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SPORTS THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17 - 23, 2019 • Page 14 Trash talk highlight of baseball media day BY CARLA PARKER carla@dekalbchamp.com The battle for Region 5-AAAAA baseball title expects to be competitive this season. Comments from a couple of coaches from the region stirred up light-hearted trash talk during the annual DeKalb County School District baseball media day Jan. 10 at Tucker High School. A Chamblee coach boldly announced that the team is coming for the region title, which Arabia Mountain won last season. Arabia Mountain won the title with a 14-1 region record. Chamblee (11-3) finished second, Lithonia (9-5) finished third and Southwest DeKalb finished a game behind with an 8-6 record. Chamblee coach Brian Ely was out of town but sent the message through his assistant coach Alan Loper that the Bulldogs were coming for the region crown. “[Ely] wants to win the region,” Loper said. “So, heads up Arabia Mountain, Miller Grove and the rest. It’s going to be tough.” Loper’s comments were met with mumbles and giggles. Comments from Lithonia coach Samuel Marion also roused the crowd. “Just watch us again this year,” Marion said. “We got something in store for you guys.” Marion said he feels more confident about his team’s chances this year because of the high number of players returning from last year’s team. “Confidence is not cockiness. It’s more believing in [our] system,” he said. “I have good freshmen coming in and I have two transfers. I had Bryson Suber come from Arabia Mountain and Osiris Corker coming from Woodland, and I expect them to do something really big for [the team].” Arabia Mountain coach Eric Hoxie said the trash talk is all in fun. “Everybody wants to talk this talk this year, but it’s all good,” Hoxie said. “It’s all in fun and it’s making it exciting and even better for the sport.” Miller Grove’s new head coach Yancey Satterwhite said he likes the competitiveness of the other teams. “We will be competitive and I’m just trying to build on that,” he said. “I’m trying to get us over the hump to actually win the region. It’s going to be interesting.” Miller Grove finished fifth in region 5-AAAAA at 7-7 and missed out on the playoffs. Satterwhite, who is also an assistant football coach, is coaching baseball for the first time and said he is excited about this new journey. “It’s awesome. I asked for the job,” he said. “I know some of these kids from football, so I’m excited about the season. I’m excited about these kids and I’m ready.” Columbia, another region 5-AAAAA team, is also entering the 2019 season with a new head coach. Greg Barnett, an alum of Columbia, was promoted from junior varsity coach to varsity coach. He said it’s exciting to lead the program this season. “I’m an alum, so it definitely means something to me,” he said. “We have a lot of expectations from our guys.” Columbia also missed the playoffs last season and finished the season under .500 (10-14). Barnett said he expects his players to compete with the top teams in the region. “Nobody is really expecting anything much from Columbia hopes to get back to the playoffs this season under new coach Greg Barnett, center. Lithonia expects to compete in its tough region. Stephenson is heading into the season with a new coach, Tim Jones, center. Arabia Mountain hopes to repeat as region champions. SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 15
