Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 3B
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Knights complete initial varsity season
BIG NUMBERS
In addition to his play at first base, Ramon Rivera com
piled impressive offensive numbers for BCA.
Photo by Jessica Brown
OPINION
State track allows locals to shine
The state track meet in Jefferson is some
thing I look forward to attending each
spring.
Through the years, I have been
fortunate to have athletes from
the schools I cover qualify for the
event. This year was no exception
as three local athletes made the
short trip to Jefferson for the state
meet. Apalachee High School’s Tim
Simonton and Winder-Barrow High
School’s Jamonte Riden and Dennis
Riley represented themselves and
their schools in a positive manner
last week and it was a pleasure
watching them compete.
Simonton set a school record in
the discus and finished with a fourth
place showing in the event. The
result was exciting for all those involved as
Simonton has put in hours of work to excel
in the discus.
“When you talk about Tim, you have to
talk about how much he has worked at it,”
AHS track coach Matt Sorrells said. “That’s
why it has been so great to see him excel.
We talked about the possibility of him set
ting a new school record and to see him
go and do it is something that was a great
way for him to finish his Apalachee track
career.’’
Simonton told me last week he is look
ing at continuing his track efforts at the
next level. His work ethic is at the neces
sary level to move up and Simonton would
no doubt represent Apalachee and all of
Barrow County in a positive manner in
whatever road he takes in the future.
For WBHS, Riden and Riley competed
in the long jump and high jump respec
tively. With a strong support group backing
them up, the two Bulldoggs gave their best
although they did not earn med
als.
The three local athletes repre
sented Barrow County well last
week in Jefferson. Now the atten
tion turns to Albany as several
locals will compete at the girls
state meet beginning Thursday.
Track continues to be a vital
part of the landscape for Barrow
County athletics. The man who
helped make it that way — Cook
Holliday — was in attendance last
week in Jefferson. The Hall of
Famer worked countless hours to
build a track tradition here and it’s
great to see it still going.
• ••
The Winder-Barrow High School Diamond
Doggs face a tall challenge this week when
they battle Pope in the second round of the
state playoffs.
However, knowing the coaches and play
ers the way I do I can assure you there will
be no backing down from this challenge.
WBHS has become a state power itself in
baseball and a victory in this series would
go a long way in helping the Bulldoggs
establish themselves even more in this
area.
While Pope may be the favorite, don’t
count out the Bulldoggs just yet.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow
Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@bar-
rowjournaI.com.
chris
bridges
First & Ten
Diamond Dogg trio honored for playoff work
Entering their first year of
varsity high school baseball, the
Bethlehem Christian Diamond
Knights had many questions
surrounding their team.
The Knights were young,
with players ranging from
seventh through tenth grade,
and were competing against
the traditional ninth-12th grade
opponents. Despite a first-year
program and being as young as
they were, the BCA Knights
still managed to compile a
record of 15-6.
The Knights competed
against many quality future
GISA opponents this season
winning all of these match
ups, coach Mark Barth said.
Bethlehem Christian will be
competing in GISA Region
1-A next year.
“This will give us the
opportunity to compete for
region championships and
state championships,’’ Barth
said.
Despite their youth on the
field, the Diamond Knights also
compiled impressive offensive
and pitching statistics.
BCA was led offensively by
catcher Matt Masters with a
.548 average with six home
runs, 33 RBI, a .608 on-base
percentage and a slugging per
centage of 1.095.
Niko Mailloux finished the
spring with a batting average
of .377 with five home runs,
25 RBI and a .721 slugging
percentage on the year.
BCA was also led at the
plate by Ramon Rivera (.358,
20 RBI), Chandler Garmon
(.312, 15 RBI) and Brody
German (.305, four doubles
and 10 RBI).
Leading the Knights on the
mound were three sophomores
and an 8th grader.
The squad posted a team
ERA of 2.87, striking out 138
batters and compiling a WHIP
(walks plus hits, divided by
innings pitched) of 1.79.
BCA was paced on the hill
by sophomores Mailloux and
Chance Spratlin.
Mallioux (4-3) posted a
3.36 ERA with 77 strikeouts
and a 1.89 WHIP, consistently
throwing in the low to mid 80s
with his fastball and breaking
curve.
Spratlin (7-3) had an ERA of
2.16 with 40 strikeouts and a
1.62 WHIP. Spratlin pin-point
ed his fastball all year, Barth
said, taking a page out of his
older brother’s book and con
tinuing the Spratlin pitching
arm name.
Garmon, a sophomore, (1-0)
pitched strong innings for the
Knights posting a 4.50 ERA
and seven strikeouts. Rivera,
an eighth grader, was 2-0 and
threw important innings for the
team as well.
The BCA team will face
many GHSA opponents this
summer such as Cedar Shoals,
Athens Academy, and Monroe
Area.
“The baseball reputation is
starting to spread for BCA and
it’s only a matter of time before
this hidden baseball gem in
Barrow County isn’t so hidden
anymore,’’ Barth said.
Taylor Keinat, Austin Meyer
and Travis Demeritte were
recognized for their efforts in
the first-round state playoffs
series against Chamblee.
The Winder-Barrow High
School trio helped lead their
team to 16-6 and 16-0 wins to
advance in the postseason.
Keinat pitched five innings
to earn the first win Friday
while Meyer had two hits and
three RBI with Demeritte add
ing two hits and two RBI.
In Saturday’s series clinch
ing victory, Demeritte earned
the victory and contributed
two hits and two RBI. Meyer
had two doubles and drove in
four runs while Keinat had
three hits with three runs bat
ted in.
WBHS is at Pope for the
second round.
State Preview continued from IB
“It is still impressive that
Brittany has only been high
jumping since two days before
the region meet,” Blevins said.
“She competed in the long
jump last year. We know what
height she needs to set a goal
at and believe she can do it. If
she does, then she can come
home with a medal.”
Cope is the veteran for the
WBHS Lady Bulldoggs when
it comes to the state track
meet. Cope will be competing
for the third time in the 1,600
and 3,200-meter runs.
“Amanda has earned a spot
on the podium in each event
each year and has moved up
a place,” Blevins said. “The
competition is fast this year
and earning another trip to the
podium is the plan.”
Dean is making her first trip
to Albany. She finished as run
ner-up to Cope in the 3,200-
meter run at region as WBHS
will represent 8-AAAA in
Albany.
“A personal record would be
wonderful for Anna,” Blevins
said. “The meet is intimidat
ing and can bring out the best
and/or worst of an athlete. All
we can hope for each of the
girls is to get out there and do
her best.”
Brown has been dedicating
herself to improve her tech
nique and clear additional
height in the pole vault.
“That is what she needs
to do,” her coach said. “ It
is obvious that the more she
improves during these final
days, the better she will
place.”
While making her first
trip to state in the discus, a
medal is certainly possible for
Itabiyi, Blevins said.
“Coach (Jason) Austin has
been working with her to
increase her accuracy, refine
her form and build her con
fidence toward good throws,”
Blevins said. “Three good
throws into the sector will
give her three more throws in
the finals. The good news is
that a spot in finals will allow
her to use the one best of her
six throws to determine her
place in finals due to the fact
that the prelims throws carry
over into finals. A trip to the
podium is not out of the ques
tion for Delorean.”
Treadwell’s trip to state
was almost as exciting for her
coaches as it was for her as a
long-time goal was reached.
“She has longed for a spot
in the State track to run the
100-meter dash,” Blevins said.
“This is her year to do it. She
will have to pull out all her
speed and strength and finish
in the top four of her heat to
advance to finals. She defi
nitely needs to keep herself in
front and keep pulling away
in the last 10 meters to do so.
If she makes it to finals, she
is guaranteed a spot on the
podium and one more night in
Albany.”
The local athletes were
making final preparations ear
lier this week for their compe
titions in Albany at the state
meet.
WBHS TVack continued from 2B
Blevins said as she was turning into the state meet, Riden told
her his heart just dropped to his feet.
“You could tell the moment was weighing on him,” the coach
said.
Riley had a legitimate chance of winning the high jump but
was not able to clear the 6-2 mark in Jefferson.
“Dennis did not have his best day, but we are still proud of
him,” Blevins said. “To be a first-year high jumper and jump the
#1 jump in the State (AAAA and #2 overall) during the second
meet and to have that jump ranked #6 in the nation (according
to milesplit.com) is an impressive feat. Not many jumpers can
claim what he has accomplished.”
A jump of 6-4 won the AAAA title and Riley has cleared that
mark several times.
Riley is a senior for WBHS and closed out his career last
week.
The Bulldogg duo had a large support group in Jefferson.
Blevins, along with WBHS coaches Kenneth Sanders, Jason
Austin and Michael Lofton were at the meet along with athletic
director Justin Grant and principal A1 Darby.
WHY
DAD
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De fdlin e /'
June 8
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Because.... ”
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honor your dad or grandad by
putting a picture of them in The
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love them.
Love My Grandad
Because...
...he tickles me, brings
toys, feeds me and changes
my diaper at 3 AM!
Love You, Jacob
Gerald McElroy and son, Jacob
ove,
James P. Doe and
Granddaughter, Lucy
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