Newspaper Page Text
March 12, 2008
Section
b
The Banks County News
Sports Editor: Chris Bridges
Contact: 706-367-2745
www.mainstreetnews.com
First
&
Ten
★ ★ ★
chris@mainstreetnews.com
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Always fun
beating an
old rival
I t didn’t take perfect eye
sight to notice the Banks
County High School base
ball team was having fun last
Thursday when it traveled to
nearby Commerce.
The Diamond Leopards had
already defeated their long-time
rival earlier this season but the
game was a competitive one.
While BCHS won 4-0 back on
Feb. 28, the rematch turned out to
be anything but competitive.
By the time the game was over,
the Diamond Leopards had put
on one of their best performances
in recent memory as they pound
ed host Commerce into submis
sion 20-3. It was indeed a sight to
beyond.
Early in the game, the two
teams seemed to be on track for
another close contest. BCHS
jumped out to a 4-0 lead but
Commerce answered with some
runs of its own and it appeared
things would turn out similar to
the Feb. 28 contest.
However, the Leopard bats sud
denly got hot — red hot — and
there was nothing the Commerce
players or coaches could do
about it. Changing pitchers didn’t
stop the constant stream of runs
crossing home plate. The frustra
tion factor, as it often does in
games like this, became too much
for the Tigers as even the most
routine outs became too much to
perform.
The runs continued to pile up
and as the relaxed BCHS players
were sending pitches out of the
ballpark and taking full advan
tage of each Commerce defensive
error. The game was called after
five innings because of the mas
sive lead and not a moment too
soon for the Tigers.
As the game became more
and more lopsided, the Leopard
players clearly were enjoying
the moment. While it would
have been easier to begin taunt
ing their opponent — especially
considering who it was — that
did not take place. Rather, the
BCHS players simply celebrated
among themselves and congratu
lates their teammates when a
big play was made. Not once
was there a derogatory comment
made toward a Commerce player,
coach or fan. It was a sign of
sportsmanship and class from
coach Joe Lord’s program and
one that deserves praise.
The 2008 season is primed to
be a standout one for the BCHS
baseball program. It’s one the
team has been building toward
for several years.
See First and Ten on page 2B
In Review
Records fall during historic season for Mat Leopards
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Kasey Hanley looks back on the 2007-08
wrestling season and has good reason to
smile.
Afterall, the third-year Banks County High
School Mat Leopard coach saw many records
fall by the wayside this past season as his
team established new standards for excellence.
While three seniors will have to be replaced,
the opportunity for even better things seem
possible for BCHS next season and beyond.
“We finished the season with 30 wins and
that was a goal of ours at the beginning of the
season,” Hanley said Sunday. “However, that
was a time when I didn’t know if getting to
30 wins was going to be possible. We had sev
eral wrestlers who didn’t come back out this
season and then we dealt with some injuries
which last all year for some of our wrestlers.”
Despite the odds, the Mat Leopards still
reached the 30-win
plateau as several
wrestlers stepped up
their performances
on the mat.
Seniors An Pham,
Nathan Ward and
Bobby Hewell
helped lead the way. Hewell earned 24 wins
this season while Ward recorded 20. It was
Pham, however, who paced the entire team
with a school-record 51 victories.
Hanley said all three are also standout stu
dents who will have opportunities at academic
scholarships.
In all, 10 of the team’s 14 top wrestlers
registed at least 20 wins. Four of the BCHS
grapplers had 40 or more wins and two more
reached the 30-win mark.
See Wrestling on page 2B
At A Glance:
•An Pham, Bobby
Hewell and Nathan Ward
were the seniors for the
BCHS Mat Leopards this
season.
Diamond Leopards: Impressive Start Continues
CELEBRATION AT HONE
(Top) Banks County High School players welcome Justin Gibbs (25) to home plate after he connected on a home run in Monday's
game against Dawson County. The Leopards opened region play with a win Monday against the visiting Tigers. (Bottom) Senior
Alex Gailey was the starting pitcher in the region opener for 2008. Photos by Lyn Sengupta
Region victory
Diamond Leopards use big inning to defeat Dawson
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Banks County High School varsity baseball
team had shown plenty signs of improvement
during the early portion of the 2008 season.
Coach Joe Lord wanted to see how his team did
in a region situation, however. The first test was
passed Monday afternoon as BCHS defeated vis
iting Dawson County 7-4. The Leopards are now
4-2 overall and 1-0 in region play.
“It was good for us to be able to pull out a win
to open the region schedule,” Lord said. “We were
able to string together several hits in the second
inning and put seven on the board.”
The second inning proved to be the difference
as BCHS scored all of its runs in that frame.
Dawson County attempted to chip away at the
lead but would only get as close as 7-4.
At the plate, Jeff Smith was a perfect 3-for-3
with a double and two singles. Smith also had
a walk and scored a run. Justin Gibbs added a
homerun with two RBI. Bill Redmon had an RBI
triple and Zack Dale connected on a two-run
triple in the second inning.
“We looked like a totally different team at the
plate in the span of one inning,” Lord said. “We
made the adjustment of taking the ball the other
way and had some success with it. You constantly
have to make adjustments in baseball and I was
glad to see us adjust to a pretty good pitcher that’s
had some success in the past.”
The BCHS coach said Smith continues to swing
the bat well and noted Chase Armour and Kyle
Smith had good at bats wth “great hustle.” Dale
also drew praise for his work behind the plate
with the Leopard pitchers.
Aaron Wagoner made perhaps the defensive
play of the game from his second base position.
With the bases loaded in the top of the second,
a Dawson County batter sent a flare into short
right field. Right fielder Jeff Smith could not get
to the ball but Wagoner made a running catch for
the out.
See Baseball on page 4B
No contest:
Leopards
pound rival
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
It could be said the Banks County
High School Diamond Leopards
were offensive last week when they
took the field against rival Commerce
High School.
Coach Joe Lord’s team certainly
had an offensive team at the plate
drilling four homeruns and scoring
20 runs. No doubt, the host Tigers
and their faithful who showed up to
watch the game found the outcome a
little offensive as well.
All in all, it was a display of what
Lord hopes the team can muster in
key games this spring. The win was
the third of the young season for
BCHS.
BCHS
20
Commerce 3
“Three of our four homeruns were
three-run blasts so runs can add up a
hurry that way,” the Leopard coach
said. “We had several players break
out of early season slumps so hope
fully this
game
will kick
start our
offense.
Hitting
is conta
gious and this game was definitely
proof of that tried and true baseball
cliche. You just wish you could save
some of those runs for later, but we’ll
take a win anyway we can get it.”
Kasey Hudgins recorded the win
working the first 3.1 innings. Jeff
Smith pitched the final 1.2 innings.
Commerce managed only two hits in
the contest and one earned run.
Practically everyone on the Leopard
roster contributed offensively. Tyler
Hulsey was a perfect 2-for-2 with two
homers and four RBI. Jeff Smith was
2-for-3 including a homerun, single,
three RBI and two runs scored.
Justin Gibbs delivered a big game
going 2-for-3 with a homer, a double,
a walk, a stolen base, four RBI and
three runs scored. Bill Redmon con
tributed a 3-for-4 day at the plate
with two singles, a double, a sacrifice
bunt, two runs and an RBI.
Senior Alex Gailey added to the
onslaught going 2-for-4 with two
singles, a stolen base and two RBI.
Zack Dale was 2-for-4 with a run
scored and two RBI.
Chris Porter and Brett Armour
added hits. Armour also scored two
runs.
See Big Win on page 2B