Cartersville High School's Elliott Anderson leads a group of seven local high school baseball players named to the 2016 Georgia Dugout Club All-State rosters. Anderson was named to the Class AAAA First Team and three other Canes' teammates were recognized as well. Adairsville was also represented with GDC All-State team honors. The list of local players: Georgia Dugout Club All-State Teams Class AAAA First Team Elliott Anderson, Cartersville, P/OF, Sr. Class AAAA Second Team Carrington Evans, Cartersville, OF, Sr. Class AAAA Honorable Mention Anthony Seigler, Cartersville, C, INF, Soph. Parker Tidwell, Cartersville, OF, Sr. Class AAA Second Team Sam Seaman, Adairsville, P/INF, Jr. Class AAA Honorable Mention Lane Griffith, Adairsville, C, Sr. Hayden Morrow, Adairsville, INF, Sr.

The Cartersville High School football program and Canes’ head coach Joey King will host a high school football showcase at LakePoint Sporting Community in Emerson on Wednesday, June 15. Event registration is $40 and is available online at purplehurricanes.com. Registration will also take place from 10am to 10:45am Wednesday morning. The one-day showcase for grades 9-12 is for all positions and will run through 3pm. Guest coaches from NCAA D-I schools and all other collegiate levels are participating — including coaching staff members from Georgia Tech, Georgia, Kennesaw State, Georgia Southern, Reinhardt University, Chattanooga, and Colorado State. The event is limited to 300 participants and will take place on the multi-purpose fields at LakePoint. Participants will receive a t-shirt and should dress in shorts and cleats. Quarterbacks and kickers should bring their own footballs. A LakePoint Sports waiver is also a requirement. "Coaches from every scholarship level of college football will be here evaluating talent," said Cartersville head football coach Joey King. "We don't want anyone to miss out on this opportunity."

Former Cartersville High School and Georgia Southern University southpaw, Sam Howard, made his first start Friday night with his new Class AA Eastern League team, the Hartford Yard Goats. Howard, recently promoted from the Advanced Class A, California League Modesto Nuts, allowed only one earned run in 6 and one-third innings of work. The 23-year-old, third-year pro scattered seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out three in a no-decision at the Binghamton Mets. Howard exited the game in the seventh inning with a 2-1 lead, but the Goats ultimately fell to the Mets 3-2 in 13 innings. Howard had 11 starts at Modesto before the promotion up the Colorado Rockies’ organization ladder. The Rockies’ 24th overall rated prospect was 4-3 in the California League with a 2.47 ERA. His first Double-A outing lowered his season ERA to 1.42 in 72 innings pitched. He has collected 76 strikeouts on the year with a 1.06 WHIP and opponents are hitting only .193 against him. Howard has risen quickly through the Colorado farm system. He completed an outstanding 2015 season with the Rockies’ Class-A Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League. His sophomore pro season included a stretch of 22 and two-thirds consecutive shutout innings. He has now successfully followed with an even faster start in 2016 at Modesto. Hartford currently sits third in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division with a 35-24 record. The Connecticut-based Yard Goats are 6 and 1/2 games behind the division-leading Reading (PA) Fightin’ Phils. The Eastern League consists of 12 teams in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia. The major league franchises represented include the Giants, Tigers, Orioles, Senators, Pirates, Indians, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, Phillies, Mets, and Rockies.

Georgia Tech shortstop Connor Justus was taken early Friday on Major League Baseball’s second day of the 2016 draft. The former Cartersville High School Canes’ infielder was selected during the 5th round with overall pick number 156 by the Los Angeles Angels. He will forego his senior season at Georgia Tech to sign with American League franchise. Justus joins the pro ranks after three seasons at shortstop for Georgia Tech where he excelled defensively. He started all 63 games as a junior and helped the Jackets lead the nation with a school-record 80 double plays in 2016. He completed his junior campaign with a .954 fielding percentage in 302 defensive chances. He becomes the third current former Cartersville Hurricanes baseball alum in professional baseball. Donavan Tate (Rancho Cucamongo Quakes / Los Angeles Dodgers organization / Advanced Class A California League) and Sam Howard (Hartford Yard Goats / Colorado Rockies organization / Class AA Eastern League) are both currently on minor league rosters. Justus, a Jackets' three-year starter who helped lead Cartersville to a 2013 state high school title, improved at the plate in his junior college season. He hit .324 with an on-base percentage of .442 and was named third-team All-ACC. He finished second on the team with 80 hits and added 16 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 37 RBI. He also led the Yellow Jackets with 41 walks. He was the 18th shortstop selected in this year’s MLB draft and the first of potentially five Georgia Tech players selected. Georgia Tech teammate, Matthew Gonzazlez, was also drafted on Friday by the Atlanta Braves with the 169th overall pick. Gonzalez, who played at Harrison High School in Cobb County, played second base, third base, and outfield during his Tech career. Gonzalez hit .378 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI in 2016 and was named first-team All-ACC. Yellow Jackets’ pitchers Brandon Gold and Matthew Gorst, along with outfielder Kel Johnson are also considered candidates for the draft that continues on Saturday. Justus reportedly reached an agreement with the Angels for a signing bonus of just under $350,000. He joins the Angels’ 2016 draft class of Matt Thaiss (16th overall pick / University of Virginia / catcher), Brandon Marsh (60th overall / Buford High School (GA) / outfielder), Nolan Williams (96th overall / Turner High School (KS) / shortstop), and Chris Rodriguez (126th overall / Edward Pace High School (FL) / RHP) taken in the first five rounds. Justus will now be assigned within the Angels’ farm system which includes a Rookie Level team in the Arizona League and the Rookie Level Orem Owlz of the Pioneer League. The remainder of the Angels’ system includes the Class A Burlington Bees of the Midwest League; the Inland Empire 66ers of the Class A-Advanced California League; the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League; and the Class AAA Salt Lake Bees of the Pacific Coast League.

Coach Reggie Wilkes and the Adairsville High School basketball program hosted the 2016 Tigers of Tommorow hoops camp this week at Adairsville High School. Campers ranged in ages from four to 14 and were treated to daily instruction from the Tigers' coaching staff and high school players, Monday through Thursday, 9:30am to noon. Each of the 62 day campers received a basketball t-shirt and a game pass to an Adairsville Tigers high school game next season.

Update for professional golfers affiliated with Scott Hamilton Golf Academy at Cartersville Country Club. See the included table for current player tour ranks and recent results. Bartow Sports Zone tracks the professional golfers on multiple tours affiliated with Cartersville Country Club's Scott Hamilton Golf Academy. Scott Hamilton (photo below) is the long time Director of Golf at Cartersville Country Club and is teacher/advisor/instructor to many prominent golf professionals.

Cartersville native, Sam Howard, continues to surge up the Colorado Rockies' prospects list with a pair of back-to-back, impressive outings on May 28 and June 5 in the California League. Meanwhile, the collegiate season has come to a close for all the local 'Athletes Beyond Bartow'. Connor Justus and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets reached an NCAA Regional championship matchup, but fell to the Florida Gators in Gainesville. Week ending June 5: CONNOR JUSTUS The 2016 season came to a close Sunday for Connor Justus and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the NCAA Tournament Gainesville, FL Regional. Justus was 1-for-5 with a sixth inning double in the 10-1 loss the regional champion and host, Florida. In the regional, Justus was 0-for-4 and scored a run during a 7-5 win over Connecticut that put the Jackets in the championship round. He was 2-for-4 with a walk and scored two runs in a 12-3 elimination game victory over Bethune-Cookman June 4, and he was 1-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored in Tech’s opening round 7-6 loss to UConn on June 3. Justus, a former standout at Cartersville High School, finished the season with a .324 batting average and started all 63 games at shortstop. He hit six homers and had 25 extra base hits, driving home 37 runs and he scored 62. Defensively, Justus was one of the top middle infielders in the nation with a .954 fielding percentage in 302 defensive chances. He was also part of a defense that led the NCAA in double plays turned. Georgia Tech finished the season with a 38-25 mark. SAM HOWARD Howard has gone eight innings in each of his last two starts picking up a pair of pitching victories for his Modesto Nuts team, the Colorado Rockies’ Advanced Class A affiliate of the California League. Howard, who pitched at Cartersville High School and Georgia Southern University, picked up the first of those wins May 28 at home in an 8-0 shutout of San Jose. Howard struck out 10 in eight innings, scattering a pair of hits and three walks. He backed up that performance on the road June 3 by limiting the High Desert Mavericks to only one run over eight innings. The California League, South Division leaders managed only four hits as the Nuts won 2-1. Howard struck out seven and did not issue a base on balls. For the season, Howard now has a 4-3 record in 11 starts for Modesto. He has thrown 65 and 2/3 innings. He has 73 strikeouts and has only walked 24. Opponents are also only hitting .184 against him. Modesto is 21-35 and 14 games back of the North Division leading Visalia Rawhide. Other professional notes: GRANT DeBRUIN — Potomac Nationals (Adairsville HS) . . . is 4-for-16 for a .250 batting average, but has not been in the Potomac lineup since starting five games between May 20-26. DONAVAN TATE — Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Cartersville HS) . . .remains on the disabled list for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ affiliate. Did we miss someone? If so, please let us know. Use the contact page of this web site or Email: bartowsportszone@comcast.net

The Cartersville High School athletic department finished tenth in Class AAAA in the 2015-16 Regions Directors Cup final standings. The Canes and Lady Canes placed highest among all local schools in the Georgia Athletic Directors’ Association annual all-sports recognitions. Cartersville also placed tenth among all male sports in Class AAAA, while the school was 13th in female sports. The Canes earned 100 points with their 2015 football state title and also earned points in baseball, boys tennis, boys cross country, boys basketball, boys soccer, and wrestling. The Lady Canes top points came from cheerleading. Cartersville also earned GADA points with state playoff appearances in girls tennis, girls golf, volleyball, girls cross country, girls soccer, and girls track and field. Cartersville finished second in Region 7-AAAA behind Heritage-Catoosa. The Canes’ boys sports finished first in the region and the Lady Canes were region runners-up. Adairsville placed 23rd in the final Class AAA standings. The girls sports at Adairsville were 17th in Class AAA. The male sports at Adairsville were 34th in the classification. The Tigers and Lady Tigers top points came from football, wrestling, girls soccer, cheerleading, and girls’ tennis. Adairsville placed fourth in Region 6-AAAA with the Tigers’ boys sports placing fifth in the region and girls’ sports finished third among region schools. Woodland led the two Bartow schools in Class AAAAA. The Wildcats placed 59th in the classification. Cass was 67th. The male sports at Woodland finished 39th in the classification and the Lady Cats’ did not earn any sports. At Cass, the male sports were 47th in Class AAAAA and the Lady Colonels’ sports also did not earn state playoff points. Woodland accumulated points from a state runner-up finish in wrestling and points from boys track and field. Cass acquired points from a final four finish in wrestling and the Colonels’ boys tennis team qualified for the state playoffs. Woodland was tenth among Region 7-AAAAA schools. Cass finished last in the region. Excel Christian Academy finished 83rd among Class A schools with all points earned by the Lady Eagles' softball team. REGIONS DIRECTORS CUP Final Standings (Top 15 in each classification) Class AAAAAA 1 Lambert – 1,194 2 Walton – 1,175.5 3 Mill Creek – 1,008.5 4 Brookwood – 989 5 Etowah – 910 6 Harrison – 899 7 Collins Hill – 871.7 8 Johns Creek – 788.5 9 East Coweta – 781 10 Milton – 779 11 North Gwinnett – 752 12 South Forsyth – 740 13 Hillgrove – 735 14 Archer – 728 15 Pope – 709 Class AAAAA 1 Starr’s Mill – 1,172 2 Cambridge – 1,144 3 Allatoona – 1,092 4 McIntosh – 997 5 Northgate – 868 6 Columbus – 838 7 Dunwoody – 808.5 8 Lakeside-Evans – 755 9 Gainesville – 739.5 10 Union Grove – 720 11 Northside-Columbus – 684 12 Creekview – 653.5 13 Greenbrier – 633 14 Flowery Branch – 552 15 Winder-Barrow – 549 Class AAAA 1 Marist – 1,387 2 Buford – 1,283 3 Woodward Academy – 1,195.5 4 St. Pius – 1,168.5 5 North Oconee – 1,022 6 North Hall – 890.5 7 Carrollton – 787.5 8 Heritage-Catoosa – 750 9 Veterans – 700 10 Cartersville – 684 11 Whitewater – 643 12 Wayne County – 642 13 Grady – 627.5 14 West Laurens – 576.3 15 Chamblee – 575.5 Class AAA 1 Westminster – 1,380 2 Blessed Trinity – 1,369 3 Oconee County – 1,091 4 Calhoun – 1,065 5 Jefferson – 939.5 6 Morgan County – 687.3 7 Decatur – 655 8 Central-Carroll – 651.5 9 Sonoraville – 632 10 Jackson County – 629.5 11 Dawson County – 615 12 Pierce County – 606 13 Peach County – 579 14 Jackson – 538 15 East Jackson – 537.5 Class AA 1 Lovett – 1,252 2 Wesleyan – 1,222 3 Pace Academy – 1,144 4 Greater Atlanta Christian – 1,052 5 Holy Innocents’ – 1,049.5 6 Bremen – 983 7 Vidalia – 872 8 Bleckley County – 791 9 Rabun County – 773 10 Darlington – 735.5 11 Union County – 659 12 Fitzgerald – 650 13 Social Circle – 644.5 14 Model – 591 15 Lamar County – 588 Class A 1 Commerce – 980 2 First Presbyterian – 943.5 3 Stratford Academy – 932.5 4 Trion – 906 5 Eagle’s Landing Christian – 882.5 6 Mount Paran Christian – 859 7 Athens Academy – 847 8 Landmark Christian – 796 9 Savannah Christian – 732 10 Telfair County – 704 11 Brookstone – 697 12 Hebron Christian – 673 13 Georgia Military – 643.5 14 Fellowship Christian – 623 15 Paideia – 622.5 For more information regarding the Regions Bank, GADA Directors Cup, visit www.gadaonline.net

Youngsters ages 8-12 will have an opportunity July 21-23 to participate in the annual Richard Samuel Football Camp at Hamilton Crossing Park. The individual skills and fundamentals camp is hosted by the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department. Aspiring football youth will get position specific instruction from Samuel and his staff. Samuel, a former Cass High School standout and main stay with the Georgia Bulldogs, is a graduate of UGA and owner of Samuel Performance Training in Athens and Atlanta. The cost is $70 per child and the camp will run from 9:30am to 12 noon each day. Registration is currently available online with the BCRD at: http://www.bartowcountyparksandrec.org

The City of Cartersville Recreation Department has a Youth Fishing Day and a Senior Fishing Day scheduled for the lake at Dellinger Park. Details for both events are listed below. The Cartersville Recreation Department is also offering a Junior Lifeguard Camp for ages 11-15 later in June and July. Details for that program are also available below. Youth Fishing Day Ages: 14 & under Date: Monday, June 6, 2016 Time: 7am - 12 noon Location: Dellinger Park Lake Cost: free Youth will be served hot dogs and soft drinks immediately following. First come first served on spots. Bring your fishing gear and bait. One rod per fisherman. Senior Fishing Day Ages: 50 & over Date: Friday, June 10, 2016 Time: 7am - 12 noon Location: Dellinger Park Lake Cost: free Seniors will be served hot dogs and soft drinks immediately following. First come first served on spots. Bring your fishing gear and bait. One rod per fisherman. Junior Lifeguard Camp Ages: 11-15 Age Control Date: June 21, 2016 Registration: Monday, April 25, 2016 Location: Dellinger Park Pool Minimum: 6 participants per session Maximum: 10 participants per session Cost: $100 Session 1: June 21 - July 1, 2016 (Tuesday - Friday) Session 2: July 12-22, 2016 (Tuesday - Friday) Time: 12 noon-5pm You will become certified in American Red Cross Guard Start, which includes First Aid and CPR. Participants must bring a bathing suit everyday as well as a change of clothing and a towel. Parents will drop off participants at the Dellinger Park Pool Gate. Half of the day will be in the classroom learning skills. The other half of the day will be skill sessions in the pool and shadowing lifeguards.

Cledus T. Judd (a.k.a. Barry Poole) made golf news this past week at his home course in Kentucky by earning a spot in the Kentucky Golf Association State Amateur. Judd, the former country music parody, singer-songwriter from White, is now a morning show radio host with Clint McElroy and Judy Eaton on WTCR-FM in Huntington, West Virginia. The Cledus T. Judd Party with Clint & Judy is part of iHeartMedia. Judd, who has been an avid golfer from his days at Cartersville Country Club and throughout his performing career in country music and radio, shot 82-75 last Saturday and Sunday (May 28-29) to qualify for the Kentucky Golf Association State Amateur. The host site qualifier took place at Judd’s home course, Bellefonte Country Club in Ashland, KY, which is also the site of the 54-hole KGA State Amateur Championship July 12-14. “I putted like a champ in that final round,” the 51-year-old Judd smiled. “I played like a dog that first day, but it felt like everything was going in during that second round.” Most of the remainder of the championship field is being determined at ten different qualifying sites throughout the state of Kentucky, including Bowling Green Country Club (Bowling Green), Gay Brewer Golf Club (Lexington), Owensboro Country Club (Owensboro), University of Louisville Golf Club (Simpsonville), Hopkinsville Golf and Country Club (Hopkinsville), Northern Kentucky Golf Club (Butler), Danville Country Club (Danville), Eagle’s Nest Country Club (Somerset), and Persimmon Ridge Country Club (Louisville). The field will also include players exempt from qualifying. The exempt group includes former Kentucky Amateur champions, top players in Kentucky’s amateur points standings, recent KGA Players of the Year, and winners of other KGA major amateur championships. “I’ve been dealing with a little bit of an elbow injury of late and I let it bother me too much in the first round,” added Judd. “Making putts cures a lot of evils though,” he laughed.

No more bubble talk for Georgia Tech baseball. The 2016 Yellow Jackets, led by local product Connor Justus, head into the NCAA Tournament at the Gainesville, FL regional as the site’s No. 2 seed. Tech will face third-seeded Connecticut in their tournament opener, Friday at 1pm on ESPN3. The four-team, double-elimination bracket, also includes regional and national top-seed Florida, along with No. 4 seed, Bethune-Cookman, an automatic qualifier out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Georgia Tech (36-23) won a play-in game over Boston College to make pool play last week at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, but then lost three straight games to nationally ranked Miami, Florida State, and N.C. State. Those losses, some feared, potentially put the Jackets’ NCAA Tournament bid at risk. As it turned out, however, even Boston College joined the field of 64 teams that includes an NCAA record-tying 10 ACC teams. In order for the Jackets to advance to a Super Regional, they will need top performances from their leading bats and top pitchers. The offense sputtered in ACC Tournament pool play last week, so their is some pressure to get the bats that were 22nd in the nation in batting average and 21st in homeruns going again. The Jackets hit only .206 with four extra base hits in their three conference tournament pool games. Meanwhile, the pitching limited their three ranked opponents to .231 hitting, but the staff did yield 11 extra base hits that included six home runs. The host Gators will be heavily favored to win the regional, but anything can happen at tournament time. It will be the fourth trip to an NCAA Regional hosted by Gainesville. Georgia Tech is 5-6 all-time in Gainesville Regionals, including a runner-up finish in 2012. Georgia Tech junior starting pitcher, Brandon Gold, is 8-3 on the season in 15 starts with a 2.38 ERA. The Jackets will need a solid start from their ace and will rely on the shutdown capabilities of reliever Matthew Gorst who has appeared in 26 games and has accumulated 12 saves, 53 strikeouts, and carries a 0.41 ERA. Former Cartersville Hurricanes standout, Connor Justus, is among the team leaders in hitting. He has started all 59 games for Georgia Tech at shortstop and led the team for much of the season in batting average. He continues to lead the team in runs scored with 58. Justus, a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist for top player in the nation, has a .332 average heading to the Gainesville Regional. He has hit six home runs and has 24 extra base hits with 36 RBIs. He also anchors a defense that leads the nation in double plays turned and sports a .950 fielding percentage in 278 defensive chances. Matt Gonzalez and Trevor Craport have been big contributors for the Yellow Jackets’ offense as well. Gonzalez has a .370 batting average with 10 homers and 48 RBI in 55 starts, while Craport is hitting .346 with seven home runs and 30 RBI. Gonzalez is also the active NCAA leader in career hits. Kel Johnson, Tristin English, Brandt Stallings, and Wade Bailey all carry batting averages of .300+ into the NCAA Tournament. The tournament gets underway Friday at 16 host sites across the nation. FRIDAY FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE ALL TIMES EASTERN GAINESVILLE Georgia Tech vs. UConn, 1pm, ESPN3 Florida vs. Bethune-Cookman, 6 p.m., SEC Network TALLAHASSEE South Alabama vs. Southern Miss, noon, ESPN3 Florida State vs. Alabama State, 6 p.m., ESPN3 RALEIGH Coastal Carolina vs. St. Mary's, 2 p.m., ESPN3 N.C. State vs. Navy, 7 p.m., ESPN3 BATON ROUGE LSU vs. Utah Valley, 3 p.m., ESPN3 SE Louisiana vs. Rice, 8 p.m., ESPN3 LUBBOCK Texas Tech vs. Fairfield, 3 p.m., ESPN3 New Mexico vs. Dallas Baptist, 7 p.m., ESPN3 CHARLOTTESVILLE Virginia vs. William and Mary, 1 p.m., ESPN3 East Carolina vs. Bryant, 6 p.m., ESPN3 FORT WORTH Arizona State vs. Gonzaga, 3 p.m., ESPN3 TCU vs. Oral Roberts, 7:30 p.m., ESPN3 COLLEGE STATION Minnesota vs. Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ESPN3 Texas A&M vs. Binghamton, 9 p.m., SEC Network LOUISVILLE Wright State vs. Ohio State, 2 p.m., ESPN3 Louisville vs. Western Michigan, 6 p.m., ESPN3 NASHVILLE Washington vs. UC Santa Barbara, 3 p.m., ESPN3 Vanderbilt vs. Xavier, 8 p.m, ESPN3 COLUMBIA Duke vs. UNC-Wilmington, 1 p.m., ESPN3 South Carolina vs. Rhode Island, 7 p.m., ESPN3 CLEMSON Nebraska vs. Oklahoma State, noon, ESPNU Clemson vs. Western Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN3 STARKVILLE Mississippi State vs. Southeast Missouri State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN3 Louisiana Tech vs. Cal State Fullerton, 7:30 p.m., ESPN3 LAFAYETTE Arizona vs. Sam Houston State, 2 p.m., ESPN3 UL Lafayette vs. Princeton, 8 p.m., ESPN3 OXFORD Tulane vs. Boston College, 4 p.m., ESPN3 Ole Miss vs. Utah, 8 p.m, ESPN3 MIAMI FAU vs. Long Beach State, 1 p.m., ESPN3 Miami vs. Stetson, 7 p.m., ESPN3