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Inside: EJCHS out at state in round one — page 3B
MARCH 4,
2009
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Section B
JCCHS BASEBALL
JHS BASEBALL
Panthers pick up first season win
STEPPING IN
Codye Elrod, pictured here from earlier action, went 1-2 with RBIs against Lumpkin
County, and went 3-5 against Oglethorpe County last week. Photo by Justin Poole
By Brandon Reed
AFTER LOSING in their
season opener last week to
Lumpkin County, the Jackson
County Panthers turned their
luck around by scoring a vic
tory last Thursday against
Oglethorpe County.
Up next for the Panthers
is the second annual Panther
Diamond Day at home. The
Panthers are slated to face
the 0-2 Osborne Cardinals at
noon, and then will face Clarke
Central at 6 p.m.
LUMPKIN COUNTY
The Diamond Panthers
opened their season with a
trip to Lumpkin County last
Tuesday to face the Indians of
Lumpkin County. The Indians
had defeated Habersham
County 18-5 in a scrimmage
game earlier in the week, and
was coming off a no-hitter over
East Jackson, winning 10-0 the
day before.
Jackson County looked to
take control early, putting a
man across the plate in the
top of the first. But Lumpkin
County went on a tear, first
putting six runs on the board
in the bottom of the first. The
Panthers didn’t help themselves
in the second inning. After
first going scoreless in the top
of the inning, Jackson County
had two walks, hit two batters
and had five errors, aiding the
Indians in adding three more
runs to their score.
Jackson County began work
ing their way back, cutting the
lead to four runs by putting
two men across in the top of
the third and in the top of the
fourth. The Indians matched
that in the bottom of the fourth,
putting four runs across. After
both teams’ bats fell silent for
the fifth inning, Jackson County
tried to battle back again, as they
added two runs to their total in
the top of the sixth. Lumpkin
got one ran across the plate in
the bottom of the inning, and
went on to win 14-7.
Austin Robinson went 2
JCCHS SOCCER
for 4 for the Panthers, hitting
one double, one triple and two
RBIs. Zach Sticher went 2
for 4, Quinn Grogan went 2
for 4, and Codye Elrod went 1
for 2 with three RBIs and two
walks.
Larry Evans recorded the loss
on the mound.
Also pitching on the game
was sophomore Devin Elliot,
who threw for two innings,
junior Rob Williams, who
threw for an inning and a half,
and freshman Quinn Grogan,
who pitched for one inning.
“The game was extremely
sloppy,’’ said coach Tommy
Fountain. “I was happy with
the way we battled back to cut
the lead going into the bottom
of the fourth.
“To literally hand them a 9-1
lead...in two innings and then
come back and battle was a
good sign, but you can’t spot
a good baseball team an eight
ran lead.”
“To have two freshmen,
Austin Robinson and Quinn
Grogan, lead us at the plate is
a huge deal for the future,” he
added. “This is the first game
of the season and we’re only
going to get better, so we’ll
be ok.”
OGLETHORPE CO.
Thursday brought another
road trip for Jackson County,
as they traveled to Oglethorpe
County to face the Patriots.
Things started well, as the
Panthers scored two runs in
the top of the first on an RBI
ground rale double from Ken
Miller, and an RBI single from
Sticher. Jackson County put
four more runs across in the
top of the second on a two
RBI single from Garret Daglis,
while Kelly Moates and Austin
Robinson both had RBIs.
The Patriots cut the lead to
four on two walks and a sin
gle that allowed two runners
to score in the bottom of the
second. Oglethorpe continued
the rally in the bottom of the
third off of an error and two-run
homer, and then tied the score
in the bottom of the fourth with
a single, a walk and an error.
But the Panthers would
not be denied, and retook the
lead in the top of the fifth, as
Jason Hays had an RBI single
to follow a double by Sticher.
Jackson County moved away
in the top of the seventh by
putting four runners across on
See JCCHS on page 3B
JCCHS girls tie, boys lose to Hebron
Wet weather cancels Oglethorpe Co. matches
By Brandon Reed
IT WAS a mixed bag last
week for the JCCHS soccer
teams, as the girls recorded a
tie, while the boys’ team suf
fered a loss.
Both teams are next sched
uled to travel to Franklin County
to face the Lions. The girls are
slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.,
with the boys’ game set to fol
low at 7:30 p.m.
HEBRON
The Jackson County girls
traveled to Hebron off of three
wins in a row, and were looking
to add a fourth to the list as they
faced off against the Lady Lions
of Hebron. Hebron was look
ing to turn their season around
after a season opening loss.
The game ended in a 3-3
tie, making the Lady Panthers
2-0-1 for the season.
Janette Gee, Mary Collin,
and Lexi Miller each scored a
goal in the game.
Meanwhile, the boys were
looking for their second win
of the season, coming off of a
loss to Banks County the week
before. Unfortunately, they
didn’t get that second check in
the win column against Hebron,
who won 6-0. The Panthers are
now 1-2 on the season.
Both teams were slated to host
Oglethorpe County on Friday,
but that game was canceled due
to inclement weather.
ON THE GO
Jackson County’s Katie Betz (right) sends the ball on its way during a recent match.
The Lady Panthers tied Hebron last week. The team will travel to Franklin County to
face the Lady Lions on Friday. Photo by Justin Poole
THE PITCH
Chris Beck struck out two batters, and went 1-2 at the
plate against the Red Raiders. Photo by Ben Munro
Madison Co., weather
gives Jefferson trouble
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Dragons now find themselves at 1-1 for
the season after a loss last week to Madison County, along
with postponed and canceled games over the weekend and
this week due to inclement weather.
The Dragons are next slated to play host to Madison
County tonight (Wednesday), but that game was postponed
until Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 5:55 p.m.
MADISON
The Dragons had trouble right from the start with the Red
Raiders, as Madison County went up by two in the bottom of
the first, then added six more runs to their tally in the bottom
of the third while they held Jefferson scoreless throughout.
In the end, the Red Raiders came away with an 8-8 win.
Chris Beck went 1-2 at the plate, while Lucas Redd went
1-3, and Michael Cidboy went 1-2.
Beck recorded the loss from the mound, striking out two
while giving up two hits and two runs.
“We played a very good team and didn’t play very well,”
said coach Tommy Knight. “We only had three hits and that
is definitely not like a Jefferson team. We have several guys
playing who are going to be good, but it was one of their first
varsity games. It was a learning experience for us.”
WEATHER WOES
The Dragons were slated to hold their home opener on
Saturday against Winder-Barrow, but that game was canceled
due to inclement weather. The bad weather over the weekend
carried over into the week, as it also caused the cancellation
of Monday’s game against Oconee County at UGA’s Foley
Field.
JHS GIRLS SOCCER
JHS defeats Social Circle
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Lady
Dragons soccer team dodged
the rain and recorded their
second win of the season last
week.
They’ll next travel to
Oglethorpe County to face
the Lady Patriots on Friday.
Game time is scheduled for
5 p.m.
After the cancellation of a
pairing with Union County
on Feb. 23, the Lady Dragons
hosted the Lady Leopards of
Banks County on Thursday.
Jefferson came in off of a vic
tory over Social Circle, and
kept their momentum going
as they went on to defeat
Banks County 4-0.
That gives Jefferson a 2-1-1
record thus far in the season.
The weather caused prob
lems for the Lady Dragons
on Saturday, however, as per
sistent rain forced the cancel
lation of a scrimmage game
with East Jackson.
The Lady Dragons were
scheduled to host Union
County on Tuesday. That
game was canceled due to the
weather.