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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.