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Section b April 23, 2008 The Banks County News Sports Editor: Chris Bridges Contact: 706-367-2745 www.mainstreetnews.com First & Ten ★ ★ ★ chris@mainstreetnews.com BY CHRIS BRIDGES Remarkable progress shown by BCHS team O ne really has to stop and ponder just how far the Banks County High School baseball program has come during the past four seasons. Going back to the 2005 cam paign, the Diamond Leopards managed to win just two games. Yet, from that humble start has grown a program that is now co-subregion champion and still moving upward. In just four years, the BCHS program has jumped from two wins to four wins to 10 to 13. The Leopards have qualified for the region tournament for two years in a row now. It’s amazing how just four years ago the word “postseason” was in no way asso ciated with BCHS baseball. I’ve been on the scene for three of those seasons. I’ve witnessed first-hand how the Leopards have taken positive step after positive step. It has been fascinating to watch. When I’m covering Leopard games, I like to sit in the dugout with the coaches and players. It adds a unique insight to the game. It’s not something a sports writer would be able to do at any other level. Being in the dugout, how ever, gives one a chance to fully capture the flavor and emotion of each contest. One gets to see the emotional highs and lows the players and coaches go through, many times inning by inning or out by out. At times one can literally sense the emotion of the moment as every one seems to hang on the next pitch, the next call by the home plate umpire and by what the next batter at the plate does. I find it fascinating to watch assistant coach Tony Bowen sig nal pitches to the BCHS catchers who relay the information to their pitchers. It’s fun to watch head coach Joe Lord giving signals from third base to his batters. During some games Lord’s assis tant and twin brother Josh moves to third to handle those duties. Varsity player Wesley Angel is usually assigned the task of keeping the count on how many throws to home the BCHS pitch ers make during games. It’s a vital part of coaching strategy to know where a player is in terms of numbers of pitches thrown and Angel has to be on toes to keep up. This Friday will be even more nerve-racking since the games will be region tournament con tests. Yet, knowing how far the BCHS program has advanced I must admit I’m not that worried. It’s not a sense of arrogance, it’s just I know how hard these play ers and coaches have worked to get to this point and I know things are going to continue to get even better. Yes, looking back at the job coach Joe Lord and his coaches and players have done the past four years is nothing short of remarkable. They are giving all of Banks County something to be proud of. They are giving Banks County something to rally behind and support. See you at the ball field Friday afternoon. Chris Bridges is sports editor of The Banks County News. Contact him at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at chris@mainstreetnews.com. Region 8-AA Baseball Tournament Preview: BCHS finishes in three-way tie for subregion crown No. 2-seeded Leopards begin tourney Friday BY CHRIS BRIDGES It’s postseason time for the Banks County High School baseball team. The Diamond Leopards finished the 2008 regular season in a three way tie for first in 8-AA North and will enter the region tournament as the No. 2 seed following tiebreaker scenarios. By a result of the three-way tie, Fannin County earns the No. 1 seed from 8-AA North by allowing the least amount of runs in head-to-head matchups. BCHS gets the No. 2 seed over Dawson County by defeating the Tigers two-of-three times during the regular season. The Leopards will host Oglethorpe County, the No. 3 seed from 8-AA South, Friday for a 3 p.m. double header. A third game, if necessary, will be Saturday at 3 p.m. Other first-round region match ups include Fannin County (No. 1 North) vs. Morgan County (No. 4 South), North Oconee (No. 1 South) vs. Union County (No. 4 North) and Washington-Wilkes (No. 2 South) vs. Dawson County (No. 3 North). The winners of these series will be guaranteed spots in the upcom ing Class AA state touramament. The first-round winners will then be reseeded and will play the remainder of the region tournament at Dawson County High School to determine the seedings for state. In other Region 8-AA postsea son games, East Jackson will travel to Putnam County while Greene County will travel to Rabun County, These teams will not be able to qualify for state as these are conso lation games. BCHS enters the postseason at 13-8 overall and with a 10-5 mark in subregion play. Oglethorpe County is 12-9 and 9-6. “They have a hard throwing pitch er who is pretty good and who has a good curve ball,” Leopard coach Joe Lord said Monday. “They always have a strong offensive team and I look for this year to be no different. They have played a couple of the teams we did in non-region games and played them really tough. I think our teams are very similar and seem to be pretty balanced. I feel our schedule to this point has us ready. It should be a fun series.” Lord builds BCHS success piece by piece BY CHRIS BRIDGES What a difference four years can make. If one goes back just four sea sons ago, one will find the Banks County High School varsity baseball program registering just two wins during the 2005 campaign. Turning the clock ahead to 2008 finds the Diamond Leopards finishing in a tie for first place in their subregion, hosting a opening round region tour nament series and sporting 13 wins overall, 10 of which came in subre gion play. For coach Joe Lord, the progress has certainly been a rewarding pro cess. “I feel really good about the direc tion of our program,” Lord said this week as he prepared his team to face Oglethorpe County in the opening round of the Region 8-AA tourna ment. “I think the key has been dedication. The players and coaches have put in a lot of hard work during the summer, the offseason workouts, preseason practices and during the seasons to get better.” From that humbling 2005 season has grown a competitive and suc cessful program. BCHS has grown step-by-step each year since then, winning four games in 2006, 10 games in 2007 and 13 in 2008. Lord also credits the quality support his program receives as a reason for being successful. “We have had a lot of great sup port from across the board,” the coach said. “The board of education, the superintendent, the central office staff, the administration and staffs of all the Banks County schools, the community, the parents, the assistant coaches and the players have all helped make this possible.” BCHS began playing on a state-of- the art facility this spring, playing on campus for the first time. That pride factor has also been an added factor in the team’s winning ways. Having a complete team effort is something Lord knows is vital for a program to be a winner. See Program on page 4B OUT AT HONE Banks County High School's Alex Gailey applies the tag during a play at the plate last Friday against East Jackson High School. Gailey and the Leopards will begin the Region 8-AA tournament at home this Friday with a best-of-three series against Oglethorpe County beginning at 3 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would be Saturday. Photo by Lyn Sengupta Leopards hold on for win against pesky Eagles BY CHRIS BRIDGES he Banks County High School baseball team needed one more subregion win to clinch a share of the Region 8-AA North title last Friday. However, the East Jackson High School Eagles made it clear they weren’t going to go down without a fight. When the dust had settled, the Diamond Leopards had escaped with a 10-6 win to earn a share of the subregion crown for 2008. “East Jackson came ready to knock us off,” said BCHS coach Joe Lord. “We got up on them early and let them back in the game with a few mistakes in the field. We have to get those corrected.” Senior Alex Gailey earned the win working five innings with seven strikeouts while throwing 91 pitches. Gailey allowed three earned runs and scattered eight hits. Jeff Smith pitched well in relief and picked up the save keeping East Jackson scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings. Smith recorded two strikeouts. Perhaps the play of the game came on defense for BCHS as Chase Armour made a diving catch in centerfield for the third out in the top of the fifth. “That play gave us life,” Lord said. “We were able to regain the lead when we came back in. That was the turning point of the game.” At the plate, Gailey drove in two runs while Bill Redmon was 2-for-2 with two runs scored an an RBI. Chris Porter, Kyle Smith, Zack Dale, Jeff Smith and Justin Gibbs also contributed offen sively for the Leopards. “We’ve been a pretty resilient team this year and we don’t give up,” Lord said. “This game was a good example of that. Billy and Kyle really came through for us at the plate.” Prior to Friday’s regular season finale, BCHS lost a tough 6-4 subregion contest to Rabun County on the road. The Wildcats have proved to be a thorn in the side of the Leopards throughout the spring. “Costly defensive mistakes hurt us in this game,” Lord said. “Our situational offense has to be bet ter. We have to do a better job of getting runners over and getting them in.” Kasey Hudgins pitched well for BCHS going six innings allowing just one earned run while strik ing out six batters. “Kasey pitched well enough to win,” Lord said. “He gave a gutsy performance.” Dale had a big day at the plate with three hits including two doubles. Gibbs added a double and also scored a run. Jeff Smith, Gailey, Porter and Hudgins also contributed offensively. Chase Armour added a run. The BCHS Leopards are now preparing for the Region 8-AA tournament which begins Friday against Oglethorpe County at home. East Jackson 6 BCHS 10 Local Racing Southern Nationals roar back to town for weekend event GOING FOR ANOTHER WIN Fuel racer Brandon Bernstein picked up the win at last year's Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway. Bernstein will be looking for his first win of 2008 when he gets back to the track this weekend. Photo by Brandon Reed BY BRANDON REED For the 28th time, the NHRA Powerade Drag Racers will return to the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce for the Southern Nationals, on April 24-27. The 300 mile-per-hour Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars will be back, along with rac ers in the Pro Stock, Motorcycle, Top Alcohol Dragsters and Funny Cars, and hundreds of NHRA Sportsman racers. Last year, second-generation racer Brandon Bernstein picked up the victory in Commerce in the Top Fuel category. He returns to the Atlanta Dragway looking for his first win of 2008. Veteran racer Cory McClenathan comes to town hot off his big Top Fuel win in Las Vegas, and is looking to start a streak. Robert Hight came out on top last year in Funny Car competition, putting his John Force owned machine in the winner’s circle for the second straight race. Hight is looking for his second victory of the year as he returns to Commerce, after winning in Pomona. Last year’s event also had a historic show down between father and daughter, as John Force faced off against his daughter Ashley in the first ever father-daughter pro-level race in NHRA history. Ashley defeated her father, running a 4.779 to John’s 5.783. Greg Anderson defeated Warren Johnson for the win last year in pro-stock, and enters this year’s event looking for his third win of 2008. Karen Stoffer took top honors last year in the pro-motorcycle category. For ticket and other information, call 800-884-6472, or 404-249-6400. You can also go online to www.atlantadragway.com.
