A6
Sports
The CouTier=Times
Roxboro, N.C.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Throckmorton noses past Appel in photo finish
By GREG PHIPPS
C-T Sports Editor
ctsports@roxboro-courier.com
ROUGEMONT — On his way
to what seemed like a certain
victory, Late Model Select driver
Kyle Appel’s hopes for a first-
place finish were dashed hy a
caution on the next-to-last lap
last Saturday night at Orange
County Speedway
Comfortably ahead with one
lap left, Appel appeared to have
the season’s second 75-lap LMS
race in his hip pocket until Ricky
Jones and Terry Dease, who were
battling for third at the time, got
into each other on lap 74 and spun
out on the back straightaway.
That incident brought out one
last caution and forced a green-
white-checkered finish. Veteran
Joey Throckmorton, who had
worked his way into the second
position, seized the opportunity
on the restart and pulled ahead
of Appel, who fought back and got
side-by-side with Throckmorton
entering the final lap.
Appel held a slighf edge
through turns 3 and 4 but Th
rockmorton was able to nudge
past him on the outside as the
two crossed the finish line.
The finish was impossible to
judge from the naked eye (it was
that close). In fact, Appel was
initially declared the winner
before it was revealed that Th
rockmorton had nosed him out by
two-thousandths of a second.
Likely frustrated with the
turn of events, Appel declined
to comment after the race. Th
rockmorton, who was the fastest
qualifier in the June 18th season
opener, admitted that he caught
a break.
“We were so loose for most
of the race. I was just hoping to
stay up front,” he explained. “1
decided I was going to go for the
win [on the final resfart]. Kyle
had the better car and he should
have won. But we’ll take it.”
Appel was the pole-sitter and
led all but seven of the race’s 76
circuits (counting the extra lap
at the end). He stayed in front for
the first 39 laps before a spinout
regrouped the 20-car field.
Brian Cole scored his second
podium finish of the season by
coming home in third place,
with Brandon Baker and Andrew
Perry taking the fourth and fifth
spots.
Orange County
Speedway
Coming off a runner-up per
formance in the season opener,
Cole thought his car handled
better on Saturday.
“We loosened the car up a little
from last week and we were good
onrestartstonight,”hesaid. “We
survived. You can’t relax one lap
with these larger car counts.”
After a multi-car spinout
caused a caution right at the
start, the race went 39 consecu
tive laps in green-flag mode.
Throckmorton took his first lead
on the lap-39 restart but it took
Appel just four laps to regain
first place.
Mourning the passing away
of his brother and crew chief,
Larry Dease, early last week,
Terry Dease, who won the season
opener, was in his customary po
sition challenging for a top-three
finish for most of Saturday’s race.
He ended up in 11th place and
Jones settled for ninth. The two
crews got into a heated argument
in the pit area after the contest.
Rounding out the top 10 were
Jason White in sixth. Mason Hud
son in seventh, Tracey Chambers
in eighth, Jones in ninth, and
Louis White in 10th.
Edwards wins Limited race
After experimenting with a
different setup in the season
opener. Limited Sportsman (for
mer Grand Stock) driver Keith
The 09 of Kyle Appel is barely edged out by joey Throckmorton at the finish of the
race last Saturday night at Orange County Speedway.
Angie Meeks
Late Model Select Division
Edwards and his crew decided to
go back to what had helped the 93
team to eight wins and a Grand
Stock title in 2010.
Edwards made a savvy move
on the inside to get by leader
Daniel Schadt, who got caught up
in traffic, on lap 28 of Saturday’s
35-lap contest and drove on to
his first win of 2011 despite hav
ing to overcome a green-white-
checkered finish.
“We came here with a differ
ent setup last week and it didn’t
go too well,” said Edwards, who
placed fourth on June 18. “We
went back to our old setup and
if paid off. The car was really
good tonight.”
Schadt settled for his second
straight runner-up finish and
See Aliff page A8
Angie Meeks
Keith Edwards (93), the 2010 Grand Stock champion, gets up on the bumper of Dennis
Sargent (38) early in the Limited Sportsman race. Edwards drove to his first victory of the
season. He went to victory lane eight times last year.
Orange County Speedway
6) Jerry Hinesley #46
Race results
7) Lee Anderson #69
Saturday, June 25
8) Chris Carroll #17
Late Model Select
9) Eric Ellington #4
10) Ray Ellington #15
(75 laps)
11) Harold Summey #87
1) Joey Throckmorton #21
12) Donald Brace #66
2) Kyle Appel #09
13) Michael Smith #77
3) Brian Cole #10
4) Brandon Baker #29
Pure Stock
5) Andrew Perry #33
(25 laps)
6) Jason White #25
1) Les Aliff #75
7) Mason Hudson #46
2) Matt Grimes #5
8) Tracey Chambers #77
3) Mike Connor #13
9) Ricky Jones #38
4) Daniel Moss #1
10) Thomas Burbage #9
5) Courtney Crosby #2
11) Terry Dease #06
6) Jim Lacks #05
12) Quin Houff #45
7) James Peery #42
13) Chris Denny #2
8) Brandon Sharpe #43
14) Mike Chambers #7
9) Chase Sandefur #47
15) Daryl Carver #5
Garrett Merchant (DNS)
16) Paul Bryant #75
17) Andrew Perry #33
Street Stock
18) Justin Newlin #72
(25 laps)
19) Taylor Doggett #49
1) Gary Ledbetter #12
20) Dusty Ellington #14
2) Chris Gray #5
Limited Sportsman -
3) Larry Isenhower #23
4) Ricky Riddle #1
former Grand Stock
5) Richard Hayden #31
(35 laps)
1) Keith Edwards #93
Super Mini-Trucks
2) Daniel Schadt #12
(25 laps)
3) Dennis Sargent Jr. #38
1) Chris Henderson #51
4) Bill Barber #27
2) Toney Henderson #25
5) Wally Latta #44
3) Quain Moore #84
Post 138 Seniors take two of three in weekend action
By GREG PHIPPS
C-T Sports Editor
ctsports@roxboro-courier.com
■ • • - '**T'
It turned out to be a productive
weekend for the Roxboro Post 138
Senior Legion baseball team, as
Roxboro banked two wins and
came within a run of winning
another in three non-conference
home contests this past weekend
at Person High School’s Rocket
Park.
A 3-2 victory over Pittsboro in
the first game of a doubleheader
last Saturday and an 8-2 triumph
over Ahoskie Post 102 on Sunday
offset an 11-10 extra-inning loss
to Pittsboro in game two of Sat
urday’s twinbill.
Brandon Napier pitched a
strong first game, giving up
just two runs on eight hits to a
Pittsboro team that routed Post
138, 14-4, earlier in the season.
A single tally in the bottom of
the fifth inning, brought about
by four base hits in the frame,
broke a 2-2 tie and gave Roxboro
the winning run.
Kyle Wrenn stroked the sec
ond of his two doubles in the
game, Chris Bonham and Joel
Newton both singled, and Justin
Brame also doubled to ignite the
fifth-inning offense.
A two-bagger by Wrenn also
helped plate Roxboro’s second
run in the third inning, and
Kenneth Carver clocked a home
run to tie the game at 1-1 in the
second.
Pittsboro collected single
runs in the second and fourth
innings to account for its runs.
Post 138 out-hit the visitors 9-8
in the game.
-wL:'
Greg Phipps / C-T
Roxboro first baseman Ben Solomen fields this pickoff
throw but it's too late to nab an Ahoskie baserunner in
Sunday's Senior Legion game at Rocket Park.
SENIOR LEGION BASEBALL
SUNDAY, JUNE 26
AT ROCKET PARK
ROXBORO 8, AHOSKIE 2
American Legion
baseball
SCORE BY INNINGS:
Ahoskie 001 001 000 - 2
Roxboro 030 001 31X-8
Pitching Lines: Roxboro: Austin Cole - 8
innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 waiks; Dylan
Dickens -1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 strikeout.
WP:Cole. IP: Hiii.
Hits: Ahoskie-5. Roxboro-15.
Leading Hitters: Ahoskie: Hill doubie; Smith
1 -for-3. Roxboro: Brandon Napier 3-for-5; Tyler
Cothran 2-tor-5, double, triple; Ben Solomen 3-for-
4; Justin Brame 3-for-4, double.
Saturday’s second tilt went
eight innings with Pittsboro
scoring three runs in the top of
the eighth to take an 11-8 lead.
Roxboro rallied for two in its half
of the frame on a two-run double
by Ben Solomen but couldn’t get
any closer in dropping an 11-10
decision.
Post 138 scored three times in
the first inning, twice in the third,
once in the fourth, and two more
times in the seventh to send the
contest into extra frames.
Roxboro players with multiple-
hit games were: Bonham, who
went 3-for-5, Brame, who had
three hits, including a home run,
and Solomen with two hits. Also
making the hit column were Levi
Pruitt, Wrenn, and Newton.
In Sunday’s win over Ahoskie,
Austin Cole got the start and
hurled eight solid innings in lead
Greg Phipps / C-T
Post 138 starter Austin Cole hurled eight strong innings to notch a win on Sunday.
ing Roxboro to an 8-2 victory.
Cole allowed single runs
in the third and sixth innings
and surrendered just four hits.
Dylan Dickens worked the final
frame and retired the visitors
in order.
Tyler Cothran doubled and tri
pled to lead the Roxboro offense.
Napier, Solomen and Brame each
had three hits and Wrenn and
Newton added doubles.
The 2-1 showing over the week
end improved Roxboro’s overall
record to 6-9 on the campaign with
the final regular season game set
for this Friday at North Raleigh
(7 p.m. start). Friday’s contest is
also the final conference game,
as Posf 138 (4-7 in league play)
can still make the postseason
tournament.
junior Legion drops
doubleheader at Durham
In a makeup of last Thurs
day’s postponement, the Roxboro
Junior legion team had to move
See Twinbill page A8