The North Moore tennis team is sending two players — seniors Jeremiah Wofford and Noe Ramirez — to the regional tournament today.

The pair qualified after their strong showings in the Yadkin Valley Conference tournament. Wofford finished second while Ramirez finished third.

Wofford is looking forward to the opportunity to play in the event and is hoping to ride the momentum of his performance in the conference tournament.

“I’m hoping we can come off that and really push into the regionals and the state duals,” he said Monday.

The Mustangs finished 2-4 in the regular season, but are ready to press on into postseason play.

“I really don’t think our record indicates how strongly we did play this year,” coach Angie Shepard said. “We had a really good showing as far as single in the conference tournament with Jeremiah finishing second and Noe finishing third. We had four seniors returning, so it will be a big rebuilding next year, but I really had high expectations and high hopes for this season.

“With the lack of a schedule from our conference, it kind of hurt us. But the guys have worked hard all year and academically, I’m very pleased. We’re strong in the classroom and it’s just a great group of guys to work with.”

They received a last-minute wild card bid to the state dual playoffs on Tuesday, where they fell to YVC Gray Stone 8-1.

Mustang Baseball Reaches YVC Final

The third-seeded North Moore baseball team reached the Yadkin Valley Conference tournament championship game with an 11-6 victory over second-seeded South Stanly Tuesday.

Jonathan Henley got the start and threw well, according to head coach Brandon Reynolds, keeping the Rebel Bull hitters off balance through 4 1/3 innings.

North Moore got on the board first with a four-run third inning. Corey Crabtree singled, Cody Johnson doubled, Tyler Wallace and Henley walked, and Rider Maness tripled.

Clint Vaughn came on in relief in the fifth with one out and got his team out of trouble after South Stanly put up four tallies to tie the game.

Tied 4-4 going into the sixth, Maness led off with a double. Heath Carriker moved him over to third on an intended sacrifice, but a throwing error allowed Maness to score and Carriker to make it to second. Ethan Galloway reached on a misplay of his bunt attempt.

Cody Vaughn scored Carriker on a single. A dropped pop fly with two outs scored two more runners. Then Wallace singled to center to score two more runs, but another misplay allowed it roll to the fence. Wallace rounded the bases and scored.

North Moore added an insurance run in the seventh.

Vaughn encountered a little trouble in the seventh, but only allowed two runs to preserve the win.

The Mustangs were scheduled to face fourth-seeded Albemarle for the tournament title Thursday evening at West Montgomery High School. For results of the game, see thepilot.com and Sunday’s edition.

Youth Triathlon Coming

The FirstHealth Center for Health & Fitness will host the Fourth Annual Youth Triathlon on Saturday, May 14.

Four races will be featured in the following age divisions: ages 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10-12.

The USA Triathlon-sanctioned races will be on the campus of the Center for Health & Fitness and will feature an indoor pool swim, closed bike course and greenway trail run with times scheduled as follows:

n Starting at 12:15 p.m., ages 4-5 will swim 25 yards, bike .78 miles and run 210 yards.

n At 1 p.m., ages 6-7 will swim 50 yards, bike 2.05 miles and run 404 yards.

n At 2 p.m., ages 8-9 will do the same distance as the 6-7 age group.

n At 3 p.m., the 10-12 age group will swim 125 yards, bike 3.71 miles and run .47 miles.

Registration is available at the FirstHealth Center for Health & Fitness at 170 Memorial Drive in Pinehurst.

Cost is $25 per child and then $30 per child after May 6.

All participants will receive a T-shirt and finisher’s medal. Trophies will be awarded to the boy and girl finishing first in each age category, and ribbons will be presented to the boys and girls finishing second and third in each age category.

All participants in the triathlon are required to have a parent present for the entire event, and a participation waiver must be completed at packet pick-up on race day. Packet pick-up will be available one hour prior to race start time.

Participants will be required to furnish their own equipment, including a swimsuit and towel, bike and helmet (required), running shoes and T-shirt.

Sponsors for the 2011 FirstHealth of the Carolinas Youth Triathlon are Bode Chiropractic, Rainbow Cycles, Bill Smith Ford, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Aberdeen Coca-Cola.

For more information on the race and to download a registration form, go to www.firsthealth.org/youth triathlon or contact Jodi Heimrich at (910) 715-1843 or jheimrich@firsthealth. org.

Course maps are also available on the website.