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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2017
Winder-Barrow High School Athletics
Bulldogg greats enshrined
Longtime local businessman Lindsey Greeson was inducted onto Winder-
Barrow High School’s athletics Wall of Fame on Saturday. Greeson was hon
ored for his more than three-decade support of and fundraising efforts on
behalf of the Bulldogg football program. Photos by Scott Thompson
RETURNING HOME
Former Bulldogg baseball standout Max Pentecost was also inducted.
Pentecost, Greeson inducted onto
Winder-Barrow’s Wall of Fame
By Scott Thompson
Sports Editor
With the demanding
schedule of professional
baseball, Max Pentecost
hasn’t had many opportuni
ties to visit Winder-Barrow
High School since he grad
uated from there in 2011.
But Saturday night was
as special an occasion as
any for the former Bull
dogg standout and catcher
in the Toronto Blue Jays
organization, as he and
longtime Winder-Barrow
athletics supporter Lind
sey Greeson were inducted
onto the school’s athletic
Wall of Fame in between
basketball games.
“There’s such a great
group of people on this
wall so it’s a tremendous
honor,” Pentecost said.
“This means a whole lot (to
be enshrined on the wall)
especially since most of
my family graduated from
here.”
After a highly decorated
career with the Bulldoggs,
Pentecost was drafted in the
seventh round of the 2011
Major League Baseball
first-year player draft by
the Texas Rangers before
opting to play college ball
at Kennesaw State for three
seasons.
While there, he helped
lead the Owls to an NCAA
Div. I regional champion
ship in 2014, a season in
which he also was named
the Atlantic Sun Confer
ence Player of the Year
and won the Johnny Bench
Award for best collegiate
catcher in the nation among
several other accolades.
Pentecost was selected
11th overall by the Blue
Jays in the 2014 draft.
Ranked by MLB.com as
the ninth-best catching
prospect in the nation,
he split time last season
between Single-A Lansing
high-A Dunedin, hitting
.302 with 10 home runs
and 41 runs batted in while
battling shoulder ailments.
Pentecost said life in
the pros has been a major
adjustment.
“The level of athleticism
you face is definitely high
er,” he said. “It’s more con
sistent. Every day you’re
going to face someone
who’s just as good if not
better than you. I think the
biggest thing to me, though
is you play a lot of games,
140 to 160 a year.
“It starts to wear on you.
You’ve got to figure out
how to keep your body
strong enough, how to pre
pare it and be able to sustain
that for a whole season.”
While Pentecost is wait
ing to get through minor
league Spring Training and
see how his shoulder pro
gresses before he knows
his next stop, his dream of
one day playing in the big
leagues remains alive and
well.
“A couple of years after
getting drafted is when you
start to realize you con
trol your own destiny,” he
said. “And to me, that’s
the fun part of it. You put
in the work, you put in the
effort, and that will carry
you as far as you can go.
Just being around the game
every day and around all
the people who have helped
me in different aspects of
the game is just a dream
come true.
“It’s been an amazing
adventure.”
Greeson looks back
on athletic progress
Longtime local business
man Lindsey Greeson’s
involvement with the Wind
er-Barrow athletic program
began in 1981 when then
new football coach Don
Elam approached Greeson
and Harold Akins about
raising funds to make
upgrades to a weight room
and facilities that were in
poor condition compared to
schools of similar size.
As the story goes, while
the men were having break
fast one day at David’s Fine
Foods, Greeson pitched the
idea of putting together a
fundraiser golf tournament.
He and Akins organized
one that year and held it
at Jug Tavern Golf Course,
raising $1,700 for the foot
ball program.
While the tournament
was initially intended to be
a one-time thing, its pop
ularity took off and it has
continued ever since, being
known as the Greeson
Open since 1985.
The 36th annual tourna
ment will be held in May,
and the tournament has
9am & 7pm
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raised more than $250,000
over the last 35 years.
Greeson and his longtime
secretary, Betty Segars,
turned over the organiza
tion of the tournament to
the Winder-Barrow Touch
down Club 16 years ago,
but Greeson has remained
actively involved in it.
helping to recruit teams
and secure sponsorships
and donations.
“It just feels great to
be honored here,” Gree
son said after Saturday’s
ceremony. “I never really
dreamed this would get that
big. This program is like
pretty much all programs.
There have been some ups
and downs, but it’s still a
great program.
“I’m still proud to be a
part of it win or lose.”
February 1, 2017
Crossword Answers
Open House
Friday, February 17
Buy Like A Local. 4 Counties, 4 Zip Codes
Buy Local Braselton
The Venue at Friendship Springs
7340 Friendship Springs Blvd • Flowery Branch
Only In Braselton
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