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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2010
Prep Softball
Dragons win three of five
in season-opening tourney
By Ben Munro u y H
IF THE past weekend is any indication, a
young Jefferson team from last year is now a
battle-tested unit this year.
Jefferson won three times over the weekend
in Columbus, including two lopsided victories,
to place third in the gold medal bracket of the
Jordan Invitational.
Coach Brad Puckett said his team - which
had dealt with its share of inexperience last year
— responded whenever challenged throughout
the five-game event.
“It just shows their maturity, how much
they’ve grown up,” coach Brad Puckett said.
Jefferson faces Hart County on the road
this week in Region 8-AA action and comes
home for a Tuesday contest with Elbert County
(the game was originally a road contest, but
Jefferson will now make that trip Sept. 16). The
Dragons’ much anticipated region opener with
rival Jackson County this past Tuesday was
rained out.
Jefferson then moves on to the Buford
Tournament Aug. 25, 27-28, hosted by the
three-time defending Class AA champions.
The Dragons slate in that tournament
includes Union County, Providence Academy
and Buford, which has built itself into a softball
dynasty. Puckett welcomes the tough schedule.
“If we want to be the best, we’ve got to play
the best,” he said.
Tournament highlights over the weekend in
Columbus included Kasey McDonald’s second
career home run and Catherine Knight’s career
first-round tripper. Summer Bartek, back after
missing all of last season, hit .415 over the
weekend while Jordyn Whitfield hit an amaz
ing .600.
“It’s great to have her in that no. 2 spot in the
lineup,” Puckett said of Whitfield.
Morgan McKinney picked up two victories
from the mound, while Kayla Perry had one.
“I felt both our pitchers pitched really well
this weekend,” Puckett said.
Jefferson opened with a 6-3 victory Friday
over Woodland, which went 19-10 in Class
AAAA last year, and followed that with a 9-1
rout of Shaw. The Dragons suffered a 13-0 set
back to Heritage of Catoosa to open Saturday
play but rebounded with an 8-0 victory over
Marion County. Jefferson was edged 3-2 by
Bleckley County in its tournament finale.
Puckett had nothing but good things to say
about his team in that loss. Bleckley County lost
by only one run to the Heritage-Catoosa team
that routed Jefferson, which presented a huge
challenge for the Dragons.
“I challenged the girls ... How are we going
to respond to play this team?” Puckett said.
“The girls came out and fought and just play
hard.”
McKinney paced the Dragons offensively
in the opener against Woodland with a 3-for-4
i
Jefferson’s Morgan McKinney, shown
here in a recent practice, picked up two
victories over the weekend at the Jordan
Invitational. Photo by Ben Munro
performance and two RBIs. Perry picked up
the win, surrendering seven hits and two earned
runs in six innings of work while striking out
four.
Against Shaw, Whitfield enjoyed a per
fect 3-for-3 performance at the plate, driving
home two runs. Adding to the hit parade were
McDonald, who went 2-for-2 with a homer and
two RBIs, and Catherine Knight was also 2-for-
2 with a homerun. Morgan McKinney worked
five innings for the victory, giving up four hits
and one earned run while striking out seven.
In the lopsided loss to Heritage-Catoosa,
Jefferson was limited to just one hit while Perry
took the loss on the mound.
In the bounce-back victory over Marion
County, Whitfield went 3-for-3 again, scored
three runs and collected an RBI to spark the
Dragons. Bartek also had a big afternoon at the
plate, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. McKinney
picked up the victory with three innings of no
hit softball, allowing one walk and striking out
seven. Savannah Snapp pitched the final two
innings, surrendering just one hit and striking
out three.
Jefferson was held to four hits in its loss to
Bleckley County. McKinney took the loss, sur
rendering nine hits and two earned runs while
striking out four.
Eagles continued from IB
“We’re going to go back
and address all of our mis
takes and make sure we’ve got
those things down,” he said. “I
don’t think we had any men
tal mistakes, as far as going
the wrong direction. I think
we had one, which isn’t bad.
But there’s just so much more
we’ve got to shore up, like our
steps, our fundamentals, our
head placement and all these
things.”
Despite the mistakes, Caputo
said there were also some pleas
ant surprises from some of his
players on Friday night.
“I thought Chas Malcolm
played very well on both sides
of the ball,” he said. “That was a
very nice surprise. Caleb Hardy
did a very nice job playing line
backer and guard. Those were
some good surprises.”
Despite the intensity his
players may have carried onto
the field Friday night, Caputo
said the scrimmage with
Johnson was just that - a
scrimmage.
“We went in there looking
for certain things to do, and
not necessarily playing it as
a game,” he said. “I think the
kids now have seen their mis
takes, understand where we
are, and I think their excite
ment level is going to con
tinue to grow and grow.”
BACK FOR MORE
After a sixth place in state competition last year, the East Jackson cross country
girls are looking again to contend in the region.
Cross Country
Cross country Eagles ready to run
BY BRANDON REED
IN JUST a little over a
week, the East Jackson cross
country teams will see their
first action of the 2010 sea
son, as they open their season
on Aug. 28 with the NEGA
Championships at Athens
Christian.
Coming off a strong state
runner-up performance last
year, the boys team is looking
for another strong season.
East Jackson had six boys
receive scholarships as they
left high school last year, leav
ing one line top seven runner,
Cale Pirtle, to carry the ban
ner this year. Last year, Pirtle
was a member of the 8-AA
third All-Region team.
“Cale has improved, but he
is not close to reaching his
best,” said coach Bob Roller.
Senior Kyle Wood who
will boost a young group of
juniors including Edward
Stone, Stuart Robinett, Mike
Adair and Adrian Woodruff,
along with sophomores Tyler
Cone and Cory McClung.
“We will have a spirited
group for the team competi
tion which will make us a bet
ter practice team, but which
team in the region we will be
better than is a major ques
tion,” Roller said. “We cannot
overlook anyone, but we will
run our best in October.”
Rounding out the team
are Steven Bramlett, Sam
Derochers, Rhett Vanderford,
Quinton Rice, Lee Scroggs,
Jake Thaxton and Jordan
Presley.
For the girls. Roller said
the team’s issue, like that of
a number of teams, is a lack
of depth.
“We have a good core, but
an injury or two could drop
us fast in the team standings,”
he said. “I like our teams,
boys and girls, and they are
working hard, but the heat
has prevented us from moving
forward as fast as the coaches
(assistant coaches Carly Parr
and Matt Gibbs) would like.
We will be better in the cooler
months if we can stay injury
free.”
All-State runner Sherri
Blalock is returning for her
senior year She will lead a
host of seasoned underclass
men in her final year as a
Lady Eagle.
“Sherri is showing the vocal
leadership and work habits
that are pushing the others to
perform better,” Roller said.
Her teammates include
2009 All-Region juniors
Amanda Anderson and Skyler
Cozzens.
“They are stronger physi
cally and are becoming bet
ter runners each day,” Roller
said.
Juniors Courtney Clarke
and Courtney McDowell are
keeping pace with the others
and improving, Roller said.
“We will run as a pack
with the top group and with
sophomore Sheena McEachin
and freshmen McKenzie Parr
improving and staying with
the returning runners.”
Roller added that sopho
more Caroline Flynn is mak
ing strides toward the top
group, while sophomores
Cora McDowell, Elizabeth
Allred, and Corbin Williams
continuing to improve as
well.
Softball
Eagle softball team faces Stephens Fri.
By Brandon Reed
IT WASN’T exactly the start the East Jackson
hopeful were looking for.
The Eagles opened their 2010 softball cam
paign last Wednesday with a loss to the Archer
Lady Tigers, 5-2.
Up next for East Jackson is the Threads Sports
Invitational at Toccoa Friday and Saturday with
Lumpkin County, Prince Avenue, Stephens
County and Banks County.
The Lady Eagles will open play against
Lumpkin at 5:45 p.m. on Friday.
Head softball coach Jason Rainey said
Lumpkin County will be a good test for his
young team.
“They come to play,” he said. “They are
one of the toughest teams to play all year.
This will be one of our biggest tests. Lumpkin
always has good players and is extremely well
coached.”
A little nervousness and a few errors put
the Lady Eagles behind early last Wednesday
against Archer. The Lady Tigers moved out to
a big early lead, scoring five runs in the first
two innings. But East Jackson recovered to
hold Archer scoreless through the rest of the
game, but could only score twice while leaving
11 runners stranded.
Rainey said seniors Brooke Yarbrough and
Brooklyn Watkins provided good leadership
throughout the game.
“As they go, the team is going to go,” he
said.
Rainey also praised Taylor Nix’s perfor
mance on the mound, but said that the outing
was an “overall game”.
“Nobody stood out, so to speak,” he said.
“We’re just looking for experience right now.
Every game we play, that’s what we need to
do - play. I almost feel like we’re starting over,
and any experience we get is good.”
Rainey said that overall, he felt his team did
pretty well.
“Really I was pretty happy with it,” he said.
“We made some errors, but that’s going to hap
pen. The kids came around, and they got some
game experience. I could tell they were a little
nervous, but I was real pleased.”
A Proactive
Approach
Shannon Sell
Typically, homeowners will spend extensive time
preparing their home for sale, rushing to repair the roof or
drafty windows or electrical issues or old appliances (not
to mention rushing to the bank to cover the costs of getting
the home in model condition). However, there is another
novel approach to making your home appeal to buyers,
and it's called preventative maintenance.
In other words, starting from this day, look at your
home as a prospective buyer would. If you would repair
or improve certain features of your home for them, then
why not for yourself? Even new homeowners will one day
find themselves on the selling side of the table. It may be
difficult to look that far into the future, but life can throw
some curveballs that might precipitate a move sooner than
you had expected. A growing family, job transfer, or
health issues are just a few of the changes that could lead
to your decision to downsize, upsize, or relocate to another
city.
Keep in mind that any small problems around your
home will ultimately develop into bigger ones if neglected,
and that it's always easier and less expensive to fix the
small problem earlier on. Get proactive and enjoy living in
a home that is always in selling condition. When the time
eventually comes to move, you'll be really glad you did!
Shannon Sell is the broker & owner of The Sell Group,
LLC, a full-service real estate firm located in
downtown Hoschton. He can be reached at
706-654-5691. Tininv.thesellgroupoidine.com
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