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THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
MAY 27,2009
Commerce Summer Baseball
Column
June 1
vs
Oglethorpe Co.
5 p.m.
JV
June 3
@
Franklin Co.
5 p.m.
V
June 4-6
@
Greater Athens
Diamond Classic
June 8
vs
Jackson Co.
5 p.m.
JV
June 9
@
Athens Academy
5 p.m.
V
June 10
vs
Athens Chrisitan
5 p.m.
JV
June 11-13
@
SEGA Wooden
Bat Classic
June 15
@
Jackson Co.
5 p.m.
JV
June 16
@
Jackson Co.
5 p.m.
V
June 18-20
vs
Commerce Slugfest
June 22
@
Oglethorpe
4:30 p.m. JV
June23
vs
Athens Academy
5 p.m.
V
June24
@
Athens Chrisitan
5 p.m.
JV
June25-27
vs
Jackson County
Tourney (at Tiger Field)
Commerce Summer
Baseball Begins June 1
By Justin Poole
With a 16-10 winning season behind them,
the Commerce baseball Tigers will spend
much of the summer getting ready for their
next season.
On Monday the Tigers will kick off the sum
mer baseball season with a 5:00 p.m. junior var
sity doubleheader against Oglethorpe County.
The varsity team plays next Wednesday June
3, in Carnesville in a 5:00 p.m. doubleheader
against Franklin County.
The diamond Tigers’ spring season ended in
the first round of the playoffs against Eagles
Landing Christian Academy after taking the
number two seed in 8-A with a 13-3 region
record. Four seniors graduated from the team,
but the Tigers will retain a strong core of play
ers for next year.
Auto Racing
Work began last week at Gresham Motorsports Park to pull up the old asphalt as the track
is prepared for a new racing surface, which is expected to be put down in the next few
weeks. Photo by Brandon Reed
Where To Turn For Summer Sports
By Justin Poole
With Memorial Day, the end
of school and warmer weather
marking the unofficial start of
summer, sports fans notice a
significant lack of school sport
ing events.
Despite the lack of high school
athletics, there are still several
athletic events available during
the summer.
Local recreation departments
offer a variety of activities for
a range of age groups to fill in
the sport gaps until the cooler
weather of autumn signals the
return of high school athletics.
Possibly the number one sum
mertime activity is swimming.
With some of the local rec
reation departments offer
ing swim leagues this summer
for youth from ages 5-18, the
next Michael Phelps may get
his start in a pool this sum
mer. Before a swimmer can join
one of the teams, he or she
should know how to swim. Lor
those competing, many of the
swim teams have optional swim
meets within the North Georgia
Swim League against neighbor
ing county recreation depart
ments.
Out of the water, the depart
ments offer several camps and
ball teams during the summer.
While each recreation depart
ment has its own schedule of
events and offerings, the sum
mer is usually a good time for
baseball, softball and basketball
at the beginning of the sum
mer while football, cheerlead
ing and soccer starts toward the
end of summer. The openings
for sports camps will likely fill
up quickly, as athletes who look
to make the school teams work
to stay fit.
There are other options for
those who, in a time of depressed
economy, can’t afford the recre
ation registration fees.
Lamily hikes or bike riding as
well as local clubs for outdoor
events are sometimes a cheaper
alternative, as are fishing, run
ning or camping. Church leagues
or backyard teams can provide
all the healthy benefits of exer
cise and enjoyment as the more
expensive alternatives.
Then there are the non-tra-
ditional sports like paintball,
skateboarding, or auto racing.
These high adrenaline sports
can run up a bill when first
getting started, but rental pack
ages and other programs can
allow first-timers to ease into
the sport without breaking the
bank.
Just remember that as sum
mertime approaches and the
mercury inches higher there
remain many activities for
everyone to enjoy. The fall high
school athletic season will be
here before you know it.
Justin Poole is a reporter for
MainStreet News, and can he
contacted at justin@mainstreet-
news.com.
Repaving Hits The Ground At Gresham Motorsports Park
One of the most critical phases of the
Gresham Motorsports Park renovation got
underway last week with the removal of
the track’s old half-mile racing surface.
“You can’t believe how happy I am to
have this part of the project underway,’’
said track general manager Dan Elliott.
“It’s very hard to find the right people to
do the job. With the banking in the turns
a full 14 degrees, not just any company
could do this. Sunbelt Asphalt is that kind
of company and are just as interested
in what the surface is going to look like,
how it’s going to race, and how it’s going
to stand up to racing as we are. Honestly,
I think they are more enthusiastic about
getting started on it than I am.’’
According to Elliott, the paving pro
cess started with Simpson Trucking and
Grading, Inc. taking up the old layer of
asphalt that graced the former Peach State
Speedway racing surface. When Simpson
has the surface preparation complete,
Sunbelt Asphalt Services, Inc., an Auburn,
Ga. company, will begin the repaving pro
cess.
“In the first bids we did for Gresham
Motorsports Park, we weren’t going to
take off the old surface, we were just going
to cover it with new asphalt,’’ said Elliott.
“I’m so pleased that Simpson Truck and
Grading is going to take the old surface off.
I was very concerned that over time, the
repairs to the old asphalt were going to
come up after a couple of years. No mat
ter how good we covered it up, I don’t
believe there was any way to negate the
imperfections coming back over time. To
be able to stabilize the surface under the
new track and cover it with new asphalt is
going to allow Sunbelt to laser the surface
and make it as smooth as possible. It’s
going to make the final racing surface we
have here at Gresham Motorsports Park
first rate for years to come.’’
According to the site plans, Sunbelt
will be laying down more than just a
new half-mile oval racing surface at GMP.
Additional areas that Sunbelt plans on
asphalting include the infield Legends Car
oval, all of the track aprons, infield access
roads, facility entrance roads and spe
cific parking areas such as Special Needs/
Handicap lots.
“What you don’t want in any asphalt
job is cold joints,’’ said Elliott. “You want
it to look like one continuous ribbon
of asphalt, you want those joints to be
smoothed together. The temperature that
the asphalt is laid and how quickly they
can get it down will have a lot to do with
that. We’re hoping to do that in July, in the
heat of the summer, so we can get the best
surface we can possibly have.’’
If all things stay on point, Elliott hopes to
have the paving portion of the total facil
ity renovation done by mid summer and
Continued on page 2B
Outdoors
Wrestling
Lunker Bass
Logan Owensby and Landon Smith show off a seven-
pound largemouth bass Owensby caught at the home
of Gage and Cade Beard in Madison County.
Jackson Co. Grapplers At National Tournament
The USA Wrestling Georgia Team included four Jackson County wrestlers at the Tournament
of Champions in Columbus, Ohio on April 23 and 24. Cole Potts, a second grader from Jefferson
and Jake Brewer, a fourth grader from Commerce, were on the elementary dual team. The
elementary team placed fourth at the competition. Chance McClure from Commerce and Kyle
Springer from Jefferson were on the middle school dual team, which placed third as a team.
All four wrestlers went on to compete in the individual competitions that included brackets of
40-plus wrestlers from across the nation. McClure and Springer were two of only four Georgia
middle school wrestlers to place at the tournament. McClure placed third in the 140 middle
school division, wrestling 12 matches on the day with a record of 9-3. Springer placed fourth in
the 95 middle school division, wrestling 13 matches with a record of 10-3. Potts placed 10th in
the 50 elementary division and went 5-5.