Newspaper Page Text
The Commerce News
Sports
CONTACT US: Brandon Reed / brandon@mainstreetnews.com / (706) 367-5233 or (706) 335-2927
IB
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
MAY 21, 2008
CHS Baseball
EJCHS Football
Massey Resigns As Head Coach East Jackson Wraps Up Spring Practice
Walt Massey, pictured right, greets his players after their victory
over Towns County on April 30. Massey has announced he will no
longer coach the Tigers after this season. Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
Following a rough year for
the Commerce Tigers baseball
program, coach Walt Massey
has announced he will no lon
ger be the head coach for the
program.
Massey will continue to teach
math at CHS, but says he will
not be involved in the athletic
side.
“I just couldn’t honestly do
the job as well as it needs to be
done, as far as the time com
mitments,” Massey said. “I just
thought the program would be
better served if they gave some
body else an opportunity to run
with it.”
Massey said he let his team
know of his decision on May 2,
the day after winning 4-2 against
Prince Avenue.
The team managed to finish
on a high note after struggling
through a 5-16 overall season,
going 5-13 in the region. By
contrast, in 2007, the team went
11-12 overall, and 10-8 in the
region.
Massey said he hopes the
change to a purely academic
focus will make him a better
teacher.
“That’s where my number one
responsibility is,” he said. “But
I’ll still be around. It’s a small
school, I still know all the play
ers, and I’ll keep up with them.”
Massey was blunt when it
came to talking about the effect
of his leaving the CHS baseball
program.
“It won’t be hard to replace
me,” he said. “Those kids do all
the work. There’s a good group
coming up as well, so somebody
is going to land into a good
situation. I think the program
is better off than it was a year
or two ago. Coach Cash left me
with some talent coming up. It
was a smooth transition from
him to me, and hopefully it will
be smooth transition from me to
the next guy.”
Massey says as far as best
moments, there are a couple of
wins that stand out for him.
“The Athens Academy win at
home last year, winning against
Social Circle at home last year,”
he said. “The last game that I
coached against Prince Avenue
was really a good memory for
me. But that’s just strictly talk
ing about baseball. The days on
the practice field when there’s
nobody else there, just me and
the team, and the times in the
summer. The things that most
people wouldn’t consider to be
very glamorous are the ones
you enjoy the most, because
you have so many more of
those. The games could go either
way. We played so many close
games. If the final score dictated
what I considered to be a good
Continued on Page 2B
Auto Racing
Vintage Racers Return To Peach State Sat.
Vintage racers, such as these classic “Skeeters,” will be cen
ter stage at Peach State Speedway on Saturday, as the National
Vintage Racing Associations makes their return to the high
banked Jefferson track. Photo by Brandon Reed
The National Vintage Racers
Association (NVRA) will bring
its touring series to Peach
State Speedway’s half-mile
oval Saturday.
The NVRA is an organiza
tion of owners and drivers of
1929-1968 vintage circle track
stock cars. Entering its twelfth
year, the NVRA “Vintage
Thunder” Racing Series is the
largest touring vintage stock
car racing series in the United
States. Some of their race cars
are restored originals that ran
on tracks in the southeast in
the '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s
while others are replicas of
stock cars from that era.
The NVRA average from 30 to
35 cars per race with members
coming from the Carolinas,
Florida, Alabama, Tennessee,
Kentucky and Georgia, as well
as one long-time member who
tows from Delaware to race
with the NVRA. The “Vintage
Thunder” racing series is just
that, “a racing series,” not a
group of old race cars parad
ing around the track. Race fans
witness an authentic presenta
tion of stock car racing the
way it used to be “back in the
day.”
The NVRA races five classes
of vintage stock cars, includ
ing Limited Sportsman, which
consists of 1930-1957 bodies
on factory frames and powered
by flathead V-8 or inline six
engines; Modified Sportsman,
which are 1930-54 bodies on
factory frames and OHV V-8
engines; Late Model Sportsman
which are 1949-1968 bodies on
OEM chassis with OHV V-8’s;
Late Model Modified, consist
ing of 1949-1968 bodies on
modified frames with OHV
V-8’s; and their fastest divi
sion, Modified Open which
are 1929-1968 bodies on rac
ing chassis, many with over
600-HP engines.
In addition to the vintage
racers, the Peach State Super
Truck, Outlaw Late Model and
Mini-Stock local classes will
also compete. Racing begins
at 7:00.
For more information, log
onto www.peachstatespeed-
way.com, or call 706-367-7490.
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles
wrapped up spring football
practice on Friday, and accord
ing to head football coach
Frank Caputo, it was a produc
tive session.
“We were able to figure out
some depth issues that we had,”
Caputo said. “We had quite
a few kids participate, which
was good. We found some kids
that we actually didn’t expect
to do as well as they did.”
With the spring behind them,
Caputo says the kids will now
start looking ahead to the sum
mer months, and the practice
opportunities the team has.
“I think our kids are real
excited about the opportunity
that’s going to be afforded
them real soon, as far as sum
mer workouts and the season,”
he said. “Our kids really have
grown quite a bit in the last
year, which is nice to see. The
carryover is there that we were
looking for and a lot of them
made a lot of improvements.
We were very happy with all
of that.”
Caputo says his players will
work on their speed, strength,
quickness and agility over the
summer months.
“Primarily, we’ll be working
on getting stronger and faster,”
he said.
Caputo said compared to
last year’s inaugural season,
he feels a lot more at ease
knowing the team has a good
nucleus of players returning
from 2007.
“Last year, everything was
kind of up in the air,” he said.
“We didn’t really have a place
to lift weights last summer. We
went over to the elementary
school and they were gracious
enough to let us work over
there. Now we’ve got our own
place.
“My biggest question now is
how hard are these guys going
to work in the summer months
to get that much better? We’re
playing in a region now, and
we’ll be eligible for the play
offs. How hard are we going to
work is the question, and how
committed are the kids going
to be during the summer? I
feel pretty good about that.
We’re just hoping that we have
a great summer, and it carries
over into the fall.”
Caputo says the Eagles will
open their 2008 season against
West Hall on the road.
The East Jackson Eagles wrapped up spring football practice on
Friday. Photo by Brandon Reed
CHS Golf
Taylor Gary signed last Friday to play golf for Mary Gary, CHS Athletic Director Steve Savage,
Piedmont College. Pictured are, back row, left grandfather Jimmy Cowart, front, father Mark
to right, grandfather Rodney Gary, grandmother Gary, Taylor Gary and mother Dawn Gary.
Gary Signs To Play Golf At Piedmont College
Commerce senior Taylor Gary has committed to
play golf for the Piedmont College men’s golf team
in the 2008-2009 season.
Gary will join head coach Dusty Rogers’ nation
ally ranked NCAA Division III men’s golf team. The
program just completed its fourth year among all
Division-Ill schools.
“Piedmont is a good school,” Gary said. “I looked
around at a lot of colleges, but I liked the campus up
there. It seems like we’ll have a good chance to do
pretty good up there.”
Gary says he plans to major in business at
Piedmont. He says the confidence he built up at
Commerce hopefully will follow him to Piedmont.
“We have a small school here, but everybody
always supported the golf team,” he said. “We did
well here, and hopefully I can take the confidence I
Continued on Page 2B
JangerTown Centre
jpr
/ $ O rr-g
Value Shopping at its Best
Reebok * Old Navy * Paper Factory • Bon Worth • Goody’s Family Clothing
Hibbett Sports • Cato « Maurices ♦ Nova Cinemas • IPetsense • And More!
Commerce, GA • 1-85, Banks Crossing, Exit 149 * 706-335-3354 . Monday-Saturday 9-9, Sunday 12-6
Enjoy our WEEKLY OFFERS at
Tanger Town Centre
i#A JOHNS
Buy any Large or Extra Large Pizza
at Regular Price, get a Second Pizza
of Equal or Lesser Value for
Offer expires 5/25/08
Valitf atlhe Tanger Town Centre location only.