Calhoun boys, GC girls take first at Ft. Mountain Meet
Calhoun and Gordon Central traveled to Fort Mountain State Park on Tuesday for an early-season meet, and each came away with a top team finish apiece.
The Calhoun boys and Gordon Central girls finished atop the leaderboard in the team standings in their respective races. Leading the Gordon Central girls was LizBeth Alvarez, who placed second individually. Her teammate Taylor Evans was right behind her in third.
The Calhoun girls took third as a team with Adamariz Perez and Xiomara Ruiz had the team’s strongest performances as several younger runners got a chance to compete on the varsity level for the first time.
In the boys race, the Jackets took first ahead of second-place Gordon Central. The Calhoun boys, also using many new varsity runners, were led by Daniel Isep who took second individually. Other strong finishers for the Jackets were Francisco Pena, Mario Marroquin, Gage Maffetone and Chris DeLeon.
The Gordon Central boys were led by a pair of top-four finishers with Joey Kowalczeski taking third and teammate Nelson Rodriguez just behind him in fourth.
Calhoun had the top finishers in both the girls and boys JV races as well with Lesley Pacheco and Danny Hernandez finishing in first place in their respective races.
Both Calhoun and Gordon Central will run in the Ridge Ferry Invitational in Rome on Saturday with the girls race starting at 8 a.m. and the boys race to follow.
In other recent prep sports action:
SOFTBALL Calhoun 1, Gordon Lee 0
The Lady Jackets earned a quality victory in a hardfought non-region test at home on Tuesday, and Blair Hall played the starring role at the plate and in the circle.
After the two teams went scoreless through seven innings, Hall stepped up in the bottom of the eighth and hit a game-winning, walk-off single to send Calhoun (8-1) into celebration mode. It was her second hit of the game. That came after Hall dominated in the circle, throwing an eight-inning complete-game shutout. She allowed just two hits while striking out four.
Also with hits for Calhoun was Erin Barnes, Adella Carver and Audrey Wilbanks, and Lona Sims scored the game-winning run on Hall’s hit. Barnes also had a stolen base in the contest.
Calhoun was back home on Thursday to open subregion play against Haralson County. (For details on that game, see Wednesday’s Calhoun Times.) They will play in the Allatoona Buccaneer Bash this weekend before visiting rival Sonoraville on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Sonoraville 7, Haralson County 5
Sonoraville made a long road trip for their subregion opener on Tuesday and returned with a close victory.
The Lady Phoenix scored seven runs in the first four innings of the contest and held off Haralson County’s rally to open the subregion schedule with a win. Kristen Davis had a three-run homer, and Griffin Holden went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI to lead the offense. Karley Thomas also had a double, an RBI and two runs scored, Harleigh Chastain added two hits and a stolen base and Payton Townsend contributed a hit and an RBI.
Davis earned the win in relief, pitching 4 1-3 inning and giving up five runs (three earned) on four hits while striking out four. Kelsey Hughes started and went 2 2-3 inning and gave up three hits while striking out one.
The Lady Phoenix were on the road once again on Thursday at Bremen. (For details on that game, see Wednesday’s Calhoun Times.) They will play in the Allatoona Buccaneer Bash this weekend and then host North Murray on Monday at 5:30 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL Calhoun opens area play with win
The Lady Jackets visited Haralson County on Tuesday for a tri-match and came away with a split, but their opened their Area 1-AAA schedule.
Calhoun (5-5, 1-0) started the night with a three-set win over host Haralson County, which was the team’s first area match. They then faced a tough non-area test against Carrollton and lost in two sets.
Contributing in the stat column for Calhoun was: Erin Davis with six digs, two kills and one ace, Sophie Stewart with one dig, one kill and two aces, Ashlyn Brzozoski with five digs and one kill, Anna George with one block and five kills, Emma Kate Smith with four digs and three kills, Ashton Ensley with two digs, Callie Ledford with three digs and four aces, Erin Kelly with two blocks and seven aces, Jenna Santori with three digs and Railey Greeson with seven digs and three aces.
The Lady Jackets played their first home match on Thursday against Cass and Bremen. (For details on those matches, see Wednesday’s Calhoun Times.)
They will play in the Rally on the Ridge Tournament at Fannin County High on Saturday.
Lady Phoenix swept on the road
Sonoraville visited Coosa on Tuesday for a tough trimatch and came up empty against two very talented opponents.
The Lady Phoenix (3-5) first lost to Holly Innocents in two sets (25-14, 25-18), and then faced Coosa in a rematch of an earlier contest and lost in two sets (25-18, 25-20).
“We played really well in streaks during three of the four sets, but we just lacked consistency,” said Sonoraville coach Trace Vaughn.
The Lady Phoenix were back home at the Sonoraville Rec on Thursday to host Haralson County in an area match and also Northwest Whitfield. (For details on those matches, see Wednesday’s Calhoun Times.) They will be back at Coosa on Saturday to compete in the Coosa Tournament.