By David Rogers. CANTON, Ohio — It is summertime in Canton, Ohio, but the NFL Hall of Fame enshrinement was still 19 days in the future. All the attention on July 13 was about the 22 elite women’s runners competing in the USA Track & Field (USATF) Women’s 6k Championship — and Blowing Rock’s ZAP Endurance was well represented.

Closing out her first remarkable year as a professional runner, ZAP Endurance member Amanda Vestri completed the 3.73-miles course (with 13 twists and turns from Malone University to downtown Canton) in 18 minutes, 16 seconds (18:16), finishing No. 2. She was just 13 seconds behind first place Annie Rodenfels, a 27-yearold athlete from Newton, Mass., representing the Boston Athletic Association/adidas. Rodenfels is one of the nation’s top 3,000-meters Steeplechase performers, qualifying for the finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials in the event where she finished No. 8. Similarly, Vestri also qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials, in the 10k, where she finished No. 5.

Vestri went out strong in the Women’s 6k Championship event (held in conjunction with the larger, Women’s 6k Festival, with almost 300 athletes competing), leading the race as they neared the first mile marker.

The official scorer has Vestri in third place at the end of the first mile, with Rodenfels at No. 5. The Blowing Rock runner finished the first mile in a blistering 4:49 in near 90-degree heat.

Rachel Smith, of Flagstaff, Ariz., was credited with the No. 1 finish of the first mile, with an identical time as Vestri, in 4:49. With Rodenfels’ first mile also recorded as 4:49, it would be accurate to say that the early leaders were tightly bunched.

At some point during the second mile, Rodenfels took command of the race, surging to the lead for good and crossing the second mile marker in 9:41. The field was still bunched, however, as Vestri completed the second mile in 9:42, recorded to be in the No. 5 position, with Emma Grace Hurley of Zionsville, Ind., listed at No. 2 but with the same time as Vestri. Abby Nichols of Flagstaff, Ariz. was also in the 9:42 group, as was Smith.

In the last 1.73 miles, Rodenfels expanded her advantage over the rest of the group, while second-place Vestri finished four seconds ahead of No. 3, Hurley.

In addition to Rodenfels (3000 Steeplechase) and Vestri (10k), Nichols (5k), Allie Ostrander (3000 Steeplechase) and Natosha Rogers (5k and 10k) competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

The top eight finishers collected prize money, including Rodenfels ($6,000) and Vestri ($4,000). The top three finishers, including Vestri, also picked up a $2,500 bonus for running under 18:30.

Afterward, ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea had high praise for his newest team member.

“Amanda had an excellent first year as a pro,” said Rea. “She improved exponentially on both the track and in road racing. On the track, she improved her 10,000 meters time by a full minute (placing No. 5 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June) and on the roads as well. She was No. 10 at the U.S. 20k last September, No. 7 at the U.S. Road 5k, No. 4 at the Road 10k and now runner-up in the 6k to close out her year. She is young, just 24, so I believe she’ll see international success in the coming years.”

TOP 10 FINISHERS IN USA TRACK & FIELD WOMEN’S 6K CHAMPIONSHIP

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Dominating play for much of the first half but unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities, Appalachian FC’s 2024 season came to an end on July 13 in “The Valley” (Ted Mackeroll Soccer Stadium), falling to Hickory FC, 3-0.

In front of the season’s largest crowd filling the grandstands and on the surrounding ridges, with drums banging and chants echoing across the playing field relentlessly, the first half was scoreless until the 39th minute when Hickory’s John Osadolor capitalized on an Appalachian defender’s miscue and zipped the ball past the Sasquatch goalkeeper to take a still nervous, 1-0 lead into the intermission.

The second half was more of the same until Hickory was awarded a penalty kick in the 80th minute. The PK was blocked, but Hickory’s Ivan Rubio alertly jumped on the rebound and punched it forward into the net.

Appalachian — which came into the game as the Conference tournament’s No. 1 seed and ranked as high as No. 4 overall in the National Premier Soccer League (comprised of more than 90 teams across the United States) — never gave up after going down 2-0 with just over 10 minutes to play. Unfortunately, the High Country’s favorite Sasquatchers were unable to convert while No. 2 seeded Hickory found the net yet again in the waning moments of stoppage time with a goal by Bjarne Renner.

After the match, Hickory head coach Carlos Rubio, who is also the men’s soccer head coach for Lenoir-Rhyne University, was understandably enthusiastic about his team’s upset win over the No. 1 seeded Appalachian FC.

“This was a fantastic night,” said Rubio. “The guys have (bought into) our method, our way. They succeeded today and did a fantastic job.

If anyone is going to beat us make sure it is them that beating us and not us losing the game, that we don’t beat ourselves.

“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Rubio added. “We wanted to take the ball away from them. (Appalachian is) a really good team. We made a few adjustments. It was a really good game of soccer and I am proud of our defensive effort.”

If there was a common thread of attributes for both teams in the match, it was counterattacking, quickly stymying the opponent’s attack and just as quickly reversing the momentum of the game, going on attack back up the field.

“Yes,” said Rubio. “Both teams have fantastic players.”

On the other side of the outcome, Appalachian head coach Dale Parker was more sanguine.

“Of course we are disappointed,” said Parker, “as I try to wrap my head around what just happened. The way we conceded the first goal was very disappointing. From that point on, we were pushing too hard almost to try and find an equalizer and ended up giving up the second goal (on a penalty kick). At that point, well…

“The 3-nil score flatters them a little bit but you have to credit Hickory. They came in with a game plan and when they got their opportunity, they took it and we were not able to bring them down tonight, unfortunately.”

In the first half, Appalachian seemed to dominate the game on the offensive end but unable to convert.

“The chances we created were enough to win the game for us,” said Parker, “if we had converted. But when you give the opponent a goal like we did and shift the momentum… It is something we spoke about before the game: if anyone is going to beat us make sure it is them that is beating us and not us losing the game, that we don’t beat ourselves.”

Unfortunately, we want to still be playing at this point in the season and now we are not.

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Reflecting on the entire season, Parker said, “In the moment, I am really proud of our season. We had a team here that could go on and do good things in the national tournament but, unfortunately, in these knockout games you have to be prepared for the unexpected. So I am really pleased with the team that we built and really please with our performance (8-0-2) to this point. Unfortunately, we want to still be playing and we are not now.”

Parker was especially complimentary of the community’s embrace of high quality soccer in the High Country, including the ongoing partnerships of the business community as well as those of Appalachian FC, App State Athletics, High Country United Soccer Association and Watauga High School.

“Soccer has not always been so popular in these parts,” said Parker, “… the growth of the game in the last four years has been really amazing. On a night like tonight, you wish we could have given our community a little bit more than we did. It is disappointing that we didn’t see it through.”

With the win, Hickory advances to the NPSL Regionals, opponent yet to be named.

BONUS PHOTOS (For best viewing on laptop or PC, click on any image for Slide Show mode)

All photographic images by David Rogers for High Country Sports

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Piling on to their own misfortune, the Whitnel team entry in the Tar Heel League District 2, 15-and-Under baseball tournament double faulted over the weekend and were dismissed from the double elimination format with hardly a thrown ball.

On Feb. 12, Whitnel forfeited to Wilkes County because they didn’t have enough players. A day later, after advancing to the loser’s bracket to face Watauga, Whitnel was disqualified after one inning of play for using ineligible players.

A group comprised of Tar Heel League president Mack McLeod, District 2 commissioner Stephen Poulos, and the three umpires stopped play and conferred briefly at home plate before moving toward the Whitnel dugout with a Boone Police escort to confront the team and its ineligible players, according to league eligibility standards. Satisfied with their findings, the league principals promptly asked the team to immediately leave the venue, Watauga High School.

With the disqualification, Watauga’s 15U team has renewed life and advances to another potential elimination game on Monday, July 15.

Fortunately, Whitnel left without much in the way of incident other than some inflammatory language and gestures on the part of a couple of players. Upon further questioning by High Country Sports, we learned that there had been previous problems with the Whitnel program and they were likely to be permanently barred from future participation in the Tar Heel League, although we were unable to confirm that likelihood with the THL officials by the time of this report.

POSTSCRIPT: LIFE LESSONS

When all is said and done, baseball is most often a game played by young people so there is a natural frustration when something like this happens. One line of thought is that these are young boys becoming men and it is JUST a game, so let ’em play. Canceling a game because of two ineligible players deprives at least 16 others of a chance to have fun playing and hone their skills against competition.

That said, rules and laws are put in place for a reason and when you sign up to participate in a league or organizational format, you are voluntarily promising to abide by whatever rules or laws go with it.

Organized youth development activities like sports usually have a far reaching impact on young athletes and that goes beyond developing their physical skills. Though sometimes harsh, there are life lessons to be learned. Those lessons better equip the participating young men or young women for adulthood, with all of its responsibilities, up and downs, and challenges.

Ultimately, this incident is all about that and we applaud the THL organizers for their diligence and administration.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Leaving runners stranded with the bases loaded a couple of times didn’t help Watauga’s 15-and-Under team on July 13, losing to a hard hitting Hickory squad, 9-3.

For best photo viewing on laptop or PC monitors, click on any image for Slide Show mode.

Watauga was aggressive on the base paths with six stolen bases, but simply didn’t have enough firepower to get runners on base to take advantage. The Watauga batters were patient, collecting seven walks.

The game only went six innings due to the Tar Heel League’s 2-hour time limit, rather than the full seven innings.

Both Watauga and Hickory had first round byes and played their first tournament game on Saturday morning instead of the night before because of inclement weather.

With loss, Watauga falls into the loser’s bracket of the double elimination Tar Heel League’s District 2, 15-and-Under tournament and will play next at 2 p.m. on July 13. Hickory advances with an unblemished record to the next round in the winner’s bracket, playing on July 13 at 4 p.m.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A 4-RBI night for Watauga alum Tristan Salinas, including a 3-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, helped power the Boone Bigfoots to an 11-5 win over the Asheboro Zookeepers on July 13, at App State’s Smith Field.

In taking the win, the Bigfoots leveraged six strong innings by starting pitcher Jacob Lauderdale, who limited the Zookeepers to just two runs on four hits and throwing 53 strikes in his 95 pitches of work.

The Bigfoots’ designated hitter, Cameron Benson, put the finishing touches on the home team’s 6-run explosion in the bottom of the second inning with a 2-run home run, hammering the ball over the fence on a 2-0 count. Previous to Benson’s blast, an array of Bigfoot batters manufactured four, “small-ball” runs by beating out infield singles, patiently waiting for walks, taking advantage of passed balls allowed by Asheboro starting pitcher Noah Samol and catcher Alex LaCoste, and a 2-RBI single to right field by Boone catcher Kory Klingenbeck.

With the win, the Bigfoots are 6-6 in the second half of the Coastal Plain League season. They face league leader Martinsville (8-3) at Smith Stadium on Saturday, July 13, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

By Matt Present. BOONE, N.C. — Right-handed pitcher Dante Chirico and first baseman Drew Holderbach from App State have signed professional baseball contracts with the Florence Y’alls.

The Y’alls compete in Florence, Ky., and are a member of the Frontier League, an independent professional baseball league that operates as one of Major League Baseball’s partner leagues.

“I’m thrilled for Dante and Drew,” head coach Kermit Smith said. “They are two guys who love the game and have an opportunity to continue their career. They will make the most of this opportunity and will no doubt continue to give their all. It’s a great day to be a Mountaineer.”

Chirico pitched in 36 games for the Mountaineers across two seasons and was a member of the Mountaineers’ weekend rotation in 2024. The righty went 4-2 with a 6.25 ERA this past season, striking out 59 batters in 67.2 innings of work while holding opponents to a .240 batting average.

A native of Chapin, S.C., Chirico’s season was highlighted by tossing seven innings in a combined one-hitter against South Alabama on May 2. Two weeks later, Chirico fired a career-high eight innings in App State’s win over Old Dominion. In his final outing in a Black and Gold uniform, Chirico retired the first 12 batters he faced, including seven strikeouts, in the Sun Belt Tournament against Troy on May 22.

“It means the world to me to have the opportunity to be able to come and compete with the Y’alls,” Chirico said.

Holderbach started all 55 games at first base for the Mountaineers in 2024, in his lone season in the High Country. The Fairfield, Ohio, native slashed .321/.465/.550 with 19 doubles, nine home runs and 48 RBIs. Holderbach reached base safely in each of the first 43 games of the season, the second-longest on-base streak in program history. He finished the season tied for fifth in the Sun Belt in doubles (19), sixth in runs scored (64), and fourth in hit by pitch (19). He also finished eighth in single-season program history for runs scored and tied for 10th in single-season doubles.

Holderbach registered 19 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI games. In the power department, the Rice transfer hit a go-ahead, two-run home run at Texas State on March 17 for the longest App State home run in the TrackMan era, traveling 465 feet. He also blasted a go-ahead, three-run home run in seventh inning of an elimination game against Coastal Carolina on May 23 to help the Mountaineers advance in the Sun Belt Tournament. Defensively, Holderbach committed just three errors in 395 chances for a team-best .993 fielding percentage.

“I couldn’t be more excited to start my professional career,” Holderbach said. It is great to be able to play at the next level.”

The duo joins Jeffrey Springs (Tampa Bay Rays), Chandler Seagle (Padres, Triple-A), Kaleb Bowman (Brewers, Double-A), Jack Hartman (Rays, High-A), Xander Hamilton (Twins, Single-A) and Jaylin Davis (American Association) as former Mountaineers playing professional baseball.