About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 2018)
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
