Ridgeland announces first Athletic Hall of Fame class
Ridgeland officially opened its doors in the fall of 1989 and in the nearly three decades that have followed, many athletes, coaches and contributors have left their marks on the school.
Beginning in April, the school will start to permanently honor those trailblazers and their accomplishments.
The first class of the new Ridgeland High School Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted with a banquet on April 14. The event will begin at 6 p.m. at Ridgeland High School.
First-year principal and Ridgeland alum Karen Hughes called the addition of a Hall of Fame “important”.
“We have a great heritage here at Ridgeland for coaches and former players that have really had some great accomplishments,” she explained. “Rossville and Chattanooga Valley High Schools both had Hall of Fame recognitions and we wanted to start it here and recognize the accomplishments of the Panthers that have come through here. It’s a great way to honor past players, as well as current players and some of the great coaches we’ve had here over the years.”
Members of Ridgeland’s first Hall of Fame class were nominated by the community and selected by the newlyformed Hall of Fame committee, which is made up of current coaches, teachers and administrators, along with alumni.
“We tried to go with people (on the committee) that had been around for a long time and knew the communities of Rossville and Chattanooga Valley, as well as Ridgeland,” said committee member and RHS alum Lindsay Tahler. “(Athletic Director) Robert Stinson and (head cheerleading coach) Abby Manus kind of came up with the idea, modeling it after other schools’ Halls of Fame.
“We just thought it was kind of an overdue thing to celebrate our community, our athletes, our former coaches and all these people who have had some great accomplishments coming out of Ridgeland.”
The inaugural Hall of Fame class will include Bill Sandberg, Arnold Eaves, Connie Buchanan, Nick Price, Cindy Ross, Bryan Richardson, Latrice McLin, James Turner, Tyrone Davis, Sharon Vantrease, Wink Baker, Pete Summers and Martha “Bama” Smith.
Nominations in several different categories will continue to be taken yearly and will be active for a period of three years. Tahler said the plan is to induct around 10 new members in each subsequent year. Nominations can be made by anyone in the community and the decisions will be made by the Hall of Fame committee.
Also new to Ridgeland this year is the formation of the Student-Athlete of the Month program, which was also put together by the Hall of Fame committee. Monthly winners of the award will all be eligible to win the Athlete of the Year Award, named for Ridgeland grad and current New Orleans Saints standout Vonn Bell. Bell himself is scheduled to be at the ceremony to present the
inning on the mound for the Tigers. He gave up a leadoff walk but came back to strike out the next three batters in order to polish off the win. Tarver matched Camp with two hits.
Ringgold 11, LFO 0
The Tigers got three homers and a fiveinning perfect game from starter Tucker as they ambushed the visiting Warriors at Bill Womack Field on Thursday.
Tucker struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced and threw just 58 pitches, 41 of which went for strikes. He fanned at least two batters in every inning and retired the side in order on strikes once. LFO put just four balls in play, only two of which left the infield.
Daulton Schley got the party started with a three-run bomb in the bottom of the first inning and sophomore Brayden Broome launched a grand slam as part of a six-run second inning that gave the Blue-and-White a fast 9-0 lead. An Andre Tarver two-run shot over the rightcenterfield fence would officially end the game in the fifth.
Tarver also had a double and ended the night with three hits, a stolen base, three RBIs and three runs scored. Schley had just the one hit, but drew two walks, while Tucker, Camp, Gavin Hollis and Wyatt Tennant all added singles.
“Tonight, we were able to jump on them early and Holden just took that lead and starting attacking the zone,” head coach Brent Tucker said. “We had a good night.”
Ringgold 11, Adairsville 2
Schley and Tucker each had three hits on Friday night as Ringgold closed the week with a win in Bartow County.
Tucker finished with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Schley scored twice and drove in one. Jones had two hits, a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs. Camp was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI. Hollis added a pair of hits and drew a walk, while Tennant helped himself with two hits and two RBIs.
Tennant got the start and pitched four innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Andrew Ghormley struck out three in his one inning of work, while Casey Pate and Johnny Camillucci worked one inning each.
Ringgold (11-4, 3-0) was scheduled to play at North Murray on Tuesday, but due to newspaper deadlines, results were not available. The Tigers, the new No. 1-team in Class 3A, will host Coahulla Creek on Thursday before a game at Haralson County Friday.
“It doesn’t matter the opponent, a region win is a region win,” Coach Tucker added. “You have to know that every one of them is important you have to have the same approach. But it’s a veteran group with about nine or 10 guys that have been here before.”