About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2022)
Wednesday, August 17,2022 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3B SOFTBALL Lady Tigers look for fresh start in region play Sophomore Ace Cochran looks at a pitch during the home game against Vidalia on Friday, Aug.12. Photos by Rio White Dawson County News Kirsten Butler winds up a pitch against Vidalia. By Rio White riowhite@dawsonnews.com While this year’s Dawson County softball roster is markedly young er than last season’s senior-filled squad, both teams faced similar early- season growing pains. Three road losses to begin this season were followed up by a pair of home defeats — all against non-region com petition. The Lady Tigers will now look to make a fresh start to the season as the first two region games beckon this week. Last weekend, Dawson fell to Vidalia and North Hall at home after a loss at Lambert earlier in the week. The next two games include the region opener at home against West Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 16 and and on the road at Wesleyan on Wednesday. Though an 0-5 start to the 2022 season is not flattering on paper, the 2021 team began 0-9 before going 16-12 the rest of the way en route to a deep run in the state playoffs. Crucial to that playoff run was an 11-10 record within Region 7-3A — good for fourth place in the region and a spot in the postseason. Knowing that the roster still needs time to devel op, head coach Justin Rickett is staying steady and focusing on the fun damentals. “We’ve got to continue to mature and make the routine plays,” Rickett said. “The kids are in good spirits and try to focus every day on getting better.” Defensively, the team is looking to cut down on errors to stay competitive in games and decrease opportunities for the opposition to open up a lead. The defense is also working on communica tion, particularly when the opposition is finding suc cess. One player who has shown an example of that is freshman catcher Bryce Greenwood, who has shown an early sense of vocal leadership. On the offense, the challenging early-season foes have been tough on the Dawson bats, but Greenwood and recent Blitz Sports Player of the Week Micah Burruss have given glimpses of what the Lady Tigers offense can potentially show. In the small sample size of the current season, both players have four hits in 10 at-bats but have also given strong plate appear ances when not getting a hit. Just like on the defense, Rickett believes that the learning curve the offense faces now will eventually result in better perfor mances down the road. “We’ve seen really good arms,” Rickett said. “We just need more expe rience and continue to get those at-bats.” The Lady Tigers will wrap up this week’s slate of games with non-region matchups against Union County and Bremen on Saturday, Aug. 20. FROM 1B Elliott race finish would gather 38 points — three more than Elliott did with a fifth position finish and eight stage points. As a result, he ended the day still needing just a few points in the next race to officially finish at the top of the points standings. “We definitely got better in compari son to our competitors toward the end,” Elliott said. “Proud of our NAPA team for fighting through everything today and making the most of a tough Saturday.” Elliott responded to a disappointing qualifying run on Saturday by quietly moving up the board Sunday, eventual ly reaching 11th position by the end of Stage One. He would comfortably run in the back of the top-10 for most of Stage Two, making two pit stops that were handled efficiently by both Elliott and the crew. By avoiding any issues on pit road and getting back onto the track without any incidents, Elliott kept himself in contention. He would finish Stage Two in eighth position and would gradually move into the top-5 in the final stage of the race. Elliott would find his best track posi tion of the day with 35 laps remaining, holding on to third position for around 17 laps before being passed Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin to fall back to his eventual finishing posi tion of fifth. His finish secured a Cup Series leading 16th top-10 finish and second- best ninth top-5 finish. FROM 1B Horse resulted in a locked jaw that required an injection. Through their mutual trust, the pair would achieve a winning time. Verhoven credits her horse’s personal ity and their resulting bond as important factors in their shared success. “The bond is truly important in barrel races,” Verhoven said. “It helps them come out of their shell and strive to what they really are.” Her mother Laurie expressed how proud she was of her daughter’s growth as a dedicated caregiver. “She gets up every morning, she’s here during the afternoon [and] takes care of them at night,” Laurie Verhoven said. “She pours her heart and soul into it. If [the horses] aren’t feeling good, she’s going to be the one that finds it [out].” The next big event that Lily and Woodrow have will be the state-level show in September back in Perry. 'She gets up every morning, she's here during the after noon [and] takes care of them at night. She pours her heart and soul into it. If [the horses] aren't feeling good, she's going to be the one that finds it [out].' Laurie Verhoven wmu ^ m | . i 1 W k 1 A 4 y I 1 ■ 1 J Photo courtesy of the National Barrel Horse Association Verhoven receives her award for posting the fastest time at the event. FROM 1B Volleyball 11-1 run, resulting in a 22-25 first-set loss. The Lady Bulldogs took that energy right into the second set, with Dawson falling 12-25 for a match loss. For Porter, her team will need to keep up a stronger — and louder — line of communication to avoid second-set momentum gaps such as that one. “Without that energy, we all just get into our own heads,” Porter said. “We have a history of being able to gather back and make something good happen once we spiral a little bit.” That sense of resiliency would come after the team’s most challenging match of the night against the hosts. The Lady Raiders were aggressive from the beginning but Dawson kept within striking distance before losing the first set 19-25. Another tough second set resulted in a 15-25 loss and a second defeat of the night. After a long wait, the Lady Tigers showed their true potential in a two-set victory over Lumpkin. With each point Dawson won, the better the communication became and the more momentum they established. The culmination of the 25-12, 25-16 victory was an emphatic block by Bishop that brought the team’s volume to the loudest all night. Porter mentioned that the sophomore will be someone who will be asked to put in plenty of varsity minutes this season. Dawson followed up that opening slate with a pair of matches against Gainesville and Flowery Branch on Thursday, Aug. 11. The Lady Tigers swept both of those teams with two-set victories, bring their overall record to 3-2 on the season. This week, Dawson will have their home openers and senior night recognition on Tuesday, Aug. 16. FROM 1B Football facet of the process to ensure the team’s execution was at the standard needed for the regular season. The offensive and defensive focused on footwork and explosion off the line — two areas that will be especially important in the non-region schedule. Those linemen had both one-on-one battles as well as full sides facing one another. The many other assistant coaches had their own small groups of players focusing on specialty drills that are meant to maximize skill level. In addition to the drills becoming more intense, there was also an increased empha sis on vocal leadership between players. All of those elements shown in recent practices are set to be utilized against a Jackson team on the rise. The Panthers are coached by four-time state champion Rich McWhorter, who once led Charlton County to three straight state titles. McWhorter arrived at Jackson in 2019, inheriting a 3-7 team that needed a turn around. His teams have improved each year of his ten ure, culminating in a state playoff appearance last sea- ■ . i > V ' —— ; i r WMI Ma —h-. 1 = ‘ r 1 3§ . -j FjJBWj Rio White Dawson County News Offensive coordinator Andy LeBlanc (center), looks on as his new-look offense gears up for the first game of the season. Toward the end of a practice session, the offense and defense line up against each other. son. Much like Dawson is reshaping their offense after the graduation of school record-holding quarterback Zach Holtzclaw, Jackson is doing the same for running back Trey Ransom. Both of their main quarter backs from last season also graduated, meaning that there will be an element of unpre dictability from both teams. The Panthers have not faced a team in Dawson’s region since 2019, when they defeat ed Lumpkin County. But in the past two seasons, Jackson has gone up against Stephens County, who the Tigers will face later this season. On both occasions, the Panthers lost to the Region 8-3A Indians. The Tigers will have one more week of practices before they square off against the Panthers.
