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WE HAVE IT COVERED IF IT'S PLAYED
tReporter
1C
March 16, 2022
SPORTS
CALENDAR
Wednesday,
March 16
Boys and Girls Varsity
Track 2 pm I FPD
Boys and Girls Varsity
& JV Golf vs. Lamar 4
pm I Forsyth Course
Girls/Boys Middle
School Soccer vs. La
mar Co Middle School
5/6:15 pm I Banks
Stephens Middle
Girls/Boys JV Soccer
at Pike County High
School 5:30/7 pm
Thursday,
March 17
Girls/Boys Middle
School Track 4 pm I
Mary Persons High
Girls/Boys Varsity Golf
4 pm I Hickory Hills
Boys/Girls Varsity Ten
nis at Jackson 4:30 pm
Middle School Base
ball vs. Upson-Lee
4:30 pm I MPHS
Friday,
March 18
Middle School Base
ball vs. West Laurens
4:30 pm I MPHS
Varsity Baseball at
Peach County High
School 5:45 pm
Girls Varsity Soccer at
Alexander High School
6 pm
Dogs win 13th in a row
By Chris Soule
cwsox79@yahoo.com
The No. 6-ranked Mary
Persons
Diamond
Dogs won
their 13 th
straight
on a rainy
night in
Forsyth
Tuesday,
12-0 over
Peach
County.
Eric
Snow
blasted
a grand
slam in
the 8-run
third inning to lead the MP
massacre. Ryan Jenkins
got the shutout win on the
mound as the mercy rule
was invoked in the fifth.
Last week, MP beat
another region rival, 2-9
Jackson, on the road.
MP struck quickly as
Ryan Jenkins belted a
2-RBI single and Ian Lewis
popped a double to make
it 4-0 after the first inning.
However in the bottom of
the inning with 1 on, first
baseman Ryan Causey
suffered what appears to be
a season ending injury. A
Jackson player was running
inside the baseline and
bumped into his gloved
hand, breaking Causeys
wrist. The news hurts, as
Causey was having a tre
mendous year going 18-40
or .450 batting average with
10 RBI’s through 12 games.
MP went on to win this
game despite the loss of
Causey in a 13-1 blowout
where Eric
Snow hit his
9th homerun
of the season.
Mary Persons is ranked
No. 6 in the latest Prep
Baseball Reporter Top 10
for Class AAA in Georgia:
1. Pierce County
9-0
2. Pike County
12-2
3. Cherokee Bluff
9-3
4. North Hall
8-4
5. Appling County
7-2
6. Mary Persons
12-1
7. Long County
11-0
8. Burke County
9-0
9.GAC
7-4
10. White County
9-1
Gage Hopper preparEs to make the tag in
Jake Grant,
who started
the game on
the mound,
went a strong
4 innings giv
ing up zero
rims and only
3 hits while
striking out 6.
Jake Causey
came in as
relief for 1 inning giving up
1 rim, 1 hit, and striking
out 2.
In a notable display of
sportsmanship, the Region
4-AAAA Howard Hus
kies from Macon visited
Mary Persons on Thursday
March 10 and unveiled a
new jersey worn to honor
the passing of senior Caden
Swancey. Ian Lewis started
this game on the mound
and pitched a 1 hit com
plete game shutout striking
out 8 batters along the way.
The Dogs offensively put
up a massive 15 runs over
4 innings led by Snow who
went 4-4 with 2 homeruns
(including the walk off), a
triple, and a whopping 7
RBIs.
On Wednesday March 9,
MP hosted its first region
game against Jackson. The
game was initially sched
uled to be a road game but
weather changed it. The
Red Devils came in loud
and proud in the dugout
despite their record and got
on the board first with a
pair of dropped 3rd strikes
and a double. Thus endeth
the scoring for Jackson as
the win over Jackson. (Photo/John Belknap)
MP came back with 5 runs
in the bottom half of the
first. The Jackson dug-
out remained optimistic
through the next 2 innings
holding the Bulldogs to 2
runs. However in the bot
tom of the 4th, the flood
gates opened for another
7 runs capped by a Brady
Christmans no-doubt
homerun. Christman went
2-4 on the day with 5 RBI’s.
MP finished the game with
14 runs on 12 hits while
Jackson had 1 run off 3 hits
compounded with 6 errors
in the game. Ryan Jenkins
started the game on the
mound going 4 innings
giving up 1 unearned run,
1 hit, and striking out 6.
Zack Grizzard went on the
mound for the last inning
giving up 0 runs, 2 hits, and
striking out 2.
MP moves to 12-1 on
the season (2-0 in regional
play) with 2 more games
slated this week starting
with a home game Tuesday
vs 1-6 Peach County and
Priday at Peach County.
All games are scheduled to
start a 5:55 p.m.
Jessica Evans named MP softball coach
By Will Davis
publisher@mymcr.net
Mary Persons has hired
a new softball coach who
won 51 games in her
last two seasons at
South Effingham High
School.
Jessica Evans will be
the new head coach
in 2022-23, replacing
Hannah Grossman who
stepped down to pursue
a graduate degree.
Evans has been coach
ing for 18 years starting
in her native Lamar
County. She said com
ing to Mary Persons is
getting her back close
to home. Evans will also
be a PE coach at Mary
Persons.
Evans said the softball
world is “kind of small
and everybody talks” so
she had several people tell
her that Mary Persons had
an opening.
Evans said when she first
started coaching at Lamar
County, Mary Persons
was the team you wanted
to beat. She said MP was
tough and Lamar County
always struggled to com
pete with the Bulldogs. But
over time she said Lamar
County was finally able to
beat the Lady Dogs. Evans
said her task is to build the
program back up to what
it can be so it’s strong and
one of the top programs in
Class AAA in Georgia.
“We’re going to build a
tough program,” said
Evans.
It seems she’s done
that at South Effing
ham. The Mustangs
have advanced to the
Sweet 16 and the Elite
8 in the playoffs under
Evans, and she coached
the No. 7 pitcher in
the nation. Evans said
in Effingham County
there are two high
schools and that kind of
splits the community, so
she’s excited to be part
of Mary Persons where
it’s the only high school
in the county.
“It’s great when you
can be part of a pro
gram and everybody in
town is cheering for your
team,” said Evans. “That’s
what I look forward to,
coming together and sup
porting that one team.”
MARY PERSONS BULLDOGS
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ryan Causey
.500 batting average with 3 RBIs
before season-ending injury
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Investment Services Since 1890
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Macon, Georgia 31201
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Evans said she and her
husband and their three
children are looking for
somewhere to live and he
is looking for a job. He had
maintained the athletic
fields for South Effingham.
“It’s a big move,” said
Evans, “but it’s exciting.”
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