Woodland softball scored five times in the top of the fourth inning Friday evening at the Dalton Invitational on their way to a 6-2 victory over Gordon Lee. Lady Cats’ pitcher Lainey Baker (5 IP, 2ER, 9H, 2BB, 3K) picked up the win in the circle with a complete-game effort. Michiah Hicks had two hits and two RBIs for Woodland. Ansley Evans (photo) had the only other Lady Cats base hit. Woodland (1-0) is scheduled to face Sprayberry and Coahulla Creek Saturday in the Dalton Tournament at Heritage Park.

The Woodland volleyball team opened its 2020 home campaign Thursday night by splitting a tri-meet. The Lady Cats defeated Model in three sets, but later lost in straight sets to Cedartown. The win over the Blue Devils was 25-19, 23-25, and 15-13. Sydney Molinaro finished with 11 kills, seven digs, and seven assists in the match. Libero Emmalee Cigainero totaled 11 digs, three assists, and three aces. Delaney Tuplin contributed nine digs, four kills, two aces, and a pair of assists. Cayley Stanz tossed in seven digs, six assists, and two kills. The Woodland loss to Cedartown was 25-23 and 25-12. Molinaro, a senior, finished with eight kills, five assists, six digs, and two aces. Cigainero compiled 18 digs with five assists. Tuplin totaled four kills, four digs, two blocks, and an ace. Next for the Lady Cats (1-2) is a match at Paulding County next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Adairsville softball scored 13 runs in the first three innings Thursday evening at home as the Tigers routed North Murray, 13-1. Pitchers Victoria O’Neal (photo) and Taylor Rhoades combined for a four inning no-hitter. O’Neal tossed the first two and one-third innings allowing only a walk with five strikeouts. Rhoades pitched the final one and two-thirds innings allowing an unearned run on a walk with three strikeouts. Adairsville scored five runs in the first inning, seven in the second frame, and added a run in the third. Sadye Johnson paced the Tigers’ offense with a pair of hits, including a double ad two RBIs. Rhoades also doubled and drove in three runs. McKenzie Pullam had the other Adairsville hit and finished with two RBIs. Chloe Souders, Alyssa Jarrett, and Jenna Young added one RBI each. Adairsville (2-1, 1-1) will play Saturday in the Dalton Invitational at Heritage Park. CARTERSVILLE DROPS DOUBLEHEADER AT ALLATOONA The Cartersville softball team lost both games of a doubleheader Thursday evening at Allatoona 6-3 and 11-3. Haley Coyle led the Buccaneers with four hits and two RBIs in the two games. Payton O’Connor (4 RBI), Maci Strickland (2 RBI), and Rylee Reeves totaled three hits each. Emma Bailey doubled, tripled, and drove in three runs for Allatoona. Ava Perkins had four hits in the twinbill including a home run, a double, and two RBIs. Campbell Rogers, Mikey Lewis, Emery Jenkins, and Annakate McElhaney finished with two hits apiece in the doubleheader. Marly Pruitt (double), McKinley Chada (RBI), Amelia Elrod, Kiley Arnold, Maggie Pruitt, and Mattie Johnson added one hit each. Arnold (6 IP, 6ER, 10H, 2BB) was the losing pitcher for Cartersville in the opener with a complete-game effort. Cartersville utilized three pitchers — Perkins, Chada, and Maggie Pruitt — in the finale. Cartersville (1-3) hosts Calhoun in a doubleheader Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Earlier today, Georgia High School Association Executive Director — Dr. Robin Hines — released information to member schools following his weekly meeting with the Sports Medicine Advisory Council. The GHSA release: After today's meeting with the SMAC, the GHSA is providing this information to our member schools to provide an idea of the possibilities that exist for GHSA sports/activities. — Our plan as of today is to move forward with the September 4 date for opening football season, as directed by the Board of Trustees. — However, it is possible that the start date of September 4 could change based on COVID-19 data. — As numbers dictate over the next two weeks, a decision will be forthcoming with regard to the football start date. — The GHSA staff has contingency plans to cover all start and restart scenarios. — Our goal continues to be to provide sports and activities for our students as soon as possible with safety being the top priority. — There is always a possibility of postponement based on the data and advice from our medical professionals. Recommendations and restrictions are fluid and subject to change.  Safety must be our top priority. Thanks for all you and your staff do for the student/athletes in the State of Georgia. Robin Hines

The volleyball teams at Cartersville and Adairsville split matches Tuesday night, but Cass dropped a pair of contests as the 2020 season got underway for local teams. Cartersville split matches with Villa Rica and South Paulding. The Canes swept Villa Rica 25-8 and 25-23 before falling to South Paulding 25-17 and 25-14. Mia Nicklas had seven kills and three aces in the win over the Wildcats. Macey Vaughn contributed four aces and Lily Gochee added three. Ailee England finished with a team-high three kills for Cartersville in the loss to the Spartans. The Hurricanes (1-1) travel to Allatoona Thursday. Adairsville volleyball also split two matches Tuesday. The Tigers opened the 2020 season with a 25-15, 25-22 loss to Chapel Hill, but bounced back to beat host Temple 25-11 and 26-24. Autumn Henderson led the Adairsville offense with four kills against Chapel Hill and five against Temple. She added seven blocks on the night. Hannah Hollingsworth and Richlyn Blair contributed six kills during the matches while senior libero Aaliyah Applin totaled 13 digs and four aces. Adairsville (1-1) returns to action Saturday when they host the Welcome to the Jungle tournament. Cass volleyball fell in a pair of season-opening matches at home Tuesday to Murray County and Model. The Colonels forced a third set in the opener against Murray County by winning the second set 26-24, but lost the final set 15-5. The visiting Indians took the opening set 25-12. Model defeated Cass in straight sets, 25-19 and 25-16. Cass (0-2) travels to Rome on Thursday.

The Cass softball team cruised to a 21-1 season-opening win Tuesday night at Armuchee in a non-region contest. Rachael Lee had four hits, including a double and three RBI to pace the Colonels on offense. Ansley Hight followed with three hits, including a first inning, two-run home run and three RBIs. Meanwhile, the pitching combination of starter Maddie Bentley (3 IP, 0R, 0H, 4BB, 3K) and reliever Kylee Hembree (2 IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 0BB, 2K) kept the Indians’ bats almost silent. Cass led 4-0 through two innings and led 8-1 heading to the fifth frame where they scored 13 runs to end the game in five innings. A quartet of Colonels — Eryn Lee (RBI), Saydee Najarro (RBI), Haley Smith (RBI), and Kendyl Hardin — finished with two hits each. Macenzie Dougharty contributed a double and two RBIs. Kylee Hembree drove in two runs with a double and Alexis Woods had a double with one RBI. Kimberly Allen had one RBI hit and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. Kelly Young had a hit and one RBI while Savannah Tatum and Tattianna Christian also contributed one RBI each. Cass (1-0) also stole eight bases in the win including two swipes each by Hardin and Lee. The Colonels will play four games this Friday and Saturday at a tournament hosted by Dalton High School at Heritage Park. CEDARTOWN 7, CARTERSVILLE 5 A pair of runs in the top of the eleventh inning lifted visiting Cedartown to a 7-5 victory at Cartersville Tuesday night. The lead exchanged hands three times in regulation with the Hurricanes holding a 2-0 advantage through two innings and a 5-3 lead after the fifth. Cedartown’s Reagan Clarke picked up the pitching win with a complete game performance. She did not allow an earned run while scattering four hits and six walks. McKinley Chada (8.1 IP, 4R, 2ER, 7H, 4BB) suffered the pitching loss for Cartersville in relief of starter Ava Perkins (2.2 IP, 3ER, 3H, 4BB). Kaylee Nikolopoulus, Alexus Poole (double, 2 RBI), and Carlie Holland led the Bulldogs with two hits apiece. Marycille Brumby hit a three-run home run for Cedartown (1-0) in the third inning. Four Canes finished with one hit each. Amelia Elrod (2 RBI), Mikey Lewis (2 RBI), Campbell Rogers, and AnnaKate McElhaney each singled. Cartersville (1-1) hosts Allatoona in a doubleheader Thursday. RINGGOLD 8, ADAIRSVILLE 0 The Adairsville softball team fell for the first time this season in Tuesday evening’s Region 6-AAA opener at Ringgold. The host Tigers blanked the visiting Tigers 8-0 behind a two-hit pitching performance by Ringgold’s Taylor Layne. Ringgold scored three times in the bottom of the first inning, added another three-spot in the second inning, and rounded out the scoring with two runs in the third frame. Victoria O’Neal suffered the pitching loss for Adairsville. She worked all four innings allowing three earned runs on seven hits and no walks. O’Neal fanned three. A trio of Ringgold hitters, Baileigh Pitts (3 RBI), Amber Gainer (2 RBI), and Alyissa Sue (RBI), had two hits each as the host Tigers who won for the first time this season and improved to 1-2. Chloe Souders and Sadye Johnson had the only hits for Adairsville. Adairsville (2-1, 0-1) will host North Murray Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

Cartersville native Sam Howard made his debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates this past week and contributed with four solid appearances for his new club. Howard, who spent the first six years of his professional career in the Colorado Rockies organization, allowed four hits and two walks in five innings of work. The southpaw also earned his first win of the season last Thursday when the Pirates won in “walk-off” fashion over the Minnesota Twins. The former Georgia Southern hurler currently holds a 1.80 ERA and 1.20 WHIP on the season. Howard was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh during the offseason and is assigned to the Pirates’ 40-man roster although he was not called up to join the major league club until last week. The Pirates, who have struggled to a 3-13 start in 2020, called up Howard on August 2. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound local product tossed a pair of scoreless frames across the ninth and tenth innings August 2 with three strikeouts and two walks in a road game at the Chicago Cubs. He then totaled a pair of innings across two appearances against the Twins, picking up the win on August 6. Last Saturday he gave up an earned run on two hits in a seventh inning home appearance against Detroit. He did strikeout a pair of Tigers. The 27-year-old, who was initially drafted out of high school before attending GSU, was a third-round pick in 2014 by Colorado. He is now 3-0 in his MLB career with 31 strikeouts in 28 innings.

Former Cartersville High School and now Clemson University junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence headlines sports news across the nation today after leading some of college football’s biggest stars in an effort to save the 2020 season. Lawrence explained his position in a three-post Twitter thread that launched a series of tweets from other star players following his footsteps. Using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay, the group of players were joined by the #WeAreUnited hashtag group in a call to play the college football season in the fall and do so in a safe manner. The efforts would ultimately create a college football players association. The demands are said to represent an association of players representing the power conferences. The movement comes about as Former Cartersville High School and now Clemson University quarterback Trevor Lawrence headlines sports news across the nation today after leading some of college football’s biggest stars in an effort to save the 2020 season. Lawrence explained his position in a three-post Twitter thread that launched a series of tweets from other star players following his footsteps. Using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay, the group of players were joined by the #WeAreUnited hashtag group in a call to play the college football season in the fall and do so in a safe manner. The efforts would ultimately create a college football players association. The demands are said to represent an association of players representing the power conferences and come as Power-5 University Presidents across the country appear to be leaning towards canceling or rescheduling the 2020 football season for liability reasons. “People are at just as much, if not more risk, if we don’t play,” Lawrence stated on Twitter. “Players will all be sent home to their own communities were social distancing is highly unlikely and medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract COVID-19. Not to mention the players coming from situations that are not good for them/ their future and having to go back to that. Football is a safe haven for so many people.” "We are more likely to get the virus in everyday life than playing football. Having a season also incentivizes players being safe and taking all of the right precautions to try to avoid contracting covid because the season/ teammates safety is on the line. Without the season, as we've seen already, people will not social distance or wear masks and take the proper precautions,” Lawrence continued. According to multiple national media sources, a direct message between Clemson running back Darien Rencher and Stanford defensive lineman Dylan Boles Sunday evening was the starting point in the player dialogue. Soon after that, a Zoom call including Alabama running back Najee Harris, Ohio State QB Justin Fields, Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, and Oregon lineman Penei Sewell, continued the discussions. “People are at just as much, if not more risk, if we don’t play,” Lawrence stated on Twitter. “Players will all be sent home to their own communities were social distancing is highly unlikely and medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract COVID-19. Not to mention the players coming from situations that are not good for them/ their future and having to go back to that. Football is a safe haven for so many people.” "We are more likely to get the virus in everyday life than playing football. Having a season also incentivizes players being safe and taking all of the right precautions to try to avoid contracting covid because the season/ teammates safety is on the line. Without the season, as we've seen already, people will not social distance or wear masks and take the proper precautions,” Lawrence continued. According to multiple national media sources, a direct message between Clemson running back Darien Rencher and Stanford defensive lineman Dylan Boles Sunday evening was the starting point in the player dialogue. Soon after that, a Zoom call including Alabama running back Najee Harris, Ohio State QB Justin Fields, Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard, and Oregon lineman Penei Sewell, continued the discussions. Lawrence was then the catalyst for the players’ association movement by releasing the series of tweets, making him the “unofficial” face of the initiative. Lawrence’s Twitter account has almost 112,000 followers and will likely grow as a result of Sunday’s release.

The Adairsville softball team improved to 2-0 on the season Saturday with a 5-1 victory at home over Armuchee. The Tigers scored two runs in both the second and third innings and added another run in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead. The Indians’ lone run was scored in the top of the seventh. Victoria O’Neal scattered six hits and three walks in the circle for Adairsville to earn the pitching win. She struck out a dozen. Jamison Powell had a pair of hits and one RBI to lead the Indians’ offense. Chloe Souders and McKenzie Pullam paced the Tigers at the plate. Souders had two hits, including a double with one RBI. Pullam singled twice and had one RBI. Sadye Johnson, Alyssa Jarrett, and Megan Gregory (RBI) had one hit each for Adairsville. The loss dropped Armuchee to 0-2 on the season. Adairsville (2-0) travels to Ringgold Tuesday and will host North Murray Thursday as the Tigers open region play.

The Cartersville softball team posted a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning Friday to capture a back-and-forth, season-opening win at Denmark, 8-6. The Canes trailed 3-2 after one frame and were tied 4-4 after two innings before the Danes went ahead 5-4 in the third. Cartersville scored twice in the top of the fourth to lead 6-5, but Denmark added a tying run in the bottom of the inning. Both teams went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings before the Canes took the lead for good in the final frame. McKinley Chada earned the pitching victory in relief with 5.2 innings in the circle. Chada allowed only two unearned runs and only one hit. She fanned four and did not issue a walk. Kiley Arnold was the Cartersville starter yielding four earned runs on four hits and a walk with one strikeout. AnnaKate McElhaney led Cartersville at the plate with three RBIs and a pair of hits. Campbell Rogers, who scored four times at the top of the Canes’ lineup, added a hit and reached on a walk. Maggie Pruitt and Emery Jenkins had the other Cartersville base hits. Amelia Elrod drove in a run. Cartersville led 3-0 in a second game Friday with homeruns by Rogers and Elrod, but inclement weather ultimately led to cancelation. The Canes (1-0) return to the diamond Tuesday for a non-region game at home against Cedartown. Cartersville will then travel to Allatoona Thursday for a doubleheader. ADAIRSVILLE OPENS SEASON WITH EXTRA INNINGS VICTORY The Adairsville softball team opened its 2020 campaign Thursday night with a nine-inning, 2-1 win over visiting Model. Tigers’ senior Sadye Johnson homered to left field in the bottom of the first inning for Adairsville’s early lead and the pitching tandem of Taylor Rhoades and Victoria O’Neal almost made that single run stand up. Rhoades scattered six hits across five innings of work allowing a tying run in the fifth inning. She issued only one walk and fanned four. O’Neal picked up the pitching win in relief. She gave up a pair of hits and a walk while striking out eight. The Tigers’ winning run in the ninth inning came with two outs off the bat of Megan Gregory. A shallow fly ball to right field was dropped by the Blue Devils’ outfielder allowing Chloe Souders to score from second base. The miscue was Model’s fourth error of the game and handed the pitching loss to Claire Chamberlain who had worked the entire game in the circle for the visitors. Adairsville (1-0) hosts another non-region game Saturday at 10 a.m. with Armuchee.

In response to Wednesday's Georgia High School Association meeting with the Sports Medicine Advisory Council, Executive Director Dr. Robin Hines has decided to implement the guidance listed below: (from the GHSA website, posted August 6) Football: (Due to high risk and physical contact)     Continue to practice as outlined in previous guidance so athletes and staff will be in a controlled environment     First Football Game is September 4th, as previously voted on by the GHSA Board of Trustees on July 20, 2020     Eliminate preseason scrimmage game(s) but continue practice with players in the controlled environment Cheerleading: (Due to high risk of indoor packed arena(s) which do not allow for social distancing)     Continue to practice as outlined in previous guidance so practice will be in a controlled environment   Adjust the competition season to align with the proposed new dates for Region and State Championship         Dates will be published when venue(s) are secured to best accommodate the needs of cheerleading     Tentative first date for competitions would be November 21, 2020     Tentative State Cheerleading Finals would be February 26-27, 2020 One Act Play: (Due to risk of indoor venues and aerosol spray from projection and singers)     Tentative move to spring semester, details will be forwarded when Tommy Whittle returns from vacation

Georgia High School Association executive director Robin Hines made no immediate decisions on fall sports Wednesday after his weekly meeting with the GHSA’s sports medicine advisory committee, but changes in the football schedule could be imminent, according to a report Thursday by Georgia High School Football Daily. Wednesday’s meeting also came as more schools and states are suspending or postponing football practices over COVID-19 concerns. Hines and the committee agreed on canceling preseason scrimmage games, according to Score Atlanta, although Score cited no sources. Hines would not confirm the report. “The sports medicine advisory committee is not a decision-making body; it’s advisory,” Hines told GHSFD late Wednesday. “I’ll certainly take anything said in that meeting as advisement, but I don’t intend to say anything until I have the opportunity to address it with the board of trustees and the membership.” In Georgia, Lee County, Twiggs County, Decatur, Greene County, Putnam County, Liberty County, Newton, Tucker, Lakeside, and North Paulding are among more than a dozen schools who have shut down practices due to Covid-19 concerns. The South Carolina High School League has implemented a second delay for the start of football in that state. Minnesota, Maryland, and Colorado recently joined six other states to move football to winter or spring. The trustees on July 20 voted to postpone the first football games two weeks to the week of Sept. 4. Wednesday’s meeting had drawn heightened attention because of statements made last Friday by Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the Georgia Department of Public Health commissioner. Toomey expressed concern to school superintendents about the health risks of close-contact high school activities such as football, competition cheerleading, chorus and band. The GHSA oversees more than 400 schools across eight classifications throughout the state of Georgia. Seven of its 25 competitive sports are in the fall, including cross country, football, softball and volleyball. In late July, GHSA determined that all other GHSA fall sports will remain as scheduled on the current GHSA calendar. Softball is scheduled to begin today (August 6), cheerleading starts August 8, volleyball begins August 10, and cross country will have an August 10 starting date. GHSA kept the football conditioning schedule in place. It began July 27. Players began workouts in pads on August 1. The GHSA website had the following statement posted late Wednesday: "We appreciate everyone's concern about today's SMAC meeting, this is an advisory group that provides valuable information.  No decisions are made during these meetings as was the case today.  The previously distributed correspondence concerning Acclimatization and Practice Recommendations are still in place until further notice."