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jenkinscountytimes.com
The Jenkins County Times
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 - Page 9
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BRAD ASBURY
WAR EAGLE
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pastorbradasbury@gmail.com
Sports, sports, and more sports are the theme! On Saturday,
sports fans can start watching games in the mid-morning
on a Saturday and not turn them off until late in the night!
You can watch records broken, bone-crushing tackles, huge
home runs, and so much more all in one day. It is almost
overstimulating to watch games for a whole day!
The Atlanta Braves have proven to be record-breakers
this season, both as individuals and as a team. With their
impressive performances throughout the 162-game season,
fans are left in awe as they exclaim, "Wow!" As
the old saying goes, records are made to be broken, and the
Braves have certainly lived up to that statement. Matt Olson
broke the Braves’ record for both RBIs in a season (137)
and home runs in a season (54). Ronald Acuna Jr. became
the first player in MLB history with 40 home mns and 70
stolen bases in a season. Acuna would finish with 73 stolen
bases, which gave him the title of most stolen bases in a
season at the Atlanta Braves.
Speaking of the Atlanta Braves, they will enter postseason
play next week. They finished with the best record in Major
League Baseball. Therefore, they will have home-field
advantage throughout playoffs. Atlanta’s first game will
take place on Saturday, October 7th . The times have not
been determined, and at the time of writing the opponent is
unknown. The Wildcard Round of the MLB playoffs starts
on Tuesday.
College football is in full swing. The Georgia Bulldogs
have still not lost a game. After their win against Auburn on
Saturday, the Bulldogs have won 22 games straight. This
winning streak stretches back to the 2021 season. Their last
loss was against the Alabama Crimson Tide on December
4 th in the SEC Championship game. The next game for
the Bulldogs will be against the Kentucky Wildcats, it will
take place on Saturday, October 7th .Speaking of college
football, local team Georgia Southern is off to a great start.
Their record to start the season is 4-1. The only loss was
to powerhouse Wisconsin Badgers, and they only defeated
Georgia Southern by a score of 35-14. Keep a close eye
on Georgia Southern as the season has started off great for
them.
Sports in the month of October is exciting. Football is
reaching its pinnacle point, baseball is entering playoffs,
and basketball is just weeks away from starting. There are
times when watching sports, attending sporting events, and
even playing sports become overwhelming. We sit up late at
night to watch our favorite teams play, we talk about sports
when we are talking with friends at work, and we discuss
our frustrations with coaches/players/referees while we
hang out “under the bleachers” (sometimes in the open)!
Do not forget, in all sports, what is truly most important. A
twenty-year-old missing a catch does not end our world! A
mistaken call by an umpire does not cause the sun to stop
shining. A loss does not take God off His throne.
Therefore, keep the main thing the main thing. Enjoy
the days God has given us, teach your children more about
Jesus than the Bulldogs, and make sure you spend more
time with the Master than you do with the Bulldogs!
MEET THE COACH
Renee Hearn
The Jenkins County Lady War Eagles are off to the best
start in program history! They have begun their season
with a strong 13-5 overall record, and a 5-1 region record!
Leading the way for the Lady War Eagles is head coach
Renee Heam, who is not a new face to this team. For the
past eight years Heam has been in the dugout for this team,
and this is the most successful season to date.
Hearn began coaching for Jenkins County in 1995,
coaching slow pitch softball at that time. She coached until
2002 when she took a few years off. However, after the
short break she jumped back into coaching. She spent time
with tennis, track, JV basketball, middle school track, and
middle school softball. Then eight years ago, she stepped
back into varsity softball. While she has coached other
sports, Heam stated that she has always loved playing the
game of softball, dating back to her years in school. She
played slow pitch and then has learned the game of fast
pitch softball.
As a coach, every day presents an opportunity for
teachable moments. The drive to instill a sense of
competition, structure, and discipline in her team is what
Heam lives by on the field. But it's not just about training
the body, Hearn lives by the motto "Believe and
hopes to instill that same sense of self-confidence in her
players. By teaching her girls to believe in themselves, their
team, and their coach, she hopes to not only create skilled
athletes but also confident young women.
When asked about her most memorable moments at
Jenkins County as the softball coach, she recalled two
highlights. One was during her first season when she
led her team to the state playoffs in Trion. Secondly was
a come from behind win over Portal in 2008. They were
down 8-0 at one point of the game, and in the bottom of 5
th they were still down 13-5. However, a late surge down
the stretch allowed the Hearn’s War Eagles to tie the game
in the bottom of the 7th .
Portal scored one ran in the top of the 8th , but in the
bottom of the 8 th the Lady War Eagles
walked it off. This year, the Lady War Eagles are off
to their best season in school history. Presently they are
ranked 11 th in Max Preps rankings and they are second in
the region, just behind rival ECI. With the motto, “believe”
instilled into the heads of the players, this season is and will
continue to be a special year!
Coach Renee Hearn is a 1990 graduate of Jenkins County.
Presently, she is the Literary Coach for grades K-5 at
Jenkins County Elementary. Her husband, John Paul is the
superintendent of Jenkins County Schools. They have two
daughters who have both graduated from JCHS. Come out
and support Coach Hearn and the Lady War Eagles as they
begin to wrap up their season with only two more weeks of
play left before playoffs begin!
Toilet paper litters the
streets of Millen, kids
are running up and down
the streets at 10:00 PM,
and students are dressed
strangely entering the
schools of Jenkins
County. This can only
mean one thing; it is
Homecoming Week 2023.
Homecoming Week is
topped off by the annual
football game. It is during
the football game that the
Homecoming Queen is
crowned.
The highly anticipated
homecoming game is
set to take place, with
the War Eagles (6-0)
hosting McIntosh County
Academy (3-3) in their
first region matchup.
Last year's game
resulted in a nail-biting
loss for the War Eagles
after four overtimes, and
fans can expect another
intense showdown this
time around.
At present, it is
unknown how many
people can fit into Roy
Head Stadium; however,
it needs to be filled to
capacity on Friday night!
Wear your blue! Show
up early! Be loud! The
game will begin at 7:30.
Try your best to show up
early, the lines will get
long on Homecoming
Friday night and you will
not want to miss a second
of action on the field.
The War Eagles are gearing up for an exciting end to their season with four games left to play,
starting with their regional matchup against McIntosh County Academy on Friday night. The
game begins at 7:30 PM and the Homecoming Queen will be crowned at halftime! Photo by
Danielle M Davis.
The War Eagles had an off week from competition this past week. After 6 games played, the
War Eagles have soared to a 6-0 record. Now that the first half of the season is in the rearview
mirror, the War Eagles prepare for four regional games that will determine state playoffs.
Photo by Danielle M. Davis.
Lady War Eagle Softball
Senior Shanya Lake will be honored on Wednesday night during Senior
night. She has played all four years for the Lady War Eagles. Photo
Crisalyn Frawley.
Head Coach Renee Heam, in her 8 th year as head coach of the
Lady War Eagles fastpitch softball team gather her team around
her after a recent win! Photo by Brad Asbury
The Lady War Eagles entered last week on a
five-game winning streak and a top 10 ranking
in the GHSA Class A D-2 Max preps poll. In
addition, they were 4-0 in regional play and tied
for first place in Region 3 with rival ECI. At the
start of the week they had won the most games in
program history (12) and had only lost 4 games.
The week held two big regional games, die first
against Montgomery County and the second
against ECI.
In the first meeting against Montgomery County,
the Lady War Eagles won by a narrow margin
with the final score of 6-4. This time around, the
Lady War Eagles finished the game in 5 innings
rather than the traditional 7. The Lady War Eagles
got off to a hot start with a triple by Shanya Lake
that drove in two runs, followed by Aubrey Davis
drawing a walk and scoring a run, and Lynnsey
Lane drawing a walk and scoring one run. Those
four runs set the standard for the game.
Even though Montgomery was able to get two
runs back in the bottom of the first the Lady War
Eagles settled in and dominated the remainder
of the game. They would score 1 in the second
inning after an RBI single by Mya Abraham.
Then m the top of the fourth the Lady War Eagles
sealed the victory with another big hit by Shanya
Lake, this time an inside-the-park home run that
would score two runs, a single by Lohgan Walker
scoring one run and a sacrifice bunt by
Lynnsey Lane scoring a run. Patience at the
plate can also be a credit to the victory for the
War Eagles as they collected 9 walks. Lane was
on the mound for the Lady War Eagles. She
pitched 5 innings, giving up 3 runs, 6 hits, and
four strikeouts. The Lady War Eagles won by a
final score of 12-3.
Wednesday night would be the much-anticipated
matchup against rival ECI. The Lady War Eagles
would strike first in the top of the first inning.
Laura Gayle Dailey laid down a sacrifice bunt
that led to a Jenkins County run scored. However,
the bats came out quickly for the Bulldogs as they
scored three in the bottom of the first and followed
it up with two in the bottom of the second.
The Lady War Eagle offense could not get it
going offensively for the remainder of the game.
Even though the defense would hold ECI for the
last 5 innings, not allowing another run after the
second the Lady War Eagles could not drive in
another run. They finished the game with a 5-1
loss to the Lady Bulldogs. In the end, the Lady
War Eagles finished with just three hits on the
night.
The War Eagles have three games this week,
which will finish their regional schedule. They
will play non-region team lefferson County, who
the War Eagles defeated 9-1 earlier in the season.
The much-anticipated rematch with ECI will
take place Tuesday at Jenkins County, and the
week will end on Wednesday for the Lady War
Eagles as they host McIntosh County Academy.
Wednesday night during the McIntosh County
Academy game the team will celebrate Senior
Night wit!) their three seniors Shanya Lake,
Lohgan Walker, and Katie Bell. The Lady War
Eagles have added two games to their schedule.
On October 9 th they will host Savannah Classical
and on October 12 th they will travel to Savannah
Classical.
