Casey Ward of Chapel Hill hit the second hole-in-one of her burgeoning golf career on Monday — and it came in competition at the 43rd annual Trusted Choice Big “I” National Championship.

Casey Ward of Chapel Hill hit the second hole-in-one of her burgeoning golf career on Monday — and it came in competition at the 43rd annual Trusted Choice Big “I” National Championship.

Down 7-0 after one inning, a deficit which ballooned to 14-5 midway through the game, North Chatham came back Thursday night to win Game 1 of its American Legion playoff series with Clayton Post 71 by a 16-15 score.

That puts North Chatham one up versus Clayton at 7 p.m. tonight for Game 2 of the best-of-three series in the Area 1 West semifinals. The game will be played at Smithfield-Selma High School.

Saturday, if necessary, Game 3 will be back at Northwood High School's Donald Horton Baseball Complex at 7 p.m.

The fifth annual Clash of the Carolinas all-star soccer games will be played this Saturday on Daniels Island, near Charleston, S.C., where UNC's Farrell Sweeney, an East Chapel Hill alumna, UNC Asheville goalie Dan Jackson (East Chapel Hill '11) and UNC Wilmington midfielder Jamie Dell (Chapel Hill '11) will be on the N.C.  teams.

The fifth annual Clash of the Carolinas all-star soccer games will be played this Saturday on Daniels Island, near Charleston, S.C., and once again the matches will have some Chapel Hill flavor.

UNC's Farrell Sweeney, an all-state midfielder when she was at East Chapel Hill, will play on the N.C. girls team. UNC Asheville goalie Dan Jackson (East Chapel Hill '11) and UNC Wilmington midfielder Jamie Dell (Chapel Hill '11) will be on the N.C. boys team.

The Clash of the Carolinas, organized by the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association and the South Carolina High School Soccer Coaches Association, is the nation's only interstate all-star soccer match, pairing teams from each of the Carolinas.

Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. with the girls’ contest, where the North Carolina team holds a 3-1-0 series lead. The boys’ contest starts at 3:30 p.m. North Carolina is seeking its first win in the boys' series, where South Carolina holds a 1-0-3 advantage.

Benjamin Griffin of Chapel Hill defeated Elliott Grayson of Shelby, 3 & 2 Thursday afternoon in Charlotte, to advance in golf's 44th N.C. Junior Championship.  Griffin, the 2011 4-A high school champion, was to face Stanhope Johnson Jr. of Greensboro today.

Johnson defeated defending champion Carter Page of Waynesville 5 & 4 in their Thursday morning match.  Johnson, a rising high school senior, then advanced to the semifinals by defeating Tanner Owen of High Point on the 19th hole at Pine Island Country Club.

 Dylan Harris of Southern Pines and Victor Wiggins of Gastonia were in the other semifinal.

In the girls’ division, Emily Brooks of Chapel Hill defeated stroke-play medalist Emily Pagrabs of Wilmington 4 & 3 to reach the quarterfinals.  Brooks was then beaten by Kayla Sciupider of Etowah 6 & 5.

NCHSAA champion Benjamin Griffin of Chapel Hill and Northwood's conference champion, Emily Brooks, both won their opening rounds in match play Wednesday at the 44th N.C. Junior Championship in Charlotte.

James Madison University golfer Rich Leeper of Chapel Hill will be among the 152 entrants teeing off Thursday in the 51st North Carolina Amateur Championship in Greensboro.

Leeper was a four-time all-conference selection and team MVP at Carrboro High School. He'll be heading into his junior year at James Madison next season.

The N.C. Junior Amateur runs through Sunday at The Farm Course of the Greensboro Country Club. Leeper tees off at 12:54 p.m. Thursday for the opening round.

Greensboro favorite son Ryan Heisey, a 2010 graduate of UNCG, won the title a year ago at Wilson Country Club with an all-time tournament record score of 11-under-par 269. That included a last-round 64.

Heisey and 2010 runnerup Sherrill Britt of West End, a former Carolinas PGA professional, are expected back this year, as are 2009 winner Mark McMillen of Smithfield and 2008 winner Jack Fields of Southern Pines, who lettered in golf at Carolina.

A total of 472 golfers with handicap indexes of 5.4 or less submitted entries for this year's Amateur. Leeper, like most in the field, qualified at one of the six one-day tournaments held around the state in late May and early June. The field will be cut to the low 60 scorers and ties after 36 holes.

The N.C. Amateur's 72-hole, stroke play competition was last played on Greensboro CC's Farm Course in 1982. Originally designed by Ellis Maples, the course underwent a dramatic transformation when Scottish architect Donald Steel completed a $6 million reconstruction in 2010, notes the CGA. Steel built five entirely new holes and did significant work on the remaining 13, including changes in routing and elevation. The old greens were replaced and now sport A1/A4 bentgrass, while the fairways and tees are now composed of zoysia grass instead of the customary Bermuda grass.

Steel's work produced a couple of honors in 2010. The course was named Best New Course in the state by members of the North Carolina Golf Panel and was named "Renovation of the Year" by Golf Magazine.

 The par-72 layout will play at approximately 7,223 yards for the N.C. Amateur.

UNC will host the NCAA Chapel Hill Baseball Regional Games this weekend, June 3-5, and on Monday, June 6, if a game 7 is necessary. Ridge Road will be closed to thru traffic approximately four hours prior to game time each date and until the end of the egress each night. However, Chapel Hill Transit buses will be allowed entrance along this corridor to maintain their normal routes.

CHT routes traveling along Ridge Road and Stadium Drive may experience schedule delays because of the expected increased pedestrian traffic along this area. These possible schedule delays may affect the following routes during the event: A, CCX, NU, RU, PX and U. CHT will attempt to operate the normal printed schedule on these routes. While every attempt will be made to maintain schedules, CHT is advising customers to expect delays due to traffic congestion and to allow extra travel time.

For questions concerning any of the information, please contact a CHT at 969-4900.
 

East Chapel Hill scored the go-ahead runs in the top of the seventh and won 4-3 Tuesday night at Raleigh Athens Drive. The Wildcats were the only local team to get their NCHSAA baseball playoff game completed.

Chapel Hill suspended play in its game with Union Pines due to heavy rain, and will resume play at 7 p.m. tonight. Carrboro will play at Eastern Randolph at 7 p.m.

East Chapel Hill will next play no earlier than Friday, facing either Durham Jordan or Leesville Road. Those two suspended play last night with Jordan holding a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning. They'll resume at 5 p.m  today,