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THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
Phone: (706) 367-2348 WEDNESDAY,
Fax: (706) 387-5418 MARCH 11,2009
justin @ mainstreetnews. com
Carl Allen (6) keeps contact with the bag tag him out. Allen had two homeruns Friday
as the Hart County third baseman tries to against Hart. Photo by Justin Poole
Commerce Basketball
Commerce Falls To Banks, Travels To Bogart Fri.
By Justin Poole
Commerce suffered its second loss
this past Monday to Banks County
after back-to-back wins last week.
The 7-4 loss to Banks County came
after the Diamond Tigers defeated
Oglethorpe and Hart County decid
ing each game by two runs.
Coach Steve Cotrell will have to
get the Tigers to shake off the loss as
Commerce prepares to face Prince
Avenue’s Wolverines in Bogart at
5:30 on Friday.
So far this season, Commerce has
scored 39 runs compared to Prince
Avenue’s three, however, those
three runs were against a quad-A
opponent. Between the schools
for the past three seasons, Prince
Avenue holds a 5-1 advantage. The
Wolverines will open region compe
tition for the Tigers.
Second Season Loss
Monday’s loss to Banks County
came as a surprise as Commerce
took a 4-0 lead after the first inning.
Several pitching and fielding slip
ups by the Leopards allowed the
Diamond Tigers to jump ahead.
Banks rallied for six runs and held
Commerce to those four runs for the
remainder of the game.
The loss leaves Commerce 3-2 over
all.
Losing pitcher Josh Streetman gave
up one run in two innings with two
strikeouts. At bat, Hunter Ward went
2-3 with two RBIs and Ethan Thomas
was 2-5.
Back-To-Back Wins
Last Thursday, Commerce hosted
Oglethorpe in the home opener, win
ning 4-2.
Winning pitcher Josh Swisstak
stayed in for just under four innings
tallying seven strikeouts and allowing
only two hits. He came in in relief of
starter Cody Streetman, who allowed
two earned runs and six hits in three
innings while striking out five.
Carl Allen is credited with the
save.
Allen had a big night at the plate as
well. He went 2-for-2 with three RBIs
including a homer that tied the game
in the bottom of the third. Ethan
Continued on page 2B
East Jackson Tennis
Eagles Drop
Opener To Banks
East Jackson’s tennis season
got off to a rough start last
Thursday as the Eagles dropped
both boys’ and girls’ matches to
Banks County.
The boys lost 4-1, while the
girls were shut out 5-0.
For the boys, their lone win
came from the number one dou
bles team of Tommy Ramsey
and Tsin Nuy Ly.
In a rematch on Monday, East
Jackson hosted Banks County,
and this time the boys came
away with a 4-1 win.
John Kesler won at number two
singles, as did Tony Johnson at
number three singles.
The number one doubles team
of Tommy Ramsey and Tsin
Nuy Ly won, along with the
number two doubles team of
Kevin Potts and Sherying Ly.
The girls again lost in their
rematch with Banks.
Continued on page 2B
East Jackson’s Jaclyn Klerk send the ball back to her opponent
during a recent match against Banks County. Photo by Justin Poole
East Jackson Baseball
East Jackson Falls To Lakeview, Looks For A Win On The Road
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles were hoping to shake off the
cold from the last week’s snowy weather with a strong
showing against Lakeview Academy.
It didn’t work out, as Lakeview trounced the Eagles 9-2.
The Eagles will try to notch a win Thursday when they
travel to Lexington for their first region game at 5 p.m.
Oglethorpe entered play on Tuesday still looking for its
first win of the season.
Lakeview
The tone of Thursday’s game was set early. After going
scoreless in the top of the first, the Eagles saw Lakeview
strike first in the bottom of the inning, as the third batter
hit a two-run homer.
After that, however, East Jackson’s Sam Williamson
stood his ground on the mound, striking out eight of the
first 11 batters for Lakeview.
A pair of errors in the third gave the Lions the opportu
nity to add two more runs. Lakeview went on to add runs
in the fourth and fifth inning.
In the sixth, the Eagles put two runs on the board to
close the score to 6-2, but a three-run bottom of the sixth
for the Lions put the game away.
Williamson recorded the loss, striking out 11 while he
allowed seven runs and four hits.
Hunter Beck, Nick Keyros and John Robinson led the
Eagles in hitting, while Brandon Brooks reached base
twice.
East Jackson coach Josh Gandy said his team has come
a long way defensively so far.
“The kids are starting to understand the fundamentals
of the game,’’ he said. “At the plate we are working very
hard on hitting with a purpose but we are not where we
need to be. I am happy at the moment with the effort the
boys have put into the game.’’
East Jackson was scheduled to host Elbert County on
Tuesday. Results of that game were unavailable at press
time.
Commerce Golf
Torrance Wilcher flys through the air as he competes
in long jump last Saturday. Wilcher would go on to
take first place in the triple jump and third in the long
jump. Photo by Justin Poole
Track Tigers Start '09 Campaigns
By Justin Poole
Commerce’s track and field
seasons got under way on
Saturday as the boys and girls
teams competed at the Eagle
Invitational hosted by East
Jackson.
The Tigers finished in fifth
place behind Oglethorpe,
Habersham, Banks and East
Jackson. The Lady Tigers
finished seventh ahead of
Banks and trailing Dawson,
Oglethorpe, Habersham, East
Jackson, Jackson County and
Rabun.
With Saturday being the first
competition for Commerce
and several athletes coming
in from winter sports, girls’
coach Pam Canup said she
was pleased with the effort.
“[The teams] came out and
did a good job. We are not
in track shape yet, but we
are getting there,’’ said Canup.
“Overall, we found out some
things we needed to find out.’’
Both teams will head to
Jefferson today (Wednesday)
to compete. The meet starts
at 4:00 p.m.
Boys’ Results
In the 100m dash, Javon
Womack took first place with
a time of 11.14. Teammates
Damian Wood and AJ Perlotte
placed fourth and fifth respec
tively.
Deon Orsborne won the
110m hurdles with a time of
15.93, while Zach Scannell
placed sixth in the 300m hur
dles.
The Commerce A relay team
of John Cash, Wood, Womack
and Scannell placed fourth in
the 4x100. In the 4x400 relay,
Torrance Wilcher, Charming
Anderson, Cash and Womack
placed sixth.
Anderson took third in the
high jump while Wilcher fin
ished third in the long jump
and first in the triple jump
with a distance of 41-07.25.
Girls Results
For the girls, Sa’quavia
Varnum placed second in the
100m dash and competed
on the 4x100 relay team with
Alexis Knox, Shekia Moon
and Jamie O’Hara for fifth
place as well as in the 4x200
relay, where the team of
Varnum, Knox, Drea Mathis
and Allie Morgan won fifth.
Taking fourth place in the
4x400 relay, was the team of
Jamie O’Hara, Allie Morgan,
Erica Greene and Quartisha
Carruth.
In the 300m hurdles Shekia
Moon placed sixth.
Sa’quavia Varnum won the
shot put with a distance of
29’2.5” while Joely Howell
took sixth in the discus.
Commerce Golf
CHS Golfers Face Social Thursday
Commerce’s golfers will head to Hard Labor Creek tomor
row (Thursday) as the boys and girls golf teams take on Social
Circle.
Next week, Commerce will be at its home course, Double
Oaks, playing against Cedar Shoals and East Jackson.
Monday’s round against Banks County at Hammer’s Glen
was canceled. The teams are scheduled to play March 31 at
Double Oaks.