Ridgeland throwers break school marks in Dalton
It was a successful season debut for the Ridgeland track team at Dalton last Tuesday.
Several Ridgeland athletes set new personal records during the three-team meet, while two throwers broke school records.
Headlining the list was Mecca Spears, who broke the Lady Panthers’ all-time record in the shot put with a standing throw of 37-feet, 10.5-inches in her first high school meet. The throw is also currently the best in Georgia for a female Class AAAA athlete. She broke the previous mark of Kayla Wimpee (29-1.5) set back in 2016.
Not to be outdone, Logan Montgomery swept both throwing events, winning the shot put at 47-9 and the discus at 163-7.5.
His discus throw broke his own school record, which he set as a freshman. He is also currently leading all of Class AAAA in both events for the 2021 season.
For the Lady Panthers, Jenna Morgan won long jump at 14-1. Koda O’Dell finished second in the 100 meters and Annabel Hill was second in the high jump.
Third-place finishers include Alyssa Wright in the long jump and the Ridgeland
“A” relay teams in both the 4x100 and 4x400 events.
Fourth-placers featured Spears in the discus, Morgan in the high jump, Dasia Watkins in the shot put, Selena Westmoreland in the long jump, Madison Lennon in the 400 and the 100 hurdles, Hayley Strickland in the 800 and the 4x100 “B” team.
For the Ridgeland boys, King Mason swept the 100 (10.94) and 200 (22.84) and Seth Wingo won the 110 hurdles (17.89). Nate Montgomery was second in the shot put, while Cade Dunn’s third-place finish gave the Panthers the top three spots in the event. Montgomery was also third in the discus and the Panthers’ 4x400 “A” team was also second.
Elijah Hood tied for third in the long jump and was third outright in the 300 hurdles. Jacob Haynes was third in the high jump, while A.J. Walker earned thirdplace points in the 1600. Haynes was fourth in the 110 hurdles and the 4x100 “A” team also placed fourth.
Points were scored down to four places in each event. Dalton’s girls won the meet with 121 points, followed by Sonoraville (28) and Ridgeland (23), while the Dalton boys (77) held off Sonoraville (55) and Ridgeland (43).
After picking up their first win of the season at Chattanooga’s AT&T Field last Saturday, the LFO Warriors went back on the road two nights later, looking to continue the streak. However, the Dalton Catamounts would stun the Warriors and pull off an 11-9 victory.
LFO, who trailed 5-2 after five innings, rallied to take a 7-5 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. However, Dalton would score twice in the bottom of the frame to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
LFO got two men on base with a single and a walk and both runs would come home on a wild pitch and an error as the Warriors regained a 9-7 advantage. The Catamounts got a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth and put up a run after a pair of groundouts brought the runner into score.
However, the next two batters would reach base on a walk and a single before Kaleb Valdez turned on a 3-0 pitch and sent it over the fence for
a walk-off three-run homer.
Eli Walker went 3 for 4 with a double and two runs scored for LFO. Malachi Powell had a pair of doubles and drove in a team-high four runs. Devan Hinton had a double and one RBI, while Tanner Mantooth picked up a single and drove in one run.
Will Carroll got the start on the hill and pitched 4.1 innings. He allowed five earned runs on four hits and four walks with eight strikeouts. Nyko Simpson and Josh McAfee combined to pitch 3.1 in
nings of relief.
Northwest 6, LFO 3
The Bruins scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and went on to a win over the Warriors last Tuesday night in Tunnel Hill.
Carroll had an RBI-single in the fourth inning for LFO, while back-to-back RBI-singles by Gage Kelley and Tres Brown in the top of the seventh would cap the scoring.
Malachi Powell went 2 for 3, while McAfee and Walker both had singles for LFO.
Mantooth gave up eight hits and a walk in five innings of work. Only two of the runs he allowed were earned and he finished with six strikeouts. Simpson gave up a hit and a walk and struck out two batters in one inning of relief.
Gordon Lee 10, LFO 0
The visiting Warriors (111) collected just two hits in Wednesday’s contest in Chickamauga.
Powell and Simpson had singles, while Matthew Shields started on the mound and pitched the first five innings. He gave up seven earned runs with two walks and four strikeouts. Powell pitched in the sixth and gave up one hit, one walk and one earned run.