Ringgold resident and former Cleveland State Community College pitcher Stephen Pryor was traded Thursday by the Seattle Mariners to the Minnesota Twins for Kendrys Morales, a first baseman and designated hitter who hit 23 home runs and batted in 80 runs for Seattle last year but chose to become a free agent and then signed with the Twins. The 25-year-old Pryor, who has been making his way back to form from latissimus dorsi surgery, has pitched in 34 games for the Mariners since 2012, with a 2.81 earned run average, according to an Associated Press report, but only one game this year. He was 2-2 with a 5.71 ERA in 34 2/3 innings for Class AAA Tacoma and has been assigned to the Twins' Triple-A team in Rochester, N.Y.
Golf
• The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's golf team was listed No. 10 in NCAA Division I in team grade point average at 3.724 (on a 4.0 scale) in a release Thursday by the Women's Golf Coaches Association. Vanderbilt at No. 19 (3.655) was the only other Tennessee school in the top 25. The Mocs were led by a 4.0 through four semesters for Emily McLennan, who also won the Southern Conference individual championship and later the Tennessee Women's Amateur. "We want to win in every area. That's our focus," UTC vice chancellor and athletic director David Blackburn said in a school release. "[Coach] Colette Murray and her ladies captured their fifth straight Southern Conference championship and boasted the individual champion for the fourth year in a row." Every member of the team made the AD's honor roll for having at least a 3.0.
• Recent Dalton State graduate Tyler Mitchell from Murray County High School is an Academic All-American designee by the Golf Coaches Association of America. For NAIA players, that requires a minimum 3.2 GPA and a per-round average not exceeding 77, and Mitchell was one of 11. His honor came after the Roadrunners' inaugural season. "This is a fantastic achievement for Tyler," coach Ben Rickett said. "This achievement is one that sums up Tyler on and off the course, and I am very proud of what he achieved while he was part of this program."
• UT-Martin senior golfer Brendon Caballero from Brentwood is seeded No. 1 for the round of 16 in the Tennessee Match Play tournament after shooting 131 (64-67) in stroke-play qualifying at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, but the second seed is Chattanooga's Zac Stolz at 133 after a 65 Friday, and the third seed is Benton's Evan Ball at 137 with a second-round 66. Another Polk County resident, Keoni Vidrine of Delano, shot a 67 Friday and tied for eighth at 139. Rick Mays of Athens and former area resident Nick Blakely -- now of Nashville -- were among the eight who tied for 12th at 140; Blakely got in match play while Mays did not. Stolz and Ball face Knoxvillians Mitchell Thomas and Brandon Rodgers this morning, and Vidrine takes on Nashville's Craig Smith. Blakely plays Payne Denman of Riverwatch. The quarterfinals are this morning; the semifinals and final match are Sunday. Germantown's Tim Jackson leads the Senior Match Play quarterfinalists.
Basketball
• Lee University was the only area 2013-14 team that made the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Academic Top 25 for each NCAA division, the NAIA and the NJCAA. Those were released Thursday, and coach Marty Rowe's Lady Flames were 18th in NCAA Division II with a team grade point average of 3.559. Austin Peay and Belmont were 16th and 18th in NCAA Division I.
Swimming
• The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association just released its final dual-meet rankings for the 2013-14 season, and Girls Preparatory School was ranked No. 7 among independent schools with enrollment below 900. That had coach John Woods' Bruisers higher than any Tennessee school; they went 20-0 in the regular season. The Bolles School of Jacksonville, Fla., was No. 1, followed by teams from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ohio, Virginia and California.