Asheboro and Uwharrie Charter Academy won opening-round games in the state playoffs for girls’ soccer Monday night.
Asheboro defeated visiting Foard 2-1 behind two goals from Tess Moody in Class 3-A. Natalie Flores had an assist and goalkeeper Sarah Allred made nine saves.
UCA topped Piedmont Community 7-0 in Class 1-A, with Ava Cugino posting two goals and one assist, Kendall Jarrell scoring twice and Chloe Douglas, Kaylen Trucks and Ivy Redding all providing one goal.
Second-round games are set for Thursday.
A pair of Class 2-A teams from Randolph County failed to advance, while undefeated Wheatmore was slated to begin the playoffs Tuesday night.
No. 15 seed Southwestern Randolph absorbed a 2-1 home loss to No. 18 seed East Davidson.
Providence Grove, the No. 27 seed, tied with sixth-seeded West Stokes. That 2-2 draw came before West Stokes moved on in the bracket via penalty kicks.
Softball
Providence Grove was the only team from Randolph County to make it through the first week of the state playoffs.
The unbeaten Patriots won twice at home in Class 2-A, beating Patton 9-2 and West Wilkes 4-1.
Emma Mazzarone struck out 10 in the first round and fanned 17 batters in the West Wilkes game.
Providence Grove, the top seed in the West Region, was slated for a home game against No. 8 seed Mount Pleasant on Tuesday night. The regional semifinals are slated for Friday night – and the Patriots would be home again if they’ve reached that round.
Southwestern Randolph began with a 7-4 home victory against No. 21 seed Maiden. The 12th-seeded Cougars then fell 2-1 at No. 5 seed West Stokes.
Also in Class 2-1, fourth-seeded Forbush ousted No. 29 seed Randleman 8-0 and second-seeded West Stanley topped No. 31 seed Wheatmore 13-0.
In Class 1-A, fifth-seeded Eastern Randolph belted No. 28 seed Hayesville 12-1 before losing 9-7 at home to No. 12 seed Union County.
No. 16 seed Uwharrie Charter Academy bowed out with a 10-5 home loss to No. 17 seed Draughn.
Baseball
Aside from two shutout victories for reigning Class 2-A state champion Randleman, other area teams had success in the first week of the state playoffs.
No. 19 seed Trinity recorded a 10-1 victory at No. 14 seed McMichael on Cade Hill’s complete-game pitching in Class 2-A. The Bulldogs pulled off another road win by upending No. 3 seed Shelby Burns by 11-7.
The Class 1-A bracket was set to bring together No. 23 seed Eastern Randolph and No. 18 seed Uwharrie Charter Academy for Tuesday night’s third round. The winner will be tagged for Friday night’s regional semifinals.
Both teams won two road outings. Eastern Randolph began by winning 12-1 at Murphy before posting a 10-0 rout of Bradford Prep. UCA smacked North Stokes 13-3 and Draughn 7-3.
In Class 3-A, Asheboro bowed out with a 4-1 first-round loss at North Henderson.
Boys’ golf
Eastern Randolph junior Connor Carter finished as the Class 1-A runner-up in the state tournament last week in Southern Pines.
Carter’s two-day total of 156 put him as the runner-up. He had two rounds of 78 at Longleaf Golf & Family Club.
Mitchell sophomore Connor Warren was the winner with a 2-under-par 70 in the final round. That was good for an eight-stroke edge on Carter.
Carter played the front nine in the second round at 1-under 34 before five bogeys, a double bogey and one birdie on the backside.
South Stanly was the team champion, winning the program’s first title.
In Class 2-A at Foxfire Resort & Golf Club’s Red Course in Jackson Springs, Wheatmore junior Ryan Baynard tied for 66th at 187 with rounds of 92 and 94.
