SPORTS
DawsonNewscom
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
facebook.com/dawsonnews
twitter.com/dawsonnews
Braves turning a comer; Acuna sharp
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Just a couple weeks
ago, the Atlanta Braves
were sitting at a 23-27
record and close to fourth
place in the National
League East Division.
But with the help of a
healthy Ronald Acuna Jr.,
the Braves have won 11
straight games and are
inching closer to the top
of the wild-card stand
ings.
As a whole, the Braves
looked refreshed after
winning the series finale
against Arizona, sweep
ing Colorado and winning
the first of a quick two-
game set against Oakland.
Acuna has been one of
the hottest hitters in base
ball as of late, having
muscled out 33 hits and
15 runs batted in the first
27 games he played since
returning to the lineup.
He has continued to
improve as the Braves
have, hitting at a .400 clip
over the first seven games
of the winning streak and
and smashing two home
runs in the first win
against Oakland.
“He’s an elite talent, a
special talent,” Braves
manager Brian Snitker
said. “It’s something else
when he gets on one of
those streaks. Hopefully,
we can continue to bring
him along and get him to
that date when we can
take all the shackles off
and turn him loose.”
The pitching rotation
has been led by Kyle
Wright and Max Fried,
who have maintained
earned run averages of
2.57 and 2.64, respective
ly-
Wright began his sea
son with a 1.13 ERA after
four starts before two out
ings where he gave up a
combined nine runs.
Since then, he has
come back closer to his
early form and had two
shutouts in four starts.
Fried has been particu
larly effective in his past
five outings, giving up a
combined seven earned
runs across 32 innings.
His strongest outing
came recently at the
Rockies, where he tamed
the hitter-friendly Coors
Field with eight shutout
innings.
The Braves may have
also found an effective
Ronald Acuna Jr. hits a home run against the
See Braves 13B Oakland A's onTuesday, June 7.
Photo courtesy of Curtis Compton/AJC
‘It’s more about the relationships’
Rio White Dawson County News
Dwayne Sapp spent 27 years as a high school baseball head coach, including the past seven years with DCHS.
Sapp retires from baseball after decorated coaching career
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
After 27 years, four
schools and a trove of
accomplishments, longtime
DCHS head baseball coach
Dwayne Sapp confirmed he
is retiring from the sport he
has contributed so much to.
But he’s not quite done
contributing to Tiger Nation.
In the past seven seasons,
Sapp led the Tigers to three
state playoff appearances
and managed the team
through several roster transi
tions.
By forging bonds with
players and coaches, he has
left new head coach Fogan
Burt with both a strong ros
ter and tight-knit dugout
For Sapp, he has learned
that those connections have
been far more rewarding
than any win or award could
ever be.
“As you get older, you
learn it’s not so much about
the wins and losses, you
realize it’s more about the
relationships you build with
the kids,” Sapp said. “Every
day I’m in communication
with either a former player
or coach.”
Those important bonds are
certainly not limited to his
time in Dawson County.
Sapp began his career at
Terrell Academy before
coaching Washington-
Wilkes High School and
Washington County.
He then established a suc
cessful program at North
Oconee when the school
opened, where his team was
See Sapp 13B
Jacob Smith Dawson County News
Sapp believes that the most important moments of
his career have been the bonds he made with players
and coaches.
DCHS boys
basketball
hosts camp
for youth
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
Head coach Todd Cottrell, junior varsity
coach Judd Gravitt, members of the DCHS
boys basketball team and local volunteers
put together a youth skills camp from
Monday, June 6, to Thursday, June 9.
As part of a larger effort to grow the bas
ketball program in Dawson County, the
camp hosted aspiring athletes between the
third and eighth grade age groups.
“Camp was fantastic [and] the turnout
was outstanding,” Cottrell said. “We are
extremely happy with the attitude and
effort of both the campers and of our cur
rent players.”
The camp also included a variety of
events, with the first couple of days
focused on fundamental skill development.
After spending time working hard on the
basics, the kids were allowed to take part in
several fun competitions on the final day.
These included short, fast-paced team
events, layup challenges and jump shot
competitions.
But the overarching theme across all four
days was the development of character,
leadership and sportsmanship skills that the
See Camp 13B
Rio White Dawson County News
Former DCHS basketball player
Jackson Binkley looks on as a future
Tiger takes a shot.
Elliott rebounds at Sonoma,
leads early before falling back
By Rio White
riowhite@dawsonnews.com
After three consecutive finishes outside
the top 20, Chase Elliott got right back to
his usual form with an eighth-place finish
in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma
Raceway.
The wine country road course played
right into Elliott’s strengths as he qualified
to start the race in second position, right
behind defending champion Kyle Farson.
Those Hendrick Motorsports teammates
would begin this year’s race much like
they finished last year’s, running in first
and second position for the opening 20
laps of the winding 110-lap race.
After electing to pit just three laps
before the end of Stage One, Elliott would
finish the stage outside the top 10 but
would soon regain track position.
With Farson and many others waiting to
pit until the caution between stages, Elliott
moved his way up the pack and would be
in first position at the Stage Two restart.
Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
Chase Elliott leads the pack during
Sunday's race at Sonoma Raceway.
From there, he would maintain the lead
over a resurgent Chris Buescher and
looked to employ a similar pit game plan
prior to the end of Stage Two at lap 55.
After leading 26 laps, all looked to be
according to plan until another unexpected
incident occurred during the pit stop.
As Elliott attempted to leave pit road,
his crew recognized that he needed to
immediately come back due to an issue
See NASCAR 12B
Trey
Harvey
The Player of the Week
is Trey Harvey, who
helped the boys basketball
team hold a summer
youth camp last week.
Player Of The Week!
Sponsored by:
S
Certified
Collision
Center
Il-Cfir
706-216-0992
We’ve Gone Green!
“We will be here when you need us. ”
^!sT 01
DAHLONEGA
DUNKIN
DONUTS
Industrial Park Rd.
M-F: 8:00 - 5:00
1 30 Industrial Park Rd, Dawsonville
Dawsonville’s Premier Collision Center
