About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2024)
championship on Friday. Cherokee Bluff boys started fast, beat Gainesville for Lanierland SPORTS, ID Midweek Edition-JANUARY 3-4,2023 I $2.001 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Jeremy was a goofbalT Photos courtesy Harvey Dixon Briana Medina, 11, speaks Friday, Dec. 29, during a two-hour remembrance ceremony about her “goofball” older brother Jeremy Medina, who died after a batting cage accident on campus. Sister of late Jeremy Medina speaks during ceremony Gainesville High School baseball players mourn the death of their teammate Jeremy Medina during a remembrance ceremony Friday, Dec. 29. BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Hundreds gathered in the Gainesville High School gymnasium Friday, Dec. 29, to remember the life of Jer emy Medina, the 17-year-old baseball player who died after a campus batting cage accident put him in a coma and ultimately left him brain dead. Jeremy was struck in the head by a baseball bat Nov. 20 when he accidentally leaned into the swing of a teammate who was hit ting from a tee in one of the indoor batting cages. After about two weeks in a coma, his surgeon declared him brain dead, and he was offi cially pronounced dead Dec. 11 after his heart stopped beating. Medina's family has described him as a young man of mature faith who had dreams of being a youth minister and playing baseball professionally. Jeremy's teammates, clad in red, sat together in the middle rows of the bleachers. Many of them broke down as the two-hour remembrance ceremony proceeded, punc tuated by soul-stirring per formances by singer Ismael Ramos, a close friend of the family. During one of the songs, Jeremy's father, David, had his fist raised, his head lowered and his eyes clenched. Toward the end of the cer emony, Jeremy's 11-year- old sister, Briana, stood up from the bleachers, walked to the podium along with a few cousins, took the micro phone and, after thanking the Gainesville community for their support, reminisced on what it was like having Jer emy as an older brother. She took a breath and exhaled: “Jeremy was a goof- ball,’’ she said softly, drawing a laugh from the crowd and smiling. “Me and David (her 19-year-old brother) and Jer emy always fought, but at the end I always won. And although he always fought with me — I love him. ... I always called Jeremy names like monkey, orangutan, short person, and we always watched (YouTube sports channels) Team Edge, Dude Perfect, a lot of things.” She recalled the last time she saw Jeremy before the accident. Her eldest brother David had just arrived home from college, and he brought a toy gun with him. Predictably enough, he and Jeremy began fussing over the gun. David got ahold of it and pointed it at Jeremy, who warned, “‘If you shoot, I hit.'” All of the commotion woke up Bri ana, and like any little sister would, she egged it on. “I'm like, ‘David, shoot him, shoot him, shoot him, shoot him!"’ Earlier in the ceremony, Adam Miller, the assistant athletic director for Gaines ville City Schools who pre viously served as the head coach of the baseball team, delivered an emotional eulogy about the impact Jeremy had on the baseball program and his teammates. He also paid tribute to the Medina family for the grace they've shown in the face of tragedy. “The strength and the faith of the entire Medina fam ily that I was able to witness throughout this whole tragic event, and the timeline all the way back to the accident, is something that will never, ever leave my mind,” Miller said. Jeremy enrolled at Gaines ville High School in August 2022, and “immediately our kids gravitated towards Jer emy,” he said, adding that Jeremy's “work ethic was off the chart” and “his smile and personality (were) sec ond to none. He immediately impacted and changed our team.” He noted that Jeremy was set on being a catcher first and pitcher second, but proved to be ajack-of-all-trades. “Instead what he becomes is a catcher and a pitcher — and a first baseman and a third baseman and a cor ner outfielder, (which) we needed, because he just wanted to play ball,” Miller said. “He had numerous clutches for us in big games in big spots that were game changers for us, and he also was a part of a combined no-hitter on the mound as a pitcher. Jeremy was a great teammate, he was a great stu dent and he was very easy to coach.” “I'm going to finish up by saying I certainly don't know everything or close to it, but I feel pretty sure,” he paused for several seconds, his voice breaking, “about four things: Jeremy Medina loved base ball, he loved his teammates, he loved his family and he loved his Lord and Savior.” “Until we meet again,” he said, looking toward the ceil ing and holding up four fin gers. “Number four.” To watch a full record ing of the ceremony, visit the YAGO LIFE YouTube channel. Police seek suspect in bank robbery BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Police were on scene of a bank robbery Tues day, Jan. 2, at the Browns Bridge Road Wells Fargo in Gainesville. Gainesville Police said a man entered the bank around 10:30 a.m. with a note demanding cash and left the scene. Lt. Kevin Holbrook said the suspect left with an undisclosed amount of cash. “He left on foot as far as we know,” Holbrook said. Holbrook said there were no weapons involved in the robbery. The man was seen wearing a green-and-black puffy coat. The man shown is suspected of robbing the Wells Fargo on Browns Bridge Road Wells Fargo on Jan. 2. Photo courtesy Gainesville Police 40 single-family homes floated in Flowery Branch BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Another year, another batch of homes pro posed near downtown Flowery Branch. Peachtree Corners-based Edge City Proper ties is seeking to build 40 single-family homes at 5416 and 5408 Gainesville St., across from the Flowery Branch Masonic Lodge 212 and just a few blocks from Main Street. See Homes 13A First Hall Co. child of2024 bom at NGMC BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Alexander Gomez Santizo is the first Hall County child bom in 2024. Santizo, coming in weighing just over 6 pounds and 19 inches long, was bom at 3:47 a.m. at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. Following the birth, the Santizo family was given a gift basket from Northeast Georgia Health System Auxiliary and Safe Kids North east Georgia. “(We) feel very excited to have (our) baby be the New Year's baby,” the family said. “(We) are very appreciative of the gifts and thankful for everyone.” Photo courtesy NGMC Gainesville staff Alexander Gomez Santizo was the first baby born in Hall County in 2024. ONLINE INSIDE gainesvilletimes.com/newsletters: Sign up to receive email newsletters from The Times gainesvilletimes.com/apps: Download The Times’ app for a user-friendly online experience and app notifications for big stories Calendar 2A Life Classified 2C Opinion Comics 4D Region Fun+Games 3D Sports IB 6A 1C ID 0 40901 06835 8
