East Carolina pitcher Seth Maness won his fifth straight start last Saturday as the Pirates defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 3-1 in Greenville. The Pinecrest graduate improved to 7-0 on the season after going 7 2/3 innings and allowing one run and seven hits while striking out three batters and walking one.

The sophomore right-hander is now 16-2 in his college career. The Pirates (35-14) entered the week ranked No. 22 in both the college baseball writers and ESPN/USA Today national polls.

Former North Moore baseball star Steven Davis continues to contribute to a successful season enjoyed by the UNC-Wilmington (25-17) baseball team.

The freshman left-hander helped the Seahawks get out of a big jam on Wednesday and defeat N.C. State 5-1.

The Seahawk relief specialist came into the game in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and his team in front 2-1. He picked up a struck out to end that threat. In the seventh, he struck out two batters, but uncharacteristically walked the bases loaded before inducing an infield grounder for the final out.

Davis has compiled a record of 4-1 with three saves and an ERA of 3.79. In 38 innings, he has allowed 26 hits while striking out 38 and walking 19.

Bruce Koenig, a Patriot teammate of Maness at Pinecrest, is currently batting .341 at Lenoir Community College (18-21). The Lancer infielder racked up a double, single, an RBI and three stolen bases last Saturday, helping his team defeat Southeastern Community College 8-2 in the first game of a double-header. He has knocked in a total of 20 runs in 30 games this season.

Westminster College (New Wilmington, Pa.) recently recognized Southern Pines resident and Pinecrest grad Rachel Hudson for her accomplishments during the cross country season last fall.

Hudson was named the MVP of the women's cross county team after earning second-team All-Presidents' Athletic Conference honors. She finished eighth in the 6K run at the PAC conference meet with a time of 23:39.

Among the attendees at this week's Mid-Southeastern Conference Track Championships held at the John Williams Athletic Complex were Jeff Moody and Lauren Bishop. Both are currently involved in college athletics and both former runners at Pinecrest still hold school records.

Moody is in his seventh season as an assistant track and cross country coach at his college alma mater, UNC-Pembroke. He previously coached those sports at both Union Pines and Pinecrest.

With a stop watch in hand, Moody observed the action on Wednesday. His all-time records, set in 1974, include a time of 4:08.9 in the mile (now run as 1,600 meters) and a time of 15:12 in the 3.1 mile cross country run (now 5K).

Bishop, a freshman at N.C. State, is red-shirting with the Wolfpack women's track team after performing for the cross country team last fall.

The 2008 4A state high school champion in the 3,200 meter run had her Patriot record in the event broken by former teammate Lexie Schustrom in late March.

In between her three events on Wednesday, Schustrom spent some time catching up on things with Bishop.

"We talk about the years past and what's going on now, Schustrom said.

"We're still just really good friends. I've gone up to see her race a couple times. It's such a learning experience to watch her beyond high school."

Bishop's name is still in the Patriot record book as a member of the Patriot 3,200, 6,400 and distance medley relay teams that set school marks in 2007.

Each of those record-breaking quartets also included Schustrom.

Charlie Bergmann can be reached cbergmann@nc.rr.com.