The Lee University softball team waited through a long weather delay and three extra innings Saturday before edging North Alabama 3-2 for the NCAA Division II South Regional championship at Saint Leo, Fla. Annabeth Pruett led off the bottom of the 10th with a double, took third on Kayla Louie's sacrifice bunt and scored on Stevie Baird's single. Pruett and Louie each was 2-for-3 and winning pitcher Taylor Moran was 2-for-4 with a home run for the Lady Flames (36-18). Moran (14-5) pitched all 10 innings, allowing seven hits. Lee advances to the South Super Regional this Thursday and Friday and faces West Florida in Pensacola.
- Chattanooga State's Blythe Golden was voted the TCCAA softball coach of the year, and pitcher Kaleigh Wynne, third baseman Devan Brown and outfielder Colbie Thomas made the All-TCCAA first team from the state/region champion Lady Tigers (44-11). Lillie McCrary, Alaeni Ray and Courtney Condon were second-team choices. They play Wednesday in the NJCAA Division I tournament in Utah.
Cleveland State sophomores Jake Rogers, left, and Sean McDermott made the All-TCCAA baseball first team for 2017.- Cleveland State pitcher Jake Rogers from Chickamauga, Ga., and fellow sophomore Sean McDermott from Cartersville made the 2017 All-TCCAA baseball first team, and Chattanooga State shortstop Conner Morro, third baseman Brody Thomasson and freshman pitcher Joe Dalmolin were second-team selections. Rogers went 9-2 with 102 strikeouts this season, while McDermott batted .370 with two-year totals of 117 hits, 21 home runs, 20 doubles, 75 RBIs and 64 runs. Morro hit .402 with 36 walks, 22 extra-base hits, 49 runs and 42 RBIs in 2017, and Thomasson hit .376 with 25 walks, 19 extra-base hits, 50 runs and 26 RBIs. Dalmolin was 6-2 with a 1.89 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 52 innings.
Tennis
- The No. 22-ranked Sewanee men's tennis team beat No. 29 Washington & Lee 5-3 in the Division III regional Saturday in Atlanta and will play No. 2 Emory in the final today at noon. The No. 17 Sewanee women lost 5-3 to No. 13 W&L at Sewanee. Avery Schober and Jack Gray won in both doubles and singles and Jordan Brewer added a singles win for the male Tigers (22-3). Maggie Crumbliss and Haley Tucker won in singles for the 19-6 women, after Sara Thompson and Bea Benavides won in doubles. Michelle Fleenor from Chattanooga won in doubles and singles for W&L (21-5).
Fishing
- Bryan College's Nathan Bell and Cole Sands overtook Tennessee Tech's two-day leaders Saturday on Cherokee Lake with 15 pounds, 3 ounces of fish and won the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Eastern Regional tournament with 44-4, and Bryan's Jacob Foutz and Jake Lee were ninth at 37-15 and caught the event's biggest fish. Tech's Sam Carris and John Berry were second at 43-10. Bryan's Dalton Price and Dylan Kear were 12th at 36-0, and UTC's Gavyn Bridges and Dylan Anderson were 15th at 32-14.
Golf
- Chattanooga Christian has hired Wes Moore as its high school and middle school golf coach, as well as girls' basketball assistant. Moore, who had been the head basketball coach at GPS the past two seasons, is a 1995 CCS alumnus and was an all-state basketball player for the Chargers. He was the starting point guard on the UTC team that went to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1997. He coached Signal Mountain's girls' golfers to Class A/AA state championships in 2009 and 2010.
- New Georgia Northwestern golf coach Eddie Jackson recently added two players to his 2017-18 roster from Northwest Whitfield, Adrian Clark and Cole Roberts. Northwest coach Jeff Storey called them "two diamonds in the rough," according to a GNTC release, and praised their leadership. Roberts is known for his driving ability, Clark for his short game, and both expressed enthusiasm about the revival of the Bobcats program that had made consecutive trips to the NJCAA D-III tournament. And they're excited about playing for Jackson, longtime pro at LaFayette Golf Club. "I love Eddie. He's a great coach, a great guy and he just knows a lot about the game," Clark said. "I think he can make us great," Roberts said.
Basketball
- Former Covenant College basketball player and student assistant coach Jake DeLaney is returning to the program as a full-time assistant to Arte Culver after spending two years as a graduate assistant and video coordinator at Gardner-Webb in NCAA Division I. Culver arrived after DeLaney's departure but said in a Covenant release that "Jake is a home-run hire for us on a lot of levels. Everyone that I spoke to about Jake had nothing but great things to say about him." Culver added that he sees great potential in DeLaney in recruiting and relating to players. Said DeLaney: "To have the chance to come back and serve in a coaching role is a true blessing." He played in 56 games with the Scots, starting 16, before making the transition to coaching as a senior.