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Mlb
Top StorySpotlight
HICKORY MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Bumgarner takes two more races at Hickory Motor Speedway
jason.koon
Updated
Michael Bumgarner pushes toward the finish at Hickory Motor
Speedway last year.
Submitted
Michael Bumgarner won a pair of races at the Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday, taking a 50-lap Super Trucks event and the 75-lap Late Models feature race.
Bumgarner started fifth in the Late Models race but worked his way through the field to win the checkered flag. Helio Meza rallied from sixth to a second-place finish and Aiden King, who started in the pole position, took third.
In the Super Trucks feature, it was Bumgarner who started in the pole position. He hung onto the top spot while Hunter Hatton and Jesse Smith rallied from fifth and seventh respectively to finish in the top four. Josh Goble took the second-place spot.
Chase Robertson rode the pole to a checkered flag in a 60-lap Limited Late Models race while Mark Johnston and Don Carlton finished out the top three. Also on Saturday, Cody DeMarmels rode the pole to victory in a 30-lap Heritage Finance Street Stocks race and George Pultz beat out Luke Ebert and Michael Casiano in a 25-lap Super Stocks showdown.
Mlb
Top StorySpotlight
Hickory Crawdads win season opening series; Rangers' No. 3 prospect makes debut
jason.koon
Updated
For the second time during the season-opening series against the Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies, the Hickory Crawdads rallied late and snatched a 5-2 win Saturday night at L.P. Frans Stadium.
By scoring four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for the victory, Hickory took the three-game series two games to one.
Saturday’s game was similar in many ways to Hickory’s come-from-behind win on Thursday. The Crawdads took a 1-0 lead in the first when Marcos Torres lined a triple into the leftfield corner. The return throw from Daniel Lopez skipped past his teammates and rolled into the first base dugout, which allowed Torres to score.
Crawdads starter A.J. Russell, last summer’s second round pick by the Texas Rangers out of Tennessee, had a successful professional debut by striking out three over two perfect innings. Alejandro Chiquillo added two more scoreless innings, allowing a lone walk.
As they did on Thursday, the Hickory lineup missed chances to add to its lead. The most crucial missed opportunity came in the fourth when the Crawdads loaded the bases with one out, but did not score. That came back to haunt the team in the sixth, when the Fireflies scored both their runs to take the lead against reliever Moises Morales.
Ivan Sosa tied the game at 1-1 with a solo homer, his second blast of the season. One out later, Yandel Ricardo steered a grounder over the bag at third for a double. Josh Hammond and J.C. Vanek each followed with singles to bring in Ricardo for the 2-1 lead. However, Columbia returned the favor by stranding three in the inning.
NC State product Shane Van Dam kept the Fireflies in front with three scoreless innings, striking out three.
The Crawdads rally began when reliever Randy Ramnarace walked Torres, who stole second and went to third on Yolfran Castillo’s ground out. Torres scored the tying run on a passed ball by Jhosmmel Zue.
Dewar Tovar doubled to the track in right center, then advanced to third when Sean Gamble’s throw back to the infield skipped away. Paulino Santana’s infield hit brought in Tovar for the go-ahead run. Luis Marquez capped the scoring with a two-run single.
Crawdads' Esteban Mejia (15) watches a drive to right field
during an exhibition game at L.P. Frans Stadium on March
30.
Ernest Masche, Record
Louis Marinaro struck out two during a perfect ninth inning to close out his first save of the season in support of Morales (1-0). Ramnarace was charged with the loss (0-1).
The Crawdads fell a day earlier when the Fireflies scored five runs in the fifth inning to take the game 5-1. Greensboro native Sean Gamble — the first-round pick of the Kansas City Royals last summer — clubbed a two-run homer to give the Fireflies the lead in that one and then Brooks Bryan capped the inning with a two-run double.
The Crawdads won the opener on Thursday. Trailing 4-2, Hickory rallied in the bottom of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead, which they held for the win.
Krzyzewski: Malone will have 'learning curve' at UNC
AUSTIN CURTRIGHT USA Today
Former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, right, chats prior to a
game against Clemson at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 14 in
Durham, N.C.
ROB KINNAN, IMAGN IMAGES
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone watches in the second
quarter of a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball arena
on April 1, 2025, in Denver.
ISAIAH J. DOWNING, IMAGN IMAGES
North Carolina has plucked both its football and men's basketball coaches from the professional ranks in the last two years, hiring New England Patriots legend Bill Belichick prior to the 2025 season and former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone on Monday, sources confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, one of the sport's legendary coaches who has been a part of numerous rivalry games against in-state enemy North Carolina, said it hasn't done the Tar Heels any good yet, though.
"Well, they had an NFL champion hired as the coach and Duke beat North Carolina in football this year," he said on ESPN's "Pat McAfee Show" shortly after the Malone news dropped. "That doesn't mean Coach Belichick isn't a great coach, but there is time for adjustment."
Malone, whose daughter plays volleyball at North Carolina, was fired by the Denver Nuggets prior to the playoffs in 2025, although he won the NBA Finals with the organization in 2023. He has 510 career NBA wins in stints with the Nuggets and Sacramento Kings, and coached 3-time MVP Nikola Jokic with Denver.
While Krzyzewski said Malone is a great coach, he said there's a learning curve when moving from NBA to college, but also noted North Carolina could be shifting its philosophy to more of a professional model with coaching hires.
"It takes longer, if you ever get adjusted from the pros to college," he said. "(Malone) is a terrific coach and a terrific guy. There's a learning curve. ... Whatever the reasoning is, maybe they're changing. (North Carolina) now have two pro coaches coaching in college.
"The infrastructure their athletic department (has), is it now going to become more of a pro organization? Which, I think if that's true, everybody should be doing that. And the fact that he knows how to do that, and so does Coach Belichick, maybe that's a sign that they're moving in that direction."
Malone has his work cut out for him, as North Carolina basketball has struggled in recent years to live up to its standard as one of the best programs in college basketball. The Tar Heels haven't won a first-round NCAA Tournament game since 2023-24.
The former Nuggets coach hasn't been in college sports since 2001, when he was an assistant at Manhattan. He'll look to revive the Duke-North Carolina against coach Jon Scheyer, Krzyzewski's former assistant and player.
And maybe Malone will even earn some brownie points with UNC fans if he claps back at Krzyzewski if North Carolina beats Duke in football this year.
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