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thesy lvaniatimes .com
The Sylvania Times
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - Page 11
Burton Kemp
Around
the horn
Getting Really, Realty
Late in the Sports Season
TENNIS ENDS, FOOTBALL AND
PRETTY WELL EVERYTHING
ELSE BEGINS
Gamecock tennis ended last week, all too soon for anyone involved in the
program. But then you cannot count on a charter “private” public school com
ing into tennis prominence. A charter school that wins a state championship
in girls’ basketball? A charter school that finishes among the top squads in
cheerleading? Do your research. Oh well. Lake Oconee plays Telfair County
in the state championship match this Saturday. Look for them to win it. But
with the end of tennis came cheerleader tryouts last week, softball tryouts this
week, summer basketball beginning very, very quickly as will wrestling, and,
of course there is spring football right now.
Let’s talk some football. The word that I hear from practice is really good,
from both coaches and veteran players. “We had a great first week,” said Head
Coach Ron Duncan. “The attitudes have been night and day better and I think
everyone out there wants to get this thing back to where it always has been
since we’ve been here.” Sounds fantastic to me! If any of the 19 ineligible
players can get eligible and come back with an attitude to match that of those
already out there now, things could pick up more. Otherwise, the 19 should
get a job; there are plenty to be had.
Of particular note, there are nearly 30 freshmen out, nearly as many as the
total number of boys in the senior class. Obviously a great freshman class
does not signal a huge improvement for this fall, but it does speak well of the
future beyond this upcoming season. “It’s a huge transition from the middle
school to the high school,” also said Duncan. “As far as coaching goes we
will have to get them ready in a hurry. We have a long ways to go, but there is
some potential here and I think this will be one of our better groups.”
Here I go as I continue to look at the development of the GAD A Director’s
Cup standings for Region 3A. Our total program is still in first place with 488
points over Metter’s 377. The problem is that we may squeeze a point or two
out of track but Metter still has baseball and golf. The Lady Gamecocks have
comfortable 311-199 lead over Metter and have probably clinched the girls’
title though the Lady Tigers do quite well in golf and they are in a position
to pick up more overall points in track than we are. Finally the boys lead
250-177 over Metter, but again Metter has baseball and golf that are probably
going to enable the Tigers to pass the Gamecocks.
And now a sentence or two about multiple things wrapped up in one para
graph (that is why this is called Around the Horn). Region 3A baseball lost
a little momentum after all four teams won in the first round. In round two
Claxton was ousted by Schley County and Bryan County by ACE Charter
but defending state champion Metter easily won over GMC and ECI defeated
Crawford County. Yesterday and today Metter hosts Gordon Lee and ECI
goes to Commerce. Jumping to soccer Social Circle defeated Commerce 6-4
for the girls Class A state championship. Circle was the Region 8 champion
and Commerce was the runner-up and now they hold the same positions at
the state level as well. I saw and read that Savannah High has a brand new
football stadium that they expect to use this fall. Check it out on line. We go
to Savannah High on October 21 for a Region 3A-D1 game. The Gamecocks
and Blue Jackets have not met on the gridiron since October 7, 1955. That
game went 52-0 the way of the number one ranked Jackets. I am not looking
for anything like that this time around. This fall will mark 20 years since the
football state championship and 30 years since the softball state champion
ship. You may have to read some things on those two teams during the fall.
Get used to that idea.
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DIXON MAMEB ALL
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-Burton Kemp
The only Gamecock to hit over .300 this season and one of only two a sea
son ago, senior infielder Jared Dixon was named First Team All-Region 3 A
at a recent meeting of region coaches. A season ago he was named Second
Team All Region. For this season there was no second team.
Dixon finished the 2022 season with a .377 (26-69) average, better than
100 points higher than any other Rooster. He led the team in, among other
things, hits, rbi, on base percentage, total bases, and stolen bases and was
second in runs scored, walks, and batting average with runners in scoring
position. In 2021 he hit .317 (19-60), the second highest on the team, and
was one of just two in the lineup to do so.
At the meeting John Luke Glanton of Metter was the Player of the Year.
The Pitcher of the Year was Hayden Morris of Claxton, Offensive Player
of the Year was Konner Leggett of Bryan County, and the Defensive Player
of the Year was Robbie Laney of Claxton. Zach Rackett of Metter was the
Coach of the Year.
With the majority
of their teammates
taking tests, the trio
of Ryder Rankin,
Jeremiah Stuart,
and Rylan Robbins
participated in the
recent Region 3A
tournament in Metter
as individuals with a
chance to advance to
state.
Junior Jeremiah
Stuart recently
qualified for the
Class A state golf
finals with his
score at the Re
gion 3A tourna
ment. The Class
A state tourna
ment will be May
16-17 on the
Georgia Southern
University Golf
Course.
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