The Cartersville Little League 10U team cruised into the championship round of the Georgia District 1 tournament with an 11-1 win over Rockmart Little League Monday night at Hamilton Crossing Park. Cartersville 10U will play either Rockmart or Bartow County in the finals and will need only one win to capture the double-elimination tournament. Cartersville defeated Bartow Saturday in the opening round. Bartow County and Rockmart will play an elimination game Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Hamilton Crossing Park with the winner advancing to the first game of the finals on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., but needing two wins over Cartersville. An ‘if needed’ game would be Thursday night. Monday night, Logan Buchanan (5.1 IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 2BB, 9K) pitched into the sixth inning for Cartersville and allowed only a pair of hits. Kamdyn Woods closed out the contest on the mound. The Cartersville offense scratched out a run in the top of the third inning for a 1-0 lead before adding four runs in the fourth to open up a 5-0 advantage. Rockmart scored its only run in the bottom of the fourth and Cartersville put the game away with two runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth inning. Cartersville out hit Rockmart eight to four and took advantage of six Rockmart errors and eight walks. Brayden Channell had two hits and one RBI to pace the Cartersville offense. Will Camp, who swiped a pair of bases, added one hit and two RBI. Matthew Morris, Peyton Emery, and Griffin Woodall contributed one hit and one RBI each. Asa Mitcham had one hit and Buchanan added one RBI. Updated District 1 10U tournament schedule: 10U Baseball at Hamilton Crossing Park Double-elimination format Saturday, June 16 10 a.m. — GM 1 — Cartersville 14, Bartow County 5 Sunday, June 17 Game Rained Out Monday, June 18 6:30 p.m. — GM 2 — Cartersville 11, Rockmart 1 Tuesday, June 19 6:30 p.m. — GM 3 — Bartow County vs. Rockmart Wednesday, June 20 6:30 p.m. — GM 4 — Cartersville vs. Gm 3 winner Thursday, June 21 (if needed) 6:30 p.m. — GM 5 — Cartersville vs. Gm 3 winner Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League game results are provided to BartowSportsZone.com by the two leagues and are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.

Former Cartersville High School standout and New York Yankees first round draft pick Anthony Seigler made his professional baseball debut Monday afternoon with the Rookie Gulf Coast League Yankees West. Seigler started at catcher (photo) for five innings and finished 1-for-2 on the day with a double and a run scored. Meanwhile, Sam Howard returned to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes' starting rotation after a brief stint with the MLB Rockies and Connor Justus closed out the first half of the 2018 Double-A Southern League schedule with the Mobile BayBears. SAM HOWARD — Albuquerque Isotopes (5th yr. pro; LHP; Colorado Rockies organization; Triple-A Pacific Coast League; Georgia Southern; Cartersville HS)… made his first start for the Isotopes after returning to Albuquerque following a brief stint with the MLB Rockies where he pitched a scoreless inning against the Diamondbacks. Howard worked four innings in a non-decision outing Sunday night at home against the Nashville Sounds. The ‘Topes went on to win the high-scoring game, 17-12, as the two teams combined for 29 hits. Howard allowed five runs (three earned) on nine hits and three walks. He struck out three and left the game with Albuquerque tied 5-5. For the 2018 season, Howard is 3-4 with a 5.24 ERA in 10 starts for the Isotopes. He has 36 strikeouts in 46.1 innings. Albuquerque (34-35) wraps up a seven game homestand Monday and Tuesday with a pair of games against Nashville. The Isotopes then travel to Pacific Northern Division leading Fresno for a four-game series Thursday through Sunday. Howard’s next scheduled start will be at home next week when Albuquerque hosts Sacramento. CONNOR JUSTUS — Mobile BayBears (3rd yr. pro; MIF; L.A. Angels organization; Double-A Southern League; Georgia Tech; Cartersville HS)… Justus appeared in three of six games this past week for the BayBears who went 3-3 in that stretch and completed the season’s first half in second place in the . He was 1-for-12 at the plate with a run scored in his three appearances. All three games for Justus were road games at the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and he started twice at second base and once at shortstop. He hit sixth in the order each time. Justus finished the season’s first half with a .186 batting average in 188 at-bats over 57 games. He walked 30 times with nine extra base hits and 13 RBI. His on-base percentage was .313. Defensively, the middle infielder started 33 games at shortston and 22 at second base. He had a fielding percentage of .951 in 223 total chances and was part of 37 double plays. Following Tuesday’s Southern League All-Star Game in Birmingham, Mobile hosts a six-game series with the Tennessee Smokies Thursday through next Tuesday. ANTHONY SEIGLER — GCL Yankees West (1st yr. pro; C; N.Y. Yankees organization; Rookie Gulf Coast League; Cartersville HS)… The Yankees 2018 first round pick made his professional debut Monday afternoon for GCL Yankees West. He started at catcher for five innings and was 1-for-2 at the plate with a double and a run scored in the fourth inning. In his first pro at-bat, Seigler flied out to right field. The Yankees West lost the game to the GCL Phillies East 8-3 at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, FL. It was both teams’ 2018 season opening game. The GCL Yankees schedule this week includes the Tigers East (Tuesday, 12 p.m.), Tigers West (Thursday, 12 p.m.), Braves (Friday 12 p.m.), and Phillies West (Saturday, 10 a.m.). Gulf Coast League Rookie level teams play a 54-game schedule in June, July, and August.

Georgia District 1 Little League was able to complete one of two scheduled games Sunday afternoon before heavy showers at Hamilton Crossing Park forced officials to postpone the 10U second round game between Cartersville Little League and Rockmart Little League. "We were not able to get the second game started today," said Georgia District 1 administrator Brenton Baggett. "We will adjust the schedule by bumping the schedule back one day." Cartersville defeated Bartow County Little League Saturday morning to advance to the game with Rockmart in the three-team, double-elimination tournament. The updated schedule means Cartersville and Rockmart will square off Monday night at 6:30 p.m. The Cartersville/Rockmart winner will advance to the championship round. The loser will play Bartow County in an elimination game Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. The first of two possible championship games will be Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. with an "if needed" game set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. All 10U District 1 games are being played at Hamilton Crossing Park. Updated District 1 10U tournament schedule: 10U Baseball at Hamilton Crossing Park Double-elimination format Saturday, June 16 10 a.m. — GM 1 — Cartersville 14, Bartow County 5 Sunday, June 17 Game Rained Out Monday, June 18 6:30 p.m. — GM 2 — Cartersville vs. Rockmart Tuesday, June 19 6:30 p.m. — GM 3 — Bartow County vs. Gm 2 loser Wednesday, June 20 6:30 p.m. — GM 4 — Gm 2 winner vs. Gm 3 winner Thursday, June 21 (if needed) 6:30 p.m. — GM 5 — Gm 2 winner vs. Gm 3 winner Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League game results are provided to BartowSportsZone.com by the two leagues and are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.

Cartersville Little League 11U completed a two-game sweep of Bartow County Little League's 11U team Sunday afternoon to win the Georgia Little League District 1 11U championship. Cartersville won Game 1 of the best-of-three district championship series Saturday 8-0 and took Game 2 on Sunday 11-1 in four innings. Cartersville pitcher Brodie McWhorter limited Bartow to only one run and one hit in Sunday's district clinching game. ​​ Bartow County took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a pair of walks, a wild pitch, and a groundout, but the lead would be short-lived. Bartow’s only hit off McWhorter came in the fourth inning on a bunt single by Carson Waits. McWhorter needed only 65 pitches to close out his four innings of work to earn the victory. He finished with six strikeouts. Cartersville managed only four total hits in their win, but took advantage of three second inning walks and an error with some timely hitting to take a 6-1 lead. Cartersville then added five more runs in the third inning as they took advantage of three more walks and a pair of Bartow errors. Talan Nix (2.1 IP, 9R, 7ER, 4H, 5BB) suffered the pitching loss for Bartow. Waits (0.2 IP, 2R, 0ER, 0H, 1BB) finished up the third inning on the mound. Casen Cochran had a hit and two RBI for Cartersville. Andrew Lutjens had one hit and one RBI. Thomas Peters and Julian Cline had the other Cartersville base hits. McWhorter contributed a pair of RBI and Maddox Frazier added one RBI with a groundout. Cartersville advances and will host the Georgia Little League 11U state tournament starting July 7 at Rudy York Field. The Cartersville 11U roster includes: Julian Cline, Casen Cochran, Cameron Cochran, Maddox Frazier, Andrew Lutjens, Brodie McWhorter, Thomas Peters, Logan Shrewsbury, Davis Waddell, Cameron Williams, and Logan Woody. Manager: Lee Daniel. Coach: Luke Daniel. Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League game results are provided to BartowSportsZone.com by the two leagues and are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.

Cartersville Little League 10U took an early lead Saturday morning and scored in every inning on their way to a 14-5 win over Bartow County Little League at the Georgia Little League District 1 tournament at Hamilton Crossing Park. Lyle Woody and Brayden Channell paced the Cartersville offense with seven hits and five RBI combined. Woody was on base all five times with four hits and one walk. He added a pair of RBI, scored three runs, and stole three bases. Channell drove in three runs and scored twice with a three-hit day that included a walk. Four Cartersville pitchers kept Bartow County in check for most of the day. Will Camp (2 IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 1K) picked up the win and started on the mound for Cartersville. Kamdyn Woods (1.2 IP, 2ER, 2H, 2BB, 3K), Logan Buchanan (1 IP, 2R, 1ER, 1H, 1BB, 2K), and Channell (1.1 IP, 0R) all pitched for Cartersville. Asa Mitcham and Buchanan both had two hits for Cartersville. Peyton Emery contributed a double and one RBI. Carter Rice and Matthew Morris also had hits for Cartersville. Landon Cassidy had a pair of hits and two RBI for Bartow County. Dayson Ward added a double and two RBI. Reed Ezell, who stole two bases, and James Lee contributed one hit apiece for Bartow. Bartow County utilized four pitchers. Ward (1.2 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 2BB, 1K), Ezell (1 IP, 3ER, 3H, 1BB, 2K), Colton O’Neal (1.2 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 3BB, 3K), and Isaac Burnett (1.2 IP, 5R, 1ER, 3H, 3BB, 2K) all took the mound. Cartersville 10U advances to play Rockmart Sunday at 4 p.m. at Hamilton Crossing Park. The winner of that game will reach the championship round of the three-team, double-elimination tournament. The Cartersville/Rockmart loser will play Bartow County Monday night at 6 p.m. in an elimination game. CARTERSVILLE 11U BLANKS BARTOW COUNTY Logan Shrewsbury tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout Saturday afternoon as Cartersville Little League 11U blanked Bartow County Little League, 8-0, in the first game of their best-of-three series for the Georgia Little League District 1 championship at Hamilton Crossing Park. Cartersville broke open a scoreless game in the top of the third inning with three runs. They added two more in the fourth and three in the sixth in their victory. Shrewsbury, who fanned 14 of 21 batters face, also led Cartersville at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance that included a double and two RBI. Brodie McWhorter had two hits and two RBI. Maddox Frazier had a hit and one RBI. Cameron Williams and Thomas Peters added one hit apiece. Casen Cochran drove in one run. Talan Nix had a triple and Grayson Shiflett had a base hit for Bartow County. Brady Kerlin (4 IP, 5R, 4ER, 5H, 3BB, 5K) suffered the pitching loss. Nix (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB) and Robert Mitchell (1 IP, 3R, 0ER, 2H, 1K) worked one inning each for Bartow County. The two teams face off again Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Game 2 of their series at Hamilton Crossing Park. Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League game results are provided to BartowSportsZone.com by the two leagues and are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.

The Georgia Little League Baseball District 1 Championships for 10U and 11U begin Saturday at Hamilton Crossing Park. Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League will have teams in both age divisions. The 10U District 1 tournament (8 through 10 year olds) also includes Rockmart Little League. The two local leagues will go head-to-head in a best-of-three championship series for the 11U District 1 title (9 through 11 year olds). Other age groups for District 1 Little League baseball (12U, Junior League, and Senior League) begin the following Saturday (June 22). The 10U and 11U winners will advance to the Georgia state tournament in each age group. Bartow County Little League will have teams in four age groups in the Georgia Little League Softball State Tournament hosted at Hamilton Crossing Park starting July 7. 10U and 11U Baseball Schedules and Local Rosters: 10U Baseball at Hamilton Crossing Park Double-elimination format Saturday, June 16 10 a.m. — GM 1 — Bartow County vs. Cartersville Sunday, June 17 4 p.m. — GM 2 — Gm 1 winner vs. Rockmart Monday, June 18 6 p.m. — GM 3 — Gm 1 loser vs. Gm 2 loser Tuesday, June 19 6:30 p.m. — GM 4 — Gm 2 winner vs. Gm 3 winner Wednesday, June 20 (if needed) 6:30 p.m. — GM 5 — Gm 2 winner vs. Gm 3 winner 11U Baseball at Hamilton Crossing Park Cartersville vs. Bartow County (best-of-three format) Saturday, June 16 -- 12 noon Sunday, June 17 -- 2 p.m. Monday, June 18 -- 6 p.m. (if needed) Rosters: Bartow County Little League 10: Isaac Burnett, Landon Cassidy, Wyatt Earwood, Reed Ezell, Barrett Fuller, Dutch Hernandez, Jayden Jinks, Jacob Jones, James Lee, Landon Massingill, Colton O’Neal, Joseph Thorne, Dayson Ward. Manager: Mike Burnett. Coaches: Rick Ward, Mitch O'Neal and Mike Ezell. Cartersville Little League 10U: Logan Buchanan, Will Camp, Brayden Channell, Peyton Emery, Isaiah Martin, Asa Mitcham, Matthew Morris, Carter Rice, Griffin Woodall, Kamdyn Woods, Lyle Woody. Manager: Ty Mitcham. Coaches: Jeff Osborn, Jonty Rice. Bartow County Little League 11U: Jake Clowers, Harrison Cole, Reece Heaton, Brady Kerlin, Malachi Linley, Robert Mitchell, Jackson Nelson, Talan Nix, Aiden Ritchie, Jarrett Scott, Grayson Shiflett, Carson Waits, Righley Worthington. Manager: Chris Cole. Coaches: Billy Worthington, Tommy Linley, and Brian Shiflett. Cartersville Little League 11U: Julian Cline, Casen Cochran, Cameron Cochran, Maddox Frazier, Andrew Lutjens, Brodie McWhorter, Thomas Peters, Logan Shrewsbury, Davis Waddell, Cameron Williams, Logan Woody. Manager: Lee Daniel. Coach: Luke Daniel Bartow County Little League and Cartersville Little League game results are provided to BartowSportsZone.com by the two leagues and are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Play It Again Sports at 410 Cherokee Place in Cartersville.

If you are looking for players to favor during this week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southhampton, New York, you may want to consider the local connection of three PGA Tour professionals. Stallings, Varner, and Mullinax Cartersville Country Club Director of Golf, Scott Hamilton (Scott Hamilton Golf Academy), has three players under his tutelage in this week’s U.S. Open Championship on the 7,440-yard, par-70 venue on Long Island. Scott Stallings, Harold Varner III, and Trey Mullinax are all in the field this week and are students with the local golf teaching professional. Hamilton, along with Bartow County resident Mike Granato, work with several touring professionals on the PGA Tour, PGA Champions Tour, WEB.com Tour, LPGA Tour, and others. They are also affiliated with other teaching professionals through Athletic Motion Golf. Stallings, 33, is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School and Tennessee Tech. This is his second U.S. Open and first since 2013 when he tied for 53rd. Stallings qualified for the 2018 championship at Ridgeway Country Club in Memphis. Scott Hamilton and Mike Granato Varner, 27, is one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour despite being only 5-9, 165 pounds. Born in Ohio, Varner grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina. He has been professional since 2012 after playing at East Carolina University where he was Conference USA player of the year. His lone pro victory was the 2016 Australian PGA Championship. Mullinax, 25, is from Birmingham, Alabama and played collegiately at the University of Alabama. He qualified for this year’s tournament by tying for ninth in last year’s U.S. Open. Statistically, Mullinax leads the PGA Tour in driving distance, averaging over 318 yards off the tee. He has made 10 cuts in 16 events this season with three top-10 and five top-25 finishes.

The Cartersville High School football team will participate in the annual Corky Kell 7-on-7 Invitational this Friday in Roswell and will face some of the top competition in the state. The Canes are assigned to Pod F which is one of seven, five-team pools in the 35-team tournament. Pod F will play its pool games at Roswell Area Parks Field #2 beginning Friday at 9:15 a.m. Pod F includes Norcross, Kell, Monroe Area, and Buford as round-robin opponents for Cartersville. The four pool games will determine seeding for a single-elimination bracket that begins Friday afternoon. The championship game will be at 4 p.m. Other teams in the tournament include Roswell, Peachtree Ridge, Tucker, Milton, Carrollton, Blessed Trinity, West Forsyth, Brookwood, Alpharetta, Lanier, North Gwinnett, Gainesville, Walton, Creekside, Grayson, Centennial, Marietta, North Forsyth, Woodward Academy, Collins Hill, Colquitt County, Mays, Cherokee, Lee County, Johns Creek, Archer, Central Gwinnett, McEachern, South Forsyth, and Mill Creek.

The Cass High School basketball program is hosting one of the largest high school basketball team camps in North Georgia this Friday and Saturday at the Colonels’ facilities in White. Twenty-eight boys teams (14 varsity / 14 junior varsity) will compete in camp-style games on three courts inside the Cass High School facility. The Cass High School main gym converts to two full sized courts with the bleachers retracted and the school has an adjacent auxillary gym with another full sized floor. “We have a solid field of teams coming in,” said former Cass head coach David Brock (photo) who coordinated the event and is now the head boys coach at Dalton High School. “We have a quality group of the teams playing this weekend including state playoff teams. There should be some really good competition.” State playoff qualifying teams from last season are highlighted by Class AAAA quarterfinalist LaFayette and include Cass (AAAAA), Calhoun (AAA), Sonoraville (AAA), Coosa (AA), Heritage Christian (A), and Darlington (A). Other teams at the camp include Dalton, Model, Cornerstone, Excel Christian, Woodland, North Paulding, and Gordon Central. There will be two full days of competition. Games will begin at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday and continue until 8 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday. Spectators are welcome to attend and there is no admission fee. The camp also doubles as one of the 24 Georgia High School Association’s instruction camps for basketball game officials. Referees during the camp games will represent all parts of the state. The men and women in stripes will be working on their skills and receiving feedback from clinicians while the players and teams work on their games. The officials portion of the camp is hosted by Cherokee Basketball Offiials Association headquartered in Cartersville and led by Dock Sisk (photo) of the Georgia Mountain Officials Association. Approximately 60 officials will participate in the camp from all parts of Georgia with at least ten different officiating associations represented. According to the Cherokee Basketball Officials Association’s Charles Wilson, the attraction of the Cass camp for Georgia high school officials is multi-faceted. “First and foremost, the officials come for the additional training,” said Wilson. “The experts with the NCAA and NFHS are constantly tweaking the mechanics we use as basketball officials. There is a lot of research that goes into officiating, so by participating in camps our officials learn the latest techniques, positioning, preferred methods, and teamwork.” The officiating camp also benefits from some of the most respected NCAA officials in the nation. “Doc Sisk runs the officials portion of the camp for GHSA. He and his wife Nan are among the most highly respected officials in the country,” Wilson continued. "They have officiated at every level of basketball including more than 25 years with the SEC and ACC. Toss in several other D-I conferences, the NCAA Tournament, and the WNBA and you see how valuable they are with training our high school officials." “Both Dock and Nan have been Atlanta Tip-Off Club Naismith National Officials of the Year, so they not only bring their expertise but they also bring in several other NCAA Division I officials and some of the top GHSA officials in the state to help train the officials at this camp. It is a great opportunity for our officials,” said Wilson. Clarissa Bagwell, another leader with the Cherokee Basketball Officials Association noted the requirements for Georgia’s high school officials. “GHSA basketball officials are now required to participate in an off-season camp each year to officiate varsity games and the post-season. This on-the-court camp and instruction helps officials progress to work higher-level games or the post-season,” said Bagwell. “The expertise in training our officials receive at this camp is outstanding,” she added. “The officials get their GHSA credit for participating, but they also have an opportunity to learn from some of the best officials out there at the D-I level. Dock is also the post-season assignor for our part of the state with GHSA,” Bagwell concluded.

All Weather Heating and Air, a softball team comprised of players all from Bartow County, won the Georgia Recreation and Park Association Men’s Open Equalizer championship this weekend in Lawrenceville to complete a 15-0 season. The team was representing the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department at the state tournament. All Weather defeated Yamaha of Coweta County, Fury Unleashed from Barrow County, Cornerstone Bible Church of Henry County, and Hitmen365 of Gwinnett County, before defeating Crown Cuts in the championship game, 20-2. The roster for All Weather includes Donny Adams, Billy Cline, Taylor Cline, Keith Garrett, Harrison Hatfield, Bradley Johnson, D.J. Johnson, Johnathan Johnson, Brandon Price, Rodney Rowland, David Strabala, Jake Sisson, Danny Weaver, Tim Kirkpatrick, Michael Henderson, Justin Mackey, Camden McGill, Nick Roberts and Tony Walker. The All Weather team is already preparing to return to competitive play in July in the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department Summer League at Dellinger Park.

LakePoint Sporting Community in Emerson and its affiliates have filed for bankruptcy in Northern District of Georgia court based in Rome. Eight entities tied to LakePoint filed for Chapter 11 in federal court with documents listing assets of less than $500,000 but liabilities of more than $50 million. The case, assigned to Judge Barbara Ellis-Monroe, lists 67 pages of creditors with founders and/or organizers listed among them including retiring state Representative Earl Ehrhart of Mableton and Judy Sparks of Smartegies public relations. The filing comes after recent reports of management takeovers and an infusion of $10 million slotted for “go forward” efforts at the complex just off I-75. The 13,000-acre property has become best known as the center for Perfect Game USA national baseball tournaments since opening in 2014. Several restaurants and hotels have opened adjacent to the complex as well. There are also multipurpose fields for soccer, lacrosse, football, and other sports plus an indoor pavillion that has only generated a fraction of the revenue orginally projected. Former Braves manager Bobby Cox and Kansas City manager Ned Yost helped get the project started just a few years ago. The organizers have had major deals fall through, however, including those with Bass Pro Shops and Greg Norman Golf. The complex received $37 million in bonds in 2015 from the Bartow County Development Authority to build the new indoor sports complex, but Ehrhart said Monday that the complex is solely responsible for repaying the bonds, not Bartow County. The new plan for LakePoint is designed to strengthen the organization’s financial position and improve its ability to attract millions of dollars in new investments. MEDIA RELEASE by LakePoint Sporting Community — Monday, June 11; 6 p.m. EMERSON, GA. (June 11, 2018) – LakePoint Sporting Community is recapitalizing in a move to achieve its vision for becoming the premier travel sports vacation destination. The LakePoint Land entity is filing a pre-arranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The filing is expected to allow LakePoint to quickly emerge with a clean balance sheet and strong financial outlook. “The recapitalization will strengthen the company’s financial picture so LakePoint can grow and flourish. It creates financial certainty and stability for the project and puts LakePoint on a clear growth trajectory,” said Dan Berman with GlassRatner, who is leading the restructuring on behalf of LP Investments I, an affiliate of Rimrock Capital, a fund with $4 billion of assets under management. Rimrock is the lender and main capital source for LakePoint and has been so for the past five years. LakePoint is heralded as a premier family vacation sports destination with state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor facilities for athletic tournaments and scouting events. LakePoint hosts more than 40 sports, including baseball, softball, basketball, gymnastics and sand volleyball. LakePoint’s indoor complex, the Champions Center, was both the newest and busiest facility in the past year. The complex hosted 578 event days occurring from June 2016 to May 2017, making LakePoint a year-round destination. During the brief bankruptcy process people should see few changes in the normal course operations, said Bob Zurcher, Manager and CFO. LakePoint will continue to operate as before, existing management will remain, employees and vendors will continue to get paid in full and on time, and tournaments, events and games will go on. LakePoint expects to grow 10 percent this year. “What we hope people do notice is LakePoint’s continued commitment to service and quality guest experiences along with Rimrock’s commitment to LakePoint’s continued success.” Zurcher added. Certain facilities and venues, including the indoor sports pavilion, the entertainment venues, and the surrounding hotels and restaurants, are not included in the Chapter 11 filing as they are not owned by LakePoint. LakePoint Land has acted as a master developer and sold parcels to third parties for development. Rimrock and LakePoint plan to continue the legacy of master developing the 1,300-acre project. Rimrock already has purchased additional acreage around campus and a new master plan is in the works. Rimrock has hired real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle and other professionals to help with the planning and analysis. “We’re extremely positive about LakePoint’s future,” he added. “LakePoint is an important asset to us at Rimrock. We’ve already invested millions of dollars in both LakePoint and surrounding land, and we plan to invest millions of dollars more. We believe in and support the original vision of LakePoint and we believe the project’s best years are yet to come.” Why bankruptcy? In November 2016, LakePoint Land deeded land to Rimrock as part of a loan workout. In the prearranged filing, Rimrock will contribute the land it now owns back to LakePoint Land. Rimrock’s debt will be converted to equity, making Rimrock the largest shareholder in the project. This will allow LakePoint to emerge from bankruptcy debt free and with the certainty of being clear of any claims. As part of the plan, existing shareholders will share in LakePoint’s future success. While LakePoint’s development of athletic facilities started fast, growth of supporting businesses – from hotels to restaurants to entertainment venues – didn’t go fast enough to create a thriving eco-system. “We hope to change that,” Berman said. Progress Progress on future projects already has started: Giant bulldozers, scrapers and trucks are working around the clock on a road-bridge expansion. This significant project will extend LakePoint Parkway from Allatoona Road to Red Top Mountain Road and will serve as a catalyst for more development. More than 1 million people visit LakePoint annually, which creates an economic impact of nearly $100 million from room nights at hotels, restaurant visits, shopping and other entertainment. “We’re only fifty minutes from the world’s busiest airport, and right off of I-75, so it’s easy to get here from just about anywhere,” Berman said. “And our attention to detail at the indoor and outdoor facilities can’t be matched. The reorganization will allow us to leverage these strengths to grow into the most sought-after sports venue of our kind.”

It has been a remarkable week at the professional and collegiate level for four former Cartersville Purple Hurricanes baseball players. Sam Howard made his MLB debut, recent high school grad Anthony Seigler signed with the New York Yankees, Connor Justus and the Mobile BayBears continue to challenge for a divisional title in the home-stretch of the Southern League's first half, and Elliott Anderson and the Auburn Tigers are down to a winner-take-all game in the NCAA Super Regionals. HOWARD DEBUTS WITH ROCKIES Sam Howard made his major league debut Sunday afternoon for the Colorado Rockies. The Cartersville native worked a scoreless top of the ninth inning allowing only one hit in an 8-3 home loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Howard got John Ryan Murphy to fly out to right field on the first pitch of the inning. He then retired Ketel Marte on a groundout to shortstop. Chris Owings doubled into right field on a 1-2 pitch and — after a mound visit — Howard retired Jarrod Dyson on a ground out to second base to end the frame. Former Cartersville High School southpaw Sam Howard was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday to join the major league Colorado Rockies. Howard’s call up from the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes came as left-handed relief pitcher Harrison Musgrave was placed on the bereavement list. Sunday was Howard’s first appearance on the Rockies’ active roster. His last work with the Isotopes was June 2 against Fresno where he allowed three runs on four hits over five innings of work. In nine starts this season with the Isotopes, Howard is 3-4 with a 4.68 ERA across nine starts. The 25-year-old, fifth-year pro who played at Georgia Southern University, has 33 strikeouts this season. He was a third round draft choice by the Rockies in the 2014 MLB draft. Howard has a career minor league record of 29-33 with a 3.68 ERA in 513 innings. He has 97 starts in the minors since 2014 and will wear jersey number 61 for the Rockies. After learning of the call up to the big leagues Howard told the Denver Post, “I haven’t found my groove yet (in Triple-A) in terms of cashing in quality starts week after week, but it’s been a good learning experience because I faced some adversity early and I had to work on a couple things in my delivery.” Howard was injured in April in a home plate sliding incident as a baserunner. As a result, he spent some time on the Isotopes’ disabled list. He has a low-90s fastball with a slider, curve, and a change-up in his repertoire. “My slider’s been my strength, although I haven’t been throwing it as well to start this year,” Howard told Denver Post reporter Kyle Newman. “But I’ve been throwing my changeup well, fastball well, and I’m throwing a curveball now. I’ve actually been throwing (the curve) pretty well, and hitters have been taking it for a strike.” Rockies manager Bud Black expects Musgraves back with the team by Wednesday, so getting Howard in Sunday’s game may have been opportunistic in a short window of time. Musgraves has a 2.65 ERA in 15 innings this season with Colorado. The Rockies (32-33, 4th NL West) travel to Philadelphia to start a three-game set with the Phillies on Tuesday. CONNOR JUSTUS — Mobile BayBears (3rd yr. pro; L.A. Angels organization; Double-A Southern League; Georgia Tech; Cartersville HS)… In six games this week, Justus was only 4-for-24 and saw his season batting average dip to .193. In the final three games of a series at the Chattanooga Lookouts, he was 1-for-12 with three walks, three runs scored, and two RBI. At home for three games with the Jackson Generals Friday through Sunday, Justus was 3-for-12 including a two-RBI triple in the first inning of Sunday’s game. He also walked and scored a run Saturday against the North Division leading Generals. Defensively, Justus has logged 445 in 52 games at second base and shortstop where his fielding percentage is .953. The BayBears (34-28) are in second place, 3.5 games behind Southern League South Division leading Biloxi, with only seven games remaining in the first half of the season. They have home games Monday and Tuesday with Jackson and conclude the first half with a five-game series at Pensacola Wednesday through Sunday. COLLEGE BASEBALL ELLIOTT ANDERSON — Auburn University (Soph., LHP, Cartersville HS) … has not made an appearance in the first two games of the Tigers’ NCAA Super Regional series at top-ranked Florida. The Gators won the first game Saturday 8-2, but Auburn (43-22) forced a Monday night (8pm, ESPN) rubber game with a 3-2 win on Sunday. Anderson (5-0) has a 3.64 ERA in 29.2 innings this season. All 24 of his appearances have been in relief. He has compiled 32 strikeouts with 15 walks. Opponents have a .229 batting average against him. Anderson worked the eighth inning June 2 in the Tigers’ 12-1 win over Army at the NCAA Tournament’s Raleigh Regional. Anderson struck out two of the four batters he faced and allowed one hit.