AT&T Field to host Catoosa Children’s Fund Classic
The 6th annual Catoosa Children’s Fund Baseball Classic will be held at AT&T Field, home of the Chattanooga Lookouts, on Saturday, Mar. 6.
The purpose of the Catoosa County Children’s Fund is to provide Catoosa County school children and families with shortterm needs such as food, clothing, shelter, dental and medical care, educational-related supplies and fees, or short-term emergency needs in an effort to develop their physical, mental, and emotional health and welfare.
Previous years’ games in the first Catoosa Children’s Fund Baseball Classic were some of the highest attended non-Lookouts game in AT&T Field history.
This year’s Classic will feature three games. In the opener, LFO will face Southeast Whitfield at 11 a.m., followed by Ringgold against defending Class AAAAAA state champion Heritage-Conyers at 1:30 p.m. The day will wrap up with Heritage-Catoosa taking on defending Class A (Public School) state champion Gordon Lee at 4. The gates will open at 10 a.m.
All money raised will be donated to the Catoosa County Children’s Fund. Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at the Catoosa County Board of Education or from any of the three Catoosa County high school baseball teams.
In the event the games cannot be played at AT&T Field that day, LFO, Ringgold and Heritage-Catoosa will each host their game at 1 p.m.
It was a big time turnaround for the Heritage Lady Generals during the 2020-2021 season.
Unfortunately, it came to an abrupt end in Lithonia last Tuesday night as the Navyand-Red ran up against a solid Arabia Mountain squad and dropped a 71-36 decision in the opening round of the Class AAAA state playoffs.
The Lady Rams, the No. 2 seed from Region 6, bolted out to an 18-6 lead after the first quarter to take control of the game early. They led 33-17 at intermission and boosted their advantage to 56-29 headed into the fourth quarter.
Sydney Bunkley had a game-high 18 points for Arabia Mountain, whose 15-3 season came to an end with an 88-58 loss at Region 8 champion Jefferson in the second round.
Lauren Mock battled her way to 11 points on the night for Heritage, while Gracie Murray added nine. Dayonna Perryman had six, followed by Riley Kokinda and Brooke Matherly with five apiece.
Heritage, the No. 3 seed from Region 7, ended its year at 17-8 overall.
Pickens was the only girls’ team from Region 7-AAAA to advance to the Elite Eight. The No. 1 seed took down Stephenson, 62-59, in the first round before a 61-51 win over North Oconee on Friday.
Mays boys 60, Heritage 43
The Heritage boys entered the Class AAAA state playoffs this past Wednesday night sporting a title they had never held before — a No. 1 seed.
The Generals earned the title with their Region 7-AAAA championship and would face the Mays Raiders in the opening round. Mays made the drive from Atlanta after
finishing as the No. 4 seed in their own region.
However, the Raiders were not your ordinary No. 4 seed.
Battle-toughened from playing in a region that also includes perennial state powers such as Miller Grove, Stephenson and Marist, the athletic Raiders held the Generals to just two points in the first quarter and answered a third-quarter rally by the home team before pulling away for the victory.
Mays led 10-2 after the first quarter and opened up a 27-17 gap at intermission, only to see the Generals come fighting back in the third quarter.
An 8-0 run to start the quarter pulled the home team to within two points of the lead at 27-25. However, the Raiders switched to a fullcourt press that begin to pay dividends as they pushed their advantage out to 3530 at the end of the third quarter and they would extend it further in the fourth.
Any hopes for a fourthquarter comeback soon vanished for Heritage as the Raiders racked up 25 points in the final stanza. Solomon Evans scored nine of his gamehigh 20 points in the final period, one of eight different players to score for the visitors on the night.
Cooper Terry led the Generals with 18 points and Cade Kiniry scored 10, while Carson Palmer added seven points and Mitchell Kennedy finished with four. Caden Snyder had two points, while one each from Ryan Heet and Kaden Swope rounded out the scoring.
The Raiders (12-11) were beaten in the second round as they lost a three-point decision at McDonough, 52-49.
Cedartown was the only team from 7-AAAA to win in the first round. The Bulldogs held off Marist, 42-38. However, they were soundly defeated in the second round, 86-46, at Region 5 champion Fayette County.