Area players make coaches’ all-state team
Five players from Houston County programs earned spots on the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association all-state teams.
Kezia Holmes and Le’Terria Mathis of Warner Robins made the Class 5A South team while Northside’s Tamia Sapp and Tikarra Benoit made Class 6A South. Perry’s KK Smith made the Class 4A South team.
Also making teams: Danasia Shaw of Peach County and Central’s Jada Clowers and Jenya Wilder on Class 3A South; Jahnaria Brown of Bleckley County, and Dodge County’s Jurnee Powell and Destanee Wright on Class 2A South; Rykia Pennamon of Putnam County and Madison Abbott of Monticello on Class 2A North.
Parade in Thomaston set
The celebration of Upson-Lee’s perfect boys basketball season continues on Thursday.
The town will host a parade starting at 5 p.m., and part of the festivities include the sale of T-shirts and hoodies will go toward the purchase of championship rings for the Knights.
The parade will start at Matthews Field, follow E. Main St. (Route 74) to downtown, around the square and end at a stage on the south side of the square.
The Knights capped a 32-0 season with a 53-48 win last Friday over St. Pius X in front of a capacity crowd at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion for the GHSA Class 4A title.
Alumni Update
Peyton Worsham’s softball career at Georgia State is off to quite the start.
The FPD grad is the reigning Pitcher of the Week in the Sun Belt Conference.
She went 2-0 with wins against South Alabama. She missed a no-hitter in the first win by one pitch in a complete-game shutout win, then pitched 5.1 innings in the second game to ensure a sweep.
Worsham is 3-0 with a .94 ERA, having started four games and pitched in eight. Opponents are batting .184 against her.
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It was a huge coup for Armstrong State’s baseball program when pitcher Tanner Hall committed before his senior season at Houston County and stuck with it after a huge year.
As it turns out, his career with the Pirates will end soon after it started.
Armstrong State will be absorbed by Georgia Southern, it was announced last week, and 2016-17, the 50th year of athletics at the school, is the final year of athletics at the Savannah school.
The Pirates are 13-9 overall, but 0-6 in Peach Belt play.
So Hall, the 2016 All-Middle Georgia Player of the Year, junior outfielder Caleb Slaughter of Bleckley County and freshman pitcher Griff Faircloth of Veterans will look for new baseball homes. They will be granted open-transfer status and suffer no penalty if welcomed by another Division II program.
It appears that standard one-year layoff for a move up to a Division I program remains in place.
This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 2:34 AM with the headline "Area players make coaches’ all-state team."