l The Madison County Journal
SPORTS
1B
APRIL 16, 2025
Raiders defend home turf
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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.
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Raiders first baseman Max Miller stretches out to reach for a ball.
19.
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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.
