Local Sports Roundup for July 1

Randolph County’s two American Legion teams were sitting atop the Area III North’s Division 2 standings as last week progressed, while the Asheboro ZooKeepers were still hanging onto second despite a series of close losses later in the week. Here’s a recap of the week.

American Legion Baseball

■ Zack Scruggs had a hit and three RBIs as Randolph County downed Liber- ty 6-2 in a division game. Braxton Walker had two hits and an RBI. Lincoln Coble pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits with six strikeouts. Tate An- drews gave up two runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Mark King had two hits and two RBIs for Liberty. Mason Taylor also had two hits.

■ Chance Holdaway and Weston Phillips each had a hit and two RBIs as Liberty beat Hamlet 6-2 to complete a game that was suspended on June 12 due to rain. Cade McCallum had two hits and an RBI. Noah Lester had two hits. Lucas Smith pitched five innings, allowing two runs with three strikeouts. McCallum threw two innings of scoreless relief and earned a save.

■ Eli Holland had a two-run double as Liberty held off Aberdeen 8-7. Taylor, Lester and McCallum all had two hits and an RBI. King added an RBI single. Bryson Marley earned a save after Aberdeen staged a six-run rally in the sixth inning.

■ Scruggs went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs in Randolph County’s 10-0 rout of St. Mary’s (Md). Carter Brown was 3-for-4 with a triple and RBI. Brody Little and Walker each had two hits. Ben Luck had an RBI triple and Grat Dalton singled in a run. Jake Riddle hurled a six-inning shutout, allowing five hits with seven strikeouts.

■ Grat Dalton blasted a solo home run and Caleb Coggins had two hits but Randolph County fell 5-4 in nine innings to Hamlet. Ethan Willard and Jackson Hill both had an RBI single. Drew Harmon allowed four runs – two earned — in two innings on the mound. Elijah Prince pitched four innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts. Walker pitched the final three innings, giving up an unearned run and striking out three.

■ Willard led off the game with a home run and wound up with three hits and three RBIs in Randolph County’s 5-3 win over Chatham County. Coggins had two hits, including a double and RBI. Hill doubled in a run. Sean Jennison hurled a four-hitter with three strikeouts in six innings. Brett Smith pitched a scoreless seventh inning and got a save.

■ Walker smashed his first home run of the summer, finishing with three hits and two RBIs as Randolph County walloped Moore County 10-0 in five innings at Sandhills Communuty College. Andrews also had three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs. Brown added two hits and two RBIs. Scruggs and Caviness each had an RBI single. Brett Smith pitched a one-hitter with five strikeouts over four innings.

ZooKeepers baseball

■ Nathan Chrismon and Seojun Oh each had two hits and two RBIs in the ZooKeepers’ 16-4 loss to High Point-Thomasville.

■ Oh scored an unearned run in the top of the 10th inning and the ZooKeep- ers edged the Peninsula Pilots 6-5. Jake Griffith had two hits and an RBI. Cole Kitchens was 2-for-4. Cooper McKenzie, Davis Germann and Oh all had a hit and RBI. Gavin Marley got the win with one inning of scoreless relief. Mason McDan- iel pitched an inning of scoreless relief, striking out two, for the save.

■ Oh had a hit and two RBIs in the ZooKeepers’ 7-5 loss to High Point-Thomasville. Yariel Diaz smashed a solo home run while Griffith singled in a run.

■ Kitchens was 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the ZooKeepers’ 7-6 loss to Martins- ville. Oh also had two RBIs. Griffith was 3-for-3 while Eli Hammill went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Chrismon was 2-for-4 and Germann had an RBI single. Mason McDaniel allowed four hits and no earned runs in six innings.

■ Griffith had a two-run double but the ZooKeepers fell 7-6 to Martinsville for the second night in a row. Kruise Newman was 2-for-5 with an RBI while Sam Hunter was 3-for-5. Starting pitcher Reilly Byers allowed two hits and two runs with a pair of strikeouts in six innings.

Brooks Brannon update

■ The former Randleman star was bat- ting .253 with 5 home runs and 31 RBIs as of June 27 for the Salem Red Sox, High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

Peyton Williams update

■ The former Post 45 pitcher was 1-2 with an earned run average of 2.32 and eight saves as of June 27.