Butler High hires new football, boys basketball, baseball coaches

Butler High principal Will Leach announced three new coaching hires Thursday morning.

Interim football coach Brian Hales, a former offensive coordinator, will replace Mike Newsome as head football coach. Newsome left earlier this year to become the new football coach at Kannapolis Brown.

West Mecklenburg's Donald Kirby will replace Kurt Wessler as Butler's new boys basketball coach. Kirby was an assistant under Wessler at Butler. Wessler retired from coaching earlier this year to spend more time with his family.

Finally, Rick Sambrotto will replace Kim Cousar as the school's baseball coach. Cousar left to take a similar job at Charlotte Latin.

Sambrotto has been a teacher and an assistant baseball coach at Butler since 1997.  He was previously an assistant at Garinger and Harding. The history teacher is also an assistant football coach at Butler.

Hales, the new football coach, has been at Butler for seven years as is a health and PE teacher. He's been the head junior varsity coach for seven years and led the Bulldogs jayvee team to a 60-9 record. He has been varsity offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for three years.

Since he's been in charge of the offense, Butler is 44-2 and averages nearly 45 points per game.

Steve Shaughnessy, rumored to be looking at other opportunities, will also return to coach Butler's defense, principal Leach said, returning to his role as defensive coordinator.

Finally, Kirby returns to Butler after working at West Mecklenburg since the 2005-06 season. His West Meck teams won a regular season conference title, two conference tournament titles and made five playoff appearances.   

Prior to taking the head coaching position at West Meck, Kirby was an intern at West Charlotte under Gosnell White and was a teacher and assistant coach at Butler High School.

Kirby, a J.C. Smith grad, will teach PE at Butler.

Olympic punter Cason Beatty commits to Florida State

One day after being offered by Florida State, Olympic High punter Cason Beatty committed to the Seminoles, Olympic coach Barry Shuford told the Observer.


Beatty, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound rising senior, threw for more than 800 yards last season as a quarterback. As a punter, he had four punts over 60 yards and averaged 43.5 yards per attempt.

Olympic punter Cason Beatty offered by Florida State

Olympic High quarterback/punter Cason Beatty has been offered a scholarship by Florida State, Trojans coach Barry Shuford told the Observer.

Beatty, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound rising senior, threw for more than 800 yards last season as a quarterback. As a punter, he had four punts over 60 yards and averaged 43.5 yards per attempt.

Former Shelby asst Lance Ware promoted to head football coach

Former Shelby defensive coordinator Lance Ware has been promoted to head coach of the Golden Lions.
Ware, defensive coordinator at Shelby since 2005, replaces Chris Norman. He's been on the Shelby staff for 14 years, serving as an assistant on three state championship teams and two teams that lost in the final round.

A 1992 Shelby High graduate, Coach Ware was an all-conference tackle for coach Jim Taylor’s Golden Lions and later was a four-year letterman at Appalachian State.
During his career at Shelby High School, Coach Ware has coached baseball, wrestling, and track. He has also served as the Assistant Athletic Director since 2006.

ESPN ranks Mallard Creek OL DJ Humphries No. 7 overall college recruit

Mallard Creek offensive lineman D.J. Humphries is the nation’s No. 7 overall college recruit according to ESPN. Rivals.com ranked Humphries the No. 3 overall recruit last month.

Berry receiver/running back Germone Hopper, who has committed to Clemson, is No. 64 overall, according to ESPN.

Humphries and Raleigh Millbrook running back Keith Marshall are the only two Carolinas players in the top 10 in ESPN’s initial rankings of the nation’s top rising seniors. ESPN ranked the nation’s top 150 players.


Lexington (S.C.) multi-position athlete Shaq Roland was No. 46.

Roland, Marshall and Humphries are not committed to colleges.

No. 59 Brock Stadnik, an offensive lineman from Western Guilford, has committed to South Carolina. No. 61 Patrick Destefano, an offensive lineman from Dorman (S.C.) has committed to Clemson, along with Berry’s Hopper, a wide receiver who is ranked No. 64.

Other area players ranked included: No. 81 Jonathan Bullard, a defensive end from Boiling Springs Crest; and No. 142 Carlos Watkins, a defensive tackle from Lawndale Chase.

Charlotte Latin wins 7th straight Wachovia Cup

Charlotte Latin School has won the Wachovia Cup for the seventh consecutive year in the 3A classification.

Coach Jimmy Broadway, who has served as Latin’s athletic director during this unprecedented winning streak, said, “I attribute the success of the Hawks program to excellent and committed students and coaches, a very supportive Board of Trustees, and the leadership of Headmaster Arch McIntosh.”

The Wachovia Cup, presented and sponsored by Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company, recognizes overall excellence in high school athletics among NCISAA member institutions. First presented in 1983, the Wachovia Cup has been awarded in three classifications, 1A, 2A and 3A, since 1999-2000.

The winning school is determined by a point total earned through competition in state championship events. Latin earned a total of 662.5 points in fall, winter and spring team competitions.

-- Charlotte Latin media release

CMS All-Conference baseball and softball teams

Here are Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools all-conference baseball and softball teams, as selected by the conference coaches. The Observer will announce its All-Observer teams later this month. Those are selected by the newspaper staff.


Southwestern 4A Softball

Ardrey Kell: Alexa Graver; Taylor Freeman; Jordan Hostetler; Taylor Lynch; Jessey Haasl; Butler: Jessica Rappe; Shannon Mas; Shelby Collins; East Meck: Megan Grayson; Independence: Brittany Guidera; Erin Stanley; Katie Pearsall; Meaghan Fowler; Myers Park: Emily Scott; Casie Matthews; Providence: Elena Covert; Erin Quant; South Meck: Jordan Harmon; Haley Huntley; Shelby Hitchcock;

Player of the Year – Stephanie Wood, Ardrey Kell HS

Coach of the Year – Bob Bove, Ardrey Kell HS

ME-GA 7 Softball

Charlotte Catholic: Melanie Runkle; Shea Shefte; Rebbecca Brady; Dani Monroe; Morgan Webb; Tori Burke; East Gaston: Lindsey Greeson; Mindy Roberts; Cierra Branch; Shanie McConnell; Taylor Hawley; Shelby Winchester; Macie Kinley; Harding: Talia Pittman; Olympic: Venus Gonzalez; Emily Lopez; Zoe Poeta; Emily Goad; Grace Beatty; Caitlin Tucker; West Meck: De’Onna Banks; Jillian Sprague

Player of the year: Shanie McConnell, East Gaston

Coach of the year: Dale Starnes, East Gaston

I-Meck 4A Softball

Lake Norman: Kayla Pine; Kayla McGuffey; Stacey Houser; Dominique Wilson; Hannah Littlefield; Arin Hall; Shelby Bailey; North Meck: Sarah Mooney; Morgan Lashley; Chelsea Parton; Hannah Foret; Hopewell: Lindsey Russell; Tayla Berry; Breanna Blakely; Mooresville: Margaret Whitestone; Hope Smith; Kelsey Clark; Hough: Jasmyn Lindsey; Katelyn Shifflert; Mallard Creek: Melissa Race

Player of the year: Sarah Mooney, North Meck

Pitcher of the year: Margaret Whitestone, Mooresville

Coach of the year:Cheryl Burwell, Hopewell

Southwestern 4A Baseball

Providence: Brett Austin; Ty Buttrey; Jackson Campana; Mike Herbert; Jake Fincher; Xander Maddox; East Meck: David Daniels; Logan Sherer; Lou Trosch; Butler: Dalton Eisenbath; Brandon McWhirter; Chase Gehringer; Ardrey Kell: Alex Leach; Chris McCue; Trent Thorton; Independence: Carson Plyler; Nick Salisbury; Myers Park: James Snover; South Meck: Chris Pearlman; Rocky River: Devron Galloway

Co-Players of the Year: A.J. Larson, Butler; Logan Ratledge, Ardrey Kell

Coach of the year: Daniel Hignight, Providence

ME-GA 7 Baseball

West Meck: Nick McGee; Matt Davenport; Langdon Rawls; Dalton Shaw; Bryan Thomas; Charlotte Catholic: Alex Jensen, Daniel Stewart, Eddie Hull, Ryan Werk, Colin Manning; East Gaston: Logan Armstrong; Brandon Bates; Jarkevius Hopkins; Olympic: Tyler Byrnes; Jamie Dey; Barrett Freeman; Waddell: Dillon McClure; Arturo Lopez; Harding: Donovan McClary

Player of the year: Alex Jensen, Charlotte Catholic

Coach of the year: Mike Carpino, West Mecklenburg

I-Meck 4A Baseball

Mooresville: Josh Skidmore; Josh Holcomb; Jimmy McElhany; Ryan Breenan; Lake Norman: Ian Edmiston; Jack Edmiston; Jesse Seaford; Vance: Mark Stevens; Mallard Creek: Blaine Lewis; Mikal Hill; Kirk Morgan; Brandon Wilkerson; Hough: Nick Daddio; Jard Sobo; Hopewell: Hunter Conley; North Mecklenburg: Anthony Dimino; Paul Leonard

Pitcher of the year: Taylor Thurber, Lake Norman

Player of the year: Michael Russell, Hopewell

Coach of the year: Robert Little, Lake Norman

Pinecrest's Dillon Maples named 2011 N.C. Gatorade baseball player of the year

CHICAGO (June 1, 2011) — The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, today announced Dillon Maples of Pinecrest High School as its 2010-11 Gatorade North Carolina Baseball Player of the Year. Maples is the first Gatorade North Carolina Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from Pinecrest High School.


The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Maples as North Carolina’s best high school baseball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award announced in June, Maples joins an elite alumni association of past state baseball award winners, including Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Roy Halladay (1994-95, Arvada West HS, Colo.), David Price (2003-04, Blackman HS, Tenn.), Chipper Jones (1989-90, Bolles School, Fla.), Derek Lee (1992-93, El Camino HS, Calif.) and John Lester (2001-02, Bellarmine Prep, Wash.).

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior right-handed pitcher finished 9-1 on the mound with two saves and a 0.92 ERA this season, leading the Patriots (25-3) to the Class 4A district finals. A returning Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic selection, Maples recorded 143 strikeouts in 68.2 innings. Also a third baseman, he recorded a .431 batting average, 31 RBI, 19 runs scored, 10 stolen bases and seven home runs. A Preseason First Team All-American as named by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game USA, Maples produced a .877 slugging percentage and .632 on-base percentage. As a member of the USA Baseball 18U National Team, he allowed just one earned run in 10 innings over six appearances during the 2010 Baseball World Championships.

Also a football standout, Maples has maintained a 3.66 weighted GPA in the classroom. In addition to donating his time as a youth baseball instructor, he has volunteered on behalf of his church’s youth group.

“Dillon has been a proven leader in our program,” said Pinecrest High head coach Jeff Hewitt. “Whether on the field or off, he has shown leadership qualities that have not only helped himself but his teammates as well. Dillon has balanced his academics and athletics evenly throughout his four years here at Pinecrest. His desire and enthusiasm for not only the game of baseball but his academics will allow him to be successful in whatever the challenge may be in his future.”

Maples has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at the University of North Carolina this fall, but is projected as an early round selection in this month’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.