Athlete of the week Mason Konen of Pinecrest provided the highlight for teams in Moore County, throwing a seven-inning no-hitter against Northwood to lead the Patriots to victory. It was hardly the only high point for county sports teams, however, on the diamond and beyond.
Baseball
Konen’s gem keyed a 3-0 week for Pinecrest, who ran its winning streak to six straight. The Patriots beat Scotland in a road game, 15-3, then had back-to-back shutouts, 9-0 over Northwood in the no-non, and 15-0 at home in the rematch with Scotland. Konen also had company in his mound dominance. Connor Tepatti struck out seven in the first win of the week over the Scots, and sophomore Bondi Robertson struck out 13 in five innings in a one-hit performance. Pinecrest is now 15-3, and the twin blowouts of Scotland broke a first-place tie in the Sandhills. Pinecrest now leads the league at 7-1.
The Patriots play two against Hoke, sandwiched around a game against West Stanly this week.
North Moore went 2-0 this past week, sweeping Graham to move to 11-4, 7-3 in the Mid-Carolina Conference. The Mustangs put up 17 runs in each of the two games, winning 17-1 at Graham and 17-0 at home. This week brings games against Bartlett Yancey and at Seaforth.
Union Pines is also on a winning streak, taking all three games last week to make it four wins in a row. The Vikings swept Hoke County, winning 7-2 on the road and 13-2 at home. In between, Union Pines won at Overhills, 6-4.
The Vikings have now evened their record at 8-8 on the season and are 3-4 in the Sandhills. This week, they have a pair with Southern Lee and a home game against St. Pauls.
Softball
Rain disrupted the Union Pines’ softball schedule last week, so the Vikings were limited to one game, which they won, running their winning streak to two in a row. Union Pines took a road win at Heritage, 14-11, getting a pair of home runs from sophomore Kileigh Cameron and another homer from senior Nicole Norman.
The Vikings are now 10-4, 6-1 in the Sandhills. Union Pines has league games this week at Richmond and against Hoke County.
North Moore won back-to-back games to close out a 2-1 week. The Mustangs opened the week with a 7-6 loss in extra innings at Jordan-Matthews. They got bak on track with road wins at Bartlett Yancey, 9-4 in extras, and at Asheboro, 16-1. Junior Sydney Russell hit a home run and had 4 RBIs in the Asheboro win.
There are three more league games on the schedule this week, home against Seaforth and Graham and on the road at Chatham Central.
Pinecrest softball lost both games last week, falling to Richmond, 14-11 in extras and at Southern Lee, 15-5. The Patriots are now 0-11, 0-8 in the Sandhills. They will be back at it this week with games at Lee County and Montgomery Central and a home tilt with Scotland.
Girls’ soccer
After seeing its four-game win streak snapped the week before, Pinecrest dropped its second straight game, losing a heartbreaker to Union Pines, 3-2 in double overtime. Junior Anna Depenbrock had both goals for the Patriots, with assists from Arden Johnson and Valentina Baccinelli. Pinecrest has three games this week, at Richmond and Hoke County, sandwiched around a home match with Southern Lee. The Patriots are 5-6, 3-2 in conference.
The win over Pinecrest started a 3-0 week for Union Pines. The Vikings also won at Richmond, 4-3 and at Lee County, 3-2. A four-game winning streak has Union Pines 8-3-1 overall and 5-1, tied for first in the Sandhills.
Junior Taryn Pekala had three goals against Richmond and another against Lee. Junior Grace Queen scored against Lee and Pinecrest, and junior Briana St. Louis had two goals in the Pinecrest win.
Union Pines returns home for back-to-back games against Hoke County and Carrboro before traveling to Scotland to round out this week.
Weather delayed North Moore’s return to the pitch following spring break. The Mustangs are 0-4-2, 0-2-1 in the Mid-Carolina Conference, and haven’t played since March 20. They’ll get back at it with road games at Bartlett Yancey, Southeast Alamance and Grace Christian this week.
Lacrosse
Pinecrest boys’ lacrosse had two wins last week to run their hot streak to 10 straight wins. The Patriots beat Gray’s Creek, 18-3 and New Bern, 15-4, in a pair of road games. They are now 12-2, 6-0 and atop the Sandhills. This week, Pinecrest will battle Cape Fear and Sanderson before traveling to Terry Sanford.
The Pinecrest girls had a 16-16 tie with Middle Creek last week and are now 8-3-1, 3-2 in conference. They’ll face three games this week with home dates against Cape Fear and Wakefield, followed by a trip to Terry Sanford .
The Union Pines girls added two more wins to their unbeaten record. They blew out Jack Britt, 27-1, then beat Croatan, 15-5, to improve to 9-0, 5-0 in conference play. This week brings road trips to Terry Sanford and Cape Fear.
The Union Pines boys snapped their four-game losing streak with a 15-1 win over Jack Britt, then fell to Seaforth, 10-6. At 5-6, 4-2 in conference, the Vikings will try to even up their season record this week. They have road games at Terry Sanford and Cape Fear, then host Gray’s Creek.
