Family connects Rockmart baseball’s region championships

The year was 1992, and the world was singing along to the latest hits from bands like R.E.M. and Pearl Jam, and watching classic movies for the first time like “Aladdin” and head banging along with the characters on “Wayne’s World.”

1992 was also the year that Rockmart won a region championship in baseball and eventually made it all the way to the semifinals for the state playoffs.

History is working to repeat itself 25 years later as players are now all grown up, and now they are watching their sons try to pull off the same feat and bring home a championship.

Some of the members of this team came down to the state playoffs over the weekend to support this new group of kids who are following in their footsteps.

The t eam i n 1 9 9 2 , coached by Kent Mathis and Mike Hayes, then comprised of Tyson Floyd, Chris Culver, Chris Miller, Chris Wolfe, Keylon Davis, Dustin No- land, Rodney Sanders, Travis Caldwell, Geno Thompson, Tony Lumpkin, William Davenport, Brent Bowman, Lamar Rogers, Shan Smith, and Trey Arp.

Three of the players on the 1992 team are now watching along as their sons play too.

Their sons Ty Floyd, CJ Culver and Dawson Sanders have already made their marks on this year’s season.

Floyd was one happy father to see his son be a part of this.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Ty and the way he plays the game,” Floyd said. “It’s just awesome to watch your son experience the same thing as you did. I have always told my son no matter if you win or lose ... do the best you can and have fun.”

Dawson Sanders said it had thus far been an interesting experience.

“It’s pretty cool, I mean I had to hear him rub it i n my f ace all t hese years,” Sanders said. “To be apart of this is great and for us to be able to share this is great.”

Dawson’s father Rodney was all for his son showing up his own legacy.

“It’s amazing for Dawson to be a part of this, and I hope they win it and go all the way,” he said. “I want them to do what we didn’t get a chance to.”

Culver was ecstatic to see his son CJ follow in his footsteps.

“To see CJ grow up and be a part of this program brings a lot of memories back to me,” Culver said “I’m excited to see after 25 years we finally bring back another region championship back to Rockmart and to see CJ and all his friends that we all coached in little league ball be a part of this is just awesome.”

Rockmart’s season hit a stumbling block on Saturday when the Jackets split a double header against Berrien County and were forced into a Game 3 on Monday after press time.

Check online for results of the game this week at Polkstandardjournal. com.