Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Aside from their one loss, the Ellis and North Davie baseball teams have been absolutely fantastic.

The Wildcats soared to 6-1 by whipping Mooresville and Selma Burke last week. Taylor Shenberger and Noah Potts had two hits each and Jack Greer doubled and drove in three as North rolled 8-3 over visiting Mooresville on March 25. Coach Trevor Gooch’s defensive player of the game was catcher Jason Riddle.

Three days later, the Wildcats got two more hits from Shenberger (2-4, 3 runs, 2 RBIs) and mashed Selma Burke 15-1. That means North has outscored opponents 71-23.

North boasts seven .300 hitters, led by Potts’ .500 average (6 for 12). The others are Greer (.471, 8-17), Easton Stanley (.462, 6-13), Sawyer Hall (.444, 4-9), Shenberger (.389, 7-18), Riddle (.312, 5-16) and Wade Ridenhour (.300, 6-20).

The leaders in doubles are Potts, Greer, Hall and Shenberger with two apiece. Greer leads in triples with two. The top RBI guys are Shenberger (nine), Greer (nine), Potts (six) and Stanley (six). The top three in runs are Shenberger (nine), Greer (eight) and Potts (eight). The top spots in walks belong to Potts (six), Greer (five) and Preston Young (five). Stanley is the stolen base leader with six.

North has been equally impressive on the mound. Potts (1-0 record, 2.17 ERA) has racked up 22 strikeouts in 9.2 innings and only allowed two hits. Aydan Shay’s ERA is a minuscule 0.72; he’s 2-0, only allowing three hits in 9.2 innings. Nolan Allen (1-0, 3.93 ERA) and Shenberger (1-0, 1.61 ERA) have also been effective on the hill while throwing 5.1 and 4.1 innings, respectively.

•••

Outside of a 6-5 loss to North in its second game of the year, Ellis has shown a thunderous form as well.

The Jaguars’ four wins: 16-2 over Mooresville, 15-0 over West Rowan, 16-1 over Selma Burke and 20-1 over South Davie.

They’ve outscored opponents 72-10 because Brandon Forest (.647, 11-17), Jackson Nance (.600, 6-10), Wade Hefner (.500, 7-14), Cayden Thalasinos (.467, 7-15) and Bowman Blakely (.455, 5-11) have been on fire at the plate.

Here are the leaders in each category: doubles – Hefner 3, Blakely 3, Nance 2; home runs – Forest 2, Blakely 1; RBIs – Forest 14, Nance 12, Thalasinos 6; runs – Forest 13, Blakely 12, Nance 6; walks – Blakely 7, Nance 4; and steals – Forest 6.

Like North’s Potts, Forest is a two-way star. Through his first nine innings on the mound, he gave up zero runs on three hits and rolled up 20 strikeouts. Levi Block and Mason Driver have been reliable, each holding a 2.21 ERA through 6.1 innings.

Ellis Volleyball

Ellis’ varsity volleyball team won comfortably over Selma Burke to even its record at 2-2. The scores were 25-12, 25-16.

Riley Barnes and Sydney Ward earned praise from coach Susan Jones.

“High point was Riley serving 14 consecutive points and had a kill that was like a bullet to the floor,” Jones said. “Sydney, our newbie, had a coming-out party where she served for the first game and played front row an entire set. She served nine times, with seven being aces, and had two kills.

“The girls played well. Communication on defense and mental toughness is what we will be focusing on. We get comfortable too easy and then have to fight to get out of a deficit way too often. I see a lot of good things; we just need to maximize and make sure we are doing all the little things.”

The Ellis JV, however, lost to Burke in a three-set battle. That dropped its record to 2-2. Addison Cline and Eden Winters played well in 16-25, 25-22, 16-25 defeat.

“Selma Burke was really well coached and scrappy, allowing little to hit the floor and playing three touches on most every ball,” Jones said. “Addison did a really good job serving and playing the net, and Eden has really taken the challenge to become a tough back row player. I am proud of the progress both girls have made. The whole team is still learning and is getting better.”