AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – On Friday, a total of seven of our local baseball and softball teams hit the diamond with a chance of getting one step closer to making their dreams of winning a state title a reality.

See the highlights for Harlem, North Augusta and Midland Valley above.

Friday night scores include:

Baseball

• Game 1: Harlem 6, Oconee County 1; Game 2: Harlem 5, Oconee County 3
• Mid-Carolina 5, Strom Thurmond 4
• Postponed: Augusta Christian, Pinewood Prep
• Postponed: Fox Creek, Gray Collegiate

Softball

• North Augusta 8, Indian Land 2
• Midland Valley 4, Airport 3
• Postponed: Strom Thurmond, Gray Collegiate

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A nursing shortage is hitting everywhere across the United States.

By 2035, Georgia is expected to have a 21% shortage of registered nurses.

Right now, only 10% of registered nurses identify as Black, and 9% of the total nursing population identify as male.

Now, one Augusta University graduate is looking to become a role model to get more Black males into the field.

“I’m here to be the light to other guys looking to go into the healthcare system because I noticed not a lot of us going into the nursing but I want to be inspiring to other males that look like me,” said Luke Anderson.

Anderson was the student speaker for the AU’s afternoon commencement ceremony, sharing how he couldn’t have been here today without the support of his two parents.

His mom says she is grateful to see her son graduate.

“My heart is so full of joy,” said Daphanie Harper, Anderson’s mom.

She battled breast cancer twice.

“(The doctor said) Daphanie you can beat it or you can die, and I chose to live. So I’m standing here,” said Harper.

Through her treatment and battle, Anderson says one thing that stuck out to him was how caring the nurses were and how they were able to remain positive while saving his mom’s life. He says seeing that is what started his journey to have a cap and gown.

“Being a blessing to somebody else because you never know what somebody else is going through,” said Anderson. “So, having the capacity to do that for other people that are in need is just truly heartwarming to know because, at the end of the day, nursing is we’re here to serve and be the light to other people.”

Anderson will begin his nursing career working in the emergency ICU at the Piedmont Hospital System.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The CSRA saw a little bit of damage as a thunderstorm moved through the region Thursday.

With the region not out of the woods yet, Aiken County Public Schools canceled outdoor activities for the afternoon and evening, but left regular class dismissal times in place.

A tree was reported down along Kennedy Road just north of McCormick, and a power line was down along Confederate Drive near Lake Thurmond in Modoc.

Two lanes of Highway 421 were flooded near Howlandville Road in Warrenville, according to a storm spotter.

It came during a FIRST ALERT that was issued through early Friday for multiple rounds of storms.

Strong thunderstorm gusts up to 60 mph and large hail are the primary concerns, but an isolated tornado can’t be ruled out.

Severe weather was considered most likely Thursday morning, but there will be multiple rounds including a third Friday morning.

To our west in Georgia, the heavy line of storms swept into Atlanta near the end of the morning rush hour.

The Atlanta airport reported hundreds of delays Thursday morning.

Overnight severe weather caused significant damage on Ellington Road at Old Highway 5 in Ellijay. The area was under a tornado warning late Wednesday, but it’s unclear whether the damage was caused by an actual tornado.

Overnight in South Carolina, a resident captured video of a funnel cloud in Anderson County as severe storms moved through.

Lori Dozier saw the funnel cloud from the living room of her home on Carolina Avenue in Honea Path around 2 a.m. Thursday. The funnel cloud isn’t visible in the dark until lightning illuminates the sky.

The storms continue a streak of torrential rains and tornadoes this week from the Plains to the Midwest and, now, the Southeast.

At least four people have died since Monday.

The weather comes on the heels of a stormy April in which the U.S. had 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-most on record for the month and the most since 2011.

Storms had already left more than a quarter-million customers without power Thursday in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us.

A storm Wednesday in northeastern Tennessee damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and killed a 22-year-old man in a car in Claiborne County, north of Knoxville, officials said. A second person was killed south of Nashville in Columbia, the Maury County seat, where officials said a tornado had likely touched down and homes were blown off their foundations.

In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday night for Gaston County, west of Charlotte, after a storm that toppled power lines and trees, including one that landed on a car. One person in the car was killed, and another was taken to a hospital, officials said.

The storms followed heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornadoes in parts of the central U.S. on Monday, including a twister that ripped through an Oklahoma town and killed one person.

On Tuesday, the Midwest took the brunt of the bad weather. Tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, according to the National Weather Service.

Tornadoes were also confirmed near Pittsburgh, in central Arkansas and in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which sees two tornadoes in an average year.

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