Indians overcome elements and the Patriots

 

  EC 9 Sandy Creek 3

 

 

SHARPSBURG-After two rainouts forced a week long hiatus, the East Coweta Indians baseball team was finally able to take the field Wednesday night as they hosted the Sandy Creek Patriots under cold and windy conditions.

The weather didn’t seem to faze the Indians as they won their second game of the season after a 9-3 victory over the Patriots.
The Indians took the lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a Sandy Creek error as Cameron Smith led off the frame with a single and moved to second when Matthew Meyers reached on a walk before scoring when the shortstop committed a throwing error while attempting a double play.
After the Indians loaded the bases, Bryce Gemmel hit a sacrifice fly to center field that allowed Cole Antmann to come home from third for the second run of the frame.
The Patriots added a pair of runs in the top of the second inning to tie the game at 2-2 but the Indians regained the lead in the bottom of the frame as Travis Williams led off with a walk and advanced to second when Tim Manning grounded out before coming home on a single to center by Smith.
Smith, who would have a 3-for-3 night with a walk and three runs, picked up his second score when he stole second, moved to third on a throwing error and came home on an infield single by Meyers to give the Indians a 4-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Indians added an unearned run as Williams led off with a walk, stole two bases and came home on an errant pickoff attempt of third when the catcher’s throw went into left field.
The Patriots scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning as Jared Jackson reached first on an error, stole second and came home on a groundout by Trevin Bolden.
However, the Indians were able to break the game open in the bottom of the inning with four runs to account for the final margin.
Manning and Smith reached on singles and Meyers reached on a walk to load the bases before Antmann singled to left field to score both and after a strikeout, Jonathan Banks had an infield single and Gemmel hit into a force play that scored courtesy runner Austin Bellamy.
On the play, Antmann raced home to give EC their final tally of the night and pitched an effective seventh inning with a strikeout and two groundout to seal the win.
Brandon Ruston started for the Indians on the mound allowing three hits and two runs in the first two innings before Meyers took over on the mound for four innings allowing one hit and recording six strikeouts during his stint.
Smith scored three runs while Antmann and Williams each crossed home plate twice for the Indians who will host South Forsyth in a non-region contest Friday at 5:30.

Indians win opener over Vikings

SHARPSBURG-The East Coweta Indians took advantage of a pair of Northgate errors in the bottom of the fourth inning Wednesday afternoon while Zack McCurry and Austin Bellamay combined on a five-hitter to defeat the Vikings 4-1.
Northgate, who lost their opener 2-0 to Troup on Monday, took the lead in the top of the second inning as Spencer Perry reached on a walk, Chase Allen followed with a single and Burden loaded the bases after reaching on a one out walk.
With J.D. Ginn at the plate, McCurry was called for a balk and courtesy runner Zach Schmits was awarded home with the Vikings' lone run of the game.
However, the Indians came back in the bottom of the frame to tie the game at 1-1 against losing pitcher Robert Massenburg as Geremy Walton demonstrated his power when he lined a shot to the fence in left center field and came home on an RBI single by Bryce Gemmel.
The Indians had a chance to take control in the inning as Blake Lorow and Travis Williams walked to load the bases but a ball hit by Tim Manning hit Williams he ran the bases and Massenburg retired Cameron Smith on strikes.
In the fourth inning, Massenburg retired gemmel on a groundout but Lorow and Williams reached on consecutive walks while Manning reached base after being hit by a pitch.
Massenburg appeared to be getting out of the mess as Smith appeared to hit a ground ball to Blake Green at second but a hop through his legs allowed Bellamy to score the lead run.
After matthew myers was retired on strikes, Cole Antman hit a flyball to right field but the ball glanced off of the right fielder's glove with Williams and Manning to come home with two insurance runs.
The Vikings had a chance to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth inning with two runners on base but they were unable to come away with a big hit.
Schmits took over for Northgate in the bottom of the fifth and pitched two effective innings while Bellamy took over in the top of the sixth inning for East Coweta and retired all six batters he would face.
NOTES:East Coweta's game on Friday against Sandy Creek was postponed due to the weather. It will be played on February 27.
Norgate face the Patriots at Thursday afternoon and travel to Luella on Friday. No results from Thursday were available while the Friday met the weather grinch.

Tri-Cities defeats Newnan in region final

SHARPSBURG-Struggles on offense cost the Newnan Cougars Saturday night as they were defeated 44-30 by the Tri-Cities Bulldogs in the finals of the Region 3-AAAAAA boys tournament at the John Thrower Gymnasium.
The loss dropped the Cougars' overall record to 17-10 as they will enter the AAAAAA state playoffs with the number two seed from the region and will host the Morrow Mustangs Tuesday night at the Max Bass Athletic Center.
The winner will face the winner of North Cobb and Coffee County this weekend.
The Bulldogs, seeded fifth in the region tournament, improved to 12-13 and have the region's top seed as they will host the Luella Lions Tuesday night in Fulton County.
The Bulldogs scored the first six points of the game before Doniel Dean converted a free throw to get the Cougars on the scoreboard but they fell into a deeper hole as the Bulldogs scored five more points to take an 11-1 lead with 4:17 remaining in the first period.
A 6-3 streak by Newnan cut the margin to 14-7 going into the second period and a 7-2 run concluded by a three-point basket by Kaceon Person gave the faithful hope with 5:35 remaining but Tri-Cities responded with a 6-1 finish to the half and took a 22-15 lead into the locker room.
The second period opened with promise for the Cougars as Jannson Williams rebounded a miss and scored a basket in the first seconds to cut the margin to 22-17 but the offense ran out of gas as an 11-5 run by the Bulldogs over the balance of the stanza gave them a 33-22 lead going into the final eight minutes.
The futility on offense continued for Newnan as they were limited to three free throws by Immanuel Griggs in the first 6:22 of the fourth period until Dean converted a pair of field goals in remaining 90 seconds.
Griggs and Dean led Newnan in scoring with 12 points each while DeAndre Slaughter led Tri-Cities with 11 and Charles Stokes contributed nine points.
Meanwhile, the final game in the East Coweta gymnasium for lady Indians head coach Paula Jones was not what she had in mind as the Westlake Lady Lions cruised to a 67-31 win in the consolation game of the rgeion tournament.
With the game tied at 2-2 with 6:22 remaining in the first period, the Lady Lions went on 42-6 run over the balance of the half to take a 44-8 cushion to the locker room.
An 18-12 third period gave the Lady Lions a 52-20 lead going into the final stanza.
Westlake (18- 9) will take the region's third seed to Newton County to face the Lady Rams who are the number two seed in Region 2 while East Coweta (6-20) will take the number four seed to Covinghton for a matchup with the Alcovy Lady Tigers Tuesday night at 6:00.  


  

National Signing Day and the stories that come with it

COMMENTARY

Once again, National Signed Day came and went as high school football players around the United States declared where they would attend college at least for 2013.
There were a lot of surprises and a lot who were locks and then a large number who enrolled for the semester in January.
There were a lot of stories connected with the day that were sad, some were funny and the one that has to be outright ridiculous.
That is the one that made shake my head or in the social media vernacular smh.
I offer the story of Alex Collins of South Plantation High School in Florida who ESPN has rated 57th among their top 150 prospects.
Collins rushed for 1,276 yards and 14 touchdowns last season and for a long time was headed to the U better known as the University of Miami.
In November he reopened his recruiting (I know that sounds like one of those terms that make you go hmm but hang with me) and a number of schools jumped back into the derby for his services like Arkansas, Florida, Wisconsin and Florida State.
After the usual courtship, Collins appeared on a recruiting program on FOX Sports South and decided to sign with the Arkansas Razorbacks.
"I like the fact that they run the ball," Collins according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "I personally know the coaches, I have been recruited by them for two years now. ... I trust them."
Wednesday morning came when it was time to sign the letter of intent and fax it to Fayetteville, but there was a slight problem with seems to be a very simple plan.
The letter was missing and this was not a case of the family dog having it for a snack but mama ran off with the letter.
Collins’ mother Andrea McDonald showed up at the school for the obligatory photo shoot smiling at her child proudly except that didn’t happen as she grabbed the letter and took off like a bank robber.
According to whoever is to be considered reliable (most journalists go with a three-person confirmation) his mother wanted him to stay close to home and not attend Arkansas.
Comments galore have hit the blogosphere and online sites of traditional media on this story alone including a quote from South Plantation Mike Collins (no relation) who said that the family was not on the same page and wanted to think about it some more.
Really?
Looks like mama has made her decision, but there is one detail she didn’t think about and that is his age.
Collins is already 18 and doesn’t need a parent or guardian to co-sign on the letter of intent as per NCAA rules.
Also, it would occur to me that the university can fax over another form unless it is against the rules and I don’t believe that is the case.
Stay tuned for more of this farce as Fort Lauderdale’s finest try to find Andrea McDonald who should be considered something as she tries to hide somewhere in Broward County.
Do not try to apprehend as she could take any form you may have in your possession as well.
Oh well, I guess it is welcome to the world of football recruiting.
Remember this is the same class that will see a young man go to Alabama with an Auburn tattoo on his body and the story of Grayson High School’s Robert Nkamdeche who was going to Clemson and taking teammates with him only to hear from his mother who is a diplomat in Nigeria.
At that time I think Clemson head coach Dabo Sweeney didn’t realize the length of a order from a mama bear.
Nkamdeche elected to go to Ole Miss to play with his brother and make his mother happy and she didn’t run off with any paperwork as it headed to Oxford.
That is part of the beast that is National Signing Day in college football but what is sad about this day is several other sports signed players and there might be a mention in a corner of Thursday’s paper.
I doubt parents did not run off with letters of intent during those signings.