SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
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Elliott fades late after long run affront
Dawson driver led pack for opening 185 laps
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Chase Elliott won his first
pole of the 2022 NASCAR Cup
Series season at Martinsville
Speedway on Friday, April 8,
and backed that up for the open
ing half of Saturday’s Blue-Emu
Maximum Pain Relief 400.
For the opening 185 laps,
Elliott led the pack in a race that
had fewer caution flags and lead
changes compared to previous
races this season.
Through his early lead, Elliott
won the first two stages of the
race and continued to rack up
points in the Cup Standings that
he led coming into Saturday’s
race.
The first lead change of the
night came from Elliott’s
Hendrick Motorsports teammate
William Byron, who had been
running in second place for the
bulk of the time Elliott was in
the lead.
While the first pit stop of the
night following the conclusion
of stage one did not affect
Elliott’s lead, the second stage
pit stop is where he first fell
behind.
He came out of that pit stop
running second behind Byron
and looked to be in fine shape,
with the car running as fast as it
had been all night.
Although Elliott would occa
sionally close the gap on Byron
between laps 200 and 300, he
could not retake the lead.
After remaining in second
position for a sustained period,
Elliott began to slip behind as
the race approached lap 300.
He would fall to fifth position
due to some damage sustained
to his right rear and soon went in
for a green-flag pit stop on lap
298.
Shortly after coming out of
that pit stop, the race faced its
first caution flag other than for
See NASCAR 13B
Photo courtesy of NASCAR
Chase Elliott leads the pack during the race at Martinsville
Speedway on Saturday, April 9. He led the opening 185 laps
before falling behind late.
DCHS on cusp of state playoffs
Photos by Rio White Dawson County News
Brandon Cramer leads the team with 28 RBI.
Seniors look to keep momentum going into final stretch
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
For the first time since
the 2017 season, the
DCHS baseball team is in
prime position to clinch a
state playoff spot, sitting
third in Region 7-AAA
with a 9-4 record there and
a 14-8 mark overall.
The team has had con
tributions from all ages,
but it is the seniors who
have helped lead the team
to this position from two
fifth-placed region finishes
with a season cut short due
to the pandemic in
between.
Now, the six seniors —
Andrew Burt, Brandon
Cramer, Ryley Moore,
See Seniors 13B
Nick Mullinax has been the offensive leader of theTigers this season with a .355 bat
ting average and 29 runs.
Offense
combines for
31 runs in
series sweep
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
A trio of strong offensive performances last
week led the Dawson County baseball team
to a series sweep of Gilmer County and
brought the Tigers closer to clinching a state
playoff spot.
Wins of 10-0, 9-3 and 12-1 helped put
DCHS at second place in Region 7-AAA
behind only North Hall, who the Tigers will
play in a crucial three-game series this week.
“I thought our approach was very good,”
head coach Dwayne Sapp said. “Our guys
were aggressive in situations to do damage
against Gilmer.”
The hot hitting week of DCHS was high
lighted by eight runs batted in by senior
Brandon Cramer and several hits by senior
Nick Mullinax.
During the first game of the series, the
Tigers were led by a five RBI performance by
Cramer as the team managed to score all 10
runs in the first five innings to shorten the
game.
On Thursday, a torrid fifth inning pushed
DCHS into a large lead, led by a three-hit day
from Mullinax and three more RBI from
Cramer.
Friday’s closing game included a six-run
second inning highlighted by a bases-clearing
double by Elijah Odom and a solo home run
by Mullinax.
See Baseball 13B
Rio White Dawson County News
Nick Mullinax pitches during Friday's
game against Gilmer. He threw all five
innings of that game, giving up one
run and throwing six strikeouts.
Surging Scheffler fends
off field to win Masters
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
It’s no secret that Augusta National is
the course that giveth and taketh away —
a timeless place that rewards those who
respect its magnitude and punishes those
who fly too close to the sun.
For 2022 Masters Tournament
Champion and PGA Tour man of the
moment Scottie Scheffler, he found the
rewards to be plentiful, playing with an
unflappable maturity beyond his years
and confidence that would imply he had
been at the Masters for decades.
But as recently as early February,
Scheffler had never won a PGA Tour
event and only made his first appearance
at the Masters two years ago.
After a solid 2021 season with multiple
top-10 finishes in major championships,
Scheffler won three events early in the
2022 season, leading him to a No. 1 world
ranking heading into the Masters.
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Scottie Scheffler holds the Masters
Trophy following his three-stroke
victory at the 2022 Masters
Tournament.
The meteoric rise of the 25-year old
Texan culminated this past Sunday at
Augusta with a three-stroke victory and a
final score of 10-under par 278.
Scheffler’s journey to the green jacket
began with a solid first round score of
See Masters 13B
Player Of
The Week!
Brandon Cramer
This weeks Player of the Week
is Brandon Cramer, who
had 8 RBI’s during the baseball
team’s sweep of Gilmer.
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