Lady Warriors victorious in first-ever home match
It was a historic afternoon on Thursday at the Gordon Central High Gym as the Lady Warriors volleyball team hosted their first-ever home match in program history. And not only were they at home for the first time, they came away victorious in two matches.
The Lady Warriors, who are playing a full JV schedule, hosted Dade County and came away with wins over the Lady Wolverines’ JV and varsity teams. In the first match, Gordon Central (17-3) defeated Dade County’s JV team in two sets (25-8, 25-11). They then defeated the Wolverines varsity team in two sets (25-7, 25-22).
Kathryn Hill had a stellar game serving with 11 aces and had 12 points in a row in the second set. She also had four kills and a block. Chloe Ferguson had two kills and two aces, Leslie Gutierrez had three blocks and three kills and Laura Sanchez had two blocks, three kills and three aces. Jabresha Evans added 11 assists.
The wins on Thursday followed up two wins on Tuesday over Model and Chattooga. They defeated the Lady Devils 25-21, 25-21 and the Lady Indians 25-13, 25-8. Sanchez, Hill, Evans, Karen Cervantes and Cameron Luna all contributed to the victories.
Gordon Central, who will make the official transition to varsity in 2017, was home again on Tuesday, hosting Sonoraville and Darlington. (For details on those matches, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.) They play in the Sonoraville JV Tournament on Saturday starting at 8 a.m.
In other recent prep sports action:
CROSS COUNTRY Lady Jackets, Jackets perform well at Greenwave Invitional
Calhoun continues to make noise across the state. On Saturday, both the girls and boys teams traveled to Ft. Benning in Columbus to compete in the Seventh Annual Greenwave Invitational against teams from all over Georgia and Alabama.
Both teams left with trophies as the girls captured the overall title and the boys placed second.
For the Lady Jackets, Ashley Hartness earned a medal for a thirdplace finish and a time of 21:31. Mari Morales, Hannah Sheriff and Emily Driscoll were also top 15 and major contributors in the victory.
The Calhoun boys were led by Jonathan Santana, Esvin Garcia and Jason Sosa.
In the JV race, Irvin Campos earned a medal for his fifth-place finish.
“The opportunity to compete on a military base also provided an excellent learning experience outside the walls,” said Calhoun coach Justin Lindsey.”
Calhoun is back in action on Saturday, competing at the Darlington Invitational in Rome.
SOFTBALL Calhoun wins two at Grayson Tournament
The Lady Jackets visited Parkview High for the Grayson Tournament on Friday and came away with a pair of victories.
Calhoun (25-1) defeated Northside-Columbus 5-2 in the first game of the night and then fol- lowed that up with a 12-2 victory over Parkview.
In the first game, Torri Gaddis earned the win by pitching a complete game (seven innings) and giving up two runs (both unearned) on five hits while striking out two.
Offensively, Calhoun scored three in the first and then added two more insurance runs in the fourth. Jana Johns led the way with a triple and two RBIs, and Ryan Brzozoski, Allie Jones and Carlie Henderson all had a hit and an RBI apiece with Henderson’s hit being a double. Ashlyn Barnes added a triple, and Cassie Henderson also had a double.
Against Parkview, the Calhoun offense scored two runs in each of the first, third, fourth and sixth innings and finished it off with four in the seventh. They racked up 21 hits, including five players with three or more. Jones was 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, and Johns had a big game with two triples, a double and three RBIs. Brzozoski also had three hits, including a triple, with three RBIs, Alaina Reece had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs and Ashlyn Barnes had three hits, including a double, and three runs scored. Erin Barnes and Carlie Henderson each added two hits, and Chloe Rice had a hit and an RBI.
Kayla Watson earned the win with a complete game. She gave up two runs on five hits while striking out two.
Calhoun opened the Region 6-AAA playoffs on Tuesday at home against North Murray. (For details on that series, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.)
Lady Phoenix earn quality wins at Elite Sports Classic
Sonoraville traveled to Loganville on Saturday to finish out the regular season, and they got a couple wins to head into the postseason with momentum.
The Lady Phoenix (13-10) defeated East Jackson 11-10 and then beat Eagles Landing Christian Academy 6-0 in the Elite Sports Classic.
In the first game, which Sonoraville won in 10 innings, Mollie Locke had two doubles and three RBIs, and Baylee Blaylock and Griffin Holden both had three hits and two RBIs apiece to lead the offense. Sandra Beth Pritchett had three hits and an RBI, and Thaley Jackson and Kelsey Mulkey each added two hits and an RBI apiece. Harleigh Chastain, Kristen Davis and McKenzie Green all had two hits, and Alyssa Hughes added a hit and an RBI. Mulkey earned the win in relief, going four innings and giving up one run (unearned) on one hit while striking out two.
In the second game against ELCA, Sonoraville got a dominant outing from Davis to lift them to the victory. She went six shutout innings and gave up four hits while striking out 12. Offensively, Holden had a double and a triple among three hits to go with two RBIs to lead the way. Emma Garland added three hits and two RBIs, and Chastain and Pritchett both had two hits apiece.
Sonoraville opened the Region 6-AAA playoffs on Tuesday at home against Coahulla Creek. (For details on that series, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.)
Calhoun 11, Adairsville 1
Calhoun completed a perfect subregion record on Thursday with a dominant road win.
The Lady Jackets (231, 8-0 subregion) scored five runs in the first five innings and then put the game away with a sixrun sixth. Ashlyn Barnes had a perfect 4-for-4 day in the leadoff spot with an RBI and three runs scored. Alaina Reece had two hits and two RBIs, including a double, and Jana Johns had two hits and two RBIs. Allie Jones added a double and three RBIs, and Erin Barnes had a double and two runs scored.
Kayla Watson got the win in the circle with six strong innings, giving up one run (unearned) on five hits.
Armuchee 13, Gordon Central 2
The Lady Warriors fell behind big early and couldn’t catch up in a region loss at home on Thursday.
Morgan Frank led the offense for Gordon Central with a double and an RBI. Cailey Martin added a hit and a run scored.
The Lady Warriors host Model on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to wrap up the regular season.