Top 10 of 2018

Chatham’s cream of the crop stand out

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    1. West Chatham 18U wins 2018 Dixie Youth World Series - Emory Moore’s homer lifted West Chatham to the World Series title down in Louisiana with hundreds from Chatham County and abroad watching live via Facebook feeds. The Moore roundtripper highlighted a tournament that saw every girl on the roster contribute during the event, and was without question the highlight of the Chatham County sports scene in 2018.

    1. The honoring of a Charger legend - When Northwood announced its 2018 Hall-of-Fame class, Northwood Co-Athletic Director’s Cameron Vernon made it a point to ensure that Archie Cross, a legendary figure of the famed “Green Machine” Chargers defense, was honored. Cross, battling a terminal illness, received all those well-deserved honors before passing in December. Cross and his family having those cherished moments due to the efforts of the Vernon, Amy and others in the Northwood community deserves to be recognized as one of the top events in the Chatham County sports world in 2018.

    1. Casey Golden has All-Star campaign - Chosen to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game, Golden, 24, had a monster 2018 in his first real season of professional baseball with the Colorado Rockies organization. In 461 plate appearances for the Asheville Tourists, Golden collected 128 hits, 92 runs, 23 doubles, 34 homers, 95 RBI, and 38 walks while stealing 24-of-32 bases and posting a batting average of .278.

    1.  Tristian Burnette continues to shine - A rising star in the collegiate coaching ranks, Burnette led Averett University to a record wins as the Cougar’s defensive coordinator. Burnette’s 2018 defense yield just 12.9 points per game, and helped land Burnette the DC position at Barton University, a move up to the Division II level for a program that will field a football team in 2020 for the first time in almost 60 years.

    1. East Chatham and Siler City Recreation football brings home gold - In the Quad County Recreation Football League, Siler City and East Chatham combined to bring home three playoff championships in the 8U, 10U, and 12U divisions up at Providence Grove High School. Siler City won the 8U and 10U titles while East Chatham brought home the 10U crown.

    1.  Austin Brice - Brice continued to garner more time with the Ciwith 33 appearances in 2018 for the Major Baseball Club. The 26-year old, hard-throwing right-hander hurled 37.1 innings for the Reds while compiling a 2-3 record and striking out 32 with a 5.79 ERA.

    1. Katharina Floyd - Floyd dominated the Big Eight Conference action in garnering Player of the Year honors and finished 9th at the NCHSAA 3A State Championships in Whispering Pines after a 2nd place finish a year earlier as a sophomore.

    1. Brett Lehman - Britt Lehman, a Jordan-Matthews grad and Siler City native, represented Central Carolina Community College at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Men’s Cross Country Championship in November at Stanley Parker in Westfield, Mass. Lehman becomes the first CCCC cross country athlete to participate in the national championship meet. Lehman finished 45th overall out of 176 runners.

    1.  Chatham Central football’s comeback at North Moore - Chatham Central rallied for 10 points in the 4th quarter to win 31-30 over host North Moore. The Bears scored on a 30-yard field goal by Abad de la Sancha with 4:25 remaining, before a Michael Moore four-yard touchdown pass to Lofton Dodson with 2:24 left, and subsequent conversion kick by Sancha capped the win. after a fumble recovery in the red zone by CC which thwarted the Mustangs going up 24-7 at the intermission, an improbable 80-yard pass from Moore to Hunter Strickland on the last play of the opening half closed the gap to 18-14 at the break and gave the Bears the spark it needed for the rally.

    1.  J-M girl’s tennis goes unbeaten in regular season - Under the guidance of first-year head coach Caroline Hudson, the Jordan-Matthews girl’s tennis team captured the 2A Mid-State Conference title while finishing the regular season at 16-0 behind the play of senior’s Jocelyn Mitchell, McKinley Rogers, and Emery Moore, and junior’s Avery Headen, Jenny Huang, Ashlyn Ray and Lindley Andrews