Cartersville softball broke open a 5-2 game Tuesday night at Sandy Creek with an eight-run fifth inning on their way to a 13-2 road win in Region 5AAAA. The Lady Canes led throughout after scoring three times in the top of the first inning. They scored two more runs in the top of the third for a 5-0 lead, but the home-standing Lady Patriots stayed within striking distance with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Cartersville pounded out 13 hits in the contest, but also took advantage of five Sandy Creek errors. Colbi Ballard (4 IP, 2ER, 4H, 1BB, 5K) collected the pitching win. AnnaKate McElhaney (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 1K) worked a scoreless frame in relief. Paris Poston, Presley Edwards, and Ballard had three hits each for Cartersville. Edwards finished with four RBIs, Ballard three RBIs, and Poston drove in one run. Lauren McElhaney had two hits and one RBI. Cio Seigler drove in a run with one hit and AnnaKate McElhaney had the other Lady Canes’ hit. Allie Jackson was credited with two RBIs. Erica Bowers had a double and two RBIs for the Patriots. Lily Metsker suffered the pitching loss for Sandy Creek. She yielded six earned runs in 4 and 1/3 innings in the circle. Sandy Creek slipped to 2-3 overall and 0-3 in Region 5AAAA with the loss. Cartersville (2-3, 1-2) travels to Chapel Hill Thursday at 5:55 pm and will play Friday and Saturday in the Allatoona Buccaneer Bash. KELL 8, WOODLAND 6 Woodland softball led 6-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth Tuesday night at Kell when the host Longhorns rallied for six runs and an eventual 8-6 defeat of the Lady Cats. Kell struck for four singles, a pair of doubles, and took advantage of an error in their come-from-behind inning. Woodland took a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth with four hits, three walks, and one hit batter. Jordan Duck had a two-RBI double, M Bailey added an RBI single, Madgie Robinson forced in a run with a bases loaded walk, and Bella Carnes contributed an RBI hit. Carnes, who had a three-hit game, singled home another run in the top of the sixth to give the Lady Cats a 6-2 lead. Caroline Higdon, Morgan Bailey, and Audrey Morris had base hits for Woodland. Kaylie Casey had two hits for Kell. Six other Lady Longhorns had one hit each. Sarah Baynard (6 IP, 8R, 2ER, 8H, 0BB, 2K) pitched a complete game for Woodland, but suffered the loss. The Lady Cats (0-3 overall, 0-3 Region 7AAAAA) host Hiram Thursday in another region game and will help host the Allatoona Buccaneer Bash Friday and Saturday with games against Armuchee, Sprayberry, Campbell, and Sequoyah. BREMEN 8, ADAIRSVILLE 7 Adairsville softball lost a back-and-forth battle at Bremen Tuesday evening 8-7. Bremen led 3-0 after one inning, but the Lady Tigers scored seven runs over the next three frames to hold a 7-4 lead. The host Blue Devils bounced back by posting four runs in the sixth and held on for their one-run Region 6AAA victory. Shelby Daniel and Caitlin Smith combined for four hits and four RBIs to lead Bremen’s offense. Five other Blue Devils had one hit each. Loren Harris (6 IP, 8R, 4ER, 9H, 1BB ) was tagged with the complete game pitching loss. On offense, Harris (RBI), Alexa Varner (2 RBI), Havyn Isaac (RBI), and Sierra Tanner (RBI) each had two hits. Natalie Burrow (RBI), Sadye Johnson and Emily Collum added one hit apiece. “We played really solid softball for six and one-half innings tonight,” said a disappointed Adairsville head coach Amanda Nelson. “We worked together to generate runs and capitalized on extra bases. In the bottom of the sixth, however, we committed four errors that allowed Bremen to score four times off only one hit. We’ll get back to work tomorrow to get better.” Bremen improved to 7-3 overall and 4-1 in Region 6AAA with their win. Adairsville (4-3, 2-2) is scheduled to host Coahulla Creek in another region tilt Thursday. HIRAM 5, CASS 2 The Cass softball team lost 5-2 at Hiram Tuesday evening in a Region 7-AAAAA game. The Lady Hornets scored twice in the first inning, added two more runs in the third inning, and added an insurance run in the sixth for their win. Cass did not manage a hit in the loss. The Lady Colonels did, however, score single runs in the third and fifth innings to narrow the margin to 4-2. Alexia Najarro was hit by a pitch to open the Lady Colonels’ third inning. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sarah Moore and made it to third on a passed ball. Taylor Gibson then drove Najarro home with a sacrifice fly. In the fifth inning Sarah Fox walked, reached third on an infield error and scored on a Moore groundout. Gibson (6 IP, 5ER, 8H, 4BB, 5K) was tagged with the pitching loss. Hiram improved to 2-2 overall and 2-2 in Region 7AAAAA. Cass (0-4, 0-2) plays at Villa Rica Thursday and will participate in the Allatoona Buccaneer Bash Friday and Saturday. The Lady Colonels will host a pair of games Friday at Georgia Highlands’ Field at Stars Pre-K and will play Saturday at Kennesaw Mountain.

Weinman Stadium in Cartersville takes the national high school football spotlight this Saturday hosting a doubleheader as part of the seven-game 2017 GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff. The 8th-annual event will have 10 states represented, 29 players ranked in the ESPN 300, and 22 players who have already committed to top college football programs across the nation. Games will be played on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Cartersville, GA. The doubleheader in Cartersville is the first-ever, same-site games played in the annual series of games. The doubleheader will feature four of the top quarterbacks in the high school senior class of 2018. Saraland (Ala.) led by quarterback Jack West (Stanford commit) takes on Heard County (Ga.) in the 2:30 pm opener at Weinman Saturday on ESPNU. The game will be the first of the year for the Spartans from just north of Mobile. Heard County (1-0) features Ohio State commit Emory Jones. The Braves routed South Atlanta last Friday at home in their season-opener, 42-15, and were 8-4 last season. The Saturday nightcap at Weinman Stadium features Bartram Trail (Fla.) with Auburn commit Joey Gatewood against the host Purple Hurricanes led by Clemson commit Trevor Lawrence. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with the normal local radio broadcast on WBHF-Cartersville (100.3FM and AM1450). Gatewood accounted for 1,784 offensive yards for Bartram Trail in 2016. He rushed for 753 yards and 11 touchdowns while throwing for 716 yards and three TDs. Gatewood also was on the receiving end of 315 yards and six TDs. Lawrence is the top pro-style quarterback in the Class of 2018. He threw for 3,904 yards and 51 touchdowns last season to go with 3,655/43 in 2015 and 3,042/26 in 2014. The Canes (1-0) have won 31 consecutive games, back-to-back Georgia Class 4A titles, their opener at Class AAAAAA Allatoona last week 35-14, and have scored 600 points in each of the last two seasons. Cartersville is the 3rd-ranked team in Georgia among all-classifications according to MaxPreps.com. The Hurricanes rank 37th nationally. “We’re thrilled about (the event),” Bartram Trail football coach Darrell Sutherland told reporter Will Brown of staugustine.com back in June. “One, to play a team like Cartersville, it’s great competition. Coach (Joey) King does a great job. Obviously, their record speaks for itself. We’re excited about that. The fact that we were chosen to play in something like that, I think is an honor for our program and our school. We’re hoping to go up there and represent St. Johns County well.” Bartram Trail (St. Johns, FL) is the 19th-ranked team in Florida according to MaxPreps.com. The Bears rank 178th nationally. They were 8-5 last season and 9-4 in 2015. “Bartram Trail has a really good team," noted Cartersville head coach Joey King. "We have some things to clean up from last week and we will have to play better. This is a great opportunity for our kids to play on a national level with the ESPN2 game, but the front end of our schedule is challenging for sure,” King concluded. The seven-game set of games kicks off Friday night at 7 pm on ESPNU from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. St. Thomas Aquinas will host St. John Bosco (Calif.) in a matchup of state champions from last season. At 9 pm Friday on ESPN, DeMatha (Md.) will play at Bishop Gorman (Nev.) in Las Vegas. DeMatha was 12-0 last year and Bishop Gorman is riding a 54-game winning streak with back-to-back national No. 1 rankings from ESPN. Saturday at 12 noon, a pair of Oklahoma high schools will go head-to-head on ESPN. Defending 6A-I state champion Tulsa Union travels to Broken Arrow in a matchup of Sooner state powers. Following the doubleheader from Cartersville High School, IMG Academy (Fla.) will face off with Chandler (Ariz.) in the southern Phoenix-area suburb at 9 pm. IMG Academy has 11 players in the ESPN 300 — including No. 1 defensive end Xavier Thomas — and Chandler is the defending Arizona Class 6A champion. The final game of the event is Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm. Wayne (Ohio) travels to Gibsonia, Pennsylvania to challenge Pine-Richland (Pa.) on ESPN.

The Cartersville girls and boys cross country teams along with the Adairsville boys began their 2017 seasons this past weekend at the Pickens Preview meet Salturday, August 19. The Lady Canes placed ninth, Hurricanes 12th, and Tigers 16th in a meet that included 15 girls teams and 18 boys squads. Kayla Carpenter and Vanna Beach led the Lady Canes. Carpenter finished 48th overall in 23:47 and Beach was five spots behind in 53rd at 24:06. Alice Terry placed 73rd at 25:25 for Cartersville, followed by Zane Bryant and Alex Machado with identical 25.50 times. Breanna Kim and Katie Tolbert also closed together at 26:07. South Forsyth won the girls’ meet with all five runners finishing in the top eight. In the boys meet, the Hurricanes harriers were led by four runners eclipsing the 20-minute mark. Max Florence (54th, 19:12), Bill Archer (19:14, 57th), Clay Ross (19:29, 64th), and Jacob Busek (19:40, 70th). The Canes’ Parker Breedlove ran a 20:09 to finish 94th. Matthew Wilson (20:12) and Harris Banks (20:15) rounded out the finishers for Cartersville. Bird Leker led Adairsville with a 19:43 time to 72nd, and he was followed by James Brunson (90th), Jason Burdette (103rd), Chandler Nally (107th) and Zach Scott (149th). Next for Cartersville is the Downtown Cartersville 5K this Saturday and the Berry Clara Bowl Invitational on Saturday, September 2. Adairsville will compete in the Ridge Ferry Invitational in Rome this Saturday (Aug. 26) and will also participate in the Berry Clara Bowl Invitational on Saturday, September 2. PHOTOS: From the Cartersville XC Twitter feed.

Brody Malone, a Cedartown native who competes for the Cartersville Twisters Gymnastics team, won the Level 10 (17-18) men’s division all-around of the P&G Gymnastics Championship Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The 17-year-old scored 81.300 points Thursday during the preliminary round to lead Vitally Guimaraes of 5280 Gymnastics by only 2.550 points following six events. The all-around competition combines scores from floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. In Saturday’s finals, Malone scored 80.800 points for a 162.100 total and the all-around title. Guimaraes finished second with 158.150 points. Max Andryushchenko of Ohio State was third with 153.700 and Griffin Kehler of University of Nebraska was fourth with 153.550 points. Malone was also first in four individual events. He won the floor exercise, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. He finished second on the still rings and was fourth in the vault. Yuri Kouznetsov is the coach for Malone at the Cartersville Twisters Gym located off Lee Street in Cartersville. VIDEO LINK —— Brody Malone interviewed by Rebecca Johnson of FloGymnastics — http://www.flogymnastics.com/video/1243908-brody-malone-falls-on-head-wins-pgs-2017-pg-championships-men-day-2#.WZnEppOGOYU PHOTO CREDITS: USA Gymnastics and video screen shot from FloGymnastics.com

Sam Howard had another nice start on the mound for Albuquerque this past Wednesday, but was tagged with the loss as the Isotopes were edged on the road by the El Paso Chihuahuas 2-1. Howard, a third round selection of the Colorado Rockies in 2014, left the game after six innings of work trailing 2-1. In his twelfth start of the year for the Triple A Isotopes of the Pacific Coast League, Howard allowed four hits and three walks. He fanned three. The former Georgia Southern University and Cartersville High southpaw is now 4-3 on the season with a 3.80 ERA, 54 strikeouts, and opponents have a .263 batting average against him. For the 2017 season that includes nine starts for the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats, Howard has a 5-7 mark with a 3.18 ERA and 94 strikeouts in just over 110 innings. Albuquerque (61-65) is currently third in the Pacific Southern Division, but on the heals of both El Paso and Salt Lake. The Isotopes trail El Paso (San Diego affiliate) by one game and Salt Lake (LA Angels affiliate) by only 2.5 games with 15 games remaining in the season. Only the four division champions in the Pacific Coast League qualify for the post-season playoffs. Connor Justus, starting shortstop for the Advanced Class A Inland Empire 66ers, had a productive four day stretch last Tuesday through Friday in a series with the Lake Elsinore Storm. Justus was 4-for-13 with one RBI, three walks, and a stolen base in that series. He hit safely in three of the four games. The former Georgia Tech and Cartersville High School middle infielder has a .206 batting average this season in 104 games and 369 official at bats. He has five home runs, 29 RBI, 26 extra-base hits, and has drawn 56 walks for a .325 on-base percentage. A fifth-round draft selection of the Los Angeles Angels in 2016, the 22-year-old has a .953 fielding percentage in 393 defensive chances. He has been part of 55 double plays this season. The 66ers are currently third in the California League South Division. They trail the Lancaster JetHawks (Colorado affiliate) by three games and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (LA Dodgers affiliate) by four games in the standings. Lancaster secured a California League playoff spot by winning the first-half divisional standings. Inland Empire needs to win the second half division race to make the playoffs. There are 16 games remaining in the regular season.

The Adairsville softball team went 2-1 at a tournament in Dalton Saturday, falling to LaFayette in their opener 4-3, but winning their final two games 11-4 over Woodland-Stockbridge and 6-5 over Trion. Emily Collum was 6-for-10 at the plate on the day to help lead the Lady Tigers’ offense. Loren Harris and Sadye Johnson both hit home runs. “We had some highlights and some low moments,” noted Adairsville head coach Amanda Nelson. “We should have won all three of those games, but we are committing errors that we need to clean up going into sub-region play.” Sierra Tanner had a two-hit game against LaFayette and Johnson, who doubled, drove in all three Adairsville runs. Collum had the other Adairsville hit. Harris and Collum had two hits each in the win over Trion. Johnson, Harris, and Collum combined for five RBIs. Chloe Souders drove in a run with one hit and Cortni Jacobs had the other Lady Tigers’ single. Collum had three hits in the win over Woodland-Stockbridge. Johnson had a pair of hits, including a grand slam homerun. Natalie Burrow added two hits. Makenzie Gwin drove in two runs with a double. Harris hit a two-run homer. Havyn Isaac and Tori Lee contributed one hit and one RBI apiece. Collum and Tanner each stole two bases on the day. Souders and Burrow also stole a base. Harris pitched in each game for the Tigers. She totaled 10 and 2/3 innings on the day and allowed four earned runs on nine hits and two walks. She struck out seven. Victoria O’Neal and Taylor Rhodes also saw time in the circle — both in relief. O’Neal (3 IP, 5ER, 5H, 2BB, 2K) pitched against Trion. Rhodes (4.1 IP, 4R, 1ER, 7H, 1BB, 4K) worked against Woodland-Stockbridge. Adairsville is now 5-2 on the season and will play at subregion-foe Bremen on Tuesday.

CARTERSVILLE 35, ALLATOONA 14 Cartersville may have displayed some early season rust in its first game of the season Friday night, but the Purple Hurricanes defeated the Allatoona Buccaneers 35-14 for an opening night road win that extended their win streak to a school-record 31 games. Cartersville’s Rico Frye had three scores in the first half and one in the second half. He scored on runs of 1, 4, and 4 yards to go with a 40-yard receiving touchdown with just over one minute to go in the first half. Frye finished his night with 44 yards rushing in eight attempts. Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown passes for the Canes. In a 13-for-19 evening that totaled 230 yards, he three one TD to Frye and the other to JaKobe Orr from 19-yards out that gave Cartersville a 35-7 lead. Cartersville took a 7-0 lead on its first possession of the game, but Allatoona (0-1) tied the game 7-7 early on a 21-yard TD pass from Dante Marshall to Asante Das and missed an early second quarter 43-yard field goal attempt that would have taken the lead. The Purple Hurricanes then settled in for 28-straight points that put the game out of reach. The Buccaneers other score came late in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Marshall that capped a 16-play drive for the 35-14 final. In other game highlights, Cartersville defensive back Marquail Coaxum returned a third quarter interception 41 yards to the Allatoona 14-yard line that set up Frye's fourth TD. JKobe Orr had a pair of catches for 46 yards and a touchdown, and T.J. Horton caught four passes for 75 yards. Adrian Boyd led the Buccaneers on the ground with 83 yards on 22 carries. Marshall finished with 103 passing yards. Cartersville finished with 230 passing yards and 105 rushing yards for a 335 total. Allatoona had 105 yards passing, 121 yards rushing and 226 total yards. The Canes (1-0) will put their win streak on the line next Saturday at home when they host Bartram Trail (FL) in a game that will be televised on ESPN2. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM and the game will be live locally on WBHF Radio with pregame coverage beginning at 6 pm. Also on Saturday, August 26, Cartersville's Weinman Stadium will host a 3:30 pm game televised on ESPNU. That game will feature Heard County (GA) against Saraland (AL). The doubleheader is being billed as a quarterback showcase with Jack West for Saraland, Ohio State commit Emory Jones for Heard County, Auburn commit Joey Gatewood for Bartram Trail and Cartersville’s Trevor Lawrence who has committed to Clemson. RIVER RIDGE 35, WOODLAND 14 Woodland fell to visiting River Ridge Friday night 35-14 behind three rushing touchdowns by Knights’ running back Gino Portera. Each of Portera’s scoring runs were five yards or closer with both teams relying heavily on their rushing attacks. The visiting Knights outgained Woodland 361 yards to 292 in the contest. Woodland trailed 14-0 early and 28-7 at halftime. The Wildcats scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brody Williams to Titus Jones that narrowed the River Ridge lead to 20-7 late in the second quarter, but the Knights took advantage of Woodland mistakes to add to their lead. Ken Balajadia returned a Brody Williams fumble during a sack 49 yards for a touchdown for River Ridge that gave the Knights a 28-7 lead at the intermission. Portera connected with Nathan Herring for a 19-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that gave River Ridge (1-0) a 35-7 lead. Woodland added its final score late in the fourth quarter when DeMarcus Williams capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a one-yard scoring run. Wildcats' running back Justice Carter finished the night with 131 yards on 13 carries to help lead the Woodland offense. Kurtis Feanny and Titus Jones led the Wildcats' defense with 14 and 12 tackles, respectively, Woodland (0-1) will have next week off before hosting the Rockmart Yellow Jackets on September 1st at 7:30 pm. That game will be broadcast live via BartowSportsZone.com with pregame coverage beginning at 7 pm. No. 9 RIDGELAND 48, ADAIRSVILLE 7 The Adairsville Tigers were stopped by the visiting Class 4A 9th-ranked Ridgeland Panthers Friday night 48-7. Ridgeland had four different rushers score touchdowns in the first half and added a halfback pass for a score in the final seconds of the opening half to take a 34-0 lead at the intermission. Navy commit Jalyn Shelton ran for one score and passed for another on the halfback throw. Kennesaw State commit Markeith Montgomery had two rushing touchdowns and a forced fumble for the visiting Panthers. Adairsville missed a field goal late in the first quarter and fumbled on its next possession to give Ridgeland extra chances to extend its lead. The Panthers took full advantage. The Tigers took the opening drive of the second half 45 yards for a touchdown after a good kickoff return. Senior Travon Branch, who had a 51-yard kickoff return in the first half, returned the opening kickoff of the second half 31 yards to set up Adairsville in Ridgeland territory. Mason Boswell punched in the Adairsville touchdown with a one-yard run. Adairsville then forced the Panthers to punt on their first possession of the second half, but an interception by the Panthers' Azavier Blackwell set up Ridgeland and Montgomery for another score to extend the Ridgeland lead to 41-7. Minutes later, Ridgeland pushed its lead to 48-7 on Desmond Johnson’s second rushing touchdown of the game. Shelton totaled 91 yards rushing for Ridgeland with a rushing and a passing score. Montgomery finished the game with 83 yards rushing and two TDs. Quarterback Tanner Hill ran for 21 yards and Johnson had 11, giving the Panthers over 200 yards rushing from those four players. Stephon Walker finished with four receptions for 46 yards. Adairsville's Bryce Burgess ran for 53 yards for the Tigers. Almost all of those yards came in the second half. The Tigers (0-1) will look to regroup next week when they hit the road to play at intra-county rival Cass in the Colonels’ regular season opener. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm. WBHF Radio will broadcast the game with complete pregame coverage beginning at 6 pm. SCRIMMAGE: PEPPERELL 27, CASS 0 Cass was the only local team to not begin the regular season Friday night. The Colonels did, however, host their official GHSA scrimmage with the Pepperell Dragons. Pepperell won that scrimmage 27-0.

Fresh off their 2016 state championship, the Woodland girls cross country team is the pre-season choice to repeat in Class 5A according to a release Thursday by the Georgia Ranking Committee of MileSplitGA.com. From the release: #1- Woodland-Cartersville. They return the bulk of last year's state championship team. #2- Starr's Mill - they continue to build the program and may have enough to threaten Woodland #3- McIntosh, another Fayette County school comes in third. #4- Flowery Branch. The Falcons are perennial podium teams and have been working hard this summer. #5 Grady - they have become a perennial top team #6 Decatur - featuring one of the top girls in the state the Decatur team has also spent a lot of time in the top 10 in recent years #7 Chamblee is another team that is on the rise. Will their climb in to the top 10 last year result in an even higher finish this year? #8 Whitewater - a third Fayette County school makes its appearance in the top 10 #9 Union Grove - another perennial top 10 school who features one of the top girls in AAAAA #10 Jones County - they return last year's state champ and the favorite to win it again this year. Top Individual Girls: Erin Leonard of Jones County is the clear favorite. In 2016-17 she developed into one of the top girls in all of Georgia. Other girls who should fight it out for top 5 finishes are: Megan Uszynski of McIntosh, Haley Rose of Decatur, Mckenzie Cromer of Union Grove and Erika Plummer of Flower Branch. Woodland has a duo in the top 10 in Carli Clymer and Angela Cochran. Starr's Mill also features a couple of top girls in Mary Valli and Megan Dobson. For more, visit ga.milesplit.com.

The Cass and Cartersville volleyball teams each picked up a pair of non-area victories Thursday night. The Lady Colonels topped Lakeview Ft. Oglethorpe and Model in Rome while the Lady Canes defeated Sequoyah and River Ridge on the road. CASS VOLLEYBALL OUTLASTS LFO, MODEL The Cass volleyball team swept a pair of matches Thursday night at Model High School, defeating Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe and host Model. Both Cass wins came in three sets. Cass won the first set with LFO 25-17, but dropped the middle set, 21-15. The Lady Colonels then held off the Lady Warriors 25-19 in the tie-breaker set. Against Model, Cass dropped the opening set 19-25 before rallying to win the final two sets 25-18 and 25-22. Emily Tracy was credited by Cass coach Alan Potter as a vital part of the Lady Colonels’ offense. She finished with five kills and four assists. Lana White also contributed a dozen digs. Cass (6-2) hosts Gordon Central and Armuchee next Tuesday and plays at Calhoun with Bremen on Thursday. Both are 5 pm starts. CARTERSVILLE VOLLEYBALLL WINS PAIR The Cartersville Lady Canes volleyball team swept a pair of matches Thursday with wins over Sequoyah and River Ridge. The Lady Canes fell behind early in both matches, but eventually defeated Sequoyah in the opener 16-25, 25-17, 25-18. In the nightcap, Cartersville defeated River Ridge 16-25, 25-12, 25-22. "Our girls have experienced the joy of making a big comeback, and it seems to have really stuck with them," coach Dutch Cothran said after the matches. "We have become notoriously poor starters and exceptionally dangerous in come-from-behind situations. As a coach, I'm about to pull my hair out. As a bald man, it looks like I already have. It's a ton of fun watching the comebacks and experiencing them, but I want the girls to understand the importance of getting off to a fast start. There will be teams on our schedule who have too much firepower to spot a lead of any size." The Lady Canes' coach, who took ill with an apparent stomach virus during the match but was able to continue coaching during the night, again warned that the slow starts are dangerous. "We put ourselves in a hole in that second match too and had to fight our way out. We are still working through some personnel issues-deciding what our best lineup is etc. One area we've focused on is our ball control. I felt like it was far better tonight than it has been thus far, but I know we can still be better in that aspect of the game. A few players really stood out to me. Grace Hunter's serving and setting were very good tonight. Nedu Evans had a big night in the middle for us, and Lauren Wenzell played great outside. Lauren's ball control and defense were the best I've seen them all year as well. I also think it's easy to get caught up in on-court contributions and lose track of some really important people. Emily Petty, Cristina Cruz, and London Shaw may not always turn in amazing stats, but they are important to us for their attitudes, encouragement, and selflessness," he noted. Cartersville hosts Northwest Whitfield and Rockmart next Tuesday, travels to Cherokee Wednesday and is on the road against North Paulding and Woodland Thursday. Each match is a 5 pm start. WOODLAND VOLLEYBALL DROPS HOME MATCHES Woodland volleyball lost home matches to Wheeler 23-25, 14-25 and to Allatoona 4-25, 11-25 Thursday evening.

All four local high school softball teams were in action Thursday evening with Adairsville picking up the only local victory. Cartersville dropped a home game with Darlington, Woodland fell at home to Villa Rica, and Cass lost at Paulding County. ADAIRSVILLE 8, MURRAY COUNTY 6 Adairsville held off a late charge by visiting Murray County Thursday night for an 8-6 Region 6-AAA win. Loren Harris (7 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 2BB, 6K) earned the pitching win for the Lady Tigers. Taylor Rhodes (0.0 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H) faced four batters in the seventh inning. Adairsville led 4-1 through three innings, but the Lady Indians narrowed the margin to 4-3 in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Adairsville added four more runs to go up 8-3 with Murray County rallying for three runs in the seventh to account for an 8-6 final score. Sierra Tanner (RBI) had two hits for Adairsville. Seven other Tigers added one hit each including Natalie Burrow, Sadye Johnson (HR, 2 RBIs), Emily Collum (HR, 2 RBIs), Havyn Isaac (triple, 2 RBIs), Alexa Varner (double), and Harris (double), and Kelsie Burnett. Murray County fell to 0-4 with the loss. Adairsville (3-1, 2-1) opens the Dalton Tournament Saturday against LaFayette with additional opponents to be determined. DARLINGTON 12, CARTERSVILLE 4 Cartersville softball lost to visiting Darlington Thursday evening at the Cartersville Sports Complex on Sugar Valley Road, 12-4. The win by the visiting Tigers earned a two-game series split with the Lady Canes. Cartersville won the first meeting 15-4 last Saturday in Rome. Darlington took a 4-1 lead after one inning and extended their lead to 8-2 after four frames. Cartersville scored twice in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 8-4, but that was as close as the Lady Canes would come. Darlington totaled 11 hits in the non-region contest. Cartersville had seven hits. Kathryne Ledbetter was the complete game pitching winner for Darlington. Colbi Ballard (3.1 IP, 8ER, 7H, 7BB, 1K) was saddled with the pitching loss for Cartersville. AnnaKate McElhaney (3.2 IP, 4R, 3ER, 4H, 4BB, 1K) followed Ballard in the circle for the Canes. Alex Gardner had a three-hit game for the visiting Tigers. Cardine Dingler added a pair of hits. Sydney Seymour had a hit and three RBIs. Olivia Adams and Josi McKibben drove home two runs each with a hit. Lauren McElhaney, Paris Poston, and Kalli Scheff all had doubles for Cartersville. Cio Seigler drove in two runs with a hit. Ballard had one RBI and a hit. Allie Jackson and Jolea Prokop contributed base hits for Cartersville. Darlington improved to 1-2 on the season. Cartersville (1-3, 0-2) travels to Sandy Creek Tuesday and Chapel Hill Thursday for Region 5-AAAA games. Both are set for 5:55 pm first pitch. PAULDING COUNTY 14, CASS 2 The Cass softball team is still seeking its first victory of the 2017 season after dropping a 14-2 decision Thursday night at Paulding County. Paulding County scored four runs in the first inning and added five more in both the second and third innings for their double-digit win. Cass committed seven errors in the four-inning loss and managed only one hit for the second straight game. Paulding County only had four hits. Only five of the Lady Patriots runs were earned off Cass pitchers Taylor Gibson and Haley Owens. Gibson struck out one and did not allow a hit in one inning in the circle although she walked five. Owens walked four and struck out three in two innings. Lexi Brendal and Madelyn Wagar had two hits each for Paulding County. Brandal drove in four runs and one of her hits was a triple. Brandal added one RBI. Abbie Crawford and Ariel Romines both contributed a pair of RBIs for the Lady Patriots. Kaila Carson had the Lady Colonels’ only base hit. Mae Mae McIntyre and Sarah Moore each drove in a run for Cass. Paulding County improved to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass (0-3, 0-1) plays at Hiram Tuesday at 5:30 pm and travels to Villa Rica next Thursday for a 5:55 pm start. The Lady Colonels will then play four games in the Allatoona Buccaneer Bash hosting Campbell and Sequoyah Friday at Stars Field, home of Georgia Highlands College, and traveling to Kennesaw Mountain Saturday to face Coffee County and Sonoraville. VILLA RICA 13, WOODLAND 3 Woodland stood toe-to-toe with visiting Villa Rica Thursday night for five innings, but Villa Rica scored 11 runs in the top of the sixth to break open a 2-2 game on their way to a six-inning, 13-3 defeat of the Lady Cats. Villa Rica out hit Woodland 15-4 and Woodland also committed six errors in the game. Villa Rica had four players combine for 11 hits, including a pair of home runs and 11 RBIs. Madi Langford led that group with four hits and three RBIs. Abbey Gamble (6 IP, 3R, 1ER, 4H, 3BB, 0K) was the winning pitcher. Woodland’s Sarah Baynard (6 IP, 13R, 2ER, 15H, 1BB, 0K) took the loss. Woodland plays at Kell Tuesday at 5:55 pm before hosting Hiram Thursday at 5:55 pm. The Lady Cats will then help host the Allatoona Buccaneer Bash on Friday and Saturday (August 25-26) with the Lady Cats playing four games against Armuchee, Sprayberry, Campbell, and Sequoyah.

The Cass Lady Colonels’ softball team managed only one hit Wednesday evening in a 9-0 loss to Gordon Lee at Berry College. The Lady Trojans struck for five runs in the first inning and two more in both the second and fourth innings for a shutout victory in five innings. Gordon Lee (1-0) pounded out a dozen hits and had four players with multi-hit games, including Regan Thompson, Gracey Kruse, Paxton Grimes, and Emma Minghini. Canaan Burnette (4 IP, 0R, 1H, 2BB, 9K) and Janie Durham (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 2K) combined on the pitching win for the Trojans. Sarah Moore had the only Cass base hit. It was a double in the second inning. Cass (0-2) travels to Paulding County Thursday for a Region 7-AAAAA game. ADAIRSVILLE 12, LAKEVIEW-FT. OGLETHORPE 7 The Lady Tigers exchanged leads with the Lady Warriors at Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe Tuesday night, but took the lead for good with a five-run sixth in a 12-7 win at LFO. Adairsville totaled 13 hits and pitcher Loren Harris (7 IP, 7R, 0ER, 5H, 3BB, 4K) tossed a complete game. The Lady Tigers led 4-3 through three innings and trailed 7-5 after five frames before scoring eight runs over the final three innings. Natalie Burrow had three hits and one RBI for the Tigers. Havyn Isaac (2 RBI), Sierra Tanner (RBI), Cortni Jacobs, and Loren Harris had two hits each. Sadye Johnson (RBI) and Kelsi Burnett (RBI) added one hit apiece. Chloe Souders, Emily Collum, and Alexa Varner each added one RBI. Johnson and Collum both reached base four times in the contest with three walks each. Adairsville (2-1) hosts Murray County Thursday at 5:55pm.

The Georgia Sports Writers Association has released its preseason high school football poll. The GSWA ranks the top 10 schools in each classification in a poll that is updated weekly. Cartersville is ranked No. 1 in Class AAAA with region-foe Sandy Creek ranked seventh. Rome, Kell and Carrollton are ranked first, fourth, and fifth respectively in Class AAAAA. Those three teams are in the same region with Cass and Woodland. In Class AAA, Calhoun is ranked fourth with Ringgold and North Murray receiving votes from Adairsville’s region. The complete poll for each classificaiton is listed below: Class AAAAAAA 1. Grayson (10) - 100; 1 2. Roswell - 82; 2 3. Colquitt County - 74; 6 4. Mill Creek - 65; 3 5. Lowndes - 51; 7 6. Norcross - 39; 9 7. McEachern - 38; 4 8. Brookwood - 33; 10 9. Parkview - 22; NR 10. Westlake - 19; 5 Others receiving votes: Hillgrove 10, North Cobb 9, South Gwinnett 5, Peachtree Ridge 2, Marietta 1 Class AAAAAA 1. Valdosta (8) - 98; 1 2. Tucker (1) - 89; 2 3. Northside-Warner Robins - 69; 4 4. Harrison (1) - 63; 8 5. Dalton - 56; 3 6. Mays - 42; 5 7. Glynn Academy - 41; 6 8. Lee County - 39; 9 9. Stephenson - 17; 10 10. Coffee - 12; 7 Others receiving votes: Alpharetta 5, Dacula 5, Houston Co. 5, Brunswick 3, Lovejoy 3, Alexander 2, Allatoona 1 Class AAAAA 1. Rome (9) - 99; 1 2. Buford (1) - 89; 2 3. Stockbridge - 77; 3 4. Kell - 67; 4 5. Carrollton - 63; 5 6. Ware County - 40; 8 7. Griffin - 31; 7 8. Woodland-Stockbridge - 20; 6 9. Jones County - 17; NR 10. Thomas County Central - 16; NR Others receiving votes: Clarke Central 7, Grady 5, Loganville 5, Arabia Mountain 4, Starr’s Mill 3, Locust Grove 2, Ola 2, Warner Robins 2, Bainbridge 1, Carver-Atlanta 1 Class AAAA 1. Cartersville (10) - 100; 1 2. Thomson - 88; 2 T-3. Blessed Trinity - 64; 6 T-3. Jefferson - 64; 4 5. Woodward Academy - 50; 5 6. Mary Persons - 48; 3 7. Sandy Creek - 31; 9 8. Cairo - 30; 7 9. Ridgeland - 18; NR 10. Oconee County - 15; NR Others receiving votes: Carver-Columbus 13, Northwest Whitfield 8, Spalding 7, Marist 6, Burke County 3, Northside-Columbus 2 Class AAA 1. Greater Atlanta Christian (3) - 93; 2 T2. Cedar Grove (12) - 86; 1 T2. Peach County - 86; 3 4. Calhoun - 63; 7 5. Westminster - 54; 6 6. Crisp County - 50; 4 7. Liberty County - 47; 5 8. Lovett - 29; 8 9. Pierce County - 11; 9 10. Pace Academy - 9; 10 Others receiving votes: Jenkins-Savannah 7, Worth County 5, Dawson County 4, Ringgold 4, North Murray 2 Class AA 1. Benedictine (9) - 99; 1 2. Fitzgerald (1) - 84; 2 3. Hapeville Charter - 71; 4 4. Callaway - 66; 3 5. Screven County - 49; 5 6. Rabun County - 45; 6 7. Pepperell - 33; 7 8. Jefferson County - 24; 9 9. Heard County - 20; NR 10. Brooks County - 16; NR Others receiving votes: Chattooga 13, Washington County 9, Thomasville 8, Rockmart 7, Southwest Macon 2, Dodge County 1, Douglass-Atlanta 1, Dublin 1 Class A 1. Eagle’s Landing Christian (9) - 99; 1 2. Macon County (1) - 69; 1 3. Clinch County - 62; 4 4. Prince Avenue Christian - 56; 3 5. Fellowship Christian - 55; 2 6. Wesleyan - 45; 6 7. Emanuel County Institute - 29; 3 8. Manchester - 26; 5 9. Tattnall Square - 23; 4 10. McIntosh County Academy - 20; 2 Others receiving votes: Mt. Paran Christian 15, Calvary Day 11, Taylor County 9, Landmark Christian 8, Commerce 7, Savannah Christian 7, Darlington 3, Pelham 2, First Presbyterian Day 1, Greene County 1