What a week for two high-profile athletes from Advance.

Whit Merrifield has made a feel-good return to the major leagues. Cade Carney had a day he will never forget for Wake Forest’s football team.

Merrifield was called back up to the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 2. He has responded with a seven-game hitting streak that began Sept. 2 and continued through Sept. 11.

On Sept. 6 at Minnesota, Merrifield came off the bench. With the score 3-3 in the ninth inning, he came through with a bloop single to right to set the table for a seven-run explosion. He added a walk as the Royals won 10-3.

The next night Merrifield started at second and batted eighth in the order, going 2 for 4. In the fourth inning, his single to left provided a 2-1 lead. In the ninth, his one-out double brought the tying run to the plate. Merrifield came around to score, but the Royals lost 6-5.

He came off the bench and went 1 for 2 in Friday’s 7-2 loss at the Chicago White Sox.

Merrifield was in the starting lineup on Saturday and Sunday in Chicago, and he took advantage. In Saturday’s 6-5 win, he batted second and went 1 for 5 with two clutch RBIs. With Chicago leading 4-3 in the seventh, he rifled a two-run double to left-center and Kansas City never relinquished the lead.

In Sunday’s 2-0 win, he was the leadoff man and played right field. He went 2 for 5 to raise his season average to .281.

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Carney, a true freshman running back, delivered an amazing performance in the Deacons’ 24-14 breakthrough win at Duke on Saturday. He carried 17 times for 108 yards and all three touchdowns, becoming Wake’s first freshman with a three-TD game since 2002. He scored on runs of 7, 1 and 55 yards – the latter breaking a 14-14 tie in the third quarter.

Wake improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC. It rushed for 239 yards, the most against a Power Five conference opponent since it put up 254 at Virginia Tech in 2010.

“It was really encouraging that we were able to run the ball,” Wake coach Dave Clawson told the Winston-Salem Journal. “We haven’t done that in a long time.”

It was Wake’s first win over Duke since 2011.

“It was kind of a dream come true, the first ACC game,” Carney told the Journal. “I got my feet wet (in a 7-3 win over Tulane) and to be able to be out here and represent my hometown like that and have all the guys who did such a good job in front of me make that happen, that’s very gratifying.”