About The Jenkins County times. (Millen, Ga.) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2023)
thejenkinscountytimes.com The Jenkins County Times Friday, April 14, 2023- Page 9 WA P By Brad Asbury, Sports Editor for r 111 : Times pastorbradasbury@gmail.com On Sunday, Jon Rahm had a green jacket placed on him. The green jacket is no ordinary jacket, it is given to the winner of the Masters. Rahm, in his 7 th appearance at the Masters, won the tournament after being four strokes down. A come-from-behind win was not the only excitement of the week. Friday, as storms rolled in, trees fell on the course. Thankfully, no one was injured; however, the weather continued to be a pest and delayed the Masters and placed them on a delayed schedule. Less than two weeks ago, the LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Women’s NCAA Basketball Championship. LSU dominated from the opening tip until the final whistle; there was a time or two that it was close, but the Hawkeyes were never in it. The celebration happened, but unfortunately, the game was overshadowed by, believe it or not, the media. The media played on a moment in the game where a player from LSU “taunted” a player from Iowa. In previous games, the Iowa Hawkeye player spent her time taunting other opponents. Truly it was a “what goes around comes around moments.” Unfortunately, this was not done under the bleachers but in our fast-paced instant access to the media world, even if it was under the bleachers, it was seen everywhere in a matter of seconds. Everyone knew, even those who did not like sports, that a player taunted another. Taunting, trash-talking, and jeering has probably been around as long as sports have been. When David went out to confront Under the Bleachers Goliath, Goliath called David a dog. When Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal, he “taunted” because their gods had not responded. The question has been asked concerning this taunting moment, “Is taunting morally acceptable in athletics?” Football players spike the ball and dance in the end zone, basketball players flash three-point signs after a big shot, and in some way, in nearly every sport there is taunting or jeering. Most often it is fun and in celebration, yet at other times, it appears to go too far. The situation in the championship game is left to interpretation. A few thoughts about this subject, or maybe questions. Is it okay to taunt/jeer on the field of play? Can we mock someone playing while playing sports? Is there a separation between the field of play and life? Regardless of your thoughts on the topic, Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Let Scripture guide us in all walks of life, and maybe at times, we take the taunting too far. Maybe you just keep it “under the bleachers” and out of the public eye and it will be better. If you are reading “Under the Bleachers,” send me your opinion about this topic. I will gladly include them next week. Message me at pastorbradasbury@ gmail.com. Until then, when you’re speaking in the bleachers, out on the field, or wherever you are let all your talk be seasoned with salt, but not salty. Daxton Hoke, who is in his first year playing t-ball stands on base in a recent game. Hoke plays for Grace and Glamour Boutique. Photo by his mom, Sheena Hoke. Chandler Cates, a 7th grader at Jenkins County Middle School, was named the first Step-Up Jenkins Athlete of the Week. Step- Up will be announcing a different athlete of the week, and we at the Jenkins County Times will be featuring this here. STEP Up Jenkins Announcing Athlete of the Week A local workgroup for students will start announcing an Athlete of the Week. The first athlete named by STEP UP is Chandler Cates. Chandler is a 7th grader at Jenkins County Middle School and plays baseball. When asked about STEP Up Jenkins, those working with the organization stated the following, “STEP Up Jenkins is a workgroup affiliated with HEARTS for Families, Inc. to address underage drinking and alcohol abuse in our community. STEP Up Jenkins, which stands for Start Teaching Early Prevention, is made of local people in government, business, faith-based, civic, and community agencies working together with parents to create a safe, healthy, drug- free environment for all youth. Our goal is to reduce the early onset of alcohol consumption by youth ages 9-20 in Jenkins County. One of their intervention strategies is the SAFE HOMES campaign, which has parents commit to establishing a safe home by locking up and securing all alcohol and prescription dmgs, supervising youth gatherings on their premises, and regularly conveying a “no-use” policy for children.” The Jenkins County Times will share the STEP Up Jenkins Athlete of the Week. Gauge Oglesby is ready for the pitch on Wednesday night. In the second game of Wednesday evening, Oglesby was 2 for 2 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. But it was on Tuesday afternoon that Gauge made the most noise with a walk-off hit to lead the War Eagles over Montgomery County 4-3. Photo by Anna Kate Hearn. James Allen prepares himself on third base. James was 2 for 3 batting against McIntosh County Academy on Tuesday night of this week in a 7-4 loss. Photo by Anna Kate Hearn. Gavin Underwood calls for a ball earlier in the season. In the past week, in a 4-game stretch, Gavin has hit an impressive 3 homeruns, including two at McIntosh County Academy. Photo by Anna Kate Hearn. War Eagle Baseball those games, the War Eagles had a total of 21 hits. Tuesday, April 11 th began the last week of the season for the War Eagles. The War Eagles scored first, but McIntosh County Academy would add three in the bottom of the first and four in the bottom of the second. Even though McIntosh County Academy would not score again for the remainder of the game, the War Eagles could not match the early offensive output of the Buccaneers. Gavin Underwood would hit a 2-run homerun in the third, and he would homer again in the sixth. The final score would see the War Eagles coming up short 7-4. The War Eagles will finish the season at home on Thursday facing McIntosh County. Thursday will also be senior night for Jackson Lanier, Gavin Underwood, Baker Jenkins, and Lane Waters. Right Jackson Lanier was on the mound for the War Eagles Wednesday afternoon in Montgomery County. In the 16-1 victory, Lanier pitched 4 of the 5 innings, giving up 3 hits, with 3 strikeouts, and allowing only 1 run. Photo by Anna Kate Hearn. While many students were taking the week off for Spring Break last week, the War Eagles baseball team was busy with 3 games against regional foe Montgomery County. Following the three- game series against Montgomery County, the War Eagles traveled to McIntosh County Academy on April 11 th to take on the Buccaneers in the first of three games. The first game against Montgomery County last week was the most exciting game of the week. Montgomery County got on the board first, scoring 1 run in the first inning. Jenkins would match the Eagles in the bottom of the second on a Vance Garvin double that was hit to center field. However, Montgomery would match it with two more runs scored in the third. Montgomery County, heading into the final innings would take a 4 to 2 lead. In the final inning, the War Eagles finally got the bats going. Lane Waters started the inning with a single, followed by a walk issued to Baker Jenkins, and then Reid Weathersby got on base by an error by the pitcher. Jackson Lanier would hit a sacrifice fly to center field drawing the game to one mn with runners on first and second. Gavin Underwood would then walk and load the bases once again. With two outs and down to the last batter. Gauge Oglesby came up to bat. With an 0-2 count and down to the last strike Oglesby hit a grounder into right field. Gray Amerson and Gavin Underwood would come around to score and the War Eagles won in walk- off fashion. Game two and game three of the series against Montgomery County saw the War Eagles score a combined 35 runs over two games, while only giving up 3 runs. The first game in Montgomery County was won in 5 innings 16-1, followed by a 5 inning 19-2 win. 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