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Inside: East Jackson defeats Walnut Grove — page 2B
MARCH 31,
2010
Phone: (706) 367-5233
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Section B
EJCHS TRACK AND FIELD
JCCHS BASEBALL
JUMP FOR IT
East Jackson’s T.C. Collins took second in the high
jump during last week’s tri-meet at Jefferson.
Photo by Brandon Reed
East Jackson grabs top
honors at Jefferson meet
EAST JACKSON had another strong showing last week, as
the boys came up on top of a meet at JHS against Jefferson
and Oglethorpe County. The Eagles scored 60 points to
Oglethorpe’s 55 and Jefferson’s 54.
Those placing included C.J. Allen, who took first in the 100-
meter dash. Deon Sewell won in the 200-meter dash. Shaq
Alexander placed second in the 200-meters and fourth in the
100-meters. Blake Albright won in the 3200-meters and fin
ished third in the 1600-meters. Wade Mize placed second in
the 400-meters. Terry Miller placed second in the 800-meters.
Dylan Kemp placed second in the 110-meter hurdles and third
in the 300-meter hurdles. T.C. Collins took second in the high
jump. Nick Fulks took second in the discus. Cale Pirtle placed
third in the 800-meters and second in the 1600-meters.
The 4x100 team also recorded a victory.
The girls team, meanwhile, came home with a third place
effort. They scored 33 points to winner Jefferson’s 74 and
Oglethorpe’s 62.
Courtney McDowell won in the 1600-meters. Jessie Harper
took first in the high jump. Brooklyn Watkins won in the pole
vault. The 4x100 team placed second in their event.
Up next was a trip to Habersham Central for the Raider
Relays on Saturday.
The boys came away with a fourth place result with 35
points. They trailed winner Gainesville with 107, Habersham
Central with 94 and Cedar Shoals with 79. The Eagles bested
Stephens County, Rabun County, Tallulah Falls and Rabun-Gap
Nacoochee.
For the girls, the Lady Eagles placed fifth with 20 points,
trailing winner Gainesville with 116, Habersham Central with
113, Cedar Shoals with 71.5 and Stephens County with 21.
The Lady Eagles beat Rabun County, Tallulah Falls and Rabun
Panthers to host Warriors Thurs.
By Brandon Reed
IT’S NOT been a great
week for the Jackson County
Panthers.
The Diamond Panthers find
themselves in the midst of a
three game slide with losses
this past week to Franklin
County and Morgan County.
Those losses means Jackson
County slides from second
place in the region all the way
JHS BASEBALL
back to seventh.
The Panthers will be look
ing to rebound on Thursday,
as they’ll play host to the
Warriors of Oconee County.
The Warriors enter play this
week 5-1 in the region and
11-1 overall.
First pitch is scheduled for
5:55 p.m.
FRANKLIN CO.
On Wednesday, the Panthers
played host to the Lions of
Franklin County.
Things started off well
enough for the Panthers.
After both teams went score
less in the first inning and a
half, Jackson County put five
runners across in the bottom
of the second to take a big
advantage. The Lions got
their first run on the board
in the top of the third, then
added three more in the top of
the fourth to move to within
one of the Panthers.
Jackson County responded
in the bottom of the fourth
by putting two more across to
make it a 7-4 lead.
After a scoreless fifth,
Franklin County put three
runners across to tie the game
7-7. The Panthers responded
by putting six runners across
to take a 13-7 lead.
But Franklin County wasn’t
ready to give up, and charged
back to put six more runs on
the board, tieing the game
13-13 in the top of the sev
enth.
The game would go into
extra innings, with both sides
looking for an opportunity to
get that one missing run they
needed to pick up the win.
Franklin County would get
the break they needed in the
top of the 10th inning, get
ting four runners across to
take the lead. Jackson County
couldn’t answer, and the Lions
recorded the 17-13 win.
Rob Williams recorded the
loss, striking out five in 3 2/3
innings of relief.
“We just had some men
tal breakdowns and failed to
make plays,” coach Tommy
Fountain said. “It doesn’t
matter if you have 15 hits
in a game if you forget how
to play defense. There was
plenty of blame to go around.
We literally had 10 guys that
made some sort of glaring
physical or mental mistake
on Wednesday. You can’t win
doing that. We had 14 hits
through the first six innings
and one the rest of the way.
We know we’re a better
See Panthers on page 11B
SEND IT THIS WAY
Jackson County’s Rob Williams waits for the next pitch to come his way during a
recent game. Photo by Brandon Reed
AUTO RACING
See EJCHS on page 11B
Dragons roll with wins over Dawson Co.
WINNING PERFORMANCE
Clay Rogers held off all comers to win Saturday’s
250-lap USAR Pro Cup event at Gresham Motorsports
Park. Photo courtesy GMP Media
Rogers picks up Pro
Cup win at Gresham
CLAY ROGERS dominated
the USARacing Pro Cup 250
at Gresham Motorsports Park
Saturday. For Rogers, who
won the last USAR race held at
the track in 2007 when it was
still Peach State Speedway, it
was business as usual.
“Even though it’s a different
track, it still drives a lot like
the old Peach State - just with
a new Gresham wrapper on it,”
said Rogers in Victory Lane
after beating Benny Gordon
to the line by a 0.470-second
margin. “This track has a lot
more grip than the old one,
but you still have to drive it
the same. I’ve been with two
different teams since I last
won here, but it still feels just
as good to win this time as it
did the last.”
Rogers started 10th on the
grid after Caleb Holman won
the pole with a new track
record for the USAR divi
sion with a 17.770 second lap
in qualifying. The race was
quickly short-circuited on the
first lap when outside pole sit
ter Stephen Naase pounded the
outside wall and then careened
across the track into the inside
front stretch barrier.
Back under green, the race
was again stopped when Matt
Lofton and Bryan Silas tan
gled heading into turn one on
Lap 18. Two subsequent cau
tions and a round of pit stops
put Rogers in the lead for the
first time on Lap 54.
Over the next 50 laps, sever
al drivers including A.J. Frank,
See Gresham on page 4B
By Brandon Reed
THE JEFFERSON Dragons
continued their winnings
ways last week, picking up
two wins in a double header
against Dawson County.
The Dragons now enjoy a
two-game lead over North
Oconee in the region.
Up next for the Dragons is
a trip north to Fannin County
for a Saturday double header
with the Rebels.
The Rebels enter play this
week 6-1 in the region and
9-2 overall.
First pitch in game one is
slated for 1 p.m.
DAWSON CO.
On Saturday, the Dragons
traveled north to Dawsonville
to face the Tigers of Dawson
County.
After holding Dawson
scoreless in the top of the
\ m
first, the Dragons took con
trol of the game in the bot
tom of the second by putting
three runners across in the
bottom of the first. After three
and a half innings in which
both teams failed to score,
Jefferson added to their lead
with two more runs in the
fifth and one additional run
in the sixth. In the end, the
Dragons came away with a
6-0 victory.
Jake Fields recorded the
win, giving up just five hits
while striking out three in
seven innings.
Fields also had a good night
at the plate, going 1-2 with
a home run and two RBIs.
Lucas Redd went 2-3. Kyle
Hardy went 1-3 with an RBI.
Caleb Meek went 1-2 on the
■ * - —
:
GOING FOR IT
Jefferson senior Jared Kimmel swings on a pitch during
night.
GAME TWO
It looked like Dawson
County might try to split the
bill early on in game two of
Saturday’s doubleheader.
After a scoreless first inning,
the Tigers started out the sec
ond by putting two runners
across to take an early 2-0
lead. The Dragons responded
by putting one run across in
the bottom of the inning, then
added four more to their tally
in the bottom of the third
while holding Dawson score
less in the top of the inning.
The Tigers would pull to
within one run of Jefferson in
the top of fourth by scoring
two runs. The score would
stay 5-4 until the bottom of
the fifth, when the Dragons
got another run across to take
a two-run advantage.
Dawson County came back
to tie the game up in the top of
the seventh, scoring two run
ners to make it 6-6. But the
Dragons would not be denied,
and scored the winning run
in the bottom of the inning to
win 7-6.
Kyle Hardy picked up the
win, giving up four hits and
four runs while striking out
three in just over three and a
half innings.
a recent game.
Photo by Justin Poole
Hardy also led at the plate,
going 2-3 with a home run
and three RBIs. Jake Fields
went 2-3 with a home run and
an RBI. Jamie Sexton went
1-3 with an RBI.
EAST JACKSON
On Tuesday, the Dragons
traveled across the county
to face the Eagles of East
Jackson at EJCHS.
Jefferson took control of the
game early, putting four runs
on the board in the top of the
first inning. They would add
two more to make it 6-0 in the
top of the second, all while
See Dragons on page 11B