Local Sports Roundup for June 25

It was a busy week — and mostly good week — for local American Legion and Asheboro ZooKeepers fans last week. Let’s take a look.

American Legion Baseball

■ Braxton Walker had three hits, including a double, and three RBIs and pitched the seventh inning to earn a save as Randolph County rallied for a 9-6 win over Chatham County. Jake Riddle had two hits and two RBIs. Clay Hill had two hits and an RBI. Jackson Hill contributed a two-run single. Elijah Prince got the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run and striking out four. Brett Smith pitched a scoreless inning.

■ Noah Lester had a hit and three RBIs as Liberty beat Moore County 12-5. Bryson Marley had a two-run single and Eli Holland got an RBI single. Mark King doubled in a run. Marley was the winning pitcher, allowing five runs with 10 strikeouts. King hurled two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Post 81 broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning and added seven runs in the seventh inning to pull away.

■ Riddle had two hits and an RBI while also earning a two-inning save in Randolph County’s 5-4 win over Beverly/Lowell, Ohio. Drew Harmon had a pinch-hit, two-run single and Carter Brown doubled in a run. Zack Scruggs had two hits. Sean Jennison allowed two earned runs and struck out two.

■ Lucas Smith, King and Lester all smashed their first American Legion home runs in Libeerty’s 14-1 rout of Aberdeen. The home runs by King and Lester were both three-run shots. King finished with two hits while Lester wound up with five RBIs. Smith pitched four innings, allowing three hits and a run with five strikeouts. Mason Taylor threw two innings of shutout relief with two strikeouts.

■ King had a two-run single and pitched a three hitter with seven strikeouts over six innings in Liberty’s 4-1 win over Chatham County. Cade McCallum had two hits and an RBI. Mason Taylor got the last two outs in the seventh inning to earn a save.

■ Caleb Coggins and Riddle each had RBI singles in Randolph County’s 5-3 victory over Aberdeen. Ben Luck had two hits and scored two runs. Prince allowed a run in four innings and left with Post 45 ahead. Aberdeen took the lead with two unearned runs against Harmon in the fifth inning. Lincoln Coble pitched two scoreless innings with four strikeouts to get the win in the comeback.

■ Smith hurled a three-hitter with eight strikeouts over five innings as Randolph County edged Aberdeen 2-1. Cohen Caviness drove in both runs with a fielder’s choice grounder and a single. Tate Andrews pitched in relief and earned a save.

■ Liberty scored seven runs in the top of the seventh and King singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning as Liberty overcame Chatham County 10-8. Eli Holland added an RBI double for an insurance run and another came home on an error. King and Lester both had two hits and two RBIs. Chance Holdaway had a hit and two RBIs. Holland was 3-for-4 and McCallum was 2-for-4. Taylor was the winner, allowing two runs and two hits in 2 1/3 innings.

 ZooKeepers Baseball

■ Kruise Newman went 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the ZooKeepers’ 5-1 win over Holly Springs on June 15 at McCrary Park. Boaz Harper was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Yariel Diaz and Seojun Oh each had an RBI single. Shane Keup hurled three innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts to get the win. Starting pitcher Peter Lemke allowed three hits and a run with four strikeouts in four innings. Gavin Marley pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts.

■ Nathan Chrismon was 1-for-3 with four RBIs in the ZooKeepers’ 13-3 rout of the Boone Bigfoots. Diaz was 2-for-5 with three RBIs, and Oh went 2-for-2 with two RBIs. The ZooKeepers received 11 walks in the game. Garrett Smith, Caleb Cockerham and Caden Barnett combined on a five-hitter in the seven-inning game.

■ Harper went 2-for-5 with three RBIs in the ZooKeepers’ 12-5 loss to Forest City. Sam Hunter was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Rafael Soto was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

■ Jake Griffith was 2-for-3 with an RBI as the ZooKeepers outlasted the Peninsula Pilots 6-5. Cooper McKenzie, Davis Germann and Oh all had a hit and RBI. Marley pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the win. Mason McDaniel hurled a scoreless inning with two strikeouts to get the save.

 Brooks Brannon update

■ The former Randleman star was hitting .264 with 5 home runs and 30 RBIs for the Salem Red Sox, the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, through games of June 21.

 Peyton Williams update

■ The former Post 45 pitcher was 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA and 8 saves for the independent Long Island Ducks through games of June 21.

 Girls Golf

■ Southwestern Randolph earned the Scholar-Athlete Team Award from the NCHSAA for maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

 NCHSAA Award

■ Southwestern Randolph senior Jacob Gainey was recognized by the NCHSAA with the Simeon Courage Award for student athletes who have demonstrated exemplary character and performance despite adversity.