Bickley ready to make history at Chatt. State
Heritage
Back in December, following her selection as the Catoosa County Volleyball Player of the Year, Ringgold’s Ricki Lynn Bickley said she would like to play volleyball in college, but only if the right opportunity presented itself.
Nearly six months later, opportunity knocked and Bickley answered.
The senior and anchor of the Lady Tigers’ 2017 Area 6-AAA championship team will indeed assume the rank of college athlete after signing her letter of intent to play for the brand-new volleyball program at nearby Chattanooga State.
The Lady Tigers will be led by veteran coach Janet Tate in their first season this upcoming fall.
“Well, I decided to go out on a whim and go to tryouts,” Bickley said, who added that she was being actively recruited by another program as well. “I thought ‘what do I have to lose?’ Chattanooga State offered, which was really exciting, and I decided that I couldn’t pass it up.”
Bickley said getting to be a part of the firstever volleyball team at the college also had appeal for her.
“We’re going to be history in the making,” she laughed. “It’s super exciting. They had a lot on the table to offer me and Coach Tate is a great coach with a long history of great records. I just felt that would be the best choice for me. With it being a first-year team, I think the girls are all really coming together and hopefully we’ll have a good season.”
Bickley earned 6-AAA first team honors and helped Ringgold advance to the Sweet walk in the top of the seventh, but he would get no further as the Canes took the opener.
Seigler got the win in relief, striking out two in his one inning of work. Wilcox took the loss, giving up six runs - five earned - on eight hits and three walks in six innings. He finished with five strikeouts. Wilcox was also the only General with two hits as Heritage ended the game with a total of five.
Cartersville 10, Heritage 2
In the nightcap, the Generals once again jumped out to a 2-0 lead, this time in the bottom of the first inning against Cartersville starter Cohen Wilbanks. Lance Dockery led off with a single and Hickman followed with a double before Wilcox lined an RBI-single. Gibson followed with an RBI on a fielder’s choice.
But the Canes would use the long ball in the top of the third inning to tie the score. Seigler delivered a solo shot to left field off Heritage starter Tripp Church and Davis would go back-toback to tie the game.
That would be all the scoring until the top of the sixth when the Canes begin to bust it open.
Seigler was walked to start the inning and was bunted over to second on a sacrifice before Barnett drove him in with an RBI-single. Gooch, a Georgia Tech commitment, followed up with a run-scoring triple and Warner, also on his way to Auburn, doubled to bring in Gooch.
The fourth run of the inning would trot home on an error before J.P. Martin polished off the inning with another runscoring single.
Cartersville put up three more insurance runs in the top of the seventh for good measure. Wilkie, a Lipscomb commitment, delivered a two-out, tworun double and Martin would drive him in with another RBI-single.
Seigler had three of the 10 hits for Cartersville, while Dockery was 3-for-4 for Heritage.
Wilbanks gave up six hits and a walk in six innings to get the win for the Canes. Both runs he allowed were earned and he finished with eight strikeouts.
Church was pulled after 5.1 innings. He struck out nine and walked just one, but allowed five earned runs on five hits. Justin Morris threw the last 1.2 innings for the Generals. He gave up four earned runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Cartersville will advance to the Class 4A state championship series this week at State Mutual Stadium in Rome.
The Canes will be looking for their seventh all-time state baseball title, but their first in Class 4A. They will face Region 8 champion Jefferson in the finals. The Dragons upset Region 7 champion and nationally-ranked Blessed Trinity, 10-7 and 2-0, to advance.
Due to newspaper deadlines, results were unavailable as of press time.
Heritage capped an outstanding 29-8 season.
16 round of the state playoffs this past season. She finished her final prep year as the team and county leader in kills (327) and digs (369), while she finished third in the county in blocks (47). Her hitting percentage of .332 landed her in the top 30 in all of Georgia, according to stats complied by MaxPreps.
“Hopefully I can bring leadership (to Chattanooga State) and I want my teammates to know that I’m somebody they can rely on,” Bickley continued. “I think I’m a good athlete overall and a good person to be around.”
“I am so excited for Ricki Lynn to be continuing her volleyball career in college,” said Ringgold head coach Ashley Boren. “Coach Tate and the new Chattanooga State volleyball team are lucky to be getting her. She’s a great player and I know she’ll contribute greatly in any position she plays.
“She’s the type of player you can rely on when you need someone to make a play on the front row or back row.
She’s a leader on and off the court and I know she will do great things at the next level. We will miss her next year and I wish her the best of luck. I look forward to watching (Chattanooga State) play and following their accomplishments.”
Bickley said she hoped to go into the college’s radiology program and eventually have a career in sonography.