Cheyanne Tarango, a standout pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers from 2011 to 2015, has joined University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball coach Frank Reed's staff ahead of the 2021 season, which will be his 20th leading the Mocs. Reed's newest assistant helped the Lady Vols reach the Women's College World Series three times and finish as national runners-up in 2013, making contributions that year with her pitching (6-1, 1.44 ERA) and power hitting (10 home runs, 51 RBIs). Tarango, who is from Anaheim Hills, California, was an ace for Mexico's national team from 2015 to 2019, and she has also pitched professionally in Italy, New Zealand and the United States. She coached at the University of Louisville for three years (2016-18). "Her familiarity with the state of Tennessee and her successful professional playing career will make an immediate impact on our team," Reed said in a UTC release. "We can't wait to have her on campus."
* Hannah Talley has joined new Covenant College coach Jenny Rohn's staff as a graduate assistant. Talley was a catcher and infielder during her four seasons with the Scots, and she twice received sportsmanship recognition from the USA South Athletic Conference. She completed her undergraduate studies in sports administration this year and plans to pursue a master's in the same field.
Wrestling
* Matthias and Micah Ervin, twins from Kentucky with a combined five individual high school state titles, are the fourth and fifth additions to the UTC wrestling team's 2020-21 roster as announced by Mocs coach Kyle Ruschell. The Ervins competed for five-time reigning team state champion Union County, which is coached by their father Robert, with Matthias winning his third individual title this year at 285 pounds and Micah competing at 182 and winning a second straight title this season. They have three brothers who have competed as Division I wrestlers: Caleb was a four-year letter winner at Illinois, Isaac was a letter winner at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and Saul is a 2020-21 sophomore at SIUE.
Schedules
* The NAIA has set dates for its postponed national championships for fall sports, a move that affects Bryan College, Dalton State College and Tennessee Wesleyan University in cross country, soccer and women's volleyball. All of the title events are in spring 2021: men's and women's cross country is April 9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; women's volleyball is April 27-May 1 in Sioux City, Iowa; women's soccer is April 27-May 3 in Foley, Alabama; and men's soccer is May 4-10 - likely near Augusta, Georgia, though that location is not yet official. The title game for football is May 10 at Grambling State University in Louisiana, but no local schools compete in that sport. The NAIA has allowed conferences to make their own decisions about league schedules. The Southern States Athletic Conference, which includes Dalton State, postponed competition in all fall sports except cross country until the spring semester. Bryan and TWU are members of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, which will compete this fall with a league-only schedule that starts in mid-September and finishes before Thanksgiving. Schedule updates for those schools are at BryanLions.com and TWCBulldogs.com.
Fishing
* Winchester's Gary Clouse just missed advancing to the third day of competition in the Bassmaster Elite Series event on Lake St. Clair out of Macomb County, Michigan. His two-day total of 10 fish weighed 35 pounds, 11 ounces, leaving him 41st in the 85-angler field Friday, and only the top 40 advanced to Saturday's penultimate round. Clouse, three ounces out of a tie for 40th, won $7,500 for his finish. Buddy Gross from Chickamauga, Georgia, finished 77th at 25-8 and won $2,500.
Compiled by Marty Kirkland. Contact him at mkirkland@timesfreepress.com.