Crawdads win second straight over Riverdogs after snapping four-game skid

The Hickory Crawdads won for the second straight day after snapping a four-game skid, this time by the score of 5-4 over the Riverdogs in Charleston, S.C.

Hickory scored first in the top of the fourth on a run-scoring single by Alejandro Selen then added three more runs in the top of the fifth for a 4-0 lead.

All three of those runs scored on a single from Tomas Telis and an error on Charleston right fielder Kelvin DeLeon.

Charleston rallied to trim the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth but Hickory scored again in the top of the sixth to push the lead to 5-3.

The Riverdogs added a run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, but Francisco Mendoza stuck out Ramon Flores to end the game and earn the save.

Ben Henry got the win after tossing five innings with four hits and striking out four.    

SOCCER 

Newton-Conover 3, Hickory 2 

The Red Devils got a non-league victory over the Red Tornadoes on Tuesday at Hickory High.

Chandler Johnson scored twice Newton-Conover and Franklin Wepner added the other goal.

Hickory got goals from Carlos Sevilla and Alex Arditti. 

Fred T. Foard 1, Mooresville 1 

Fred T. Foard and Mooresville battled to a tie at the Freedom Invitational tournament in Morganton. The Tigers won a shootout 5-4, but the shoot out was only for tournament purposes and the game will be recorded as a tie.

Luke Shely scored the lone goal for the Tigers, now 0-1-1. 

Freedom 1, Hunter Huss 1 

Freedom and Hunter Huss battled to a tie in the Freedom Invitational at the Catawba River Soccer Complex in Morganton.

Yaret Regino scored the Patriots’ goal off an assist from McCartney Barrier.

The game will be scored as a tie in the standings but Hunter Huss won a shootout 7-6 for purposes of the tournament program. 

VOLLEYBALL

Alexander Central 3, Statesville 1

Alexander Central opened its volleyball season with a victory over Statesville on Tuesday.

The Cougars won by scores of 28-26, 25-16, 22-25 and 25-15.

Lara Barnes had eight digs, six kills and six aces for Alexander Central, while Pahoua Yang added 11 digs and seven kills. Blair Pennell recorded eight kills and Molly Bunton had 15 assists.

South Caldwell 3, West Caldwell 0 

The Spartans defeated the Warriors by scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-17 at West Caldwell.

Addie Cardwell tallied five kills and six aces, while Haley Green added 26 assists for the Warriors. Miranda Frost recorded eight kills and Erin Davis had 14 assists. 

West Iredell 3, Bunker Hill 0 

West Iredell swept the Bears in three straight games by scores of 25-11, 25-11 and 25-10.

Chyenne Pump led Bunker Hill with nine kills. 

East Burke 3, Patton 0 

The Cavaliers picked up a non-conference win over Burke County foe Patton in straight sets Tuesday at Patton.

East Burke won by scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 25-18.

Bailey Gragg led the Cavs with eight kills, while Sydney Hass had seven kills and three blocks and Tawni Haskins added six kills. 

Wingate favored to win SAC again, LRU ninth 

Five-time defending South Atlantic Conference champion Wingate has been picked as the favorite to win the league title again in 2011, the conference office released on Tuesday.

League coaches gave the Bulldogs six of the 10 first place votes in the preseason poll.  Wingate had a total of 93 points.

The Bulldogs haven’t lost a conference match since 2006.

Just behind Wingate in the preseason coaches’ poll is Tusculum with 89 points, including one first-place vote. 

Coming in third in the preseason coaches’ poll was Carson-Newman with 71 points and one first-place vote. 

Catawba is fourth in the poll with 68 points with Lincoln Memorial fifth and Newberry and Mars Hill tied for sixth.

Rounding out the poll is Anderson at No. 8, Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 9 and Brevard at No. 10.

The 2011 SAC volleyball season gets underway on Sept. 2. 

AUTO RACING 

Twin 50-lap Late Model action on tap at HMS Saturday 

Race fans will have the chance to see Twin 50-lap features for the Late Models this Saturday at Hickory Motor Speedway.

The event will feature the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series with the Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, 4-Cylinders and Renegades also making appearances.

Jesse LeFevers remains at the front of the Late Model point’s race after coming off of his eighth win of the season this past weekend. Austin McDaniel follows in second, 22 points behind LeFevers.

In the Limited Late Model division, Pietro Fittipaldi has lengthened his lead over Tyler Church by 18 points.

Grandstands will open at 5 p.m. with qualifying immediately following. An on-track autograph session will be held at 6 p.m. with green flag racing starting at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for teens and seniors and free for kids 12 and under.

For more information please visit: www.hickorymotorspeedway.com.