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Davie’s Bailey, Webb designated CPC’s wrestlers of year

Davie juniors Collin Bailey and Isaac Webb won lower weight and upper weight wrestlers of the year, respectively, in the Central Piedmont Conference. Perry Long earned coach of the year after guiding the War Eagles to a conference championship.

Davie (5-0) ran the table in the CPC. West Forsyth was second at 4-1, followed by Reagan (3-2), Glenn (2-3), East Forsyth (1-4) and Reynolds (0-5).

Making the all-conference team from Davie were seniors Adam Szewczyk, Tyler Snyder and Matthew Downey; juniors Lane Hill and Jack Jarvis; and freshman Hunter Testa.

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Seniors Zach Rodgers (pitcher) and Blake Little (shortstop/leadoff batter) and sophomore Jaydon Holder (pitcher) made all-conference from Davie baseball.

Reagan swept the big awards after going 9-1 in the league. Senior Josh Hartle was pitcher of the year, senior Tommy Hawke was player of the year and Gary Nail took coach of the year.

East Forsyth finished second at 8-2. Then came West Forsyth (6-4), Davie (5-5), Reynolds (2-8) and Glenn (0-10).

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Sophomore Karlie Quinn made all-conference from Davie girls tennis. The player of the year was West Forsyth’s Samantha McEachran. The coach of the year was Reynolds’ Johnny Highsmith.

Reynolds and West Forsyth tied for first place at 8-1. They were followed by Reagan (6-4), East Forsyth (3-5), Davie (3-7) and Glenn (0-10).

College standouts Whisenhunt, Lankford earn college honors

College baseball standouts Carson Whisenhunt and Brandon Lankford were honored last week.

East Caroina’s Whisenhunt of Mocksville has been named to the 2021 Collegiate National Team. The second-year freshman is the fifth Pirate in program history to receive an invitation following Pat Watkins (1992), Jake Agnos (2018), Bryant Packard (2018) and Alec Burleson (2019).

Whisenhunt posted a 6-2 record in 13 starts during his first year as a member of the weekend rotation. Early in the season, he became ECU’s first freshman hurler since Brooks Jernigan (1998) to record double-digit strikeouts in consecutive starts.

He allowed 28 runs (26 earned) on 50 hits, posting a 3.77 ERA. He fanned 79 batters while walking 22 in 62 innings.

This year’s Collegiate team will feature 48 players on two 24-man rosters, the Stars and Stripes, who will play 11 intrasquad games in July.

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UNC Asheville’s Lankford of Mocksville was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-Atlantic Region Second Team. Lankford is the first Bulldog to earn All-Region since Alan DeRatt in 2008.

Lankford, who was an All-Big South First Team pick, ended his Bulldog career by leading the Big South Conference with 17 home runs this spring. At the end of Asheville’s season, his 17 homers were tied for the fifth-most by any player in the nation this season. In addition to the home runs, the senior third baseman led the Bulldogs in batting average (.341), OPS (1.098), runs (36), RBIs (43), total bases (117), slugging percentage (.665), walks (25), on-base percentage (.433) and stolen bases (five).

Historically, Lankford’s 17 home runs in 2021 are the second-most ever hit by a Bulldog in a season, trailing only the 19 hit by Brian Shehan in 1989. Lankford did break the program record for career homers that Shehan held for nearly three decades. He finished his career with 52 homers, which ranks second all-time in Big South history.

Lankford is just the third Bulldog ever to garner All-Region honors from the ABCA. He joins DeRatt in 2008 and Rob Vernon in 2007 as Bulldogs that have earned this achievement.