleigh Wakefield) vs. Jordan Frazier-Stephen Gay (Greenville Rose)

Karthik Arunkmar-Thomas King (Charlotte Ardrey Kell) vs. Mitchell Lewis-Ben Stern (Greensboro Grimsley)

John Kruszka-Michael McGowan (Charlotte Providence) vs. Austin Lynk-Vivek Dakoriya (Southwest Guilford)

Chris Mahan-Sean Carmean (Raleigh Millbrook) vs. Jake McDonough-Will Schoolfield (Wilmington Laney)

Chad Hoskins-Paul Yamane (Winston-Salem R.J.Reynolds) vs. Nicholas Cottrill-Matt Coats (Charlotte Providence)

Alex Auman-Colt Auman (Richmond) vs. Andrew Waddell-Patrick Longest (Raleigh Broughton)

Wildcats wins I-Meck softball tournament title

Lake Norman, the regular-season I-Meck champs, added the conference tournament title to its impressive season Monday with a 9-7 win against Hough during a double-header at UNC Charlotte.

For a full recap, read my story in today's Observer.

Hough claims baseball tourney championship

After dropping its last three games of the regular season, Hough has turned it around and won its last three games on its way to winning the I-Meck 4A baseball tournament title.

The Huskies won the title in a close 1-0 game against Hopewell. For more, see Corey Inscoe's story on Monday's game.