Former Cav named All-American

Published 10:25 pm Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Chowan junior guard Jaleel Nelson (Lakeland) was named first-team All-American in the National Christian College Athletic Association for the 2008-09 basketball season. Nelson was an NCCAA All-American as a sophomore as well.

Nelson shot 58 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point range for the Hawks. Nelson, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 13.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

Chowan’s Aaron Scott was selected second-team All-American in the NCCAA. Chowan finished with an 18-10 record.

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Softball notes

Mount Olive won back-to-back softball doubleheaders over the weekend, winning two games against Anderson (S.C.) and two games against Chowan.

In an 8-0 win against Anderson on Saturday, freshman Sarah Saunders (Lakeland) pitched her second shutout of the season. In a five-inning complete game, Saunders struck out eight. Saunders is 5-5 with a 2.39 ERA this season. Mount Olive is 21-16-1 overall.

Christopher Newport’s softball squad has a 13-game winning streak ongoing after sweeping a doubleheader at Ferrum on Sunday. The two wins clinched at least a share of the USA South championship for the Lady Captains (29-3, 15-1).

In the first game Sunday, a 12-0 CNU win, Lindsay Kelly (Lakeland) pitched a five-inning complete game three-hitter to improve her record to 10-3.

After starting the season going 6-22 in the first 28 games, all against non-conference opponents, Fayetteville State is atop of the CIAA’s (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) Western Division with an 11-1 conference record.

Fayetteville State swept a doubleheader against Virginia Union on Monday to make it nine straight wins for FSU.

Freshman outfielder LaTonia Gatling (King’s Fork) has played in 29 games for the Lady Broncos and is hitting .299 with 23 runs scored.

UVA-Wise’s softball team has won seven of its last eight games. Sophomore Maddi Ridenour (Nansemond River), an NIAA All-American honoree as a freshman, is hitting .364 with 23 runs, three triples and 35 stolen bases out of 39 attempts for the Highland Cavaliers. Ridenour has a 1.000 fielding percentage in center field as well. UVA-Wise is 19-11 overall.

Baseball notes

Boston College pulled out the rubber game of a three-game series against ACC foe North Carolina St. on Sunday in Chestnut Hill, Ma.

The Wolfpack led 10-2 in the fifth inning before BC scored nine unanswered runs. BC’s Matt Hamlet (Nansemond-Suffolk) scored the tying run in the bottom of the eighth and BC took the lead later in the eighth. BC (19-10, 7-6) won two of three in the series.

Hamlet, a sophomore, is hitting .289 in 45 at-bats for the Eagles.

Two miles away from Boston College on Sunday, William and Mary freshman Matt Davenport (Nansemond-Suffolk) got his fourth win of the season in relief in a 5-4, 12-inning win for W&M.

Davenport pitched the last 5.0 innings for the Tribe, holding the Huskies to two hits and one run. Meanwhile, W&M scored a run in the ninth to tie the score, then a run in the 12th to go ahead. Davenport hit three batters and struck out three. His four wins is a team-high for W&M (11-17, 3-6 Colonial).

Radford’s baseball squad swept a three-game series against Big South foe UNC-Asheville over the weekend. The Highlanders (13-11) improved to 7-3 in the conference.

Junior Tyren Rivers (Nansemond River) contributed on Saturday in an 18-9 Radford win with a 2-for-5 day and three RBI. Rivers is hitting .255 and is 9 of 11 in stolen base attempts.