Adairsville volleyball lost to visiting Lafayette Tuesday evening, but bounced back to defeat Coahulla Creek in straight sets to earn a region split. The Tigers fell 25-6 and 25-14 to the Ramblers before defeating the Colts 25-13 and 25-23. Autumn Henderson had a pair of blocks and one kill in the loss to Lafayette. Against Coahulla Creek, Lexie Childers compiled four assists, three aces, three digs, and one kill. Aaliyah Applin had five digs and Richlyn Blair totaled four digs and three kills. Adairsville (5-5) travels to Chatsworth Thursday to take on the host Murray County Indians and the Ringgold Tigers.

Cartersville High grad and former Georgia Southern University left-handed pitcher Sam Howard completed his third straight scoreless appearance for the Pittsburgh Pirates Sunday. Now with nine appearances for the MLB club in August, Howard is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA out of the Pirates’ bullpen in 9.2 innings. He has 14 strikeouts with a 1.24 WHIP. Opponents have a .222 batting average against the 27-year-old southpaw. Howard started his season with three consecutive scoreless appearances before allowing runs in three straight. His current scoreless streak has all been in home games that started last Thursday with a one inning appearance against Cleveland. He then recorded two outs against Milwaukee in Pittsburgh wins Friday and Sunday. The Pirates are 7-17 and currently in last place in the National League Central Division.

Taylor Rhoades coaxed a base on balls to start the Tigers’ fifth inning Monday evening. She then stole second base and moved over to third on a bunt by McKenzie Pullam. Two pitches later, Rhoades scored on a wild pitch crossing the plate for the game’s only run as Adairsville held off Coahulla Creek in a Region 6-AAA battle in Tiger Valley, 1-0. Adairsville did not manage a hit in the game, but it didn’t matter. Colts' pitcher and Georgia Tech commit Sophia Voyles tossed a no-hitter and struck out 13. Rhoades tossed a complete game in the circle to go with her go-ahead run. She scattered three hits and a walk in the shutout, fanning a dozen Colts’ batters. Adairsville (6-1, 2-1) travels to Rockmart Tuesday and Lafayette Thursday for two more region contests.

The Cartersville softball team lost a pair of games Saturday at the North Cobb High School Invitational in Acworth. The Lady Canes were shutout by the host Warriors 4-0 and fell to Sprayberry 6-3. McKinley Chada (6 IP, 4R, 3ER, 5H, 1K, 3BB) suffered the pitching loss to North Cobb. Kiley Arnold (7 IP, 6R, 5ER, 10H, 2K, 2BB) took the loss in the circle against the Yellow Jackets. Against North Cobb, Chada had two hits including a double. Mikey Lewis and AnnaKate McElhaney added two hits apiece. Amelia Elrod and Kiley Arnold added one hit each. In the matchup with Sprayberry, Elrod had two hits including a double and one RBI. McElhaney and Campbell Rogers contributed two hits apiece. Ava Perkins added one hit, one RBI, and a stolen base. Cartersville (1-7) plays a Region 7-AAAAA doubleheader Tuesday at Cass and travels to Blessed Trinity Thursday.

Cartersville volleyball lost in straight sets Thursday night at Northwest Whitfield and Woodland dropped a pair of home matches to Darlington and North Paulding in non-region action. Cartersville fell 25-16 and 25-7 in Tunnel Hill. London Moultrie contributed six kills and Macey Vaughn had a dozen assists in the Hurricanes’ loss. Cartersville, now 5-6 on the season, will play in the Rockmart High School tournament Saturday. The Canes then travel to Coahulla Creek September 1 to face the hosting Colts and Ringgold. Woodland won the opening set in their match with Darlington Thursday 25-13, but the visiting Tigers took the final two sets 25-23 and 15-10 to win the match. The Lady Cats then fell 25-14 and 25-7 to Class AAAAAAA North Paulding. In the loss to Darlington, Sydney Molinaro totaled 11 digs and 10 kills along with six blocks and four assists. She later added four kills and four digs against North Paulding. Emmalee Cigainero finished with 13 digs, six aces, and three assists in the two matches. Lexis Bubrick contributed three digs and three aces against Darlington. The Region 7-AAAAA schedule begins next Tuesday for the Lady Cats. Woodland (1-5) will travel to Hiram for a region match and will also face McEachern in non-region action.

Adairsville volleyball split a pair of non-region matches Thursday evening in Jasper. The Tigers lost to the Cherokee Warriors 25-17 and 25-9, but outlasted the host Pickens Dragons in the nightcap 19-25, 25-16, and 15-12. In the loss to Cherokee, Autumn Henderson had four blocks and Katlyn Burnett finished with three digs. In the victory over Pickens, Kaylee Jordan finished with eight digs and four kills. Aaliyah Applin totaled seven digs and a pair of aces. Richlyn Blair contributed five digs, three kills, and two aces while Burnett added four digs. Adairsville (5-4) will play in the Fannin County Tournament Saturday and will host Lafayette and Coahulla Creek next Tuesday.

Executive director Robin Hines announced Wednesday that the Georgia High School Association will be “moving forward with the September 4 date for the opening of the 2020 football season.” The announcement came following Wednesday’s regular meeting with the Sports Medicine Advisory Council. Although GHSA has canceled all preseason scrimmages between schools, it appears the regular season will begin on its new, delayed date. Following the SMAC meeting, Hines spoke with The Athens Banner-Herald and acknowledged the high number of COVID-19 cases in Georgia but remained confident the season could countinue with the starting date (Sept. 4) directed by the GHSA Board of Trustees. “While the numbers aren’t what we would prefer right now, they’re trending down,” Hines told the Banner-Herald. “We feel good about that, and pending some spikes between now and then, my recommendation is going to be that we go ahead and play.” The GHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) is comprised of a wide variety of healthcare professionals including physicians, athletic trainers, nurses, and EMS personnel along with school administrators and game officials. The SMAC has been meeting virtually with the leadership at the GHSA office on a weekly basis for the past few months due to the COVID-19 threat. The committee — comprised of about 15 people — uses the latest data from the Center for Disease Control and guidance from the Georgia Department of Public Health, along with other sources with the latest research, to help determine next steps for GHSA. Jeff Hopp, Marietta City Schools director of sports medicine explained his biggest concerns about playing football in this pandemic to Georgia High School Football Daily. “Being realistic, every school in the state is going to be impacted at some point if they haven’t already. My biggest concern is whether we can do enough to mitigate the risks of COVID to make football and the other fall sports safe. That goes beyond just the athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and other team staff — to game-day staff, game officials, and spectators. It also includes the families of everyone involved as well. Although we will not be able to eliminate every risk, if everyone is willing to do their part to ensure it is as safe as possible, I do believe fall sports can continue.” Alabama and Tennessee will kick off their high school seasons tonight with a total of 30 games across the two neighboring states. Both states have more than 150 season openers scheduled for Friday. Arkansas, Florida, and Mississippi — along with Georgia — will begin next week. GHSFD reported on Tuesday that there are 68 Georgia football teams of 425 total that are not likely playing the first week of the season because of COVID concerns dictated by their school district or private schools. The list of teams down for the week of September 4 include 19 in DeKalb County, 16 in Fulton County, eight in Savannah-Chatham, and six in Bibb. Newton, Dougherty, and Rockdale counties have three schools down each and their are others scattered across the state as well. In other related news, the state playoffs for fast pitch softball were altered slightly by the GHSA office. The final playing date for softball has been moved to Friday, October 16 in an effort to provide regions an extended period to best complete their schedules. The state playoffs will begin October 19 with the Final Four portion of the playoffs October 30-31 for all classifications.

Cass and Woodland split a doubleheader Tuesday night as the two local teams squared off in a pair of Region 7-AAAAA tilts on the banks of the Etowah. Woodland took the opener 6-0 with Cass winning the nightcap, 7-5. Lainey Baker tossed a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in the Lady Cats’ win while the top three hitters in the Woodland lineup had two hits each. Morgan Cooper doubled twice. Ansley Evans had two hits and one RBI while Michiah Hicks had two hits and walked twice. Baker added a hit and two RBIs for Woodland and Hannah Miller finished with a hit and one RBI. The Lady Colonels’ two hits came as doubles off the bats of Alexis Woods and Rachael Lee. Maddie Bentley (6 IP, 6R, 5ER, 8H, 6BB, 5K) suffered the pitching loss for Cass. In Game 2, Woodland led 5-4 heading to the final frame but the Lady Colonels rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to overcome the deficit. Cass pitcher Kylee Hembree then shut down the Lady Cats in the home half of the seventh to secure the doubleheader split. Hembree (7 IP, 5R, 3ER, 5H, 4BB) tossed a complete game to earn the victory in the finale’. Woodland’s Baker (7 IP, 7R, 4ER, 7H, 2BB, 7K) — who won Game 1 — suffered the pitching loss in the nightcap. Eryn Lee led the Cass offense with two hits including a double and four RBIs. Alexis Woods also had a pair of doubles. Ansley Hight drove in a run with one hit. Kendyl Hardin drove in a run with a sacrifice fly while Hembree and Haylee Dishmon (double) both contributed with one hit each. Woodland utilized the long ball for much of their offense. Michiah Hicks, Hannah Miller, and Lainey Baker all hit solo home runs for the Lady Cats. Hicks finished with two hits. Ansley Evans added one hit and Kailey Baker drove in one run. Woodland (3-2, 1-1) hosts Calhoun Thursday night at 7:30 p.m and will entertain Blessed Trinity in a region doubleheader next Tuesday (August 25). Cass (6-2, 1-1) squares off with Blessed Trinity Thursday at the Cass athletic complex and will host Cartersville on the 25th.

Calhoun swept a non-region doubleheader at Cartersville Tuesday, 9-0 and 10-1. The Yellow Jackets’ pitchers — Maggie McBrayer and Sydney Terry — each tossed five-hitters to limit the Cartersville offense. McBrayer fanned six in Game 1. Terry had four strikeouts in the nightcap. Amelia Elrod doubled twice for Cartersville and Ava Perkins finished with two hits in the opener. AnnaKate McElhaney added one base hit. In the second game, Elrod added two more hits. Perkins doubled with one RBI. McElhaney and Mattie Johnson added the other Canes’ base hits. McKinley Chada (7 IP, 9R, 5ER, 9H, 2BB, 1K) suffered the Game 1 pitching loss for the Canes. Kiley Arnold (6 IP, 10R, 3ER, 10H, 1K) took the loss in the circle for Cartersville in Game 2. Cartersville (1-5) hosts Hiram in Region 7-AAAAA action Thursday.

On Monday, the Georgia High School Association announced updated guidance for member schools regarding failed screenings and game day operations. The information was released on the GHSA website following recent meetings with the Georgia State Health Department . Language in the documents allows individual school districts a high level of autonomy using terms "strongly" and/or "highly" recommended. The documents stop short of mandating protocols. The "Action Plan for Failed Screening or Positive COVID-19 Test" document outlines steps for handling athletes, team members, and coaches. Among other items, the document provides direction for dealing with positive test results, asymptomatic individuals, individuals exhibiting symptoms who have not been tested, and those who have been in contact with an infected person. The "GHSA Contest Game Day" document directs individual schools to create their own screening plans and highly recommends items such as temperature readings, symptom checks, and face coverings. The two GHSA documents are available in PDF form for complete review below:

The Cartersville volleyball team lost its opening match at the Adairsville High School Welcome to the Jungle tournament Saturday, but reeled off straight set wins over Coahulla Creek, Pickens, Southeast Whitfield, and Adairsville to earn a finals rematch with Sonoraville. Sonoraville won the championship match 25-14 and 26-24 leaving the Hurricanes as runner-up after a late entry to the event. Cartersville (5-4 overall) was a late replacement team, taking the place of Rockmart --a team that dropped out earlier in the week. Mia Nicklas paced the Canes in the tournament with 36 kills and 11 aces. London Moultrie finished with 34 kills and Macey Vaughn contributed 81 assists during the six-match tournament. Meanwhile, Adairsville finished 2-1 in pool play with wins over Southeast Whitfield and Temple. Their only pool play loss was to Cass. The Tigers (4-3 overall) then swept Coahulla Creek in the quarterfinals of bracket play prior to their semifinal loss against Cartersville. Cass had three-set losses to Temple and Southeast Whitfield in pool action to go with their defeat of the tournament hosts. The Colonels (1-5 overall) then drew the task of facing Sonoraville in the quarterfinals and fell in straight sets to the eventual champion Phoenix. Cass travels to Gordon Central Tuesday and will host Fannin County and Paulding County Thursday. Adairsville travels to Pickens Thursday where the Tigers will also face Cherokee. Cartersville plays at Sequoyah Tuesday and travels to Northwest Whitfield Thursday.

Adairsville, Woodland, and Cass picked up victories this weekend at the Heritage Park Dalton Lady Cats Invitational. Adairsville had wins over Heritage Christian and Southeast Whitfield. Woodland beat Gordon Lee Friday night and Sprayberry Saturday before falling to Coahulla Creek. Cass collected victories over Pace Academy and Ridgeland Friday night along with a win over Gordon Central Saturday. The Lady Colonels also lost a one-run game to Cedartown Saturday. Adairsville 3, Heritage Christian 0 With a single run in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth, the Adairsville softball team scored all they needed in a 3-0 shutout of Heritage Christian Saturday morning at the Dalton Invitational at Heritage Park. Pitcher Victoria O’Neal fanned 12 Lions and allowed only a pair of hits and two walks with a seven-inning, complete-game effort in the circle. Alyssa Jarrett accounted for the Tigers’ fifth inning, go-ahead run with a solo home run. Chloe Souders and Sadye Johnson singled in the sixth ahead of a sacrifice fly by O’Neal to make the score 2-0. Johnson later scored the third Adairsville run on an infield error. Johnson finished 2-for-3 with a double. Taylor Rhoades added a double and Makayla Wade finished with one hit for the Tigers. Adairsville 8, Southeast Whitfield 2 The Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the first and finished off Southeast Whitfield in five innings Saturday for a second victory of the day at the Dalton Invitational at Heritage Park. Alissa Winters had three hits in the contest and Taylor Rhoades doubled twice with three RBIs to pace the Adairsville offense. McKenzie Pullam and Megan Gregory (RBI) also doubled. Alyssa Jarrett, Victoria O’Neal (RBI), Chelsea Batea, and Sadye Johnson added one hit each. Chloe Souders drove in a run. Rhoades (4 IP, 1R, 0ER, 5H, 1BB, 4K) earned the pitching victory. Batea (1 IP, 1ER, 3H) also worked an inning in the circle. Adairsville (4-1, 1-1) will host Gordon Central Wednesday and Sonoraville Thursday in a pair of Region 6-AAA games. Woodland 5, Sprayberry 1 The Wildcats started fast with three runs in the first inning and another in the second inning on their way to a 5-1 win Saturday morning over Sprayberry at the Dalton Invitational Tournament at Heritage Park. Dylynn Motes (double, 2 RBI) and Michiah Hicks led the Woodland offense with two hits apiece. Morgan Cooper added one hit for the Lady Cats. Hannah Miller, Lainey Baker, and Cambrie Carrington each drove in a run. Baker tossed a complete-game, two-hitter in the circle to pick up the win. The lone run allowed was unearned. She walked three and struck out six. Coahulla Creek 5, Woodland 2 A five-run burst in the third inning was all the Colts needed to outlast Woodland Saturday in a matchup at the Dalton Invitational. Meanwhile, a pair of Coahulla Creek pitchers limited the Woodland offense to only a pair of singles. Jessica Ryan and Morgan Cooper had the only Lady Cats’ base hits. Cooper also drove in a run. Woodland’s Cassie Jones (5 IP, 5R, 0ER, 11H, 1BB, 1K) suffered the pitching loss although all runs against her were unearned. Both teams committed three errors in the contest. Woodland (2-1) will host Cass Tuesday in a Region 7-AAAAA doubleheader. Cass 8, Pace Academy 4 A clutch four-run fourth inning lifted the Lady Colonels to an 8-4 win Friday night over Pace Academy at the Dalton Invitational at Heritage Park. Cass led 3-1 after two innings, but found themselves tied 4-4 heading into their half of the fateful fourth inning. Alexis Woods drove in a run with a sacrifice to give the Colonels a 5-4 lead. Rachael Lee later doubled home a run to make the score 6-4. Ansley Hight followed with a two-run home run for the 8-4 advantage. Hight finished with three RBI and three hits. Eryn Lee contributed two hits and one RBI. Kendyl Hardin drove in a pair of runs and had one hit while Kelly Young tossed in another Cass base hit. Maddie Bentley (4 IP, 4R, 3ER, 6BB, 4K) picked up the pitching win. Kylee Hembree (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB) worked an inning in relief. Cass 9, Ridgeland 6 The Colonels came from behind Friday night at Heritage Park to defeat Ridgeland 9-6 at the Dalton Invitational. Cass took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a three-run blast by Ansley Hight, but trailed 6-3 after two frames. The Panthers posted their six runs on two walks, two singles, an error, and a three-run home run by Marianne Beliveau. Cass battled back in the next inning to tie the score at 6-all. A pair of singles and an error loaded the bases in front of Kendyl Hardin. She walked to make the score 6-4 before Kimberly Allen drove in two more runs with a line drive hit into center field. An Eryn Lee sacrifice foul out drove in Alexis Woods in the fourth inning as Cass took a 7-6 lead. Woods had tripled to start the inning. Hight grounded out to drive home a run and Allen bounced out to give the Lady Colonels a 9-6 lead. Rachael Lee (2 IP, 6R, 1ER, 4H, 4BB, 2K) and Kylee Hembree (3 IP, 0R, 2BB, 2H) pitched for Cass with Hembree collecting the win in relief. Cedartown 13, Cass 12 Cedartown rallied from behind Saturday morning to defeat Cass 13-12 in a slugfest at the Dalton Invitational at Heritage Park. Cass led 2-1 after one inning, 7-6 through two innings and 12-6 after three frames, but Cedartown scored the game’s final seven runs to edge the Lady Colonels and hand them their only loss of the young season. Cass out hit Cedartown 13-8, but committed three errors and pitchers walked eight Lady Bulldogs’ batters in the loss. Kendyl Hardin had two hits including a grand slam home run and six RBIs for the Cass offense. Alexis Woods finished with two hits including a double and two RBIs. Eryn Lee (RBI) and Ansley Hight (RBI) also collected two hits each. Rachael Lee contributed a double and one RBI. Haley Dishmon drove in a run with a hit and Haley Smith tossed in one hit for the Lady Colonels. Macenzie Dougharty (1 IP, 3R, 1ER, 1H, 2BB) suffered the pitching loss in relief. Maddie Bentley (1.1 IP, 6R, 4ER, 5H, 3BB) and Kylee Hembree (2.1 IP, 4R, 1ER, 2H, 3BB) also worked in the circle for Cass. Cass 6, Gordon Central 4 The Lady Colonels wrapped up their participation in the Dalton Invitational at Heritage Park Saturday afternoon with a 6-4 win over Gordon Central. Kendyl Hardin paced three Cass hitters with two hits apiece. Hardin hit a two-run, first inning home run and finished with four RBIs. Alexis Woods (double, 2 RBI) and Eryn Lee also contributed two hits each. Rachael Lee had one hit and two RBIs while Saydee Najarro added the other Colonels’ base hit. Maddie Bentley (5.1 IP, 1ER, 2H, 3BB, 4K) earned the pitching victory in relief of starter Macenzie Dougharty (0.2 IP, 3ER, 1H, 4BB). Cass (4-1) opens Region 7-AAAAA play Tuesday with a doubleheader at Woodland.