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The Commerce News
Sports
CONTACT US: Brandon Reed / brandon@mainstreetnews.com / (706) 367-5233 or (706) 335-2927
EJCHS Baseball
IB
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
MARCH 19, 2008
Eagles To Host Banks County Thursday
East Jackson Just Misses Second Win
East Jackson’s John Robinson takes a big
cut during a recent game. The Eagles will look
for their second win of the season against the
Leopards on Thursday. Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles are continuing to
feel growing pains in their first-ever season. The
latest came in the form of the Rabun County
Wildcats, who defeated the Eagles 8-6 last
week.
The Eagles hope to see a turn in the their
fortunes when they host the Banks County
Leopards on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled
for 5:30 p.m.
Rabun County
It was a seesaw battle. A costly throwing
error by the Eagles and a bases-clearing double
by the Wildcats proved the difference, as the
Wildcats handed East Jackson
their sixth defeat of the sea
son.
Nick Keyros recorded the
loss. He pitched four innings,
giving up two runs, including a
solo home run. Keyros walked
three, and struck out two. At
the plate, Keyros knocked in
two runs, as did senior Taylor
Boswell.
“We haven’t gotten over the
hump of finishing," said coach
David Robertson. “We can jump out in front of
people, and we can play with anybody. But then
we give up that big inning, or we make an error,
and it’s hard for us to rebound right now. So,
we’re talking to the kids a lot about not letting
the last play affect the next one. We’re leaving
too many runners on base. We left 22 runners
on base Wednesday night."
Along with the 22 runners left stranded, the
Eagles walked nine total batters, and had six
errors against the Wildcats, who came into
Wednesday’s game off of a loss to Union
County.
Showing Potential
Robertson says to have only lost by two in that
game shows the kind of team he has.
“If we can get that many people on base, and
give them 15 free passes with six errors and
nine walks and still only lose by two, we have
a good ball team," he said. “We just haven’t
figured out that winning feels a lot better than
losing."
Robertson says the key lies in the players mak
ing their minds up to break the past trends and
make something happen.
“We’ve got to start having some leadership,"
he said. “We really don’t have any on-field lead
ers. We have some guys that will talk, and do
that cheerleading stuff, but we need somebody
that’s going to be a leader with the glove, or
their arm or their bat, and not necessarily with
their mouth."
Robertson points to the slow start by East
Jackson’s basketball team last year as an exam
ple of what a team can do once they build up
momentum.
“I think once these kids get a little bit of win
ning under their belts, it will snowball. I really
and truly do. We’ve got that kind of quality
kids. It’s going to take time. It’s a marathon, not
a sprint."
Dawson Rainout
Rain postponed the Eagles’ Friday match-up
with Dawson County. Robertson said he had
not yet been contacted with a make-up date for
the game.
East Jackson was next scheduled to travel to
Union County on Tuesday. Results of that game
were not available at press time.
Coming up
> vs. Banks
Co., March 20,
5:30 p.m.
> @ Fannin
Co., March 24,
4:30 p.m.
vs. Rabun
Co., March 26,
5:30 p.m.
CHS Tennis
Tigers Score First Season Wins
By Brandon Reed
The Commerce Tiger tennis team picked
up their first wins of the season against
Woody Gap on Thursday.
Commerce hopes to add more wins this
week, as they’ll face East Jackson and
Banks County on Wednesday afternoon.
The Tigers started off their week with a
trip to Tallulah Falls last Tuesday. Both the
boys’ and girls’ teams came up short, with
the girls losing 4-1, and the boys losing 5-0
to the Indians.
For the girls, the number two doubles pair
of Heather Boyer and Bailey Lord won their
match 8-6.
While the boys got beat, head tennis
coach Blake Rodenroth said their play was
getting better.
“We kept the matches close to the end
where it seemed we would make a mistake
and Tallulah would capitalize on it," he
said.
Tuesday’s disappointment was forgotten
on Thursday, as the Tigers boys and girls
both defeated the Falcons of Woody Gap,
the girls 4-1 and the boys 5-0.
For the girls, number two singles player
Maddison Knick won. Woody Gap for
feited the number three singles. Number
one doubles pair Bree Haggard and Sarah
Leffew won their match, while Woody Gap
forfeited the number two doubles match.
For the boys, number one singles player
Yash Parekh won his match, while Woody
Gap forfeited the number two and three
singles matches.
Number one doubles pair Joseph Sanders
and Kehne Brummette won their match,
as did Deep Patel and Jake Hill at number
two.
“We played better and had some breaks
go our way," Rodenroth said. “A couple of
the matches were tight, but our kids man
aged to step up when they needed to. We
are proud of them for hanging in there and
playing hard.”
Rodenroth said he hopes the wins will
generate some confidence to carry the
teams through this week’s matches.
The Tigers were scheduled to play Towns
County on the road on Tuesday. Results
were unavailable at press time. They will
face East Jackson and Banks County on
Wednesday. The boys will play at Commerce
beginning at 3:30 p.m., while the girls will
play at East Jackson, also beginning at 3:30
p.m.
Commerce’s Bree Haggard reaches for the ball at a recent match.
Haggard and Sarah Leffew won their doubles match against
Woody Gap on Thursday. Photo by Brandon Reed
EJCHS Track and Field
Matthew Damron took second in the pole vault finished fourth overall, while the girls came home
at last Thursday’s meet against Banks County, second. Photo by Lyn Sengupta
Stephens County and North Oconee. The boys
Eagles Perform Well In Home Stand
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles con
tinue to see improvement in
their inaugural season. The girls
came away from last Thursday’s
meet with North Oconee,
Banks County and Stephens
County with a second-place
team result. The boys didn’t
fare as well in their outing, fin
ishing fourth.
Eagles Girls
For the girls, Hope Boggs
took first in the pole vault,
while Sherri Blalock won in the
800-meters.
Second place finishers includ
ed Brook Watkins in the triple
jump and pole vault, Blalock in
the high jump and 1600-meters,
Katherine Deardroff in the
100-hurdles, Amanda Murphy
in the 300-hurdles, and Kelsey
Thomas in the 400-meters.
Also finishing second was the
4 x 400 relay team of Blalock,
Murphy, Thomas and Brittany
Blackwell.
Third place finishers includ
ed Jessica Harper in the
1600-meters, Murphy in the
400-meters, Deardroff in the
300-hurdles, and Alexis Powell
in the 3200-meters. Also fin
ishing third was the 4 x 100
relay team of Victoria Hardy,
Deardroff, Thomas and
Blackwell.
Fourth place finishers
included Terrin Gillespie in
the long jump, Hope Boggs in
the 300-hurdles, and Brittany
Robinett in the 3200-meters.
Finishing fifth were Powell in
the 1600-meters and Gillespie
in the 200-meters.
East Jackson Boys
For the boys, Zac Pearson
won in the high jump, while
Cody Hall was first in the
300-hurdles.
Second place finishers
included Matt Damron in the
pole vault, Kaharie Beasley in
the 800-meters and Standrick
Stephens in the 300-hurdles.
Placing third was Deon
Sewell in the triple jump and
Wade Mize in the 400-meters.
Also placing third was the 4 x
400 relay team of Sewell, Hall,
Mize and Robert Mahone.
Fourth place finishers includ
ed Robbie King in discus, Terri
Cox in the high jump, Jermaine
Davis in the 400-meters, Mize
in the 800-meters and Josh
Kesler in the 3200-meters.
Finishing in fifth place were
Robert Mahone in the triple
jump, King in the shot put,
Stephens in the high jump,
Kesler in the 1600-meters and
3200-meters and Sewell in the
100-meters.
The Eagles were originally
scheduled to take part in the
Winder Relays last Saturday,
but pulled out due to concerns
over the weather.
Coming Up
East Jackson was scheduled
to host Commerce on Tuesday.
Results of that meet were not
available at press time.
Next up for East Jackson is
a trip to Watkinsville to face
North Oconee on Thursday.
That meet is scheduled to begin
at 4:30 p.m.