SPORTS
5-A
KM Blanks Chase ln Tourney Opener
Brannon Ties Homer Mark
In Friday Win Over Burns
Paul Brannon and the Kings
Mountain Mountaineers closed out
their regular season in a big way
Friday night at KM's Lancaster
Field.
The Mountaineers bombed
Burns 18-9 to wrap up second
place in the final SWC standings
and Brannon clubbed a pair of long
homeruns to tie the school record
for most homers in a single season.
The junior first baseman fin-
ished the night with 11 homers, the
same number that another first
baseman, David Lancaster, hit in
1974. The two homers by Brannon
also gave him the team lead over
Chad Plonk, who has 10 roundtrip-
pers.
The victory gave the
Mountaineers a final 11-3 record in
the SWC. They finished one game
behind South Point, which dropped
its final two games to finish 12-2.
South Point won its first 18 ball-
games before losing to Kings
Mountain 5-4 Wednesday night.
The Raiders fell to Chase 3-2
Friday.
Senior Todd McDaniel picked
up the pitching win Friday, work-
ing 4 2/3 innings and fanning 10.
Keith Allen came on in the bottom
of the fifth and fanned seven
Bulldogs over the last 2 1/2 in-
nings.
The game wasn't pretty for either
side. Nineteen batters reached first
on bases on balls, and Kings
Mountain committed three errors
and Burns two. The Bulldogs fin-
ished in last place with a 2-12 con-
ference record.
Burns grabbed early leads of 1-0
and 5-4, but the Mountaineers con-
tinued to slam away at three
KMHS Stops
South Point
Win Streak
Kings Mountain's Mountaineers
ended South Point's 18-game win-
ning streak in Southwestern 3-A
Conference baseball action
Wednesday night in Belmont.
The Mountaineers edge the
Raiders 5:4 to wrap up second
place in the final SWC standings
and an automatic berth in the up-
coming state 3-A playoffs.
The Red Raiders fell to 12-1 in
the SWC while the Mountaineers
improved their record to 10-3 in
the SWC.
Stuart Spires picked up the
pitching win, his seventh straight
against SWC opposition. He need-
ed last inning relief help from Todd
McDaniel, who came in with one
out and runners on second and
third. McDaniel retired Charlie
Foster when rightfielder Chip Cash
made a shoestring catch of a sink-
ing line drive, and then got South
Point's top hitter, Shane Lay, to
bounce out to second to end the
game.
Kings Mountain grabbed a 4-0
lead in the top of the first and car-
ried a 5-2 lead into the seventh.
Paul Brannon clubbed his ninth
homer of the season, a two-run
shot, which sparked the four-run
first. KM also scored a pair on a
couple of South Point errors.
Toby Deaton got an infield sin-
gle and later scored on another
Raider error to make it 5-0 in the
‘TIES HOMER RECORD - Kings Mountain's Paul Brannon is
congratulated by Coach Bruce Clark as he rounds third base on one
of his two home runs in last week's Southwestern 3-A Conference
game with Burns at Lancaster Field. Brannon hit three homers in
the Mounties' last two regular season games to tie the school record
Ken Crook's three-run home
sparked a six-run fourth inning ral-
ly which lifted Kings Mountain's
Mountaineers to a 11-0 victory
over Chase in the opening round of
the Southwestern 3-A Conference
baseball tournament Monday night
at KM's Lancaster Field.
The Mountaineers will host East
Rutherford Wednesday at 7:30 in
the semi-finals. East Rutherford
advanced with a 9-3 victory over
Shelby's Golden Lions. The winner
of the East-KM game will advance
to the championship game Friday
against the winner of the South
Point-North Gaston game. South
Point advanced with a 3-0 win over
Burns and North Gaston defeated
R-S Central.
Friday's championship game will
be played on the home field of the
top-seeded team. South Point is
seeded first, KM second, East third
and North Gaston fourth.
Three SWC teams will advance
to the state 3-A playoffs which be-
gin next week. South Point and
Kings Mountain are assured of a
state berth. The third berth will go
to East Rutherford unless North
Gaston wins the conference tourna-
ment. If the Wildcats win the tour-
nament, they will advance to the
state and East Rutherford will stay
at home.
Chase, which had stunned South
Point 3-2 in its final regular season
game Friday, played tough against
the more talented KM team for
three innings. Chad Allen of the
Trojans was hooking up with KM
ace Stuart Spires in a pitcher's dual
until he developed control prob-
lems in the bottom of the fourth.
Crook's homer produced a 3-0
Mounties To Host First
Round State Game, Too
Clark's charges broke the game
open by adding three more runs on
Chris Henson's RBI single, a
bases-loaded balk, and a Chase er-
IOI.
Kings Mountain added two more
runs in the fifth to make it 8-0 as
relief pitcher Matt Sperling of the
Trojans issued two straight bases
loaded walks.
The Mountaineers closed out the
scoring in the sixth, getting three
more runs on Shane Sessoms; RBI
single, Henson's RBI single and
Paul Brannon's sacrifice fly.
Except for two touchy innings,
Spires had little trouble registering
his eighth straight victory after two
early season losses. Spires, who
fanned five, gave up singles in the
first inning to Brian White and
Travis Macopsen, then held the
Trojans hitless until the sixth, when
he gave up singles to White, Scott
Hardin and Macopsen but fanned
Donnie Henson with the bases
loaded to get out of the jam.
Chris Plonk came on to pitch in
the seventh for the Mounties, fan-
ning two batters and walking two.
Henson finished with three hits
to lead the KM plate attack. The
Mounties left 13 men on base.
The Mountaineers will enter
state 3-A tournament action next
Tuesday night at home against the
number two team from the
Mountain Athletic Conference.
Coach Bruce Clark said he's
pretty sure that team will be Enka,
which finished second to last year's
state 3-A runner-up, Asheville
Erwin in the regular season MAC
race. A team that finished lower
than second in the regular season
\ Vir]
See Burns, 6-A
See Raiders, 6-A
E
i
KMHS SOFTBALL STANDOUT NICOLE BARNES
Goes 4-For-5 At Bat (Left), Plays Well In Field (Right)
KM Whips North In Tourney Opener
Kings Mountain High's girls
softball team was involved in two
shutouts to end regular season
Southwestern 3-A Conference play
last week.
Thursday, Coach Tony Leigh's
ladies blanked Shelby 15-0 to
clinch at least a tie for the SWC ti-
tle. Friday, in a makeup game at R-
S Central, the Mountainettes fell 3-
KM Ends Up Co-Champions
0 and ended the season as
co-champions with East
Rutherford.
Both KM and East finished the
regular season with 10-4 confer-
ence marks. East Rutherford was
awarded the top seed for the up-
coming state 3-A playoffs because
See Softball, 6-A
Kings Mountain High's girls
softball team opened its quest for
the Southwestern 3-A Conference
tournament championship Monday
with a 21-2 victory over North
Gaston at Lancaster Field.
Coach Tony Leigh's gals, now
17-5 overall after sharing the SWC
title with East Rutherford, were
scheduled to host South Point to-
day at 4 p.m. The winner will ad-
vance to Friday's SWC tournament
championship game against the
Sharks Club Needs Swimmers,
Potter To Help Coach In Summer
Sharks Aquatics Club is current-
ly taking applications for its new
Sandsharks swim group. This
group provides an introduction to
competitive swimming with em-
phasis on technique and stroke de-
velopment. Classes meet 2 days a
week. Minimal fee charges. All
sessions will be held in the Neisler
Natatorium on the campus of
Kings Mountain Senior High
School.
Interested swimmers must be at
least 6 years of age. For more in-
formation, call the indoor pool
(739-0707) 3-6 p.m. or 739-1288.
The Aquatics Club has also an-
nounced that Kenny Potter, a Kings
Mountain native who swam com-
petitively for Sharks Aquatics and
Gaston Y will be assisting Coach
Brian Allen with swimming groups
this summer. Potter is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Potter and he is
currently a student at Florida State
University majoring in Music.
The Sharks will begin their sum-
mer conference season on Tuesday,
June 13th. The meet will be in
Lenoir against Caldwell County
Swim Team and Rutherford
County Swim. Team.
of 11, which was set in 1974 by David Lancaster.
winner of the R-S Central-East
Rutherford game.
If Kings Mountain wins today, it
would play on the road Friday if
~ East Rutherford wins. If R-S
Central and Kings Mountain win,
the game would be played here.
Tandra Leftwich hurled
Monday's victory. Nicole Barnes
led the offense with 4-for-5 and six
runs batted in, and she also played
a strong defensive game at short-
stop. Lisa Buckner was 2-for-3 and
Christi Dixon 1-for-2.
KENNEY POTTER
Mountaineer lead, then Bruce
See Chase, 6-A /
KMHS Golfers Are Fifth /%
In State 3-A Tournament
Kings Mountain High's golfers
finished fifth in the state 3-A tour-
nament Monday and Tuesday at
Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill.
The Mountaineers shot a 644 to
finish 20 strokes behind champion
T.C. Roberson. The Mountaineers
had defeated Roberson for the
Western Regional championship
last week.
Roberson won by one shot over
Northwest Guilford with a 625.
West Carteret was third at 629 and
Walter Williams fourth at 638.
Following the Mountaineers at
644 were Conley 646, East Rowan
661, Lincolnton 671, Southwest
Edgecombe ~~ 681, Eastern
Alamance 688, Sun Valley 692 and
Brevard 740.
Jason Wilder of Northwest
Guilford was the individual cham-
pion with a 69-72--141.
Seniors Brad Wilson and Rusty
Bumgardner led the Mountaineer
effort. Wilson, two-time
Southwestern 3-A Conference
Player of the Year, shot a 76-78--
154, which was the fifth best score.
Bumgardner finished sixth in the
individual standings with a 74-82--
156. He turned in-one of the best
nine-hole scores of the tourney
with a 33 Monday.
Other KM scores were Brady
White Plains Shrinettes
To Sponsor Golf Tourney
The fourth annual White Plains
Shrinettes Golf Tournament will be
played June 3-4 at Kings Mountain
Country Club:
Entry fee is $70 for two-person
teams. The tourney will be a 36-
hole, medal play event with teams
flighted after Saturday's round.
Due to a limited number of golf
carts, only the first 100 players will
be accepted. Starting times will be
from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. and will be
assigned on a first come, first
served basis.
One free practice round will be
given to all players who enter be-
fore the tournament week (May 29-
June 2). Call 739-5871 for starting
times for practice rounds.
The entry fee includes green
fees. Carts are $7 per rider. Awards
BRAD WILSON
Goforth 85-82--167, Ry
Broadwell 80-87--167, and JoHn
Van Dyke 87-91--178.
=
will be given for the longest driv
and closest to the hole and trophi
will be given to the winners in eagc
flight. i
Fox Distributors of Shelby wifl
donate the trophies and Piedmont
Airlines will give free air fare fdr
two to anywhere in the Continental
U.S. for a hole-in-one on numbdr
five.
Optional Saturday night activ{-
ties will include a dinner-dan
sponsored by the White Plai
Shrine Club at the Americ
Legion. The costs is $25 per cod-
ple. Steaks will be served. Ticke
are available from White Plaj
Shriners and Shrinettes and
Kings Mountain Country Club.
Entry forms for the golf tourn.
ment are available at the KMCC
pro shop.