Trey Silmon doesn't want to say out loud that divine intervention is in play here, but the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe junior catcher won't deny it, either.
An impressive field of teams competed in the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe Invitational softball tournament Saturday at the Jack Mattox complex, each with different goals as the high school season begins.
No football coach is prepared for an 0-10 season, and for Todd Windham the winless 2010 campaign was a serious eye-opener in a lot of ways.
Third-ranked Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe split its softball doubleheader Wednesday in its best-of-three series in the second round of the GHSA state softball tournament. The host Lady Warriors beat Greater Atlanta Christian 11-10 in eight innings before falling 4-3 in the night cap.
The challenges get quite a bit tougher for northwest Georgia softball teams in today’s second round of the GHSA state tournament. After going a perfect 7-for-7 in advancing past the first round, six of the seven teams face ranked squads in the round that will determine the Elite Eight fields in Columbus.
If Steve Chattin and Tony Ellis have their way, their region softball tournaments will follow the path set by Region 7-AAAA next season.
Though the outcome was very much in doubt, Maddie Bray looked at the scoreboard in the sixth inning and smiled.
Faring well in out-of-town tournaments often is a precursor to softball state tournament success.
Friday night prep football stars
(The Times Free Press will accept nominations from coaches or statisticians through noon Sunday. Please e-mail Ward at the below address.)
Ringgold defeats LFO
Gregory sparks Tigers against county rivals
Justin Gregory finally had to give in and leave the field of play Friday night, but not before helping his Ringgold Tigers secure a satisfying 44-21 opening-game win over Catoosa County rival Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe at Tommy Cash Stadium.
It wasn’t all coach Tony Ellis had hoped to see, but Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe’s softball win Thursday at Calhoun High might turn out to be one of his team’s biggest of the season.
High school softball coaches like to test their teams early in the nonregion portion of the schedule, often scheduling several early tournaments to both gauge performance and work their teams into shape.
Pitching has always been the key in fastpitch softball, and with the move of the pitching rubber to 43 feet this season in Georgia, that importance will only be magnfied.
