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Awards & Honors
The Monroe County Reporter • April 25, 2018
MP HONORS EIGHT BASEBALL SENIORS ON FRIDAY
Cam Agnew, No. 6, was escorted by his parents Clay
and Jeannie Agnew. Agnew lettered in baseball for three
years. He plans to attend Georgia Southern University and
major in information technology.
Christian Knight, No. 15, was escorted by his parents
Derrick and Christy Knight. Knight has lettered in baseball
for two years. He plans to attend Georgia College and
State University and major in pre-med.
Ladondre Buckner, No. 7, was escorted by his parents
Kawanna and Andrea Buckner. Buckner has lettered in
baseball for two years. He plans to attend Albany State
University and major in business.
Aaron Mock, No. 14, was escorted by his parents Tony
and Dawn Mock and brothers Austin and Aric. Mock has
lettered in baseball for two years. He plans to attend Gor
don College and major in business.
Donovan Hogan, No. 10, was escorted by his parents
Leslie and Madelyne Hogan and brother Brandon. Hogan
has lettered in baseball for one year. He plans to attend
Georgia State University.
Jake Newton, No. 10, was escorted by his parents Todd
and Denice Newton. Newton has lettered in baseball for
two years. He plans to attend Georgia College and State
University and major in business.
J.D. Richards, No. 8, was escorted by his parents Vince
and Donna Richards. Richards has lettered in baseball for
three years. He plans to attend Abraham Baldwin Agricul
tural College (ABAC) and major in nursing.
T.J. Sauls, No. 13, was escorted by his parents Teddy and
Cindy Sauls. Sauls has lettered in baseball for three years.
He plans to attend Gordon College before transferring to
University of Georgia and study engineering.
CHAMPS
Continued from Front
April 17. One day later
on Wednesday, Lamar
County Middle stunned
top-seeded Gray Station
9-8 in the other semifinal
to guarantee the Bulldogs’
homefield advantage for
the title contest. Gray
Station could have been
made to forfeit after fail
ing to provide umpires,
but Lamar County, who
hadn’t beaten Gray Station
all year long, agreed to
reschedule and it paid off.
Smallwood said he was
impressed with his oppo
nent in the championship
game.
“I thought Lamar was
one of the best teams in
the league,” he said. “We
had beaten them twice,
but they were both 5-3.
They were both nailbiters.
And then today was an
other three-run nailbiter.
Hats off to those guys,
they fought their way
into the playoffs. They
had a playoff to get into
the playoffs, they beat the
No. 1 team, and then they
came and gave us all we
wanted.”
The C-Team Bulldogs
finished the season with a
12-2 overall record.
Bulldogs' bats silent in season-ending loss
By Richard Dumas
forsyth@mymcr.net
The Mary Persons baseball
squad saw its bats go quiet at
the least opportune time last
week to fall short of a state
playoff berth.
MP dropped its season
finale 4-1 at home to Upson-
Lee in the final game of a
three-game set on Friday
night to ensure the Bulldogs
would fall a single game shy
of the AAAA state playoffs.
Upson-Lee ace Alex Blount
stifled MP’s offense for the
second time in four nights,
throwing a six-hit complete
game, giving up a single
unearned run, while striking
out seven and walking just
one. Blount threw 90 pitches
on just three days rest to
dominate MP with an assort
ment of curveballs mixed
with some well-timed heat.
The Bulldogs had to win
on Friday to advance on to
state, but MP’s offense could
never get on track. In a solid
effort, MP starter Conner
Watson, the hard-luck losing
pitcher, held the Knights
scoreless into the fifth inning
to keep the Bulldogs in the
game. Watson stranded a
pair of runners in scoring
position in the top of the
third by striking out Upson-
Lee star Gabe Pollard to
end the threat. But Watson
was not so fortunate in
the top of the fifth. With
runners on the corners and
one out, Upson-Lee lefty
Chance Gamble singled to
the opposite field, plating
the game’s first run. Watson
then walked Pollard on four
pitches to load the bases
before throwing a wild pitch
to Joshua Keeter that resulted
in a second Knights’ run.
With runners on second
and third and still just one
out, MP head coach Clae
Mathis went to the bullpen,
bringing in starting catcher
Alex Kite to pitch. Kite
immediately gave up an
RBI single up the middle to
Brooks Gulley to make it 3-0.
The junior reliever eventually
induced an inning-ending
4-6-3 double play, but the
damage was already done
as MP trailed by three runs
with just nine outs to go.
MP senior Christian Knight was the lone Bulldog with multiple hits in MPs 4-1 home loss
to Upson-Lee. The contest was the final game for MPs eight-man senior class. (Photo/Kim
Holderfield)
After Kite had a one-out
double to right in the bottom
of the fifth, pinchrunner
Donovan Hogan tried to
steal third. An errant throw
by Upson-Lee catcher Keeter
enabled Hogan to waltz
home for MP’s first run. MP
leadoff man Cam Agnew
then roped a two-out double
to right-center to try to keep
the rally going, but Blount
would wriggle out of any
more trouble and preserve a
3-1 Upson-Lee lead.
The Knights then got the
insurance run right back in
the top of the sixth when
Upson-Lee’s Trace Park hit
an RBI grounder to first, giv
ing the Knights a comfort
able 4-1 edge.
The Bulldogs mustered
just one more baserunner
in the final two innings (on
a Christian Knight single in
the sixth) before succumbing
to Blount’s excellence.
Gamble was the lone
Knight with a multi-hit
game, going 2-2 with a pair
of walks and an RBI. Three
Knights’ hitters, Turner
Maddox, Logan Spivey and
Blount, had doubles in the
contest. As for MP, Knight
was the lone Bulldog with
multiple hits, going 2-3.
Three MP hitters, Agnew,
Kite and Aaron Mock, had
doubles in the game.
Second-year MP head
coach Clae Mathis said he
has never previously missed
the state playoffs in his head
coaching career.
“We didn’t hit tonight,”
Mathis said. “It’s a shame
because there’s a lot of fingers
that will get pointed in differ
ent directions about what did
or didn’t happen. To be hon
est, our pitchers had some
bad luck. They competed. It’s
fine. I’m not upset about any
thing other than we didn’t hit
tonight. It’s unfortunate that
it’s these guys’ last game. This
is a feeling that I’ve never
had. I don’t understand what
this feels like to not play next
week. And it hurts. It’s going
to hurt these guys because
there’s some guys here that
have really given a lot of
themselves for four years.
And I’m appreciative of that.
Going forward, we’ve got
to do a lot of extra work to
make sure this doesn’t hap
pen again.”
The Bulldogs finished their
season in fifth place with an
18-12 overall record (7-8 in
Region 2-AAAA). West Lau
rens, 20-7 overall (12-3 in
Region 2-AAAA) was the re
gion champion and will en
ter the AAAA playoffs as the
region’s top seed. Upson-Lee,
See BASEBALL • Page5B