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Wednesday, May 27, 2015
The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.com
SPRING
PRACTICE
Ninety-nine Kings Mountain High football players are
participating in spring practice through Tuesday of next
week. The NCHSAA recently approved 10 days of spring
drills in lieu of the former rule of allowing coaches to work
with no more than 21 players at a time.
No heavy hitting is allowed, but teams can go through
physical conditioning, learning plays, hitting sleds, etc.
Photo at left and right show Mountaineer players Key-
shawn Hopper and Shaun Grier going through physical con-
ditioning.
Below left, head coach Greg Lloyd talks with returning
defensive lineman Josh Bell.
Below right, Darryl Wilson, who joins the KMHS coach-
ing staff after several years at Hunter Huss, keeps a close
eye on his linebackers.
(Photos by KM Herald)
Page 9
Piedmont’s Lauren Rushing slides safely into third vase alter ahitbya teammate | in last Waal’ S$ State 3A playoff game at
Kings Mountain. KM third baseman is Gretchen Boyles. (Photos by KM Herald)
~ 8-1 loss to Piedmont oiids
~ KM’s best season since ‘07
Kings Mountain High’s
best softball season since
2007 came to an abrupt end
Tuesday night at Lancaster
Field when a very good
Monroe Piedmont nine de-
féated the Lady Mountain-
. eers 8-1 in the third round
of the state 3A playoffs.
Craig Short’s ladies fin-
ished with a 20-3 record
and were the champions of
the South Mountain Athletic
Conference. It was KM’s
first championship year
since ’07 when the Lady
Mountaineers finished third
in the state 3A after posting
back-to-back champion-
ships in 2005 and 06.
Piedmont and Kings
Mountain both played per-
fect defense but the Pan-
thers’ offense, which ripped
15 hits against KM pitchers
Emily Hester and Mikeala
Bell, was the difference.
The visitors wasted little
time. getting on the score- -
board as Kyrah Phelix led
off the game with a sharp
single to right and later
scored on an infield out.
Piedmont went on to
score in five of the seven
innings. Kings Mountain’s
only run came in the bot-
tom of the sixth when Ash-
ton Withers slammed Cristi
fen nin
Pressley’s first pitch over
the right field fence for a
home run.
The Lady Mountaineers
got to Pressley for six hits.
Withers had two of them
and Hester, Bell, Miranda
Ellis and Cassi Melton
added one apiece.
KM had only brief ral-
lies. In the bottom of the
first, Hester and Withers got
back-to-back singles with
one out but the Panthers re-
tired Bell and Ellis on pop-
ups to end the threat.
KM went down in order
in the second and third
frames, and Pressley fanned
Withers looking for the first
out in the bottom of the
fourth. KM offered another
brief rally on back-to-back
singles by Bell and Ellis, but
Pressley struck out Kassidy
Hamrick looking and got
Gretchen Boyles to pop-up
to shortstop to end the in-
ning.
Except for Withers’
home run, the only other
time the Mountaineers had a
base runner was in the fifth
when Melton singled with
one out and moved to sec-
ond on a wild pitch. After
Withers’ home run to start
the sixth, Pressley retired
the final six batters in order.
Ashton Withers’ sixth inning home run was Kings Moun-
tain’s only score in Tuesday’s 8-1 loss to Monroe Piedmont
in the state 3A softball tournament.
Piedmont moved ahead
2-0 in the second on doubles
by Pressley and Danielle
Del Bene and increased the
lead to 4-0 in the third on
Pressley’s two-run single.
A two-run home run by
pis
Jessica Voncannon made it
6-0 in the top of the fifth.
Piedmont’s final two tallies
came in the seventh ‘on a
RBI double by Pressley and
a RBI single by Del Bene.
Golfers ninth
in state 3A
Kings Mountain High’s
golf team finished ninth out
of 12 teams in last week’s
3A state tournament at
Longleaf Golf and Country
Club in Southern Pines.
"Gastonia Forestview,
which fell to Kings Moun-
tain by two strokes in the
Western Regional champi-
onship match a week earlier,
won its fourth straight state
championship with a two-
day total of 295-290-585.
The Mountaineers shot
314-327—641.
Forestview won by five
shots over East Rowan with
a 590. Next came Marvin
Ridge 594, Lee Senior 611,
Cuthbertson 619, Holders:
620, Rockingham County
620, South Point 632, KM
641, Cardinal Gibbons 643,
West Brunswick 651 and
Wilson Hunt 654.
Nick Lyerly of East
Rowan was the individual
champion with a four-under
71-67—138.
Freshman Alex Goff led
the Mountaineers with a 10-
under 74-78—152. Senior
Miles Robinson tied for
27th with a 77-77—154. Ty
Withers tied for 49th with
a 80-86—166; Dawson
Adams finished 61st with
84-86—170, and Carson
Bailey tied for 62nd with
83-88—171.
A total of 72 golfers par-
ticipated.
Losing was disappoint-
ing, but Coach Kevin Moss
certainly was not disap-
pointed with his players
who formed one of the
MILES ROBINSON
best teams to come out of
KMHS.
“We have been playing
very well over the past three
weeks and were hoping that
we would carry the momen-
tum we had into the state
championship tournament,”
he said. “We are a better
team than what our final
score indicated. We just had
a rough two days and hope-
fully this experience the
four underclassmen gained
during this state tournament
will better prepare us if we
earn out way back again
next year.
“I am very happy for our
lone senior, Miles Robinson,
who played golf both years
at the middle school and all
four years of high school to
get the opportunity to play
in the state championship
tournament, Individually, he
accomplished a lot during
his four years. He qualified
See GOLF, Page 10
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