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July 9,2008 Section B The Banks County News Sports Editor: Chris Bridges Contact: 706-367-2745 www.mainstreetnewssports.com First Ten ★ ★ ★ chris@mainstreetnews.com BY CHRIS BRIDGES Recreation lessons were important ones I n talking with Tommy Wilson over at the Banks County Parks and Recreation Department about the local All-Star teams and their progress in the postseason, my mind drifted back to my own days on the playing field. Make no mistake about it, it was a different time and seem ingly a different life when I was a carefree youngster playing base ball at the recreation level. Youth sports, at least in my hometown, was not the huge deal it is today. Oh, we had a few people who took it seriously, but for the most part we were able to enjoy being kids out on the baseball field. I freely admit I was never a standout player. I did my best to become one but I was never named to an All-Star team (although there was one season when I thought I had a legitimate chance at being selected). I was never the best player on my team. Still, I learned a great deal about the sport during my five years playing recreation baseball. I learned about the rules of the game and how there is more to it than simply swinging a bat or catching a ball. I learned about team work and how it takes all nine players on the field work ing together to be successful. I learned that no player is perfect and that we were all going to make mistakes. I played one year of Pee Wee level baseball followed by four years of Little League competi tion. I quickly learned during my first attempt at playing just how difficult the game was. It wasn’t anywhere near as easy as it looked on television. Just mak ing contact with the baseball with the bat took the highest amount of effort and having the neces sary skills to stop a grounder and make a throw to first was never a guarantee. During my year on the Pee Wee Falcons one of my classmates was our best player. Years later he would become the best athlete in our school and even at an early age it was easy to see how much natural athletic ability he had. He never seemed to drop a throw and he always seemed to connect when standing in the batter’s box. I was amazed at how he made it look so easy. Years later when we reached high school, he was still making it look easy whether on the football field, the basketball court or the golf course. Some athletes simply have that magical ingredient to succeed. That's why I still enjoy hear ing about the accomplishments of those who compete at the recreation level. Be it softball or baseball, these young athletes are learning important lessons about winning and losing, about team work and other important lessons which hopefully they will take with them during the rest of their athletic careers. If the young athletes who are playing on the recreation fields today take as much away from their experience as I did many moons ago, then it will have all been worth it. Knowing the coaches working with them. I’m sure they will be able to. Chris Bridges is sports editor of The Banks County News. Contact him at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at chris @ mainstreetnews. com. have busy month as preseason work begins High School Basketball Lady Leopards BY CHRIS BRIDGES School may have been out of session this past month but it was no vacation for the Banks County High School Lady Leopards basketball team. Coach Jerry King, who is entering his sec ond season at BCHS, and his players had a busy month of June attending several camps and competing in numerous games. “We tried to get everything finished in June so we could have July off,’’ King said Sunday. “Of course, the players will still be able to get in the gym and work on their own.” Overall, King said the summer work was “positive” and he noted it was good to have a complete offseason to work with his returning players. “We were able to get a great deal accom plished in June,” the coach said. “Of course, we still have a lot to work on.” King said the Lady Leopards participated in 42 games this summer going to camps at Hart County, Gainesville and Jefferson. Some of the goals during the summer were to work on the team’s man-to-man defense and to see how the new players, especially the freshmen, did at the next level. BCHS does have several returning var sity lettermen including four seniors for the upcoming 2008-09 season. King is dealing with various injuries to players. Lacey Saxon is recovering from ACL sur gery although the coach said he hopes she will be ready to go by October. Sophomore Lindsey McDuffie, who contributed valuable minutes as a freshman last season, suffered another ACL injury and may miss the entire upcoming campaign. “We worked some players around in different spots this summer,” King said. “We competed against some quality teams like Stephens, Hart County and Elbert County. We saw some com petition that was at a high level. That helped us get a great deal accomplished.” By the end of last season. King's Lady Leopards began making marked improvement after a somewhat slow start and had become a legitimate threat by the team the Region 8-AA tournament arrived. The coach is hoping his squad can continue that momentum when the new season begans late this fall. Summer Action: Wrapping Up Play AND THE PITCH... Tyler llcEntire was one of several Banks County High School baseball players who used June to improve on their diamond skills. Hulsey, shown pitch ing during a Leopard summer league con test, was one of the pitchers who got plenty of work this summer for coach Joe Lord. llcEntire will be looked upon to con tribute for the varsity Leopards during the spring 2009 season. BCHS qualified for the state playoffs for the first time since 2001 this past year. Photos by Lyn Sengupta 'The summer was successful and productive...' Leopards get jump start on next spring BY CHRIS BRIDGES he dust — and there was plenty of it during the summer league schedule — has settled for the Banks County High School baseball squad. Coach Joe Lord's team played a full slate of games during June as the Leopards used the first weeks out of school as an early preparation for the 2009 season. After advancing to the state playoffs for the first time since 2001 this past season, Lord wanted to continue to build upon that success and begin looking toward next spring immediately. “The summer was very successful and productive for us,” the coach said. “Our offense should be good (next season), but our success at the plate will be determined by our ability to make adjustments. We don’t see as many fastballs as we used to, and we have to be disciplined enough to get good pitches to swing at and go the other way. We have improved in that area, and I look for it to continue for us next season.” On the pitcher’s mound, BCHS got solid performances this summer from several players including Kasey Hudgins, Bill Redmon, Jeff Smith, Tyler McEntire, Chris Porter and Wesley Angel. “Each one of them displayed good efforts throughout the summer,” Lord said. “These players will be carrying the load for us on the mound. We'll have to determine our three starters and go from there. To have guys who can go out there and get the job done should be an advantage for us. “We aren’t going to rely on getting a high number of strikeouts. If they hap pen, it’s a bonus. However, we’re looking for our pitchers to pound the zone with great location, pitch to contact and take advantage of what should be a pretty sure handed defense.” The Leopards completed their summer league schedule competing in a tourna ment hosted by White County in late June. BCHS competed against Forsyth Central, Lumpkin County, Bainbridge and Flowery Branch. See Baseball on page 3B SLIDING CATCH Banks County's Jeff Smith makes a defensive play in right field during summer league action for the Leopards. Recreation All Stars 9-10 softball team set for tournament BY CHRIS BRIDGES The Banks County 9-10-year-old All-Star softball team is ready for postseason competition. The local team, coached by David Kennedy, Rodney Foster and Ricky Duncan, will compete in the GRPA tournament in Jefferson Friday and Saturday. The Banks County team is set to play twice Friday at 6 p.m. and then at 8 p.m. Team members include Abby Baird, Kayla Berry, Mallory Coker, Kaitlyn Duncan, Anslee Foster, Gabby Kennedy, McKenzie Kennedy, Summer Lord, Taylor Parson, Alex Pritchett, Riley Scroggs and Bayleigh Watson. Banks County’s 11-12-year old All- Star softball team competed at the Dizzy Dean tournament in Rossville this past weekend. The team, coached by Nick Denton, Chad Warner and Darren Parson, fell to Hampton in the opening round but stayed alive with wins against Fannin County, Jackson Couny and Gordon County before falling in a rematch to Hampton in the semifinals. Team members include Toni Mullins, Shelby Coker, Savannah Denton, Alexis Denton, Emily Gailey, Haley Warner, Leah Dowdy, Grace Lunsford, Lindsey Elliot and Jennifer Bennett. Prior to last weekend’s action, the 11-12-year-old team won a postsea son tournament in Blue Ridge post ing three victories on its way to the District 6 championship. Gridiron Leopards set for another lineman challenge Members of the Banks County High School football team will com pete in another lineman challenge today, July 9, in Walhalla, S.C. The event, which will feature sev eral offensive and defensive line man from the Leopard program, will begin at 10 a.m. at Walhalla High School. “Fans are welcome to attend,” said BCHS coach Blair Armstrong. High School Football Final month BY CHRIS BRIDGES While Banks County High School football coach Blair Armstrong no doubt has access to a calendar, there is also probably an invisible clock inside his head these days. With each passing day the start of the 2008 football season draws clos er. In just 51 days the Leopards will kick off the new campaign against Washington-Wilkes on the road. In less time than that, official fall prac tice begins. Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock inside Armstrong's head gets louder with of offseason work begins for gridiron Leopards each passing day. Since the school year ended, the BCHS players have been involved in which have included weight train ing and conditioning. Several of the team’s linemen recently took part in a competition at Gilmer High School and brought home the second-place trophy. In accordance with Georgia High School Association policy, the week Countdown to kickoff: 51 DAYS summer workouts of June 29-July 4 was a “dead” period as no activity was allowed. Armstrong said GHSA officials believe the mandatory week was necessary to allow all players and coaches time away from offseason work. The weight room reopened Tuesday of this week at BCHS as the “Pride of Summer” program contin ues. Players are lifting weights from 8 a.m. until noon each day as their schedules permit. The first official day of fall prac tice is set for Aug. 4. 1 sunnER WORK Senior Tyler Hulsey, competing in the recent line man challenge, has been working this summer along with his BCHS Leopard team mates in prepa ration for the upcoming season.