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PAGE 2B
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2021
Prep Calendar
THURSDAY, AUG. 5
Volleyball
Cherokee Bluff at Winder-Barrow, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY, AUG. 6
Football
Commerce at Apalachee (scrimmage),
7:30 p.m.
Softball
Apalachee at Tattnall County High School: vs.
Southeast Bulloch, 4 p.m.; vs. Appling County,
6 p.m.
SATURDAY, AUG. 7
Softball
Apalachee at Tattnall County: vs. Effingham
County, 10 a.m.; vs. Pierce County, noon.
MONDAY, AUG. 9
Softball
Bethlehem Christian Academy at Hebron
Christian Academy, 5:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, AUG. 10
Softball
Apalachee at Brookwood, 6 p.m.
Winder-Barrow at Jefferson, 6 p.m.
Volleyball
Winder-Barrow home: vs. Prince Avenue
Christian, 5 p.m.; vs. Lakeview Academy, 7 p.m.
Bethlehem Christian at Cedar Shoals: vs. Cedar
Shoals, 6 p.m.; vs. Lake Oconee Academy, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 11
Softball
Archer at Apalachee, 6 p.m.
Jackson County at Winder-Barrow, 6 p.m.
Volleyball
Apalachee at Providence Christian (scrim
mage), 5 p.m.
WBHS continued from
IB
shown a lot of growth during the offseason and this
summer.”
Growth and maturity are big themes for the Bull-
doggs this year and will be key, Najafi said, if they
want to improve on their third-place showing from
last year in GHSA Region 8-AAAAAA and get past
the first round of the playoffs.
“I think the big difference with year's group is we’re
focused a lot more on our mentality and mental tough
ness,” she said. “I think we've got all the tools phys
ically to be a good team. If we can put it all together
with our brains, that could set this group apart. We're
not necessarily a young team, and we’ve got a lot of
leaders in different grades.
“We've just got to pull it all together.”
FOOTBALL
Friday night lights return this week
with Apalachee, Commerce scrimmage
Local high school football fans will have a chance to catch a
live game Friday, Aug. 6, as Apalachee plays host to Commerce
in a preseason scrimmage, two weeks ahead of both teams’ reg
ular season openers.
Apalachee is entering its fourth season under Tony Lotti, who
is 8-22 in his first three years but has made the program more
competitive after it won just four games in the five years prior
to his arrival. The Wildcats were 2-8 last year in a season de
railed in part by critical injuries. Four of their losses came by
two touchdowns or less.
But Lotti was optimistic entering this season as the Wildcats,
who are looking to reach the postseason for the first time since
2009, put together a solid spring and return veteran-laden of
fensive and defensive lines along with a few key players at the
skill positions.
Senior Elijah Harris, an all-region performer last fall in
GHSA 8-AAAAA, anchors the offensive line, while senior
Colby Sikes, the team's top playmaker from a year ago, is also
back. Sikes, a two-way starter who heads up a multi-pronged
backfield in Apalachee’s Wing-T offense, ran for 503 yards at
7.9 yards a carry and four touchdowns in nine games in 2020
and also tied for the team lead in receptions with 26 and caught
three touchdown passes while returning a kickoff for a score
as well.
Sophomore Howard Holloway established himself as the
frontrunner to take over for the graduated Todd Jones at quar
terback with a strong spring game performance in a blowout
win over East Jackson.
The Wildcats, who will open up the 2021 campaign at Wind
er-Barrow on Aug. 20, aren’t likely to face much passing Friday
but will see their run defense put to the test against Commerce,
which hasn’t gone away from its traditional triple-option of
fense despite a surprising coaching change this spring.
Michael Brown, a Commerce alum, who spent 22 seasons on
the Tigers’ coaching staff, including the last eight as head coach,
resigned in March to take an assistant coaching job at Jefferson.
He went 73-25 with five quarterfinal appearances and two trips
to the semifinals in Class A. That run included an 11-2 mark,
region championship and quarterfinal showing last year.
Commerce, one of the oldest and most successful programs
Photo by Kyle Funderburk
Apalachee coach Tony Lotti and his Wildcats will host
Commerce in a preseason scrimmage 7:30 p.m. Friday,
Aug. 6.
in Georgia high school football history, with 24 consecutive
playoff appearances under its belt, hired Mark Hollars in April
to replace Brown. Hollars, a veteran head coach who has spent
most of his career in his native Ohio, coached the last five years
at North Cobb Christian, where he went 30-25 and rebuilt that
program into a successful one. Ten of those losses came in his
winless first season, and the team has reached the playoffs three
straight seasons.
Kickoff Friday at R. Harold Harrison Stadium is set for
7:30 p.m.
The two other Barrow County teams will have preseason
scrimmages next week. Winder-Barrow will host Gainesville at
7:30 p.m. Aug. 12 in preparation for the Aug. 20 “Battle of Bar-
row.” And Bethlehem Christian Academy will host Providence
Christian at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13 before opening its regular season
Aug. 20 at Strong Rock Christian.
BCA
continLied from IB
Pentecost said. “This summer, we’ve
been working a lot on their game
knowledge, just getting them to soak
in how to play the game and all the
mechanics of the game. They’ve been
great students. They’ve wanted to
learn as much as they can, and they’ve
done that well.”
Among BCA’s most experienced
players and team leaders will be se
nior shortstop Hannah Still, junior
center fielder Audrey Fry. senior cor
ner infielder Mycah Baker and senior
pitcher Mary Lindsay Wyatt.
Wyatt is stepping into a more prom
inent pitching role following the grad
uation of Clancy Bourbeau, and Pen
tecost describes her a strike-thrower
with an especially effective change-
up that allows her to get batters out.
Sophomore Grayson Meeks, who
leads a core of younger players, will
also be counted on in the circle and
offensively.
“I’m very excited about the poten
tial of this team and excited to see
what they’re capable of doing,” Pen
tecost said. “Our lineup is a good bal
ance between small ball and the long
ball. As long as we can execute things
on our end and be selfless and get the
job done to manufacture runs, we can
be successful.
“We do have a lot of young girls on
the team so we can’t wait to see how
much they develop over the course
of the season. Some of them have al
ready come in and had an impact right
away.”
After Monday’s season opener, the
Knights will get started with their
Region 4 schedule with their home
opener Aug. 17 against Brentwood.
Other region opponents include de
fending Class AAA state champ West-
field School. John Milledge Academy,
Briarwood Academy, Edmund Burke
Academy and Thomas Jefferson
Academy.
GISA’s five regions this season will
be split into Class AAA, AA and A
state playoffs with BCA among the 10
schools vying for a spot in the eight-
team AAA tournament.
Pentecost loaded up BCA’s scrim
mage schedule with GHSA schools,
and, in addition to Monday’s opener
against Hebron, the Knights will play
two times against another GHSA op
ponent in Loganville Christian.
“Playing these bigger schools is go
ing to get us prepared for the region
that we face,” Pentecost said. “I’m just
happy with how receptive the girls
have been and looking forward to see
ing what we’ll be able to do.”
AHS
continued from IB
Sophomore Alyssa Wili
er, who logged 10 2/3 in
nings in the circle last fall,
is the most experienced arm
at the varsity level, while
sophomore Ryleigh Sapp
and freshman Autumn Ma-
therly will also be counted
on heavily.
In addition to Hodnett’s
powerful bat, the Wild
cats also lost the Region
8-AAAAA leading hitter
in Flanders (.439 average,
.561 on-base percentage,
18 RBIs), who primarily
played first base. But the
team still packs plenty of
offensive punch, speed and
defensive prowess.
Wilier, who made an im
mediate impact as a fresh
man (.358 average, .433
OBP, 4 homers, 18 RBIs, 9
doubles, three triples, 1.047
OPS, 15 steals and a 1.000
fielding percentage in the
outfield), returns atop the
lineup.
Second baseman/outfield
er Morgan Reynolds (.353
average, .463 OBP, 1.032
OPS, 22 RBIs, 12 extra-base
hits, 21 steals last season),
shortstop Tiyara Wingfield
(.341 average, 3 homers, 26
RBIs, .939 OPS) and catch
er Sam Woody (.341 aver
age. .414 OBP, .846 OPS)
lead a group of returning
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juniors and form a solid trio
up the middle, while seniors
Makayla Tatum, Allona
Norrell and Whitney Darsey
are expected to contribute in
the outfield.
And then there’s fresh
man Desiree Trudel, a suc
cessful travel-ball infielder
who is expected to quickly
become a force.
“It’s a really solid core
with those juniors, and then
you have Alyssa, who’s
such a great athlete and mo
tivates everyone around her
to be better,” Bailey said.
“She’s a game-changer, and
she and Desiree have come
up playing together and
are the same type caliber
of player, and those three
seniors really set the tone
with their leadership and are
ready for their turn to lead
the program.
“It’s probably the deep
est team we’ve had top to
bottom in terms of talent,
and it’s a fun one to man
age. The competition we’re
seeing every day between
the girls is making us better
across the board.”
Apalachee will again face
a daunting schedule from
the get-go, with a rigorous
non-region slate followed
by another trip through a re
gion that they finished third
in last year before going on
their playoff run. But Bailey
hopes any lumps they take
early will help prepare them
for the elite-level pitching
they would face if they’re
able to make it back to Co
lumbus.
“We saw some real beasts
down there,” said Bailey,
whose Wildcats were limit
ed to two runs in two one-
run losses in the Final Four
last fall.
“Some of these girls had
never seen that level of
pitching before, but they
have now, and that’s been
their goal this offseason. It
fires them up to be better.”
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Morning Worship: 11:00 a.m.
Sunday Evening Worship: 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday Evening Worship: 7:00 p.m.
706-367-2777
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PUBLIC HEARING
NORTHEAST GEORGIA REGIONAL
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN UPDATE - BARROW COUNTY
Barrow County announces a public hearing for the update of the Northeast Georgia Regional Solid
Waste Management Plan on behalf of the Northeast Georgia Regional Solid Waste Management
Authority (NEGRSWMA). This plan serves all municipalities within Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Elbert,
Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton Counties. The purpose of the
hearing is to inform the public about the contents of the plan update and the process by which it will
be adopted.
The public hearing will take place at 3:00 P.M. on August 24, 2021 in the Barrow County Historic
Courthouse, 30 N. Broad Street, Winder GA 30680. If you are unable to attend and wish to review
the draft document, please visit www.negrc.org or contact Mark Beatty, NEGRC Project Manager,
at mbeatty@negrc.org or (706) 369-5650.