Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4B
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2008
THE LONG THROW
Banks County High School third baseman Chris Porter (10) fires a throw to first base during
Monday's game against Dawson County. Photo by Lyn Sengupta
Baseball ... continued from page 1B
“That play gave us life and we were
able to come in and score seven in
the bottom half of the inning,” Lord
said. “That ended up being enough
but we can’t expect that to hold up
and not keep adding to it. A good
team like Dawson is going to score
some runs and you can never really
have enough to feel comfortable. We
were able to prevent them from hav
ing a big inning and that’s always a
key to winning. It’s a good win, but
it’s just the first of 15.”
Alex Gailey was the starting
pitcher for BCHS working the first
3.2 inning before giving way to
Kasey Hutchins who went the final
3.1 in earning the win. Gailey had
five strikeouts in the contest while
Hutchins had two.
The Diamond Leopards are sched
uled to make the long trip to Fannin
County Wednesday (today) for a
4:30 p.m. contest.
“It’s always tough to win up there,”
Lord said. “We’ll do our best and
we’ll take it one game at a time.”
BCHS has not lost a Class AA
team this season. The only setbacks
have come against AAA opponents.
The Leopards fell to Elbert County
last Wednesday 10-3 on the road.
Justin Gibbs was 3-for-3 at the
plate. Alex Gailey, Bill Redmon and
Tyler McEntire each pitched for
BCHS.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of
life at the beginning of the game,”
Coach Lord said. “We’ve got to be
just as focused on the road as we are
at home. We didn’t swing the bats
particulary well and defense let us
down.”
BCHS made six errors in the con
test. Lord credited Gibbs for his
performance at the plate and said
McEntire did an admirable job in
relief not allowing a run in 1.2
innings of work.
• ••
Despite snow flurries whirling
around, BCHS and Franklin County
managed to take the field Saturday
afternoon.
The AAA Lions rallied for a 12-7
win although BCHS played well,
according to its coach.
“This was a pretty good high
school baseball game for most of the
way,” Lord said. “We just couldn’t
make our lead stick. The thing that
frustrates me the most is the defen
sive breakdowns and not being able
to find the strike zone. We have
stressed from day one the impor
tance of playing clean in the field
and pitchers locating strikes as being
the keys to winning. We have to be
able to throw strikes and make plays
in order to win.”
Zack Dale had a three-run homer
to help pace the offense and give
BCHS an early 3-1 lead. Bill
Redmon also had a two-run double
for a 7-5 advantage. Chris Porter
was the starting pitcher and held a
potent Franklin County offense in
check for four innings allowing only
one run. Lord said Porter pitched
well enough to deserve the win.
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Down the Stretch
Stories part of racing's great treasures
T here are not a lot of good
things you can say about
rain delays at a racetrack.
Sure, we can always use the rain.
But other than that, rain at a race
track is pretty much a miserable
thing.
But there is one bright spot.
Usually when there’s a rain delay
at a race track, you end up with a
group of people getting together
to share racing stories.
With all the characters that have
passed through the American
stock car racing scene over the
years, the stories are absolute
treasures.
Here’s a few of my favorites
that I’ve had shared with me over
the years. Now remember, these
came to me second, third and
fourth hand. I don’t claim every
one of them to be true. I say only
they came to me from some very
reliable sources.
For example, did you know that
Richard Petty’s first flagged win
was actually in Atlanta, at the leg
endary Lakewood Speedway? On
June 14, 1959, Richard Petty was
flagged the winner of the 150-lap
race.
But as Richard climbed out of
his 1957 Oldsmobile to celebrate,
word came from officials that
there was a protest lodged. There
was a recheck of the lap count,
and, sure enough, Richard was
credited with one lap too many.
The win was taken from Richard
and handed to the man who had
lodged the protest - his father,
Lee Petty. Lee later claimed
he did it because he was driv
ing a 1959-year model car, and
NASCAR gave a bonus to any
driver who won in a new car.
Therefore, Lee getting the win
got the
entire Petty
Enterprises
team more
money.
I’m sure
that was
a fun ride
home to
Level
Cross for
the Petty
family.
Speaking of Lee Petty, it was
well known that when it came
down to the money lap, the one
place you didn’t want to be was
between Lee and the checkered
flag.
One driver who learned this the
hard way, according to legend,
was Curtis Turner. Turner, the
legendary throttle-stomper from
Virginia, was racing against Petty
one afternoon when the two got
together. Petty was left with a
pretty badly damaged racecar,
while Turner was able to turn in a
respectable finish.
Afterwards, as the story goes,
Turner was sitting on the tailgate
of a pickup in the pits, washing
the dirt and calcium chloride out
his hair. Up walks Petty with a
rolled up newspaper in his hand.
As he approached Turner, Petty
called out Curtis’ name. When
Turner looked up, Petty hauled off
and nailed him with that newspa
per. The blow sent Turner reel
ing, due to the flat tire tool Petty
had rolled up in the paper.
Another great source of stories
at the racetrack is the late Tiny
Lund. One of my favorites has
nothing to do with being in a
racecar.
Tom Higgins, the great North
Carolina motorsports writer, told
the story of going fishing with
Lund and Buddy Baker at Lund’s
fishing camp. As the trio rowed
out on the lake, Lund told the
story of recent alligator sightings
along the lake.
Baker took the story hook, line
and sinker (you’ll pardon the
pun). As the trio fished, Baker
commented about how hot it
was. Lund suggested that Baker
strip down to his skivvies and
take a swim. Baker did just that,
much to the surprise of Higgins.
Higgins turned to comment to
Lund, only to find himself alone
in the boat.
Baker surfaced, and was bob
bing happily on the water’s sur
face when, according to Higgins,
a look of terror crossed his face,
and he disappeared under the
water. He re-appeared briefly
moments later, screaming for a
rope, a boat paddle, or anything
else he could get.
What had happened was Lund
had dived off the boat the same
time that Baker did, swam under
the boat, came up under Baker,
and grabbed him in, shall we say,
a delicate spot.
Baker thought it was a rogue
alligator, until Lund popped up
behind him, laughing like mad.
Higgins said later, he asked
Baker why he didn’t just swim in
the other direction.
Baker reportedly told Higgins
“Tom, when you think an alliga
tor’s got you by that part, you go
where the alligator goes.”
Brandon Reed is a reporter for
MainStreet Newspapers. E-mail
comments about this column to
brandon@mainstreetnews.com.
brandon
reed
www.mainstreetnews.com
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RECOGNITION OF AND APPRECIATION
TO
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MRS. JONNIE LEE EMMETT DALTON
ON HER 90TH BIRTHDAY
BORN - MARCH 11, 1918
To God - a faithful servant;
To John & Ruby (Guest) Emmett - a precious daughter;
To 6 sisters & 4 brothers - a dear sister;
To husband of 68 years, Cranford Dalton - a loving wife;
To Lester & Lillie (Meeks) Dalton - an honorable daughter-in-law;
To your 3 children - Laurell, Carol & Jerry - a devoted mother;
To grandchildren & great-grandchild - a gracious grannie;
To special sister, Loutrelle Kesler - a reliable neighbor, friend & confidante;
To family next door, Louise Dalton - wonderful friendship - L.T.& Cranford -
brothers & farm partners;
To youngest sister, June Chesser - a loyal mother figure;
To instructors @ Hickory Flat School, Piedmont College & UGA - an honor
student;
To coworkers @ Lumite & Banks Co. School System - dependable & professional;
To hundreds of students over a span of 30 years - a fair & capable teacher/mentor;
To neighbors, extended family/friends - a sharing & helpful individual;
To church relationships - a supportive person with integrity & a gregarious
personality;
To Mrs. Alice Denton - with whom you exchanged poems - inspiration to each
other;
To Mr. John Turner - a noble friend and he called you “sister”;
To the community - Banks Co. Citizen of the Year 1998; knowledgeable historian;
To Tom Thumb Wedding children for 25 years - enthusiastic co-director;
To The Old Maids Convention play presentations - entertaining in your lead role;
To the BCHS Class of 2000 - sponsor of 3 scholarship awards;
To AARP - Pledge to the Flag leader; friendly, always smiling;
To events @ Hickory Flat/Mt.Carmel/family reunions - wonderful gatherings;
To the grateful many whom you helped anonymously - a caring lady;
To recipients of your “penny” post cards - a thoughtful friend.
Your accomplishments & unselfish contributions through the years are
measureless.
Your service to God, family & friends is impressive.
You face life positively & courageously with focus on others.
You have touched innumerable lives which continues to influence generations.
You’ve always said “just one rose will do” but you deserve a parade of yellow
roses.
Thank you for going beyond the call of duty for your loved ones.
Precious rewards await you inside the gates of God’s heavenly domain.
Your trust remains in HIM.
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Happy 90th birthday & may yon celebrate many more!
Sincerely w/love,
your daughter & family
Laurell, Howard, Cranley, Joy, Thomas Ward
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