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The Commerce News Sports CONTACT US: Brandon Reed / brandon@mainstreetnews.com / (706) 367-5233 or (706) 335-2927 IB THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2008 CHS Baseball Tigers Ready To Start Region Play On Friday By Brandon Reed The Commerce Tigers look to turn their early season luck around after losing games to both Oglethorpe County and Banks County last week. Their next chance to score their first win of the season will come on Friday when they’ll host Towns County in their first region match-up of the year. The first pitch in that game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oglethorpe County Last Wednesday the Tigers traveled to Oglethorpe County to face the Patriots, who entered the game winless on the young season. While the Tigers worked well defensively they didn’t put the ball in play often enough, and came up on the short end of a 5-2 score. Commerce took a one run lead in the first, and held the Patriots at bay until the bottom of the fifth, when Oglethorpe put two runs across. The Tigers tied the game in the top of the fifth, and sent the game into extra innings when the Patriots couldn’t answer in the bottom of the inning. But Oglethorpe put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with three runs. Reuben Haynes went 2-for-3 on the day, with a single and a double. Hunter Ward had a single. Cohen Cooke recorded the loss, pitching three and a third innings, giving up four hits while striking out one. Haynes pitched three and two-thirds innings, striking out seven and giving up three runs. “Against Oglethorpe, we played as well defensively as any team I’ve had in three years,’’ said coach Walt Massey. “Carl Allen had six assists from his third base posi tion. Reuben (Haynes) pitched well, he just got a bit fatigued as his pitch count approached 65. If he contin Coming up ► vs. Towns Co., March 14,6 p.m. vs. Tallulah Falls, March 18, 5 p.m. v vs. Social Circle, March 20, 5 p.m. ues to throw that well and gains a bit more stamina during his next few bull pen sessions, I’m confident he will win a lot of games for us this sea son. “We did a lot of things well defensively, and strategically we executed several bunts well. We just weren’t able to put the ball in play enough to win. With eleven strikeouts and three hits, we were actually fortunate to have a chance to win.’’ Banks County The Tigers went into Thursday’s game against the Leopards hop ing to exact a little revenge for their season opening loss on Feb. 27. They didn’t get it, as Banks County pummeled Commerce 20-3 in a game that went only five innings. The Leopards struck first in the top of the second with four runs, but Commerce answered in the bottom of the inning by putting two on the board. Banks County put three more across the plate in the third, while the Tigers’ bats fell silent. Banks added four runs in the top of fourth, while Commerce could only muster one run. The nail in the coffin came in the top of the fifth inning, as the Leopards put nine runs across. Cooke had a double for Commerce, while Haynes went 1-2 and Allen got the other two hits, both singles. Allen recorded the loss on the mound, surrendering six hits while recording two strikeouts in two innings. “The Banks County game was light years removed from the effort and focus we showed against Oglethorpe,’’ Massey said. “We looked very uninter ested and lethargic. “We missed an opportunity to jump ahead big with the bases loaded in the first inning and didn’t capitalize. From then on, we were just trying to escape with a semblance of our pride intact. I’m not sure, yet, if we did that or not. We did very few things well on Thursday. “People often say they’d rather lose big than lose a heartbreaker, well I can certainly tell you that I would rather not lose at all.” Carl Allen sends a pitch to the plate Thursday lose to the Leopards 20-3. against Banks County. The Tigers went on to Photo by Chris Bridges Up Next The Tigers will try to recover from the two losses in their first region game Friday at home against Towns County. “If we have any fight about us at all, we will use the two games last week as motivation to get back on the practice field to cor rect the things that are prevent ing us from being successful,” Massey said. “This is the biggest week of our season as we pre pare for our first region contest. Our season starts this week.” EJCHS Girls Soccer CHS Golf Lady Eagles To Face Rabun Co. Friday East Jackson Drops Games to North Oconee, Banks By Brandon Reed It’s been a rough last couple of outings for the East Jackson girls’ soccer team, as the Lady Eagles were shut out by North Oconee and Banks County. Next up for the Lady Eagles is a trip to Rabun County on Friday, with game time set to start at 5:30 p.m. North Oconee The Lady Eagles played a resched Coming up >■ @ Rabun Co., March 14, 5:30 p.m. * @ Franklin Co., March 18, 5:30 p.m. @ Oglethorpe Co., March 20,5 p.m. uled game with North Oconee last Wednesday that had been postponed on Feb. 21 due to weather. The results were not what the East Jackson players had hoped for, as they lost 4-0 to the Titans. “We played a tough game, but were not able to score,” said coach Emily Gunderson. “Several of our starters were injured or had relapses with prior injuries during the game, which hurt us as a team.” Banks County Next, the Lady Eagles trav East Jackson’s Sadie Staples (6) crosses the match while Brittany Blackwell watches at a recent match. The Lady Eagles will travel to Rabun County for their next match on March 14. eled to Banks County for their third region match of the season. The results weren’t any better than before, however, as Banks County also won 4-0. “Midfielder Aubrey Cozzens had several nice crosses while bringing the ball down the field,” Gunderson said. “Kassie Mull and Jazmin Flores played a tough offensive game with multiple runs for the goal, but were unable to complete them. Defensive play ers Emily Sipes and Brittany Blackwell played aggressive and hustled to defend our goal.” Commerce Teams Defeat East Jackson The Lady Tigers’ golf team chose to wear pink uniforms this year in support of cancer awareness. Team members are, left to right, Camille Blair, Chelsey Cain, C.J. Wilkes, Callie Adams and Anna Marie Hooper. By Brandon Reed The Commerce boys’ and girls’ golf teams handed East Jackson losses last week at Deer Trail Country Club. For the boys, the Tigers defeat ed the Eagles 169 to 266. The top four scorers for Commerce were Hamp Gary, who medaled with a 39, Taylor Gary, who shot a 40, Casey Drinkard with a 45, and Adam Hanley with a 45. Other scorers included Austin Patterson with a 48,and Sam Purcell with a 56. “Hamp played very well,” said Commerce golf coach David Stephenson. “He would have shot a 37, but he called a two shot penalty on himself for tee ing up in front of the tee mark ers. I was very proud of him for doing this. “Taylor played well but did not score as well as he played. His putting was a little erratic. I expect him to be in the 30s next match. Adam Hanley played his best round. I was proud for him. Casey Drinkard played his first match and did okay. Austin and Sam are both swinging the club well and I expect them to score better soon. Overall, for this time of year, it was a good match.” The girls also came away with a win, defeating East Jackson 102 to 129. C.J. Wilkes shot a 51, Chelsey Cain shot a 52, Callie Adams with a 54, and Camille Blair with a 56. “The girls played the best match they have played in a long time,” Stephenson said. “They have practiced harder this year and it is paying off in better scores. All the girls played well. Chelsey Cain has been our most consistent this year. I am proud of all the girls.” Commerce was next sched uled to play Oglethorpe County on Tuesday. Results of that game were unavailable at press time. 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