Coosa goes 6-1 to win Darlington tournament

Staff reports

The Coosa volleyball team racked up six wins on the day and came out on top in the Gold Bracket of the Ed Hunt Invitational at Darlington on Saturday.

Kasey Thacker led the Lady Eagles with 75 kills, four aces, 12 blocks and 43 digs as Coosa went 3-1 in pool play to enter the Gold Bracket.

Coosa entered the Gold Bracket as the No. 4 seed and defeated Christian Heritage in the first round, 25-9, 25-22, before upsetting No. 1 seed LaFayette in three sets to advance to the tournament championship, rallying to beat Heritage-Newnan 2-1.

Jordan Roberts, who joined teammate Thacker on the All-Tournament Team, had 48 kills, 12 aces, eight blocks and 27 digs for the Lady Eagles, Brinley Smith had 185 assists, eight aces, four kills, four blocks and 35 digs, and Makayla Nelson added 61 digs, seven assists, three aces and two kills.

In pool play, Coosa opened with a 25-13, 25-12 win against Bremen, then topped Christian Heritage, 25-12, 20-25, 15-10 and Cedartown, 25-5, 25-21, before falling to LaFayette, 15-25, 21-25.

The Lady Eagles (27-6) will open Area 6-AA/A Public play Tuesday at home against Bremen and Pepperell.

In other action:

SOFTBALL Pepperell 12, Darlington 0, 4 inn.

Chloe Jones’ efforts in the circle continues to stump opponents as the pitcher recorded her 100th strikeout of the season Saturday in Pepperell’s four-inning, 12-0 shutout over Darlington in Lindale.

Jones struck out nine in the win that saw freshman Morgan Willingham knock a three-run homer against the Lady Tigers (0-6), who only had two hits on the day.

Ansley Farmer and Dahlia Sanford each had two hits and an RBI for the Lady Dragons (8-5), and Jacey Blanton had two hits.

Pepperell hosts Model on Tuesday in a Region 7-AA contest. Darlington is at Cartersville on Monday.

CROSS COUNTRY Model boys go 1-2 at Carrollton

Model’s Simon Schabort and Jordan Hellier finished first and second overall in the boys’ A-3A race Saturday at the Carrollton Orthopedic Invitational at Carrollton High School.

Schabort, a freshman, won the 5K race with a time of 17:56, while Hellier, a senior, came in at 18:10. The two led the Blue Devils to a fourth-place finish in the team standings.

Darlington’s John Prosser Deaton was fifth overall with a time of 18:46, while Coosa’s Josh Martinez crossed the finish line in 18:57 to finish seventh.

In the girls’ A-3A race, Model’s Jessie Schroeder led local runners by coming in sixth at 23:38. Darlington’s Maggie Hawkins finished in 24:59 for 17th overall and paced the Lady Tigers to fifth in the standings.

Rome competes at Woodland

Rome’s boys finished second overall and the Lady Wolves took fifth at the 13th annual Run at the Rock on Saturday at Woodland High School.

Patrick Motes led the Wolves by finishing in third overall with a time of 16:31. Rome’s girls were paced by Nora Bailey, who came in at 20:24 to finish sixth in the girls’ race.