County thoughts

Thanks for hanging in there, folks. My two weeks working on the ACL-tear series turned into a solid month of work. I'm OK with that, though, because it's a huge subject with tons of different angles, and I think it's important to document everything correctly.

That series of stories will run April 20 and 21, and I'll make sure to post links here. In the meantime, I've gotten out of the office a little bit recently to check out some spring sports.

Mooresville baseball
Hands down the best baseball team in the county. The Blue Devils have supplemented their fantastic pitching with timely hits and are dangerous throughout the lineup. Ten wins in a row is no fluke, but Mooresville has a humongous week ahead with games against East Rowan (unbeaten in conference) and Northwest Cabarrus (beat Blue Devils in first meeting).

North Iredell soccer
Some good talent, as always, but a little thin this year. Head coach Tim Watson has 22 total players in the program, which means - like this year's boys season - he can't field a JV team. Injuries have hit the Raiders hard, though. Midfielder Jana Bell, perhaps the best player on the team, is out for the season with a torn ACL and North also has a few injuries on defense. Goalkeeper Kawoni Revels has been superb at times, and North should still contend for a playoff spot.

Mooresville soccer
Fantastic team, especially offensively. Freshmen Courtney Smith and Hannah Mack can flat-out play, but it's the senior leadership of girls like Anna Dwiggins, Brittney Dailey, Emmie Tyson and Tiffany Wilson that has the Blue Devils ranked No. 4 in the state among 3A teams.

South Iredell baseball
Slowly improving, but must learn how to win close games. Sophomore Chris Dula hurled a no-hitter in his starting pitching debut at the varsity level, so let's see how that translates into potential wins.

THE WEEK AHEAD
I'm looking forward to going to the county track meet Tuesday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate - I can tolerate being a bit chilly so long as the sun is out. Mooresville's boys, the defending 3A state champions, are certainly the favorite and it might take an act of God for them to lose.

The girls' side should be a bit more balanced out, but the Blue Devils and Statesville have to be the favorites. Don't sleep on North Iredell, though. The Raiders are small, but have great athletes. South Iredell's girls team isn't big enough to seriously challenge for the meet title, I don't think, but they could win at least four events.