Newspaper Page Text
MCHS vs. Telfair Co. BASEBALL
Fri. 4:00 p.m. (A, DH)
RTCA vs. Thomas Jefferson
Thur. 4:00 p.m. (A)
TCHS vs. Portal, Washington Co., Benedictine
Wed. 5:30 p.m. (A); Thur. 5:30 p.m. (A); Sat. 1:30 p.m. (A)
VHS vs. Appling Co., Tattnall Co.
Thur. 6:00 p.m. (A); Fri. 6:00 p.m. (A)
Wheeler Co. vs. Wilcox Co.
Fri. 4:00 p.m. (A, DH)
Treutlen vs. ECI
Wed. 5:30 p.m., (A)
Heritage vs. CCA
Thur. 4:30 p.m., (H)
March 17,2021
®ljt Aimanre
Section B
Godbee Signs With West Point
Photo by Mike Branch
(L to R, Front): Fred Godbee (father), Tom Godbee, Mandy Godbee (mother), Jack
Godbee (brother); (Back): Coach Gray Meredith, Coach Gabe Hightower, Coach
Chris Hamilton, Coach Steve Fullam, and Head Coach Bobby Blount.
the
SCOUTING
REPORT
Laramie and
more Laramie
Remember when we were young
boys, most of us found some sort of rea
son to wear cow
boy boots.
I’d also walk
around with my
trusty 6-shooter
cap pistol, pre
tending to drive
cattle and guard
against our make-
believe cattle rus-
By John Conner tiers. I wanted to
live my life just
like ‘Slim’ and ‘Jess’, my favorite TV char
acters on my favorite TV show, Laramie.
I’m pretty sure that if you are in your
60’s now, you’ll remember the exploits of
Slim and Jess, the alias of actors John
Smith and Robert Fuller. Smith (Slim)
passed away many years ago. Fuller is still
living and making occasional appear
ances at conventions.
And thank goodness for them now
courtesy of something called GRIT TV.
As many of you know, my wife’s very be
ing has been threatened by cancer for
years. This has been one of those times,
and the memories of watching Laramie
have brought pleasant memories back to
this once-young fan of that show.
Yellow Jackets Win ACC
Josh Pastner, an emotional fellow
who strolls Georgia Tech’s sidelines
sporting his Covid face-shield, has finally
proven himself to be a keeper for the Yel
low Jacket basketball program.
Despite a slow start due to Covid-19
concerns, early losses to Mercer and to
Georgia State, this Pastner-led Tech team
recovered and on Saturday night, out
played a physically better FSU team to
claim Tech’s first ACC title in 28 years
and their first appearance in the NCAA
Tournament since 2010.
This Tech team is not like the tal
ented Bobby Cremins teams of yester
year led by Mark Price, John Salley, Bruce
Dalrymple, and Yvon Joseph or the Le
thal Weapon 3 bunch led by Kenny An
derson, Dennis Scott, and Brian Oliver.
Both of these teams had great chem
istry. The Lethal Weapon 3 bunch head
lined Georgia Tech’s run into the Final
Four.
Tech ran through North Carolina,
Duke, and Virginia to claim the 1990
ACC Championship, and then shot their
way into the Final Four by winning four
consecutive games in the Southeastern
Regional.
That Tech team lost in a semifinal
that was realistically the national champi
onship game. The nip-and-tuck affair
ended with UNLV pulling away from
Tech in the final couple of minutes for a
90-81 win.
Jerry Tarkanian’s Rebs destroyed
Duke 103-73 in the final.
That basketball history is being
added to by Pastner’s team this season.
Let’s call this bunch Lethal Weapong 5
plus. While not the most talented team in
the country, they are definitely the most
enjoyable for me to watch.
These players are led by the ultimate
gym rat, point guard Jose Alvarado.
Alvarado learned his game on the
hard-scrabble concrete courts of New
York City. He led Christ the King High
School to two New York City champion
ships in a row, and was considered the
ninth best player in all of New York State.
Alvarado was the ACC’s Defensive
Player of the Year, and he’s joined by 6’9”
Moses Wright, who has parlayed one-
year of starting basketball experience in
high school into an outstanding career at
Please see Scouting page 4B
Last week at Vidalia High School
senior standout student-athlete Tom
Godbee signed to wrestle with Army
and became the first athlete to receive an
athletic scholarship to West Point. God
bee was a two-time State Champion in
wrestling, a two-year starter on the Indi
ans football team and a Captain for the
team this past season. He has the most
wins in wrestling in school history with
220. Godbee is also the second student
at VHS to receive a Congressional Ap
pointment to West Point.
Godbee said, “I have been working
for this for so long. I finally signed and
got my certificate of admission. I know it
is going to be a hard four years, but I am
really excited to compete at the college
level, that has been a goal of mine for a
very long time. I hope I can be an asset
to the wrestling room at West Point and
be able to grow as a wrestler. I want to
thank my parents, coaches, friends,
teammates and everybody that has sup
ported me. I want to serve my country
and become a better leader at the acad
emy so I can lead men who will fight for
our country.”
VHS Head Wrestling Coach Bobby
Blount stated, “It’s a great opportunity to
coach a kid like Tom, he is a once in a
lifetime kid that comes along to be able
to coach. This is something he has al
ways wanted to do and he went out and
got it. I am very proud of him.”
Fred Godbee, his father, added, “He
has always been a hard working kid since
he came out of the womb. Sometimes I
tell people he is a 30 year old in 17 year
old's body. He has worked hard and we
are proud of him. I am glad he is going to
get the chance to wrestle in college and
continue to fulfill his goals, and maybe
going to the Olympics one day. The
other benefit behind it is he is going to
get to serve our country which I feel is
really important.”
Mandy Godbee, his mother, said, “It
is really awesome to see his dreams come
true. For so long he has waited to receive
the call. He had other calls from other
coaches and schools, but he really had
his sights set on either the Naval Acad
emy or West Point. It started at a very
young age for him, and when he set his
sights on something he is going to get it.
This is all Tom, he made it happen and
we are super proud.”
• ,-r ; ■ "■ > <*• \ xsl
^ A -
Sbl. v -KL : . >'•»&
Lots of work is being done on the new field and facilities for Vidalia Heritage Academy.
Photo by Mike Branch
Heritage Expanding Facilities
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmail. com
There is a lot of work that
is being done at the Vidalia
Heritage Academy sports
complex, and the students
and the community will all
benefit from this project.
VHAhas already finished
an indoor baseball and soft-
ball practice facility, and is
working on the new baseball
and softball fields, along with
new concessions and a new
weight room. Heritage pur
chased the old city pool facili
ties and Charles Wood Foot
ball Field from the City of
Vidalia several years ago and
has continued to do work and
create its own complex.
The Eagles football team
has used the football field for
the last few years, and de
cided in honor of Charles
Wood to keep using the
name. Wood was a Vidalia
High School Indian whom
the field was named after.
VHA has since begun
other projects, and they are
well underway. Currently, if
you drive by, you can see all
of the work that is being done
on the new baseball and soft-
ball field. What you can't see
is the work that is being done
in the old buildings that they
kept on the property.
One has already been
transformed into an indoor
practice facility for the base
ball and softball teams with
batting cages that can be
pulled back to allow for pitch
ing, throwing and fielding
drills. In the building next to
that one they are putting in a
new weight room, along with
remodeling the back of the
building to turn it into the
concession for the baseball
and softball field.
The field is a big project,
and VHA hopes that when it
is finished they will have a
great addition for their stu
dent athletes There will be a
unique high wall in right field,
and then all the way down the
left field line will be a brick
wall that will also act as a re
taining wall on that side of
the field.
VHA Head Baseball
Coach Seth Sitzman said,
“The indoor facility has been
huge for us, especially with all
of the wet weather that we
have had this year. It has been
a blessing to have all of the
people come out and help
with this. We still have some
paint to go on the outside of
the building, but it has come
a long way.
“We have finished the
rough grading of the new
field and are really starting to
get it going. We have a lot of
work to do, but it is going to
be fun to watch it develop. It
will also be great to see the
kids' reactions as this project
progresses and they get to see
what we are working on for
them.
“A lot of the kids are al
ready talking about what is
going on. To see the smiles
on their faces, to hear them
talk, and to see the pride that
they have in their school is
completely worth it. It is also
helping us build these pro
grams, by giving them their
own fields.
“There have been so
many people involved in this
project from the Sikes Broth
ers Contruction that have
done all of the grading on the
field, to the parents that have
not only donated but have
come out and done a lot of
the work with us. We just
have a great family here at
Heritage.”
Sitzman added that no
matter what problems they
run in to, the people involved
with the school, from Head
master JeffMcCormick to the
rest of the administration,
faculty, parents and events,
the kids always come out to
do anything they can to fix
the issue. Sitzman said there
are hundreds of people that
could be named that have
helped with all of the proj
ects.
The goal for the baseball
and softball field project is to
have it finished to be able to
play softball this fall. They
have a lot of work to do, but
they are confident that with
all of the help that they have
they will be able to get it
done.