The Woodland girls soccer team concluded the 2016 season Wednesday evening at Sprayberry with a 1-0 loss. Both teams had chances in the first half but neither could capitalize as the defenses stepped up to reach the intermission scoreless. The defenses continued to dominate, but the Cats did missed two nice shots wide in the second half. Sprayberry finally but the ball in the net with 19:26 remaining in the game for the game’s only tally. The Lady Cats continued the pressure late in the contest, but were unable to covert and the game ended 1-0. Sprayberry improved to 9-7 and has one match remaining at Cherokee on Friday. Woodland finished the year with an 8-9 mark.

With most schools in the midst of their region championship meets, we have the latest updates. Updated '2016 Best in County' marks through April 19. The top local high school track and field performances by event for the 2016 season. (as of April 19) Use table slider toolbar to navigate to all events.

The Cartersville girls tennis team shutout visiting Grady, 5-0, at Dellinger Park Tuesday in the first round of the Class AAAA state playoffs. Results: Singles 1 — Emma McCary won 6-0, 6-2 2 — Ansley Thompson won 6-0, 6-1 3 — Kenly King won 6-0, 6-0 Doubles 1 — Kendyl Westmoreland and Jordan Ross won 4-6, 6-1, 10-4 2 — Taylor Riddle and Kindra Woodman won 6-2, 6-4 In the second round, the Lady Canes will host the first round winner of a match between Mary Persons and Burke County. The Cartersville boys open the state playoffs Wednesday at Dellinger Park against Chamblee.

The Adairsville girls soccer team defeated Calhoun Tuesday night in penalty kicks to reach the Region 6-AAA championship match. The Lady Tigers outscored Calhoun 3-2 on penalty kicks and will face the Sonoraville/Coahulla Creek semifinal winner in the region title match on Friday. The Phoenix and Colts play Wednesday evening. Calhoun and Adairsville remained scoreless through full regulation time and two overtime periods. Haley Pittman, Katie Lawhorn, and Emily Collum made penalty kick shots for the Lady Tigers in the tie-breaker. Havyn Isaac earned the victory in net for Adairsville with 12 saves in regulation and two during the penalty kicks. The Lady Tigers await the site for Friday’s title match. If Sonoraville wins, the Phoenix would host. If Coahulla Creek wins, the Lady Tigers would host the championship game. By reaching the region championship, Adairsville (14-1) has already won home field advantage for the opening round of the Class AAA state tournament which begins April 29.

The Adairsville girls tennis team won 3-2 over visiting West Hall Tuesday night in the opening round of the Class AAA state playoff to advance to the second round of the state playoffs for the first time in school history. Kylee McCauley won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles and both doubles teams came away with wins for the Lady Tigers. Cali Mealer and Chloe Powell won 6-3, 6-3 on the No. 1 doubles line. Makenzie Davis and Molly Smith came from behind to win a three set match, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Abby Asbridge and Hannah Adcock both dropped their singles matches. Adairsville advances to the Class AAA Sweet Sixteen and will next face the Tech Career/Peach County winner. Adairsville would host Tech Career, but would have to travel to Peach County.

The two region leaders in Region 7-AAAA all season long have been the Cartersville Hurricanes and the Heritage-Catoosa Generals, so their battle Tuesday night at Richard Bell Field was as tight as the season race has been in the standings. Heritage came away with the win and the region title this time as the Generals scored three runs in the top of the seventh to escape with a 5-4 come-from-behind win. Heritage will be the region’s top seed in the Class AAAA state playoffs that begin next week. Cartersville will finish second in the region. The Generals got on the scoreboard first on a Noah Hill homerun in the third inning, but the Canes would match that run in their half of the frame. Zach Yancey and Anthony Seigler both singled and Yancey eventually scored on a passed ball to even the score, 1-1. Cartersville took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Devin Warner singled to left field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Parker Tidwell, and scored off a Spencer Dickey single. Heritage tied the game again in the top of the fifth. The Generals used a single, a sacrifice bunt, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly to knot the score at 2-2. In the bottom of the fifth, the Canes loaded the bases and took a 4-2 lead when Carrington Evans reached on a two-base error by the Generals’ shortstop. Elliott Anderson (6 IP, 2R, 1ER, 5H, 2BB, 9K) pitched the first six innings for the Canes. He gave way to Anthony Seigler (1 IP, 3ER, 3H, 1BB, 1K) for the seventh inning. Both teams went scoreless in the sixth inning, but Heritage struck for three runs in the top of the seventh. Three straight singles started the Generals’ frame. Luke Grant and Joseph Hill reached on infield hits and Noah Hill tied the game with a 2-RBI single to right field. Seigler struck out Cole Wilcox for the first out of the inning and walked Dylan Bice for runners at first and second. Seigler then induced a ground ball to second base that was a potential inning-ending double play, but the throw to first got away and Hill was able to score from second base for the Generals’ go-ahead run. Seigler doubled to open the bottom of the seventh inning for the Canes and his courtesy runner, Seth Smith, reached third with two outs before the comeback effort was thwarted with a strikeout. Bice (2 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 3K) picked up the pitching win for Heritage with a pair of shut out innings. Wilcox (5 IP, 4R, 3ER, 6H, 2BB, 1K) was the Generals’ starter. Noah Hill homered with three hits and four RBI to lead the Heritage offense. Grant added two hits and scored twice. Joseph Hill, Wilcox, and Josh Gibson had the other Generals’ hits. Seigler had two hits and walked twice for the Canes. Anderson (double), Dickey, Yancey, and Jacob Fowler (double) added one hit each. Evans had two RBI. Heritage-Catoosa improved to 18-7 overall and 12-1 in Region 7-AAAA. Cartersville (14-11, 10-3) wraps up the regular season with a home game Thursday against LaFayette.

Orry Carter pitched a three inning, perfect game and Adairsville needed only two frames on offense Tuesday night to dispose of Gordon Central, 23-0. The GHSA mercy, run rule was applied after two and one-half innings. Carter faced the minimum of nine batters in his three innings of work and needed only 30 pitches for the win. He struck out four and 20 of his 30 pitches were for strikes. Adairsville scored three runs in the bottom of the first and sent 26 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second to score 20 runs. Garrett Mishoe had three hits, including a double, scored three runs and drove in one to help lead the Tigers’ offense. Lane Griffith had two hits including a grand slam homerun and four RBI. Sam Seaman (2 RBI) and Hunter Hice (RBI) had two hits each. Caden Gibbs and Justin Green drove in two runs apiece. Landon Howren, Noah O’Kelley, Hayden Morrow (RBI), Drake Arp (RBI), B.J. Roper (RBI), and Carter (RBI) contributed one hit each. Gordon Central (0-25, 0-16 in 6-AAA) remains winless for the season. Adairsville (13-9, 9-5) continues to hold down third place in Region 6-AAA with two region games remaining. The Tigers, who trail Ringgold and Calhoun in the standings, travel to Murray County Thursday for a 5:55pm start and will host Calhoun on Friday.

The Cass boys tennis team lost to Dunwoody, 4-0, in the opening round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs Tuesday. The Colonels reached the state playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Region 7-AAAAA and had to travel to Dunwoody — champions of Region 6AAAAA — in the opening round. The Wildcats are one of the top programs in the classification. The Cass lineup during their state playoff qualifying season included: Singles: (1) Avery Cornett, (2) Dalton Jackson, (3) Eric Dunlap Doubles: (1) Jacob McBrayer/Seth Colston, (2) Logan Barrere/Regan Barrere

Following a scoreless battle in regulation and overtime, the Cass girls soccer team lost 5-4 on penalty kicks Tuesday night at Kell in both teams’ final game of the year. Stephanie Robledo, Kelsey Rivera, Isela Moraga, and Sidney Vermaas made penalty kicks for the Lady Colonels in the tie-breaker, but the Lady Longhorns made all five. Cass finished the season with a 4-12-1 record.

Excel Christian Academy’s Blane Belisario gave his team one of their best pitching performances of the year and the youthful defense was up to task most of the night, but the Eagles fell 2-0 Tuesday night to Mount Pisgah Christian at LakePoint in Emerson. Belisario tossed a complete game for ECA. He allowed single runs in the third and fourth innings, but otherwise scattered seven hits and a walk while striking out two. Jordan Wilkie and Wyatt Karlovich had the only Excel Christian hits. “Blane really pitched well,” said ECA head coach Mike Cuomo. “They hit some balls well, but our defense was pretty solid behind him tonight. Even though our bats were relatively silent, it was definitely one of our better games.” Mount Pisgah Christian improved to 18-6 on the season and 13-4 in Region 6-A. Excel (1-18, 0-17) travels to Trion Wednesday and plays St. Anne-Pacelli Thursday at LakePoint.

Georgia Highlands took a 5-0 lead after three innings, but visiting Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College came from behind to win 7-5 at LakePoint Tuesday night in Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association play. The Stallions scored two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, and two more in the seventh for the win. The Chargers’ Sean Wilson (1 IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 0BB, 1K) was saddled with the pitching loss after relieving starter Daniel Gooden (5 IP, 4ER, 6H, 3BB, 5K) in the sixth. Dalton Isley (3 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 2K) worked three shutout innings for GHC. Trenton Nutter had two hits, including a double, and two RBI for the Chargers. Brandon Etheridge also had a pair of hits that included a double and he scored a run. Zach McCrum, Nick Fink, Mitch Burger, and Devin Bilardello (RBI) had the other Georgia Highlands hits. Blake Jackson led ABAC at the plate with a 4-for-5 performance that included a pair of doubles and two RBI. Tristain Daugherty picked up the Stallions’ pitching win with 3 and 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. ABAC improved to 22-20 overall and 10-7 in the conference. Georgia Highlands is now 23-22 on the season and 8-9 in the GCAA. The Chargers’ and Stallions’ four-game series now moves to Tifton for three games. The two teams will play a single game Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Woodland boys soccer team wrapped up its 2016 season Tuesday night at Coosa suffering a 4-1 loss. Coosa (6-7) scored a goal in the 13th minute and Woodland scored an own goal with 18 minutes remaining in the half to trail 2-0 at the intermission. The Eagles added a goal in the 63rd minute and a final goal with 10:46 remaining. Woodland’s Dawson McClure scored in the game’s 59th minute for the Wildcats. He was able to poke in the score following a deflection off the keeper from a Blake Herrod shot on goal. Kristian Fischer had a quality game in goal for the Cats including a save on a Coosa penalty kick. Woodland (0-16) finished the year winless.