About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2025)
l The Madison County Journal SPORTS 1B APRIL 16, 2025 Raiders defend home turf — .— - Photos by Michael Lafountain A Raiders batter takes a swing at a pitch during a recent game. Team gets two big wins last week; looks to finish season strong The Madison County High School baseball team strung together two big wins at home last week. The week got off to a bad start, as the team got blown out 12-0 by Habersham Central in the first game of an April 9 double-header at home. Luckily, the Raiders immediately had a chance to get revenge, which they ac complished winning game two 5-4 over Habersham. The Raiders then closed out the week with a blowout win of their own, de ¬ feating the Jackson Red Devils 10-0 at home on April 10. The two wins, the team’s first consec utive wins of the season, take the Raid ers to 5-22 on the year. Madison County will look to carry their momentum into the final series of the season. After traveling to take on East For syth on April 15, the Raiders will then host the 16-10 Broncos for a home dou ble-header on April 18, the team’s last games of the year. Th i. A MCHS pitcher gets ready to throw a pitch during a recent game. . Raiders first baseman Max Miller stretches out to reach for a ball. 19. ill - 51 At. Madison County baseball players stretch before a recent game. Tommy Lawhorne By Loran Smith Recently at a beachside gathering, Bill Griffin invited Tommy and Susan Lawhorne to join friends for a social out ing at which the conversational theme focused on the Universi ty of Georgia. Bill and Tommy have much in common. Both are small town boys—Bill from Rut ledge and Tommy from Syl vester—and few graduates of UGA could be more passionate about their alma mater than this pair of alumni stalwarts. Each has a resume that is re plete with signature contribu tions to the University. Griffin grew up virtual ly within arm’s length of the Georgia campus and there never was any question about where he would be furthering his education following high school graduation. Lawhorne was a focal point for college recruiters. He was an A-plus student and he was also an excellent high school linebacker. He could have ma triculated at an Ivy League in stitution if he had chosen but preferred to enroll at his state university where he wowed ac ademicians and played football for Vince Dooley, the brand new 31-year-old coach who had just taken over the football program in Athens. Dooley liked what he saw in Lawhorne. He was a quali ty linebacker who was imbued with competitive fire and a canny presence on the field. He became expert about offense. As a result, Lawhorne was often in the right place at the right time which made him a big play player. Lawhorne was motivated to make his Saturday afternoons between the hedges an enhancement for success in the Southeastern Conference. Winning football games was important to him. His young head coach, a serious academic aficionado himself with a Masters degree, enjoyed lionizing his perspi cacious linebacker. A mutual admiration society existed with the two men. Years later, the player became an outspoken advocate for the field at San ford Stadium being named for his former coach. Where Lawhorne got the most attention was in the class- room. Most of us would call for champagne for a “B better” classroom performance. Not Tommy Lawhorne. He had enduring contempt for any grade less than an A. If he made one during his time at UGA, I have never heard about it. Lawhorne was an All-SEC Academic selection, he made Academic All-America, and was valedictorian of his senior class while helping Dooley win his first conference champion ship in 1966. Football was over for him following the 1967 Liberty bowl, but he left campus with three bowl watches and a con ference championship ring. He heard the chapel bell ring often and was appreciative of the en riching campus experience that he had enjoyed. Few college athletes in his time better repre sented the essence of the term, “student-athlete,” than Thomas W. Lawhorne. His next stop would be to study medicine at one of the nation’s biggest big-league academic institutions, Johns Hopkins, where he distin guished himself as a student. He was graduated with honors and returned home to Georgia and hung out his shingle in Co lumbus, getting the ultimate endorsement from Dr. Andy Roddenbery, a former Bulldog quarterback in Coach Harry Mehre’s Notre Dame box for mation, and a highly regarded surgeon. During his time in Columbus Tommy and Susan were com munity volunteers and stayed closely connected with their alma mater. Tommy would keep in touch with his team- mates and classmates. He was particularly attendant to any needs of those with whom he played. He would call and check on a former Bulldog player with a medical issue and would in form all their teammates that there was need for a comfort ing word for the family and a prayer. Whenever a former team- mate passed on, Tommy would take time off and show up at the funeral but he did his best to help his old friends avoid fu nerals or at least prolong their days. No doctor ever embodied the Hippocratic oath more flu ently than Tommy did. Now in retirement at Sea Is land, Tommy has taken advan tage of a state law that allows citizens to enroll at state col leges and continue academic opportunity. As they say in his native Worth County, Tommy jumped on that opportunity like a duck on a June bug. All the while, he has been a Damn Good Dawg.
