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Updated10/19/01, 12:00
High School Softball State Championship
Madison County defeated Dublin 7-6 in 10 innings. They are to
face LaGrange at 1:00.
Jackson County Fast Pitch team eliminated, lost 2-1 to LaGrange
and 7-3 to Dublin.
Jefferson beat Claxton 13-4 and Miller County 12-2. They are
to play Bryan County at 4:00 today.
Commerce lost to Miller County 13-1 and beat Claxton 17-7. They
play Truetlen at 12:00 today.
Jackson County slow pitch beat Brantley County 6-2 and lost to
Irwin County 10-9. They are to face Bleckley County at 12:00
today.
Leopards hosting
Lumpkin
Though the Leopards (1-5, 0-4) have only gotten one win so far
this year, the season hasn't ended yet.
Banks County still has four more games to play, with a chance
at least at those. Next week, the Leopards will host a solid
Lumpkin County (2-3, 2-1) team.
After a rough 0-3 start, the Indians have come back to win two
in a row, including a 49-21 win over White County last week.
The week before, Lumpkin topped Rabun 49-6.
The Indians, who work out of the I-formation, tout a quick running
game.
"Lumpkin County has two of the best backs in this region,"
head coach Greg Moore said.
Banks has had trouble with speedy backs in the past. Speed has
given the Leopards fits all year, including causing several missed
tackles at Apalachee last week.
"We are working hard to correct that," Moore said of
the missed tackles. "We'll keep working on our fundamentals
and keep trying to get better."
Defensively, Lumpkin County runs a variation of the 4-3, Moore
said.
Last week, the Leopards revamped their offense and had some success
moving the ball. Moore put sophomore quarterback Tyson Baxter
under center and moved senior Bill Krause out as a receiver.
Banks may line up the same this week.
However, the Leopards are still contending with lots of minor
injuries.
"We are still banged up a little," he said.
But with Friday being homecoming for the Leopards, Banks County
should be more fired-up than usual.
 Softball teams head to Columbus Thursday
The fact that five softball teams within the Mainstreet Newspapers
coverage area qualified for last year's state finals in Columbus
was nothing short of incredible. Amazingly, area athletes have
repeated the feat in 2001.
Five of six area teams - including one in its first year of competition
- emerged from last weekend's state sectional round to earn a
trip to Columbus for the GHSA all-classification slow- and fast-pitch
finals.
First-round action is set to begin Thursday morning, with games
continuing through Friday and championship finals set for Saturday.
JACKSON, MADISON FAST-PITCH
In its first year of competition, the Jackson County fast-pitch
team has to this point compiled an overall record of 14-10. The
Lady Panthers will meet LaGrange in Round One Thursday at 3 p.m.
LaGrange is 19-7 on the year, having split four games with defending
state champion Harris County.
"We feel good about it," Jackson County community coach
Ricky Sanders said of the event. "We've got as good a chance
as anybody."
Sanders pointed to Loganville, Harris County and Madison County
as the teams to beat, but said the Lady Panthers won't be intimidated
by anyone.
"Our main focus was to get there, so we're pretty loose
about playing them. Nobody's expecting anything from us. We're
not focused on winning the tournament; we just want to win one
game at a time. We're just going to stay relaxed and go down
there and play."
Prior to the 2001 season, only pitcher Brandi Townsend had previous
high school fast-pitch experience. Townsend was a member of the
Collins Hill team during her freshman year.
"We start one junior, one freshman and seven sophomores,"
Sanders continued, "and we've had every player in the lineup
contribute this year. I'm real proud of them."
A win Thursday would advance Jackson County to a second-round
matchup, probably against area foe Madison County. The Lady Raiders
are 27-5 on the season behind the overwhelming pitching of Lindsay
Barnett. Barnett has allowed only two earned runs in the season,
both of which came in last weekend's sectional round.
Jackson County defeated Central of Carrollton 2-1 in Saturday's
sectionals before losing to Loganville. A 4-2 win over Cedartown
clinched the state tournament berth.
Townsend and Haley Freeman drove in the deciding runs in for
Jackson County in the top of the seventh inning. Krista Bess
singled and stole second base before scoring on Freeman's single.
Bess also threw out a Cedartown runner attempting to steal second
in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win.
A win Thursday would advance Jackson County to a second-round
matchup, probably against area foe Madison County. The Lady Raiders
are 27-5 on the season behind the overwhelming pitching of Lindsay
Barnett. Barnett has allowed only two earned runs in the season,
both of which came in last weekend's sectional round.
JEFFERSON, COMMERCE
SLOW-PITCH
Jackson County and Madison County are not the only area teams
who could meet early in Columbus. Both Jefferson and Commerce
qualified for the state finals, and the two rivals will face
off Thursday at 6 p.m. if each wins its first game Thursday.
Both the Lady Dragons and Lady Tigers will open the tournament
Thursday at noon. The defending state champion Lady Dragons will
take on Claxton in Round One, while Commerce meets a well-regarded
Miller County.
Jefferson blasted through the opposition in Saturday's sectional
round, batting around in both the first and second innings to
defeat Temple 16-1. Schley County, which also qualified for the
state finals, fell victim to the now 29-2 Lady Dragons 10-4 in
the second round.
Brittany Caudell led Jefferson at bat with a grand slam, two
singles and seven RBIs. Taryn Gurley homered, tripled and singled
while driving in six.
Others with hot bats for Jefferson were Sunny Bush (.750), Kenyotta
Beasley (.677), Staci Childress (.600), Annie Goza (.600) and
Michelle Boring (.600).
In 29 games thus far, Jefferson has outscored opponents 354-41.
Commerce downed Wilcox County 10-4 and Temple 5-1 to reach the
state finals, with a 17-4 loss to Buford in between.
Lauren Lance paced the Tigers with three hits while Ashley Evans,
Mashenta Hester, Stephanie Damster, Jennifer Pope and Whitney
Brown all had two hits.
Commerce led Buford 3-2 early before the Lady Wolves exploded
for an 11-run third inning.
"Their big inning wiped us out," head coach Donnie
Drew said. "They hit the ball very well . . . We made a
couple of bad plays, but as hard as they were hitting the ball,
it was their hitting more than our errors."
Stephanie Rainwater led the team offensively with a pair of hits.
The Lady Tigers rallied from an early 1-0 deficit against Temple
with a four-run second inning and then padded their advantage
in the fifth with a solo home run by Evans.
JACKSON COUNTY SLOW-PITCH
The Lady Panther slow-pitch team rode the hitting of Nikki Sosebee
and Jessica Banks to a state berth, beating Tri-County 10-5 and
Johnson 4-1. Jackson County lost its first-round game against
defending state champion West Laurens, 5-2.
Sosebee was 7-for-12 with a home run and a triple, while Banks
had a pair of triples and a double on 6-for-10 hitting.
Jackson County will meet Brantley County Thursday at 2 p.m. in
the first round of the Class AAA/AA slow-pitch tournament. A
win there would set up a meeting with one of two defending state
champions in Round Two.
The 2000 state tournament had Classes AAA and AA divided. West
Laurens took the Class AAA crown in 2000, and Irwin County the
Class AA title. The two will meet in Round One Thursday, with
the winner advancing against the Jackson County/Brantley County
winner.
Going in to the state finals, Jackson County is 29-6 on the season.
 Tigers
Keep Postseason Alive With Pair Of Big Wins At Sectionals
Sure, regular season wins might make the stat book look nice,
but victories in the post- season are the ones that get you places.
Look no further than the Commerce Tiger (15-17) softball team.
Despite a modest 11-14 regular season mark, the Tigers are now
riding high-state championship tournament bound-after grabbing
two wins in the area tournament last week and then two more wins
at the state sectionals this past weekend to secure a spot among
the final eight teams in Columbus for the fourth consecutive
year.
The team, speculated to be in a rebuilding year at the onset
of the season, will now look to continue their Cinderella story
this Thursday when they matchup with Area I top seed and south
sectional champion Miller County at noon.
Should eighth-seeded Commerce top the tough Pirate team, it will
move on to face the winner of cross-county rival Jefferson and
Claxton at 6 p.m.
But Tiger head coach Donnie said staying alive among the state's
best leaves little room for error.
"As Tiger Woods says, if we've got an 'A' game, we'd better
find it before we get down to Columbus and have it the whole
time we're there."
The "easiest" way for the Tigers to be a dark horse
and claim the state crown would be to win four contests in a
row. If the team gets sent to the losers' bracket, Drew speculated
that it would have to play seven or eight games to pull the feat
off.
But to win the state crown with a dramatic season-ending run
would require the Tigers to play their most inspired, error-free
ball of the year against an imposing bracket of teams which Drew
said should be strong from top to bottom.
"To do any good at all down there, we've got to play a whole
lot better than we've played all year long," the coach said.
"There are not any weak teams down there at all. We're not
going to be stronger than any of the teams down there, I expect.
We may be on the same level as some, but we won't be stronger
than any of them."
And as Drew has preached all year, the Tigers will have to get
production from their entire lineup.
"We have two or three who will hit the ball and the rest
take the day off," he said. "We've got to have contributions
up and down the lineup if we're going anywhere."
The pass to the state championship tournament came via wins over
number one seeded Wilcox County and Temple. Sandwiched between
the victories was a 13-run loss to Buford.
COMMERCE 10,
WILCOX COUNTY 4
Drew said his Tigers "probably played the best ball game
we played all year," in the team's upset of top-seeded Wilcox
County.
Commerce struck for two runs in the first inning, added four
in the second, three in the fifth and one in the sixth en route
to the win.
Wilcox County picked up one run in the second and then notched
three in the third.
Lauren Lance paced the Tigers with three hits while Ashley Evans,
Mashenta Hester, Stephanie Damster, Jennifer Pope and Whitney
Brown all had two hits.
Lance picked up the win from the mound in the contest.
Drew the squad put fourth a balanced effort in the win.
"We played good defense and hit the ball up and down the
lineup," he said.
BUFORD 17,
COMMERCE 4
The BufordWolves continued their year-long dominance over the
Tigers in a 17-4 rout in the second round of the state sectionals,
their fourth win over Commerce in 2001.
"Buford loves to play us," Drew said.
In the loss, Buford trailed Commerce 3-2 after two innings but
exploded for 11 runs in the third to break the game open.
"Their big inning wiped us out," Drew said. "They
hit the ball very well."
Drew added that the Wolve bats caused a few headaches for the
Tiger defense.
"We made a couple of bad plays, but as hard as they were
hitting the ball, it was their hitting more than our errors,"
he said.
Stephanie Rainwater led the team offensively with a pair of hits.
COMMERCE 5, TEMPLE 1
The Tiger didn't let the sting of the 13-run loss to Buford derail
them, bouncing back with a win over Temple to secure a spot at
the state championship tournament.
The team rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the second inning with
a four-run second inning with three hits and three walks and
then padded their advantage in the fifth with a solo homerun
by Ashley Evans.
Drew, however, credited the defense in the win.
"We played good defense," Drew said. "Temple had
two or three very good long-ball hitters, but they didn't hit
up and down the line. Our defense made plays when the plays when
we had to."
In addition to Evans homer, Samantha Ingram chipped in with a
two hits.
Lance picked up the win the game.
 Overachieving
Raider softball team looks for state gold in Columbus
The words "rebuilding year" apparently aren't in the
Madison County softball team's vocabulary.
Instead "state championship" is the catch phrase that
resonates among the young Raider outfit these days.
After nabbing two wins in state sectionals this past weekend,
the young 27-5 squad-which many speculated would have to go back
to the drawing board this season after graduating eight seniors-will
pack their bags for Columbus for the second straight year, determined
to bring home the state title that eluded them in 2000.
"If you asked anybody who knew anything about last year's
team and what we lost, very few people would have thought we'd
be where we are now," Kesler said.
With naysayers now silenced, Madison County's quest for state
gold will start against Dublin when they take on the Fighting
Irish Thursday at 3 p.m. If the Raiders advance, they'll meet
the winner of the Jackson County-LaGrange matchup.
Kesler said Monday night that while he "didn't know much
about them (Dublin)," he knew that the Fighting Irish, who
won their area, "always have good female athletes."
Kesler added that the Fighting Irish are seasoned in state fast-pitch
competition, appearing in the championship tournament the past
two years.
Overall, the coach said that the bracket looked solid from top
to bottom, pointing to such teams as Dublin, Harris County and
La Grange as possible contenders while adding that first-year
participant Jackson County could figure in as a dark horse.
"Jackson County is capable of beating any team out there,"
Kesler said.
While the team will have to get past a number of tough foes,
Kesler said it is within his oveachieving group's grasp to put
a golden touch on what's been a dream season so far-if they play
like they're capable of playing.
"There's only one team that can stop us at state and that's
ourselves."
The head coach, who's guided the program to 99 wins over the
past four seasons, said one of the main advantages the team will
carry into this year's championship quest is something last year's
team lacked - state tournament experience. Last year's squad
was the first to ever make it to the fast-pitch state championship.
"We've got a good group of girls who've been their before,"
Kesler said, pointing to several girls who played a role in last
year's fourth-place finish-Candace Shubert, Amanda Lewis, Sarah
Owen and Lindsey Barnette. "They know what it's about. Even
though they're younger, we have a few with experience."
While the team is riding the wave of success into the three-day
state title event, Kesler said they'll be sure to keep things
in perspective.
"We want to have confidence in our abilities," he said.
"We're respecting everybody down there but we're fearing
no one....Our goal is to win the state championship."
Kesler was encouraged by his team's solid play in several areas
during their pair of wins last week in a tough field in the the
northern sectionals.
"We played good defensively. Lindsey (Barnette) kept the
hitters off balance and we got runners in scoring position and
scored some runs."
The team scored many runs, in fact, in their opening round win
over Cedartown, surging past the Bulldogs with an 11-run first
inning en route to the 10-run victory.
Brooke Kesler led the team from the plate, going three-for-three
with three doubles. Lewis chipped in with a single and double
in two at bats while Taylor Sapp went two-for-three with two
RBIs.
Barnette had her year-long scoreless inning streak snapped but
still managed two picked up the win, working five innings, striking
out two while surrendering one earned run.
The Raiders then secured their second consecutive trip to the
state championship tournament with a three-run victory over Eastside.
Madison County built a four-run edge over the course of the contest,
getting two scores in the first, one in the third and another
in the sixth before the Eagles notched a run in the final inning.
Lindsay Mason led the Raiders offensively, going two-for-three
with an RBI. Kesler and Shubert both added hit and an RBI while
Casey Allen, Owen and Brandi Robertson all picked up singles.
Barnette picked up her second win of the day in the contest,
working seven innings, surrendering six hits, an earned run while
striking out two.
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LOCAL
FOOTBALL SCHEDULES/RESULTS
| Banks County |
| (1-6-0) |
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| 8/31 |
at
JCCHS |
12-7 |
| 9/7 |
Jefferson |
7-35 |
| 9/21 |
Dawson
Co. |
0-28 |
| 9/28 |
at
East Hall |
0-28 |
| 10/5 |
GAC |
0-48 |
| 10/12 |
at
Apalachee |
0-30 |
| 10/19 |
Lumpkin
Co. |
0-20 |
| 10/26 |
at
Union Co. |
- |
| 11/2 |
Rabun
Co. |
- |
| 11/9 |
at
White Co. |
- |
| Commerce |
| (3-3-0) |
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| 8/31 |
Franklin
Co |
29-13 |
| 9/7 |
at
Forsyth Ctrl |
14-35 |
| 9/14 |
Morgan
Co |
ppd. |
| 9/21 |
at
Walhalla, SC |
35-24 |
| 9/28 |
at
Lincoln Co |
13-12 |
| 10/5 |
at
Ath Acad |
7-34 |
| 10/12 |
Wash-Wilkes |
26-49 |
| 10/26 |
Wesleyan |
- |
| 10/2 |
at
Jefferson |
- |
| 10/9 |
Buford |
- |
| Jackson County |
| (1-5-0) |
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| 8/31 |
Banks
Co |
7-12 |
| 9/7 |
at
Madison Co |
7-35 |
| 9/14 |
at
Elbert Co |
ppd. |
| 9/28 |
Hart |
3-51 |
| 10/5 |
at
Eastside |
7-47 |
| 10/12 |
Loganville |
0-47 |
| 10/19 |
at
Franklin |
21-14 |
| 10/26 |
Winder-Barrow |
- |
| 11/2 |
Stephens
Co |
- |
| 11/9 |
at
Monroe Area |
- |
| Jefferson |
| (4-2-0) |
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| 8/31 |
Athens
Christian |
40-6 |
| 9/7 |
at
Banks Co |
35-7 |
| 9/14 |
at
Johns-G'ville |
ppd. |
| 9/21 |
Madison
Co |
11-14 |
| 9/28 |
at
Social Circle |
21-28 |
| 10/5 |
Oglethorpe
Co |
21-6 |
| 10/12 |
Lndmrk
Christ |
23-14 |
| 10/26 |
at
Buford |
- |
| 11/2 |
Commerce |
- |
| 11/9 |
at
Wesleyan |
- |
| Madison County |
| (6-1-0) |
| Date |
Opponent |
Score |
| 8/24 |
South
Forsyth |
0-17 |
| 9/1 |
Apalachee |
36-3 |
| 9/7 |
Jackson
Co |
35-7 |
| 9/14 |
at
North Hall |
ppd. |
| 9/21 |
at
Jefferson |
14-11 |
| 9/28 |
Warren
Co |
14-7 |
| 10/5 |
Union
Grove |
35-6 |
| 10/19 |
at
Wesleyan |
14-0 |
| 10/26 |
at
Union Grove |
- |
| 11/2 |
Athens
Christian |
- |
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