About The Jenkins County times. (Millen, Ga.) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2023)
jenkinscountytimes.com The Jenkins County Times Wednesday, October 4, 2023 - Page 9 is cz) ’■rt S w o m t: ts <D <Cj •£ ^ O g -a pq « t: l-s Ch £ BRAD ASBURY WAR EAGLE RTS I i 11 : Times 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.
