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THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
APRIL 1,2009
Commerce Baseball
East Jackson Track
Allen Fans 16 As Tigers Blank Towns County
By Justin Poole
Carl Allen carried a no-hitter into the seventh
inning and fanned 16 as the Commerce Tigers
shut out Towns County 3-0 March 24.
Allen recorded all but five outs from the
mound and held the Indians hitless until the
leadoff batter in the seventh smacked a single
to center. Allen proceeded to strike out the next
three batters to end the game.
Hunter Ward led the offense with a two-run
homer. T. Green had the other RBI and Allen
went 2-for-3 at the plate.
After last Friday’s game was washed out, the
Tigers are preparing to face Athens Christian
on the road.
Athens Christian is 3-2 in the region, 4-5 over
all. Commerce is undefeated (4-0) in region play
and 7-4 and is averaging seven runs per game,
two runs more than Athens Christian. The game
starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Next week as the school closes for spring
break, the Tigers will be on the diamond for
three games. First, on Tuesday, Commerce will
be at Athens Academy for a region match-up at
5:00 p.m. against Athens Academy, which is 2-2
in region competition.
On Thursday, the Tigers host Prince Avenue at
5:30 p.m. Prince Avenue is 1-3 in region play.
Next Saturday, April 11, Commerce will be in
Jefferson facing the Dragons as Commerce tries
to avenge a 12-7 loss earlier in the season.
Commerce’s game last Friday against Tallulah
Falls was postponed after rainy weather blew
across the state.
Tigers’ coach Steve Cotrell has yet to deter
mine a date for the makeup game. Check www.
mainstreetnewssports.com for updates.
At the beginning of last week, Commerce
worked in the delayed game from March 2 with
Banks County. After trailing 4-0 by the third
inning, the Tigers rallied to pull ahead 6-5 going
Carl Allen pitched a nearly perfect game against
Towns County last week with 16 strikeouts and
only one hit. Photo by Justin Poole
into the bottom of the
fifth.
Then things fell
apart as Banks scored
11 runs off eight con
secutive hits, includ
ing three homers. The
Tigers couldn’t answer
the challenge and fell
16-6.
Ethan Thomas suf
fered the loss on the
mound.
At the plate, Hunter
Ward went 2-for-4 with
an RBI, Paul Ford was
2-for-3 with an RBI;
and Carl Allen went
2-for-4.
Commerce was
scheduled to host
Lakeview on Tuesday.
Results were unavail
able at press time.
East Jackson Baseball
East Jackson Baseball Hosts
Banks County On Friday
Commerce Golf
Lady Tigers Defeat
Hebron At Double Oaks
By Brandon Reed
A rainout was the best
thing that happened to East
Jackson Eagles last week.
Following losses to Banks
County and North Oconee,
the baseball Eagles will
seek a reversal of fortune
Friday when they host
Banks County in a 5:30
rematch.
Banks County
After a crushing 10-run
defeat by Elbert County
last Monday, the Eagles
hoped to rebound one
night later against Banks
County.
East Jackson led 3-2
through the fourth inning.
That’s when things got away
from the Eagles, as Banks
County found its offense
and rallied to win 9-3.
Hunter Beck recorded the
loss, pitching four innings.
Sam Williamson helped the
Eagles at the plate with a
homerun.
“Banks is a very good
hitting team,’’ noted coach
Josh Gandy.
Continued on page 2B
By Justin Poole
Rain wiped out two matches last week,
but the Commerce Lady Tigers beat
Hebron last Tuesday before the rain set
in.
Rain kept the Tiger golfers from compet
ing in the Madison Invitational Saturday
at Double Oaks, and last Thursday’s
round with Cedar Shoals also fell victim
to the weather. According to coach David
Stephenson, those events will not be made
up as the team approaches the region
tournament.
“Hopefully, we get to play this week and
in the Calhoun Tournament next week,’’
Continued on page 2B
Commerce Middle SchoolTrack
Commerce Tennis
Terrick Ramsey pulls ahead of a Jefferson opponent
during the relay event. Photo courtesy Cheryl Cook
CMS Tigers Compete At Jefferson
The Commerce Middle
School track Tigers placed
second on March 24 at a
meet against Jefferson and
Stephens County.
Commerce’s boys scored
56.5 points. The Lady
Tigers finished third but
scored more points than in
any previous meet.
The CMS team will com
pete in the Oglethorpe
Invitational on Saturday
9:00 a.m.
Continued on page 2B
Tigers' Tennis Faces
Must-Win At Woody Cap
By Justin Poole
The Commerce tennis team has had a
run of bad luck in recent matches.
It started with a loss to Banks County
on March 17, both teams fell to the
Leopards. The boys were defeated 3-2
as the girls were swept 5-0.
“I thought we played hard but had
too many unforced errors,’’ said tennis
coach Chad Bridges.
Then at Lakeview Academy on March
19, both the girls and boys dropped the
region match.
The next three matches were very
important for Commerce in regards to
qualifying for the region tournament.
Last Monday, March 23, Commerce
fell to the Tallulah Falls Indians. Then
on March 24, Commerce the Tigers
lost to Towns County.
“It was pretty close Monday for both
boys and girls,’’ Bridges said. “Tuesday,
we were missing several kids from
both teams which caused us to shuffle
around. That cost us more than any
thing.’’
A Thursday match with Hebron was
rescheduled for April 13 after spring
break because of rain.
The teams hope to turn it around as the
season draws to an end. They’ll travel
to Woody Gap tomorrow (Thursday).
Continued on page 2B
Eagles Win At Home
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson track teams settled for
a split decision last week against Jackson
County, Banks County and Rabun County.
The Leopards, amassed 119.5 points to
win the event, while their nearest competi
tor, Jackson County, got only 56.
For the girls, however, it was a fourth-
place finish, as they earned 44.5 points.
Rabun County won the event with 88.5
points.
The boys set four school records during
the meet.
Brandon Banks broke his old mark in
the 1,600-meters with a time of 4:48, while
Dylan Kemp broke his old record in the
110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.12. Tyler
Collins set a new mark (23.78) while win
ning the 200-meters, and the 4x100 relay
team of Collins, C.J. Allen, Robert Mahone
and Deon Sewell set a new school mark in
finishing second.
Other first-place winners included Sewell
(long jump), Zach Gilbert (triple jump),
Collins (high jump), Kemp (100-meter hur
dles), Cody Hall (200-meter hurdles), and
Wade Mize (400-meters).
Others who placed, included Sewell (sec
ond, triple jump), Zach Gilbert (fifth, long
jump), Collins (fourth, 200-meters), Kemp
(third, 300-meter hurdles), Hall (fourth, 100-
meter hurdles.
Also, Zach Cornell (second, shot put),
Andrew Williams (fourth, shot put), Caleb
Bailey (fifth, shot put), Nick Fulks (third,
discus and high jump), Mahone, (third,
long jump, fourth, triple jump), Banks (sec
ond, high jump and 3,200-meter run), Terri
Cox (fifth, high jump), Ronnie Slizowski
(fifth, pole vault).
Also, Kevin Kesler (fourth, 1600-meters,
second, 800-meters), Allen (third,
100-meters), Sewell (third, 200-meters),
Justin Stephens (second, 300-meter hur
dles), and Josh Kesler, (fifth, 3,200-meter
run).
For the girls, Kelsey Thomas took first in
the 400-meters and Amanda Murphy won
the 300-meter hurdles and placed second
in the 100-meter hurdles. Jessie Harper set
a new school record in the high jump with
a jump at 4’8” to place second.
Other placers included Brooklyn Watkins
(second, pole vault), Amanda Anderson
(third, 1600-meters and 800-meters),
Carly Caswell (fourth, 1600-meters, sec
ond, 3200-meters), Courtney Clark (fifth,
400-meters and fourth, 800-meters),
Desiree Thompson, (fifth, 100-meters) and
the 4x400 relay team of Thomas, Murphy,
Harper and Clark placed second.
The Eagles were next slated to travel to
Oglethorpe County for the Gary Matthews
Invitational on Saturday, but rain forced
that match to be rescheduled for April 18.
East Jackson was scheduled to host a
meet on Tuesday, but results were unavail
able at press time.
The Eagles will next travel to Jefferson on
April 11 for the Jefferson Relays.
Courtney Clark competes in a relay event
during a recent meet. Clark placed fifth in
the 400m and fourth in 800m last week.
Photo by Jessica Brown
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