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North Davie’s baseball team racked up 30 runs in seven and a half innings last week.

The Wildcats tore through visiting Selma Burke 15-0 in three innings on March 18. Noah Potts struck out six in three hitless innings. Easton Stanley went 2 for 3 with three RBIs, and Jack Greer and Sawyer Hall each doubled and knocked in two. The defensive player of the year was Greer at first base.

One day later, the Wildcats mashed visiting South Davie 15-1 in four and a half innings. Greer collected three hits and four RBIs, while Taylor Shenberger, Potts and Kolby Long banged two hits apiece.

“The middle of our lineup hit like Murderer’s Row 1927 Yankees,” coach Trevor Gooch said.

Ellis Volleyball

The Ellis JV and varsity volleyball teams opened their seasons with matches against Mooresville, North Davie and West Rowan.

Against Mooresville, both Ellis teams won in two sets.

“The JV squad did really well and I am so proud of how they played,” coach Susan Jones said. “We literally only had one week of practice, so coach (Alexis) Hoppers and I used this game as a test run to see if what we thought we saw in practice would be executed in a game.  They did really well, especially those who had never played, like Annabelle Wright, who surprised herself when she successfully served over the net and got two aces to boot. The team was led by Kyleigh Minns, who was consistent not only in passing but also in serving. Once she starts to realize her abilities and gains more confidence, I look to her growing into a leader. Piper Williams played really well. Despite being small in stature, she makes smart choices and keeps the ball in play.”

The varsity Jaguars overcame deficits as large as seven in both sets.

“Our ability to get enough of our serves in and refocus after errors made the difference,” Jones said. “Riley Barnes and Zoe Summers racked up three kills apiece, and Miranda Sapp served extremely tough, gathering three aces in her two long runs.”

Against North Davie, the JV Jaguars won again. The varsity, though, fell 25-17, 25-12 to a powerful North squad.

“Our JV team played really well, especially serving,” Jones said of the 25-17, 25-18 victory. “The team as a whole was getting the ball in and at this level, that is a huge factor to winning and losing.   

“(The Ellis varsity) lost to a very good North Davie team. I was disappointed in our girls’ mental fortitude. As a team, we need to learn to put mistakes behind us and do the little things that would expose opponents’ weaknesses. We did not. We also had girls missing serves that normally don’t. We are better than we played and that is what bothered me.”

Against West Rowan, the Ellis JV dropped a down-to-the-wire contest: 25-20, 10-25, 14-16.

“The JV played pretty well at the start, winning the first set,” Jones said after the JV team lost for the first time in three matches. “That’s when things started to go sideways. It didn’t seem to matter what the rotation was, we could not pass the ball. We had a chance to win it in the third set, but couldn’t keep it together long enough to finish it out. Ella Fisher and Kyleigh Minns both served and played well and were bright spots in a tough loss.”

The Ellis varsity lost to the Bulldogs 25-11, 25-11.

“The varsity struggled from the get-go,” Jones said. “We were down 11-0 in the first set. They had a player who could spot serve wherever she wanted. She served deep and then after frustrating the girls and moving them back, she’d drop it short. There were flashes where I could see the girls fighting to compete, but our receiving errors killed us. Riley Barnes and Zoe Summers played strong both offensively and defensively.”