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INSIDE: Sheriff’s Report 5B, Community Calendar 6-7B
Diamond Dragons end historic season with 19-13 record
The Diamond Dragons
wrapped up their historic sea
son in Thomasville last week.
Thomas County Central
proved a tough test in the
Sweet 16 matchup and the
Dragons showed up with the
expectation to compete.
Game 1 was tight through
the 5th with the Dragons
scoring one in the top of the
5th inning to draw even at 3-
3. The 24-7 Jackets answered
in the bottom of the 5th and
got some separation. They
eventually took Game 1 with
a score of 8-3.
The Dragons were in a
hole and would need two
wins to get the upset and ad
vance. In Game 2, the Jackets
played as the visiting team
and scored in the first to get
an early lead. In fact, Thomas
County Central dominated
Game 2 early, building a 7-1
lead into the 5th. The bats for
Pickens heated up in the bot
tom of the 5th as the Dragons
scored four, highlighted by a
three-run homer to left by
photo/Robin Dunn
The PHS Diamond Dragons shown above celebrating the first playoff game hosted at
Dunn Field. The team became the first from Pickens High to reach the Sweet Sixteen
round.
With a lot of returning players, next year looks promising as well.
Anthony Antinozzi. held, keeping the comeback close the gap in the 6th. The
Down 5-7 going into the alive for another at bat. How- Jackets added two more for
6th, the Dragons defense ever, the Dragons could not insurance in the 7th and a
second Antinozzi homer in
the final inning completed
the game at 9-6.
Coach Williams and com
pany remarked about the
large amount of community
support surrounding the
Dragons playoff experience.
The Diamond Dragons felt
that support and it made the
post season all the better.
The ride home from
Thomasville brought back a
team with a solid 19-13 sea
son, which tied the most wins
in school history, the first
play off series win, and the
first appearance in the Sweet
16. With only two seniors on
the roster the Dragons are in
a position to keep building.
Four juniors and 15 sopho
mores and freshman made
the trip to Thomasville. Ex
perience matters and all of
the returning players will
come back next spring with
that experience under their
belt.
Sports
Fanatic
By
Tommy
Gartrell
Columnist
The
Centenarian
On April 30th, Lester
Wright Sr won the 100
meter relay in his age
class at the Penn Relays
which remains the
United State’s oldest
and most prestigious
track and field events.
With a time of 26.34
seconds, his accom
plishment might seem
unremarkable since
Usain Bolt’s world
record in the 100m is
PHS Esports Report
Rocket League team invited to
play in national tournament
PHS Track heads to state
14 qualify for state competition
STATE BOUND TRACK TEAM MEMBERS — Top left to right- Noah Jones
& Will Hall; Brylee Deering; Jadan Dean.
Middle - 4 x 800m relay teams: Boys - Noah Jones, Jonathan Koonce, Will Hall, Con
nor Hedgpeth. Girls - Bekalt Wise, Emery Steinhauer, Mia Antinozzi, Brylee Deering.
Bottom - Angelina Casey, Bekah Wise, Noah Jones.
The Pickens Esports
teams as a whole had an
amazing season. Unlike more
traditional sports, Esports is
not divided into typical
GHSA classifications. All
teams compete in a single di
vision and competition can
be fierce.
As interest and participa
tion grows, there could soon
be more classifications but as
of now, our Esports Dragons
compete in the same pool
with all other teams.
This year also saw an in
crease in the number of
games allowed in competi
tion. The 2022 season in
cluded a total of five possible
games. League of Legends,
Rocket League, Splatoon 2,
Madden NFL 22, Super
Smash Bros. Ultimate, and a
test run of Mario Kart.
Pickens fielded teams in
League of Legends, Spla
toon, Super Smash Bros and
By Alex Korowotny
Racing Sports
Correspondent
It was Darlington throw
back weekend baby. This
weekend, the NASCAR cup
series was at the famous
“Lady in Black”, Darlington
Raceway. What made the
race even more special was
that most of the drivers were
running throwback paint
schemes from past drivers
like Dale Earnhardt and Jeff
Gordon. Darlington has been
known for some great racing
and great finishes like the
2004 Darlington race be
tween Kurt Busch and Ricky
Craven. So is Darlington a
track worthy of getting
hyped when NASCAR goes
there? Did this race deliver
on great racing? Let’s go
over what happened in the
race first.
The race started at 3:42
p.m. with Logano on pole but
Larson would get by him on
the first lap to lead the race.
The 1st caution flew on lap 3
for Keselowski spinning out
off 2 after getting hit from
behind by Elliott when he
checked for Lajoie after he
made contact with Hamlin
while they were racing for
position. The race resumed
on lap 8 with Larson still
leading and he would con
tinue to hang onto it up to the
Mario Kart.
Each of the competing
PHS Esports teams made the
playoffs, with the Super
Smash Bros teams making
the round of 16. The Mario
Kart team finished 7th for the
entire east coast, only losing
to eventual East Coast Cham
pions North Paulding High
School. The Splatoon 2 team
made it to the playoffs and
finished 23rd on the east
coast. The PHS Rocket
League team, which has won
a recent state title, continued
its fine play and finished sec
ond out of over 200 schools
in the state and gave 7A
Forsyth Central a great finals
match losing 4-2. Due to
their position as state runner
up, the Rocket League team
has been invited to play in the
national tournament for the
PlayVS Cup.
competition caution on lap
30. During pit stops, Logano
took the lead from Larson
and was the new leader of the
race. Logano held onto the
lead after the restart and con
tinued to lead. The third cau
tion of the race flew on lap
55 for Larson spinning out
while racing Kyle Busch for
2nd. Everyone came into pit
again and Logano would still
hold onto the lead. The race
resumed on lap 60 and Busch
and Logano battled side-by-
side for the lead for 2 laps be
fore Busch officially took it
over. Logano would pass
Busch for the lead back with
11 laps to go in stage 1 and
would hold on to win the
stage.
Stage 2 officially started
on lap 97 with Logano still in
the lead. Logano continued
to lead up to the first set of
green flag pit stops in the
race. Truex Jr. would take the
lead from Logano after pit
ting a lap before Logano. The
5th caution flew on lap 167
for Keselowski losing a tire
and going into the wall and
collecting Kyle Busch. Dur
ing pit stops, Chastain took
the lead off pit road over
Truex. The race would re
sume back under green on
lap 175 and Chastain held
onto the lead to win stage 2.
See Racing on Page 4B
The PHS Track team par
ticipated in the Track & Field
Sectionals last weekend in
Carrollton.
It was a successful day for
many of our Pickens com
petitors.
Fourteen PHS Track ath
letes qualified to advance to
the Class 4A State meet in
Albany on Thursday, May
11th - Saturday, May 14th.
Jadan Dean set a PR in
shot put to advance and An
gelina Casey advanced in the
high jump.
The rest of the Pickens
field will be made up of run
ners hoping to place at the
state level.
9.58 seconds, however
Wright turned 100
years old a day earlier
which makes his feat
utterly incredible. For
his age group, not only
did he win the race, he
set a new world record.
It is his second word
record as well. Twenty-
four years ago, Wright
established a new mark
for the over 75 group in
the 200 meters at this
same event.
He began sprinting
competitively in the
1930s, but interrupted
his career to serve his
country during World
War II. He saw action at
Normandy and fought
in the Battle of the
Bulge in a segregated
unit as part of General
George S Patton’s Third
Army.
After the war, Wright
and his wife of 80 years
and former training
partner Adele raised a
family and started a
successful dental sup
ply company in New
Jersey. He returned to
running seriously again
at age 30 and shows no
intention of stopping.
When asked about
her husband’s athletic
career beyond 100,
Adele said: “It’s up to
him. If he wants to do
it, that’s what he wants
to do.”
Wright said his wife
had given him valuable
advice before Satur
day’s race: “My wife
tells me finish your own
race.”
In addition, he has
not ruled out a another
entry in the 2023 Penn
Relays.
On the lookout for good sports & interesting hobbies
As the high school sports season winds down, the
Progress would love to feature adult athletes, weekend
warriors and enthusiasts of all types who want to share
their interests.
Shoot us an e-mail to articles@pickensprogress.com
and we'll arrange an interview.
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