Julie, Raney and Jason Phelps.
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
MOUNT ULLA – On the road map, it’s called Davie Crossroads, that rural junction not far from Cooleemee where U.S. Route 601 intersects with North Carolina Highway 801.
But to the local folks, it’s known as “Greasy Corner,” dating back to a simpler time when there was a service station or repair garage on all four corners of the intersection.
Catawba softball recruit Raney Phelps grew up on 801, not far from Greasy Corner. The daughter of Davie County High grads, she now is one of the stars of Rowan County softball. A rising senior at West Rowan, she already has committed to Catawba College.
Raney’s mother, Julie, was a Coleman, and the athletic genes in that family can be traced back to Cooleemee’s Baxter “Buck” Jordan. He was Davie County’s greatest contribution to Major League Baseball (1927-1938) for a long time before Advance’s Whit Merrifield (2016-2024) came along.
Bubba Coleman, Davie County High’s most exciting athlete of the early 1990s, an undersized but devastating shortstop/point guard/quarterback who is in the Davie Hall of Fame, is Raney’s uncle.
Jason Phelps, Raney’s father, played on Davie High athletic teams as a teammate of Bubba Coleman. Bubba almost always was the leading scorer in hoops, but sometimes Jason pushed him. Jason was a good player.
“Raney’s first love was actually basketball,” Jason said. “When she was 5 or 6, she had started playing and she was really good at it. She could shoot. She could kill you playing H.O.R.S.E in the drive way. She was exceptional in the youth leagues growing up and we thought basketball was going to be her game.”
But when she was 10, Raney was introduced to softball and her sports priorities changed. Jason coached a softball travel team of Davie girls and Raney became one of his prize pupils. The Davie Bandits played a lot of competitive games, a lot of tournaments. Raney showed promise not only as a hitter and outfielder, but as a pitcher.
In middle school at South Davie, Raney stood out in volleyball, basketball and softball. She still had some scoring sprees in basketball, but softball had emerged by then as not only the sport she was best at, but the sport she enjoyed playing the most.
“She had kind of a transformation the summer between her seventh grade and eighth grade years, came a long way, really started dedicating herself to being good,” Jason said. “She’d practice for hours. Her last year at South Davie she struck out 128 batters and batted .794.”
Jason remembers South Davie went undefeated until the last game.
Raney got serious enough about sports to start training sessions with KP Parks, the former West Rowan running back who has become a go-to training guru for local athletes.
“They used to call Raney ‘Little Arms’ because she was so lanky and skinny,” Jason said. “KP helped her get a lot stronger.”
Raney played her freshman season at Davie High and did very well in varsity softball. She introduced herself to everyone with a 5-for-6 scrimmage against Forbush and hit a home run. She usually batted third that season on a good team and shared pitching responsibilities with two other girls. She made the NC Coaches Association All-District team after the season.
Jason was proud of what his daughter had accomplished to that point, but he also believed she could reach a higher level.
Jimmy Greene, who coaches the West Rowan softball team, on the other side of 801 from Greasy Corner, has deep Davie County roots, and he and his sister, Elizabeth Greene Clark, go way back with both of Raney’s parents. Raney has always liked the Greenes. The Greenes have always liked Raney.
Jason believed that Jimmy Greene was the coach who could maximize Raney’s potential.
Ordinarily a girl living in Davie couldn’t go to school at West Rowan, but while there are rules, there also are exceptions to rules.
While a lot of schools have FFA programs, West Rowan has a unique Agriculture & Farm to Table Academy with extensive greenhouse operations that offers students advanced pathways toward careers in areas like Animal Science, Horticulture and Agricultural Mechanics.
Applying and being accepted into that unique academy at West Rowan is considered a viable exception to the standard transfer policy, just as the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Academy at Salisbury High is.
There was a process that had to be gone through that included a release from the Davie school district and acceptance by the Rowan school district. There were a lot of forms to fill out and documents to produce, but Raney was able to transfer to West Rowan prior to her sophomore year. A Rowan school bus couldn’t go to her house to pick her up, but as long as she had the transportation, she was more than welcome in Mount Ulla.
The rest is mostly history. Raney has thrived, to say the least. As Jason hoped, Coach Greene has helped bring out the best in her on the field, in the classroom and socially.
“She loves going to school at West,” Jason said. “She’s fit in very well there. She already knew Jimmy and his daughters and she already knew a lot of the girls on the team from travel ball.”
Phelps arrived at West the year after Emma Clarke graduated. No one expected her to replace Clarke’s production, as Clarke was a generational talent, but Raney was viewed as someone who could replace part of what Clarke had done.
She accomplished that.
She batted .425 with four homers, 40 runs scored and 18 RBIs as a sophomore in the 2025 season. She pitched in five games, but she was primarily an outfielder. There was no pressure on her to pitch as West had Lenoir-Rhyne recruit Arabelle Shulenburger to handle the circle. Raney made her second NC Coaches Association All-District team.
As a junior, Raney kept getting better. She batted .505 with five homers, 46 runs scored and 23 RBIs. She also was an important part of West’s pitching crew. She threw a perfect game and she pitched a shutout in the playoffs. She made the NC Coaches Association All-District and All-State teams for 5A.
While she’s a very solid high school pitcher, Raney’s father believes that her future is in the outfield. Probably center field, as she can really run.
“She’s got a super changeup and a really deceptive drop-curve, but she’s also got a mechanical flaw (with her toe drag) as a pitcher, and that has maxed out her velocity at 58 miles an hour,” he said.
The Falcons often used Phelps in the circle the first two times through a lineup. Once teams adjusted to the changeup and the drop, Ansley Jenkins would come in to finish.
Phelps played for Greene on the Region 4 team that won the State Games. She and teammate Reese Poole were able to not only play in the State Games final, but in a Rowan Lady Legion doubleheader later that same night. That’s dedication to the sport.
Raney usually leads off and plays center field for the Rowan Lady Legion team, which has Remi Hagerty and Camryn Perkins available to do most of the pitching.
Phelps attended some DI camps such as Western Carolina’s, and she is probably at least a borderline D1 player with her arm and speed, but D2 Catawba is not only close to home, it offers a comfort zone. The Rowan Lady Legion team plays on Catawba’s Whitley Field, and there are close ties developing between the two programs.
“Raney wasn’t all that keen on Catawba until Allie Lyerly became the head coach there,” Jason said. “But she’s been to camps at Catawba and she has worked camps for the young kids there, and she really likes Coach Lyerly and the assistants. She likes Lily Klutz (a Lady Legion teammate and Catawba recruit) and she likes Lily’s dad, Jason, the head coach for Lady Legion. I know a lot of people really talked Raney up to the Catawba coaches. They were happy to get an early commit from her.”
West Rowan potentially could have a banner 2027 softball season with its biggest stars – Poole, Phelps, Jenkins and Ava Baxter – returning.
Until next softball season, Raney will spend some of her time playing volleyball. That sport is a pleasant break from year-round softball for Raney as well as for Poole, a UNC Greensboro commit. Raney is a bit undersized at 5-foot-7, but she’s an effective outside hitter.
In the classroom, Raney always has been a superstar. She ranks fifth in the Class of 2027 with a 4.5 GPA and served as a junior marshal at graduation ceremonies.
“We’re proud she can play ball, but we’re prouder that she’s a good student and a good person,” Jason said. “More than anything, she likes to help people.”
