Newspaper Page Text
Which Way
to Go
By Rick Frye
With a third straight term in the
“Hall County League” of Region
7-AAA on tap for Pickens High
next year and in 2005-2006, sports
fans in the community will contin
ue making the
trek on Hwy. 53
or 369 over to
Gainesville for
the next two years
to follow the
Dragons and
Dragonettes in
their athletic
exploits.
Pickens became a part of this
region in 2000 when all the Forsyth
County schools got too big and
moved up in classification. For
many years, the only schools in the
Gainesville area that were of simi
lar size to Pickens were East Hall,
Johnson and Gainesville, and we
had one stint back in the early ’90s
where PHS was in a region with
those teams, but only for one two
year term.
With the opening of new
schools Chestatee and Flowery
Branch taking enrollment from
North Hall and West Hall, all of a
sudden every school in Hall Coun
ty was in the same classification,
AAA. When the Forsyth schools
moved up, that left White, Gilmer,
Fannin and Pickens without
enough teams to make a region, so
they got bunched in with the Hall
County schools to form the new 7-
AAA, split into two sub-regions,
with Chestatee and North Hall
joining the mountain schools on
one side, and the other five form
ing the eastern sub-region.
East Hall’s enrollment is such
that they qualify for AA, and they
are dropping down in classification
next year. For the sports that break
into sub-regions, basketball and
baseball, that will mean North Hall
moves over to the other side to
make five teams in each.
The very real possibility exists
that following this two year stint,
the long time rivalries that exist
with Gilmer and Fannin might
come to a halt. If the anticipated
population growth takes place, the
school may have to move up in
classification while Fannin and
Gilmer stay behind.
The big question is, do we in
Pickens County want to do like
Hall County or Forsyth County?
Hall County voters chose to make
their schools smaller by building
new ones, while Forsyth, which
has experienced explosive growth
over the past 10 years, has chosen
not to build more schools and has
seen South now become a AAAAA
school that will compete in the
same region with the largest
school in the state, Collins Hill.
Central and North are AAAA and
stuck in a league that takes them
into the heart of Atlanta against
stiff competition including Marist,
Tucker, Chamblee, Etowah and St.
Pius, and under the present set-up
that would be the most likely place
for Pickens to go.
Two years ago, Pickens County
Middle School was split in two,
with the new Jasper Middle School
operating out of the old high school
when Hill City Elementary opened.
It has given many more children at
the middle school level the oppor
tunity to be part of teams, cheer
leading squads, band programs and
the like, as well as creating a better
atmosphere on both campuses with
less students to try and keep
focused. It has been a little tougher
on the athletic teams being success
ful since they are competing
against the same schools they used
to. That means that Fannin and
Gilmer middle schools are nearly
twice as big as PCMS and Jasper.
Is it time to start thinking about
Continued on 2C
PCRD Summer Camp Regis
tration
The Pickens Co. Recreation
Department’s summer camp only
has a few openings left, so any
one interesting in sending their
child to our summer camp
should come by asap to register.
Adult Softball Registration
Registration for the adult soft-
ball leagues, men and women,
will begin on Monday, May 10
and will run through Friday, May
21. Anyone interested in entering
a team into our league must
come by the Rec. office to pick
up and roster. All rosters and the
entry fee of $400 must be turned
in on Friday, May 21. For more
information please contact our
office at 253-8862.
THURSDAY. MAY 13, 2004 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 1C
Dragons finish with a flair
Girls Track
Rice gets 6th at State
By Rick Frye
Pickens High’s Noni Rice man
aged a leap of 16’ 8” (personal
best) at the Girls AAA State Track
meet last weekend in Albany in the
long jump, which was good for 6th
place in the event. Rice also com
peted in the 200 meter dash, but
did not finish in the top 8.
Senior Whitney Propes quali
fied for three events, the high hur
dles, the 100 yard dash and the
triple jump, but did not reach the
top 8 in any of the events.
Congratulations to both girls for
successful seasons, and good luck
to Kevin Hussey in the triple jump
and Jacob Gise in the 800 meter
run as they get ready to compete in
this week’s boys meet in Jefferson.
Gise is day-to-day whether he will
be able to compete after spraining
his ankle playing basketball last
week.
.Noni Rice with her long
jump medal.
New belts at UKS
By James N. Golden
The 2004 edition of the Pickens
County High School Diamond
Dragons have concluded their sea
son, that is their regular season. No,
this team is not finished just yet.
I’ve been telling you that these guys
could play for two months now and
they have won seven of their last
nine games. So there’s ‘playoffs in
them hills’ for this senior-laden
team. Therefore, you’re not finished
hearing from me just yet. Let’s
check it out:
The final week of the season
opened with a road trip to Chestatee
High School to our east. The War
Eagles were hoping to avenge a
come-from-behind, seven-run final
inning victory at the hands of our
Dragons earlier in the campaign.
However, Jeremy Carver and the
defense behind him had other plans.
Carver once again provided his
‘nose to grindstone’ effort as he
allowed only six hits from the Hall
County team. He allowed no extra
base hits and struck out two batters
with only two walks to befuddle
and harness the War Eagles. Jeremy
also received excellent defense
from his supporting cast. Solid play
from the infield and the outfield
broke the home team’s attempts at
mounting a scoring threat all after
noon long. Meanwhile, the visitors
also get to bat in baseball and boy
did they. Alex Williams and Jason
Johnson continued their excellent
late season slugging as each went
two for three. Josh Green and Sean
McDonald also got into the act as
they each had two for four. But the
surprise and delight of the after
noon, besides a well-played and
pitched ball game, had to be the
11th hour addition to the line-up of
a certain young freshman. This
young man has attended every prac-
The seniors and their families.
tice, provided a portion of the talent
for the excellent JV season, warmed
up pitchers, chased foul balls and
done what the young players do on
a varsity team -- sit a lot. Jamie
Cheshire, whose family has signi
fied what volunteer youth baseball
is all about in this community, got
his chance. Inserted into the lineup
at second base, this ball player
worked through the freshman jitters
to get two base hits and make sever
al defensive plays in helping his
team to victory. It was a great
moment for the small Pickens con
tingency. So, Carver pitched a com
plete game, the bats came through
and a freshman gets his dream. But
there was one more magical
moment in this ball game. In the
bottom of the seventh, Chestatee
was mounting a comeback with two
runners on and the Dragons remem
bering their own comeback I men
tioned earlier. Chestatee wraps a
screaming line drive toward the
right field gap with two RBI’s writ
ten all over it. Mr. A team, Alex
Williams, tracks the ball down on
the dead run and turns and fires
back into the infield to shortstop,
Jeremy Helmuth. Cool-headed Hel-
muth steps on second and tags
another returning base runner to
complete a game-ending, comeback
snuffing triple play and storybook
ending to this afternoon in Hall
County, 7-2.
Wednesday afternoon took our
Dragons North to replay the arch
rival Gilmer County Bobcats. Our
guys had suffered a spanking at the
hands of these same Bobcats earlier,
and had no plans of allowing a
repeat performance. Justin Lester
was on the mound for Coach Nunn
and pitched his usual gusty ‘hit-it-
if-you-can’ ball game. Justin rocked
along into the fourth inning with
five strike-outs and good support to
hold the Gilmer team scoreless. In
the fourth Gilmer mounted a charge
with a big inning and the Pickens’
coaches relieved Lester with anoth
er youngster on this team like
Cheshire. Southpaw Shiloh Stan
field inherited the mound. He, like
Lester, endured several uncharacter
istic errors by the defense to get out
of the nightmare seven-run fourth.
But this seemed to awaken the bats
as we proceeded to score in the
fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Big
days were had at the plate by Hel
muth, whose three-for-four outing
was punctuated by a huge double in
the seventh to open that frame.
Senior Kevin Buchanan also had a
quiet, but critical three-for-four
game and our steady first baseman,
Golden’s his name, contributed as
well. Two other details that are
worth mentioning from this tight
but very satisfying 12-10 victory
are a last inning, pitch hit RBI dou
ble by Carver and the in-your-face
closing pitching by Johnson who
mowed down the Gilmer batters in
the final frame to squelch any fur
ther comeback. It was fun to walk
out to my car on the purple team’s
grounds knowing we were playoff
bound and they were home-bound.
By the way, I haven’t said this very
often, but this was a well coached
game by our quiet but effective
coaching staff. Way to go gentle
men.
The season finale for the Drag
ons was a Senior Extravaganza at
Dragon Field on Friday night. The
Fannin County team had made the
scene but they were secondary in
this production. The coaches had
decided, rightfully in this reporter’s
eyes, to start all the seniors in this
game no matter what. The playoffs
C ontinued on 2C
Thompson signs scholarship
Cody Thompson signs a football scholarship to Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. Pictured
(l-r) Sam Wigington, Steve Sewell, parents Mr. and Mrs. James Thompson.
JYSA Cheerleading registration
It’s that time again! JYSA registration will begin on May 8 at
JMS, May 15 at Roper Park Pavilion and June 5 at JMS. All reg
istrations will begin at 11 a.m. and end at 2. The new director is
Terri Holbert. The competition registrations will be held on the
same days and times. The director for competition is Tammy
Kellogg. For questions about JYSA team cheer, contact Terri at
JYSA.HOLBERT@ATT.NET or leave a message on the new
voice system at ETC mailbox #706-253-JYSA(5972). For ques
tions about competition cheer, contact Tammy Kellogg at 692-
6038. We look forward to a successful season. If you have a
2003 uniform that does not fit your child, you may bring it to
registrations and we can try to sell it for you.
Volleyball Camp
There will be a volleyball
camp for girls in grades 5-9 on
Thursday, May 27 from 9:30
until noon at PHS Gym. The
cost will be $25 per girl with her
leaving with her own volleyball.
The camp will be to learn vol
leyball skills by PHS volleyball
players, including Brittany Bohn
who will be playing for Rein
hardt College. For more infor
mation contact Coach Dean at
253-1800 or at:
jenniferdean @ pickens .k 12 .ga .us
At Jasper United Studio, the following students received new
belt rankings: Leah Bradley was presented her yellow belt; Katie
Cagle worked hard to earn her red stripes; and Phil and Jane
O’Bryant received their green belts. Call Richard and Sylvia
Bruce at 253-KICK or 770-735-6209 to find our how you can be a
part of the karate class. There are classes to fit all ages.
Adult Baseball
league forming
Seeking teams for a new
amateur baseball league in
North Georgia area to begin
play in late spring or summer.
For more info call Dennis Hol
brook at 770-887-4036.
Volleyball Team
Yard Sale
The PHS Volleyball team is
having a yard sale Saturday, May
15 from 8:30-11 a.m. at Jasper
Middle School. Please come by
and buy their stuff. All money they
collect is for camp and other needs
for us to be the best volleyball
team in our region. Thank you for
your support.
Woodhaven
Realty, LLC
Woodhaven Realty, LLC
is pleased to welcome
one of Pickens County
Top Producers!
Carol Goforth
As a lifelong resident of Pickens
County and having seen the
changes through the years I feel that Honesty,
Integrity, and Loyalty are things that should stay
the same. As your Realtor, I will offer you profes
sionalism, courtesy, and honesty in whatever ca
pacity I represent you whether seller, or buyer. I
like happy customers. I am an active member in
Pickens County Board of Realtors and a life member
of the Million Dollar Club and Top Producer in 2003.
My husband Bill and I have been married 40+
years and have lived in Pickens County all of our
lives. We are blessed to have two wonderful chil
dren and their mates and two of the sweetest
grandchildren in the world.
I am very active in helping Appalachian Out
reach for the needy and am an active member of
Trinity C.H. Church in Jasper. My hobbies are sing
ing, reading, and helping people.
Pleasing you is my mission. If you are thinking
of buying or selling, give m a call! I would appreci
ate any referrals! 770-893-9301