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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Sunday, December 23, 2018
LOCAL GOLF
Chattahoochee Men’s Golf
Group plays 3-best-ball
strokes competition
Keith Causey, Jerry Johns, Stu Virgin
and Bob Watson won the three-best-ball
strokes game at the Chattahoochee Golf
Club on Wednesday. Don Gardner, Bryan
Bell, Robert Pyne and Bob Henderson
tied for second with the team of Geoff
Derryberry, Mike Adams, Gary Palmer,
Joe Karowski.
Closest to the pin winners were Causey
(No. 3), Bell (No. 5), Pyne (No. 12) and
Palmer (No. 17).
Compiled by Bill Murphy
HIGH SCHOOL
SCOREBOARD
East Hall
girls win
in Florida
Ivey Shadburn scored 12 points and
Aaliyah Ellison added nine for the East
Hall High girls in a 54-32 win against
Chiles (Florida) on Saturday at the Battle
of the Beach in Panama City, Fla. Alexis
Burce chipped in seven points for the
Lady Vikings (6-8).
On Thursday, East Hall faces Gaines
ville in the first round of the Lanierland at
3:30 p.m. at Chestatee High.
FLOWERY BRANCH GIRLS 45,
WEST CAMPUS (CALIFORNIA) 35: The
Lady Falcons took a 19-point lead into
halftime to win its final game of the Nike
Tournament of Champions in Phoenix.
Ashley Scott had a team-high 13 points for
the Lady Falcons, while Caroline Wysocki
and Ashlee Locke each scored 10.
Next up, the defending Lanierland
champions open play against Cherokee
Bluff in a first-round matchup at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday at Chestatee.
BUFORD GIRLS 39, ARCHER 30:
Tate Walters scored a game-high nine
points and hit 5 of 6 free throws down the
stretch for the Lady Wolves (10-1) on Sat
urday in Lawrenceville.
Up next, Buford faces St. Pius X on Jan.
2.
BANKS COUNTY BOYS 86, COM
MERCE 64: Carl Cleveland posted his
first triple-double of the season with 35
points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists on Sat
urday in Commerce. Also for the Leop
ards (7-5), Pierce Martin scored 21 points
with four assists, and Dakota Orr finished
with 18 points and four blocks.
Wrestling
NORTH HALL TAKES SECOND AT
SMOKY MOUNTAIN DUALS: The Tro
jans earned a second-day win against
state-powerhouse Jefferson, 42-20, to
earn second place in the 25-team bracket
of the Smoky Mountain Duals on Saturday
in Sevierville, Tenn.
Over two days, North Hall compiled a
7-1 mark.
On Saturday, North Hall opened with
a 42-31 win against Woodward Academy,
followed by a 57-20 win against North
Forsyth. The only loss came to eventual
champion Cleveland (Tenn.), 70-9.
Compiled by Bill Murphy
High school scores can be reported by
10:30 p.m. each night by calling 770-718-
3415 or email sports@gainesvilletimes.
com
ATLANTA UNITED
Five Stripes agree to
new deal with Parkhurst
The Captain is coming back.
Atlanta United on Saturday announced
it has re-signed Michael Parkhurst, the
captain of last season’s MLS Cup winning
team, to a new contract.
A day after defeating Portland 2-0 to
win the title at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
on Dec. 8, the club announced that while
it had declined the option on Parkhurst’s
contract, it was negotiating to bring him
back.
Parkhurst, 34, was named the team’s
captain before its inaugural 2017 season.
The MLS veteran has been indispensable
with 70 starts in two seasons, helping to
solidify one of the league’s best defenses.
The team has posted two of the greatest
goal differences in league history the past
two seasons thanks to a powerful offense
and stingy defense.
Parkhurst finished fourth in the league
in clearances (154) and third in passing
accuracy (87.7 percent) among defenders.
“Michael has played an important
role for our team over the past two sea
sons and we’re pleased to have re-signed
him,” Atlanta United Vice President Car
los Bocanegra said in a statement from
the team. “Since joining the club, he has
served as an excellent captain and his
experience and leadership is invaluable
for our group.”
Parkhurst finished third in MLS
Defender of the Year voting last season
and was an All-Star for the second consec
utive season. In the playoffs, he and cen-
terback Leandro Gonzalez Pirez helped
the Five Stripes post three shutouts in five
games.
Associated Press
BASEBALL
Sharing love of the game
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Micah Owings, center, instructs kids while standing between his brothers Jon Mark, left, and Josh, right, during the Ozone Christmas
Camp on Friday at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville.
Gainesville grad, former big league pitcher Micah
Owings working with the next generation players
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com
Micah Owings’ baseball
career took a sudden turn in
2017.
One day, he was wearing
a Seattle Mariners uniform,
competing for a job in the big
leagues. The next he was sport
ing slacks and a polo, suddenly
thrust into a front office role
as a talent scout with the same
organization.
In that 24-hour span, the
Gainesville High graduate saw
the writing on the wall. His
hopes of potentially reaching
the Major Leagues again as a
player dashed, he knew it was
time to turn the page.
A lot of players choose to
announce their retirement
in style — whether that be
a flashy press conference,
a dragged-out post on social
media or a subtle wave of the
hat to the fans as that final
curtain call to the dugout. But
Owings never did.
The former right-handed
pitcher and Silver Slugger
winner didn’t have that kind
of path. Despite an upstart
rookie season with the Arizona
Diamondbacks in 2007, nag
ging injuries impeded Owings’
growth in the MLB moving for
ward. His final five seasons in
the league involved stints with
the Cincinnati Reds and San
Diego Padres.
Owings spent 2016 with the
York Revolution, an Indepen
dent League Club, before ink
ing a one-year minor league
deal with the Mariners orga
nization in October of 2016.
He recently wrapped up his
first season as a minor league
bench coach for the Reds orga
nization at the rookie league
level in Billings, Montana.
But Owings — once the stud
on the high school diamond for
Gainesville High in the early
2000s, and college standout
with Georgia Tech and Tulane
— seems content with the way
things unfolded in his career.
Maybe those long bus rides
through the scenic, mountain
ous terrain of the northwest
with the Billings Mustangs this
past year has given Owings a
calming perspective on life.
“You’re on bus rides from
nine to 13 hours — on a week,
off a week usually — just trav
eling to parts of Colorado,
Montana, Utah,” Owings said.
“Seeing all those mountains on
bus through the country was an
incredible experience.”
Now, his eyes are set on
something a little bigger —
giving back to the community
he grew up in. It starts with his
family-run baseball institute
and Christmas camps he con
tinues to help run beside broth
ers Josh and Jon Mark.
“It’s never been easy tak
ing the uniform off. Any com
petitive player in any sport
will tell you that,” said Owings,
whose marveled high school
career included back-to-back
state championships (2001-02)
with the Red Elephants and a
career home run total (69) that
still ranks fourth all-time in the
nation (Per National Federa
tion of State High School Asso
ciations). “But it’s also very
rewarding to help the kids who
are coming along, with the
same dreams and aspirations
like I did.”
Since 2006, Ozone Sports
Institute and Ozone Christmas
Baseball Camp have been the
teaching outlets for the Owings
brothers. Run year-round by
Josh and Jon Mark, Micah has
used his offseasons to come
back and help out in any way
he can with the camps.
The Christmas camps,
which have been held at Riv
erside Military Academy, help
teach children aged 7-13 the
fundamentals of baseball. The
children receive instruction
Micah Owings works with
Jonathan Maynor on his hitting
stance during the Ozone
Christmas Camp on Friday at
Riverside Military Academy.
from some big names, includ
ing former MLB pitcher and
Gainesville High graduate Cris
Carpenter along with minor
league second baseman Will
Maddox, former Atlanta Brave
Matt Tuiasosopo. Micah’s
younger brother Jon Mark,
who was an outfielder in the
minors, coaches at the camp
as well.
■ Please see OWINGS, 4B
COLLEGE BASKETBALL I Georgia 70, Georgia Tech 59
Superior height carries Bulldogs to win
Georgia wins fourth game in last five
outings behind Claxton s 13 points
Associated Press
Nicolas Claxton loved how Georgia
started out denying entry points and
disrupting Georgia Tech’s passing
lanes.
The Bulldogs dominated the game
with their length.
“It was a huge win,” the 6-foot-ll
Claxton said. “We came out strong. In
the second half they had a little surge
but we just kept fighting.”
Claxton had 13 points and 13
rebounds, Teshaun Hightower added
12 points, and Georgia beat Georgia
Tech 70-59 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (7-4) never trailed as
they won for the fourth time in five
games. Rayshaun Hammonds, Geor
gia’s leading scorer, played just a few
seconds of final 15 minutes because
of foul trouble and a knee injury sus
tained in the game.
Georgia Tech (6-5) couldn’t
recover from a poor shooting effort
in the first half. Though the Yellow
Jackets pulled within three with 6:58
remaining, they were essentially
done when Tyree Crump hit a fade
away 3 as he fell out of bounds to push
the lead to seven at the 1:28 mark.
Claxton, one of three Georgia start
ers 6-9 or taller, finished with career
highs of six assists and six blocked
shots. He dunked a putback and hit a
3-pointer on consecutive possessions
to push the lead to 56-47 with 2:32
remaining.
Michael Devoe scored 14 points,
and Jose Alvarado and James Banks
each added 11 for Georgia Tech,
which has lost four of six.
“I thought we tried to shoot
speed layups when speed layups
weren’t there,” Jackets coach Josh
Pastner said. “We needed to use
our pivot feet more. We’ve had no
issues with our guys and their com
petitive excellence. They have
always played hard. We have just
struggled offensively, and you have to
give Georgia credit, too.”
JOHN AMIS I The Associated Press
Georgia forward Derek Ogbeide (34) passes the ball
during the first half against Arizona State on Dec. 15 in
