Panthers split playoff series with Gators

Daniel Courtney allowed two hits in Starr's Mill's
12-2 six inning win over Ware County in Game Two
of their semifinal playoff series.

FAYETTEVILLE-After dropping game one of their Saturday evening AAAAA semifinal playoff series with the Ware County Gators, the Starr's Mill Panthers would need a solid effort in game two in order to extend their season. 

Mission accomplished for the Panthers as they overcame a 2-0 deficit with runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to come away with a 12-2, six-inning win over the Gators in the nightcap as Daniel Courtney tossed a two-hitter.

The Panthers (28-11) will face the Gators in the rubber game Monday afternoon at 4:00 with the winner slated to advance to the final series and face the survivor of the series between Loganville and St. Pius X which begins Monday.

The day started with the Gators scoring twice in the top of the seventh inning to reclaim the lead in a 6-5 win as three players had at least two hits.

The nightcap started in the favor of the Gators when Caleb Stewart opened the bottom of the first inning and eventually came home with the initial run as he scored from third on a groundout by Trey Jeffars.

The Gators extended their lead in the bottom of third inning as Stewart walked and after advancing around to third base, came home on a sacrifice fly by Noah Hooks.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Panthers scoring barrage began as White singled to left field and advanced to second on an error and Chay Yeager followed with a single that sent courtesy runner Austin Killingsworth to third.

A sacrifice fly to center field by Eli Jones scored Killingsworth from third and the Panthers were on the scoreboard.

After Courtney retired the Gators in order in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Panthers' scoring attack continued with three runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Heath Whitlock walked to open the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Evan Harrah before scoring the tying run on a double by Thad Ector.

Josh Tate followed with a single and both came home as White lined a double to center field and the Panthers had a 4-2 lead.

The Panthers broke the game open in the top of the sixth inning as Whitlock, Tate, White and Courtney were among those who contributed to the frame.

Courtney retired the side in order ion the bottom of the inning to end the contest.

In the opener, Ware County opened the scoring when Caleb Stewart hit the first pitch of the game over the right field for a solo home run.

Starr's Mill came back to tie the game in the bottom of the first as Josh Tate reached on an infield error and eventually scored when starting pitcher lined a single to right field.

The Gators regained the lead in the top of the third inning as J Aspinwall walked and Jett Justice singled to right field with Stewart following by hitting a double to right that brought Aspinwall home.

Justice advanced to third on the Stewart double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Trey Jeffars to give the Gators a 3-1 lead.

The Panthers tried to rally in the bottom of the fourth inning as White doubled to left field and after Eli Jones reached on an error, Courtney grounded into a fielder's choice allowing courtesy runner Killingworth to score from third base.

Ware County reclaimed a two run advantage in the top of the sixth inning as Jeffars reached on a one out single to center field and with two

 outs 

Shi Christmas hit a mishandled pop fly that allowed courtesy runner Weathersby to score.

The lead was short lived as Starr's Mill came back in the bottom of the frame with three runs to assume a 5-4 lead.

With one out, 

Jones reached on a bloop single to center field that allowed courtesy runner Bo Walker to reach second and Courtney followed by reaching on an infield error that loaded the bases.

Ryder Wagenknecht tied the game at 4-4 when he lined a double to right that allowed Walker and Jones to score. 

Courtney, who advanced to third on Wagenknecht's double, came home with the lead run when H Whitlock reached on a bloop single to center field and Panther fans were ecstatic.

Yeager, who went six innings, allowing four runs on five hits and recording five strikeouts, was relieved in the top of the seventh inning by Josh Tate.

The frame began well for Tate as he retired Aspinwall on strikes, but a double by Justice, a single by Stewart and a sacrifice fly to right field by Gators starting pitcher Hooks followed the game was tied at 5-5 as Justice scored.

The go ahead run scored as Jeffars doubled to left field allowing Stewart to scores and the Gators threatened to add to the lead as Barnes singled and Weathersby tried to scored but he was tagged out at the plate to end the frame.

Hooks would keep the Panthers from reclaiming the lead in the bottom of the frame as he allowed a single by White on the way to a seven-hitter.

White went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead Starr's Mill in hitting while Stewart, and Jeffers each had three hits for Ware County. 

2021-2022 GHSA Football Schedule released

Submitted for your approval, the 2021 high school football schedule as released by the Georgia High School Association.

While changes could come at anytime, the Coweta area schools will have almost the same schedule as they did a year ago but the locations will change.

Newnan made one change that wasn't really a change as Carrollton is on the schedule this year and was on last year's schedule.

However, due to a COVID situation, that game was cancelled and Martin Luther King took the Trojans' place.

The Northgate Vikings will also be a mirror image of last year's campaign.

The Fayette-Coweta challenge will take place at Starr's Mill with the Panthers (9-2) hosting Newnan (9-2 in 2020) with East Coweta (10-2) facing Whitewater (5-6) and Northgate (4-6) facing Sandy Creek (2-4).

The Heritage Hawks have one change to their schedule as they will play Chattahoochee County and not Our Lady of Mercy of Fairburn.

Trinity Christian, the runnerup in Class A-Private, will have almost the same scheudle as a season ago with the exception of Hampton who is being replaced by Fellowship Christian.

Fayette County schools McIntosh Chiefs (0-10) and Fayette County Tigers (7-3) will also see no changes in their schedule while Sandy Creek will look to play a full 10-game schedule after only playing six a year ago due to COVID problems.

To look at all of the schedules click the link below.

2021-2022 GHSA Football Schedule

Play at the plate seals EC Freshmen win

Maddox Bridges is shown pitching to an Ola batter
in the first inning of Monday's game. Maddox pitched
three and two-third innings of the 9-8 win.

 SHARPSBURG-A throw from center fielder Tyler Coe to catcher Cale Fenimore ended a close game as the East Coweta Indians defeated the Ola Mustangs 9-8 in a freshmen baseball game played Monday.
 With on base, EC pitcher Avery Butts pitched a offering to Ola hitter who single to center field where Coe picked up the ball and threw a strike to Fenimore who applied the tag that ended the game.

Butts recorded the save after two innings of relief in which he allowed three hits. 

The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Nate Norman scored on an error in the outfield with one out in the frame.

However, the Indians came back in the bottom of the first after several players were hit by pitches which led to a pair of runs.

With one out, Hand singled and Tyler Coe reached on a double to put runners in scoring position.

After Conor Goltermann hit a line drive to first, the "hit parade" started as CJ Rivera, Fenimore and Carson Kish were hit by pitches that forced home the two runs.

In the bottom of the second inning, EC added to the lead as they scored four times Coe and Rivera were hit by pitches that forced home runs while a walk to Fenimore and Kish was hit again to force home the other two scores.

The Mustangs were responsible for a combined nine EC batters that were hit by pitches.

Ola narrowed the margin to 6-3 in the top of the third inning with a pair of runs and threatened to add more as they loaded the bases with one out but starting pitcher Maddox Bridges was able to get out of trouble after inducing a foul pop to Goltermann at first and recording a strikeout.

The Mustangs tied the game at 6-6 as they took advantage of an infield error and three hits that led to the end of the game for Bridges who was relieved by Dylan Nemeth who ended the frame by inducing a flyball to right field.

The Indians regained the lead in the bottom of the inning as a walk to Cub Beasley scored a run while Butts had a two-run single that scored two-run single to center field.

Ola scored two unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning against Nemeth who would become the winning pitcher and record two strikeouts in an inning and one-third.

NEXT GAME

Northgate at East Coweta 

Thursday afternoon 

Freshmen 4:30

JV 6:30 

 

  

Newnan freshmen win game with winning run in the seventhj

Tony Coe pitched the first three and one-third innings
Monday for EC in the 5-4 loss to Newnan

 A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt brought home the winning run with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Newnan Cougars a 5-4 win over the East Coweta Indians in a junior varsity baseball played Monday at Joe Pope Field.  

The game was scoreless entering the frame when Welsh opened by reaching on a walk while a throwing error allowed him to advance to second.

Another sacrifice bunt followed that was fielded by pitcher CJ Rivera who pulled first baseman Conor Goltermann off the base allowing Welsh to score.

The game started in favor of the Indians as Kris Colton led off by getting hit by a pitch and advancing to second after a one-out walk to starting pitcher Tony Coe.

Goltermann followed with a single to center field that scored Colton and advanced Coe to third base and a throw home allowed Goltermann to take second..

Coe would come home with the second run of the game as he came home from third on a wild pitch while Goltermann took third on the play.

Goltermann scored the final run of the frame when Rivera grounded out to shortstop.

The Cougars came back in the bottom of the first inning as Gilmore reached on a one out single to right field and eventually scored on a two-out single by Scott.

A two-out double in the bottom of the second inning by Wooten scored Welsh and a courtesy runner to tie the game at 3-3.

Newnan took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Kilby scored on a fielders choice that saw the runner behind him get tagged out at the plate.

However, that 4-3 lead went quickly as EC scored the tying run in the top of the fifth inning as Reece Davis scored on a two-out single by Dylan Nemeth who had relieved Coe in the bottom of the fourth inning on the mound.

In three and one-third innings, Coe allowed six hits and recorded three strikeouts while Nemeth held the Cougars hitless and recording a strikeout.

Rivera took over in the bottom of the sixth inning allowing a hit and recording a pair of strikeouts.

Cannon tossed three inning for Newnan allowing three hits before yielding in the fourth inning.

"Babe" Ferguson drills three home runs to lead EC to victory.

 
SHARPSBURG-Kylie Ferguson contributed a lot of runs on a night in which the scoreboard was not working with three home runs to lead the East Coweta Lady Indians to a 14-0 win over the Stratford Lady Eagles in a varsity contest played Thursday.

The Lady Indians improved to 22-1 on the season and will face the Westfield School next Tuesday at Strong Rock Academy in Locust Grove.

The scoring began in the bottom of the first inning as Ferguson had her only non home run with a single and after a stolen base, came home on a single by Olivia Cook.

Most of the scoring damage came in the bottom of the third inning as EC sent 12 to the plate with nine scoring.

Kenadie Cooper led off with a single and Ferguson drilled her first home run over the right field fence and with one out, Ashleigh Griffin doubled and with two outs, Kip Heggood reached on an infield error that allowed Griffin to score.

An error allowed Katie Taylor to reach, Kaliyah Matthews walked and Macie Wiggins followed with a shot over the left field fence to record her first varsity home run and the margin increased to 7-0.

The Cooper-Ferguson combination batted again in the frame as the former singled while latter hit her second home run of the game over the right field fence.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lady Indians were able to end the game as Bailee Echols walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Matthews.

With two outs, Wiggins singled and Cooper doubled before "Babe" drilled an offering in the same area as the other two to end the game.

Jaliyah Holmes tossed the first three innings allowing no hits and recording eight strikeouts before Hannah Stubbs retired the side in order in the top of the fourth.

Besides Ferguson's 4-for-4, four run, seven RBI night, Cooper went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and Wiggins went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. 

ECJV ends season with win

ECJV end season on high note

 

Rylee Gordy fired a two-hitter for
the East Coweta Lady Indians JV
in a 7-0 win over Stratford.
File Photo by Paula Stubbs.

SHARPSBURG-After seeing a 50-game unbeaten streak end last week, the East Coweta Lady Indians recovered to close their season with a 7-0 win over the Stratford Lady Eagles in a junior varsity game played Thursday.

The Lady Indians' season ended with a 17-1-1 record.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when Maggie Stubbs singled and Madison Duffel walked before Mallory Lumpkins singled Stubbs home and a throwing error allowed Duffel to score.

Lumpkins, who advanced to third on the throwing error, came home when Karlie Guiterrez grounded out.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Duffel led off by reaching on a walk for the third time, advanced to second on a stolen base and made it to third on a wild pitch and scored when Guiterrez grounded out.

The Lady Indians added to the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as Elizabeth Austin and Ansley Joiner singled while Duffel reached base via the walk for the fourth time in the game.

A single by Lumpkins scored Austin while Guiterrez followed with a two-run single to finish with four RBIs in the game.

Benefiting from the run support was Rylee Gordy who tossed a complete game in which she allowed two hits and walked one batter while recording three strikeouts.

She also received strong defensive support with plays by Duffel at short stop, Madisyn Weathers at third base and Shallyn Olszowy at first who recorded nine putouts.

 

 Fergy goes yard three times

Streak reaches 50 as ECJV defeats Troup

Madison Duffel went 2-for-3 at the plate
with two runs scored and three steals in the
5-0 win over Troup. File photo by Paula Stubbs.

SHARPSBURG-Ansley Joiner and Rylee Gordy combined on a three-hitter Tuesday night as the East Coweta Lady Indians defeated the Troup Lady Tigers 5-0 in a junior varsity victory that extended their unbeaten streak to 50 games.
The Lady Indians improved to 16-0-1 with the win and will face the Heard County Lady Braves Wednesday afternoon at 4:30.
Madison Duffel put the Lady Indians on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a single and two stolen bases before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center field by Karlie Guiterrez.
Jenna Helmly gave EC a 2-0 lead as she reached on an infield error and stole two bases before coming home when Riley Ratzlaff grounded out to first.
The Lady Indians were not finished adding to the lead as they scored twice in the bottom of the third inning as Duffel singled, stole second and scored on a double by Guiterrez and Helmly followed with a single that scored courtesy runner Elizabeth Austin.
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning as Ansley Teteak led off with a walk and came home on a two out single by Duffel who had a 2-for-3 afternoon with three stolen bases, two runs scored and an RBI.
In the pitching circle, Joiner gave EC four solid innings as she surrendered two hits and was able to escape a pair of jams as the Lady Tigers had runners in scoring position with less than two outs.
Gordy took over in the top of the fifth inning and allowed a single while getting a pair of ground outs.
    
EC defeats Troup on Senior Night