The Lake Norman summer college baseball team clipped the Wilkes County Moonshiners, 6-5, at Huntersville Athletic Park on Monday.

Each club collected six hits in the contest, but the Moonshiners (2-2 overall, 1-1 in Mountain Division play of the Old North State League) committed four errors in the field, while the hosts (4-1, 4-0) played mistake-free ball.

Ty Edds cracked a solo home run for Wilkes, while Hayden Gentry had an RBI double. Cristian Ruiz, Bo Nichols, Drew Cheek and Evan Johnson singled for the Moonshiners.

Josh Bandy (0-1) was the Wilkes pitcher of record, allowing five hits and four unearned runs in five frames, while walking five and striking out four. Brayden Hilaski whiffed five in two innings of relief.

Wilkes Coach Drew Ward said of his club’s first four games: “The first week is always interesting, as we are trying to learn our players and they are trying to learn us, with some even learning the college game for the first time. It has been a good start, though, overall. We’ve been in a couple tight games where we came up just short and a couple others where we came out in top. Everyone is competing well and no one has been overmatched at this point. It’s a great group of guys who have been great with the kids around the ballpark. So far we’ve had come good crowds as well.

“This team/organization is a bigger deal than a lot of people in the area realize. We have some local players from Wilkes and surrounding counties, but we also have players from around the state and the country. We have players from Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, South Carolina, and even a player coming from Japan. Get out to the ballpark this summer!”

WILKES ROUTS NWNC

Wilkes rolled to a 14-4 nonleague win over the NWNC Elite Showcase in Millers Creek on Sunday.

The Moonshiners moved up to 2-1 overall this summer. No statistics were available as of press time Tuesday morning.

WILKES TOPS PINEVILLE

Wilkes opened Mountain Division play Saturday with a 9-6 victory over Pineville in Millers Creek.

Also making their Old North State League debut, the Moonshiners evened their overall mark at 1-1.

Jake Blanton went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two steals for Wilkes. Brayden Hilaski also drove in a pair of runs.

The Moonshiners belted out 10 hits against the Porcupines—with Brady Rascoll and Spencer Dailey each adding a pair of singles—but made five errors in the field.

Wilkes starter Abram Apel (1-0) went four innings, giving up three hits and one earned run while walking and whiffing four apiece. Relievers Micah Dalton (5 Ks), Kye Pennington (3) and Rascoll (2) combined for 10 strikeouts.

SEASON OPENER

Queen City clipped Wilkes County, 15-14, in the Moonshiners’ nonleague season opener Thursday in Millers Creek.

Josh Bandy had a pair of solo homers for Wilkes, while Chase Smith cracked a grand slam. Brodie Burgess and Sam Tibbs also went deep for the hosts.

Gavin Eller (0-1) took the loss in relief for Wilkes, allowing two hits and one earned run in three innings. He walked three and struck out four. Wilkes starter Spencer Dailey whiffed eight in four frames, while middle reliever Jordan Tibbs struck out three.

The Moonshiners are coming off back-to-back seasons with overall records of 19-21 (2025) and 14-22 (inaugural season of 2024).


Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.


Error! There was an error processing your request.