Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Page 8B
The Upson Beacon
Athlete of the Week: Logan Spivey
Photo by Jacob Stewart
Logan Spivey rounds the bases after his three-run homer.
By Jacob Stewart
sports@upsonbeacon.com
Logan Spivey has been
the centerpiece of the
Upson Lee Knights’ of
fense. The power bat is
averaging .449, slugging
.714, and has an on-base
percentage of .553. Those
numbers combined with
10 doubles, a home run,
and 22 runs batted in
through 16 games will cer
tainly keep Spivey in the
middle of the order.
Spivey has come up big
in clutch situations for the
Knights. Two weeks ago
against Pike County, he hit
a bases-loaded triple that
gave the Knights a much-
needed lead. Last week
versus Mary Persons, the
Knights trailed 4-1 in the
fifth inning and needed a
big boost of offense. With
two runners on, Spivey
crushed a ball over the
centerfield wall of Historic
Silvertown Ballpark. Spi
vey has come incredibly
close to multiple four-
baggers and he finally
stretched one out when he
needed it the most.
“It felt great. I couldn’t
have asked for a better
time with runners on to
put us back in the game,”
Spivey told The Upson
Beacon.
His power threat was
enough for Mary Persons
to intentionally walk him
in a two-run game in the
bottom of the seventh. In
tentionally walking Spivey
loaded the bases and put
the tying run on second
with just one out, but op
posing coaches were learn
ing where to take their
chances. Spivey was
robbed of an opportunity
to be the hero and the
Knights ended up falling to
Mary Persons in that
game. Spivey was five-for-
nine at the plate last week
with four RBI.
The big right-hander
not only contributes in the
batter’s box, but he also
has pitched some big in
nings for the Knights. De
spite a few rocky starts
early, he has been improv
ing and seeing more favor
able results. “My past
three outings have been
much better than they
were leading up to Pike. I
feel like I have more con
fidence and a better
chance of being consis
tent,” said the senior.
Despite Spivey’s success
with the bat in his hand,
the team is in a rut. Spivey
is a vocal leader and often
calls meetings in the in
field. Following the 6-4
loss to Mary Persons, he
spoke out during the
team’s conference.
“I was just sharing
some things I think we
may/may not be doing
that is leading to our out
comes and kind of piggy
backing onto Coach
Peyton. But I said that
keeping a clear mind at all
times and being relaxed is
huge in the game and that
a lot of our players press
for no reason instead of
having fun.”
Coach Peyton men
tioned that he appreciated
the leadership from Spi
vey, and he feels like that
role is essential to any
team trying to win a cham
pionship.
As Spivey continues to
crush the baseball and the
Knights pull out of their
four-game region skid, the
team has big potential to
win a lot of baseball
games.
Will Anyone Stop Upson Lee
Tennis in Region 2-AAA?
By Jacob Stewart
sports@upsonbeacon.com
Now is the time to start
paying attention to the
Upson Lee tennis teams.
The boys and girls teams are
a combined 11-1 in region
play and are dominating Re
gion 2-AAA. Annie Shep
herd and John Hernandez
have yet to lose in region
play and the Knights put on
a show on the court every
time they pick up a racket.
Coach Tim Bosworth’s
Knights swept their match
5-0 over Jackson High
School to improve to 6-0 in
region play and 8-3 overall.
This is the fifth match this
season that they have swept.
Against Jackson, they
only lost 11 games. Ten of
those games came in the
second doubles match that
went the distance. Cutter
Bowen and Sawyer Wilson;
however, were able to pull
out the victory. The duo is 5-
5 on the season and 4-1 in
region play. The remainder
of the fleet is still undefeated
against rival teams.
John Hernadez believes
the success is the fruit of
hours and hours on the
court: “Considering the
amount of time Upson Lee
and myself have played over
the past few years, I saw this
coming,” he said following
his eighth consecutive indi
vidual win. He has exhibited
a very mature level of con
sistency during this run. “To
be continuously winning the
matches and to keep win
ning the matches, I just con
tinue to keep being
consistent with my ground-
strokes and make sure I put
solid serves into the court.”
Coach Kristi Bosworth’s
team was challenged last
week when the top singles
player, Peyton Chapman,
was quarantined due to
COVID-19 exposure at the
high school. The Lady
Knights had big shoes to fill
in the absence of Chapman,
who is 4-1 in region play.
Getting a win was not
easy, but they were able to
get it done by pulling to
gether. Shepherd stepped
up to the first doubles court
and won impressively. She
improved to 6-0 in the re
gion.
Chapman’s absence
forced Bosworth to get cre
ative with the lineup. Paige
Neal stepped away from her
usual doubles partner, Zaria
Childs, to play third singles.
Childs paired with Molly
Greer and they overcame a
first-set loss to win 2-1. Ans-
ley Weed and Josie Perdue
stepped up to win the tie
breaker 2-0 and lift the Lady
Knights over Jackson and
help the team improve to 5-
1 in region play.
Bosworth spoke with
The Upson Beacon about
the team’s tenacity: “They
all dug deep and played
hard to continue our win
ning momentum. They
wanted it and went and got
it. They supported each
other. Although we had two
losses, those two played
hard and represented us
well on the court. They all
made me so proud tonight.”
Shepherd talked about
her team’s big win: “We all
knew that it was going to be
tough and we were going to
have to adapt very quickly to
the changes that were made
because Peyton wasn’t
there.”
Shepherd has continued
to improve throughout the
season and has been able to
win consistently while mak
ing a lot of adjustments. The
junior said she can stay
strong mentally with posi
tive self-talk. Her defensive
style of play caused many
long matches early in the
season, but now she is work
ing to be the aggressor more
often. Coupled with Chap
man, the two are a strong
one-two punch for Upson
Lee.
Both of these teams be
lieve they are ready to make
a run at a region title this
year. Hernandez told The
Upson Beacon, “As long as
we are putting solid shots
back into the court, we have
a great shot at winning our
region this year.”
Flint River Academy Baseball
Call Monday-Friday
from 9am-4pm to
schedule your
FREE
COVID-19 Vaccine
Vaccine Clinic available in Zebulon at
7171 Hwy 19 S beginning Wednesday,
April 7 from 12-5 p.m. Anyone aged 16+
is eligible.
Call 706-646-5727 schedule your appointment!
Photos Submitted
GEORGIA BAPTIST
CHILDREN'S HOMES
AND FAMILY MINISTRIES
Qualifications:
Minimum Age of 21
HS Diploma or GED,
Favorable Background/
References Check, and
Drug Screen.
Benefits (for full time)
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Paid Leave accrual
403 (b) retirement plan
Scholarship program
Want to make a difference in a teenager's life?
GBCH&FM is looking to expand our team.
We are looking to hire Youth Care Workers who have the
personal characteristics, experience and temperament to
work with and provide appropriate care for youth in our
Flint River Academy
traveled to LaGrange
Academy for a cold windy
game last Saturday morn
ing. The Wildcats dom
inated the game from the
start, scoring two runs in
the first inning, one run in
the second, five in the
third, and two in the fifth.
Freshman Lucas Martin
started on the mound,
pitching for three innings,
allowing only one hit, four
walks, and three strike
outs. Sophomore Wyatt
Walters took the mound
for the fourth and fifth in
nings, allowing only two
hits, no walks, and
recorded three strikeouts.
Lucas Martin (F),Ben Tay
lor (F), Christopher Calla
han (F), and Raines Foster
(S) all recorded hits for the
Wildcats in the 10-0 vic
tory.
