Cartersville High School quarterback Trevor Lawrence is only a sophomore, but you wouldn't think so watching him perform on the field. The 6-for-5 signal caller helped lead the Hurricanes to 12 wins and a state semifinal appearance as a freshman. He accumulated 3,042 yards passing with a 60 percent completion percentage and 26 touchdowns. His tools, skills, and stature make him appear more as an upperclassman. As a result, 247Sports.com has identified the Cartersville signal caller as their No. 1 recruit for the Class of 2018. Tennessee and Georgia are among the early leaders in the recruiting race to secure Lawrence, but more than a dozen other major programs are currently in his consideration. Find out more at the 247sports.com site.

First-year head coach, Tony Plott, understands he is taking over a tough situation at Woodland High School. After all, the football team was winless in 2014. In fact, the Wildcats’ only winning season was in the school’s second year of existence, 1999, when the Wildcats finished 7-4 and lost to Westlake in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs. The football program at Woodland has compiled three .500 (5-5) seasons since, but has only won one-third of its games on the gridiron since its inception. Plott, who rises to the football head coaching position after serving as a coordinator with the Wildcats, is striving to make the changes he believes are needed to change the culture. “We’ve focused on team chemistry and our work ethic during the off-season and summer. The kids have responded well and they’ve done a great job,” said Plott. “Our team chemistry is the best I’ve ever seen in my time here.” A Gainesville, GA native who played his high school football at East Hall High School for coach Wayne Bradshaw, Plott takes over the head coach reins for the first time in his coaching career. Plott played his college football at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC and is a graduate of the University of West Georgia. He is married to the former Robin Silvers. They have two daughters, a son, and are expecting their fourth child in October. “We’re pretty deep-rooted here. Obviously, our plan is to get this thing turned around,” claimed the coach. Like all other programs across the state of Georgia, the Wildcats began their first official practices of the 2015 season Monday (July 27). Woodland, and most other programs across Georgia, have been preparing since the end of last season and throughout the summer. As part of their summer preparation last week, the new Woodland head coach took his team to a camp near his home town. “We attended FCA Football Camp at Riverside Military Academy. It was an outstanding week. The football experience was great. We got to compete against some good teams and our guys walked away with some confidence,” noted Plott. “More importantly, we had 20 of our athletes and my 11-year old son to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. That was great and a proud event for me as a dad and a coach,” smiled the ‘Cats leader. Plott discussed plans for the next few days at practices. “We will re-install our offense and our defense this week during the two-hour conditioning period practices,” he said. Woodland, who plays in the same 14-school region and sub-region with local rival Cass (Region 7-AAAAA, Sub-Region A), will keep much of last year’s schemes in place for offense and defense. “We will be an even front, 4-4 defense. On offense, we will be a multiple, wing-T team,” noted Plott. “We will range from an empty set to two tight ends. We will show three backs in the backfield at times. We plan to be varied, multiple, and formation opponents with matchup problems,” added the coach. Coach Plott will rely on his senior class to lead in 2015. “We have a really strong senior class,” the coach commented. “We will count on guys like Grant Quick (FS) to lead. He’s like having an extra coach on the field.” Plott was quick to point out many of his team’s other leaders. “Seniors Brady Jernigan (OT, DL), Dalton May (OL, DL), Zack Neal (OL), and Brett Shedd (OG) are all leaders for us up front. We will have to lean on those guys a lot this year,” he said. “We are working two quarterbacks right now. Grant Robinson (QB, LB) and Jarvis James (QB, RB) are both seniors. They are doing a good job and improving daily,” the coach continued. “Plus we have guys like Jonathan Applin (RB, WR, DB) who can play just about any position and Phelan Philpot (OLB, RB). They are also seniors and expected leaders,” noted Plott. Woodland will have just over two weeks of official preseason conditioning and practices prior to a controlled scrimmage with Cartersville August 14. The Wildcats will open their 2015 season Thursday, August 27 at Adairsville. “We’re going to be exciting. We’re putting an exciting brand of football together. It should be fun to watch,” Plott pointed out. “We have a great atmosphere at games. Our band and our cheerleaders do a wonderful job and we want to provide a matching level of quality on the field. I think our kids can do that,” the coach concluded. Following the season opener at Adairsville, the Wildcats travel to Forsyth Central September 4. Their home opener will be September 11 against Sprayberry. Woodland will have home games this season against River Ridge (Sept. 25), Creekview (Oct. 9), and Sequoyah (Oct. 30), plus a Region 7-AAAAA crossover game on November 6 will be hosted this year by the Wildcats. Road games for 2015 include Cass (Oct. 2 ), Rome (Oct. 16), and Dalton (Oct. 23). You can listen to high school football coverage live on your computer, on your mobile device, and on your radio this season via Bartow Sports Zone and AM1270 WYXC Cartersville. On this site, just use the menu at the top of the page to select ‘Football Broadcasts.’ Then click the play button on the screen. That will connect you with our radio partner AM1270 WYXC Cartersville. The broadcast schedule includes games involving all four Cartersville and Bartow County football schools — Adairsville, Cartersville, Cass, and Woodland. The broadcast schedule opens with Adairsville at Ridgeland (August 21), Woodland at Adairsville (August 27), and Cartersville at Cass (August 28). In all, BSZ and WYXC will have live broadcasts of 13 regular season games. Bartow Sports Zone and AM1270 WYXC will also broadcast a Friday morning (7am to 8am) coaches show throughout the entire high school season through the playoffs. Coaches from all four local programs are scheduled as regular guests to talk about their teams, upcoming games, and high school football in gneral. Charles Wilson will host the weekly coaches show along with Jason Greenberg of The Daily Tribune News. Wilson will perform the play-by-play duties on the games. Coach Plott will be one of the featured guests on the Bartow Sports Zone radio show Friday, July 31 along with Cartersville High School head coach, Joey King.

The Cartersville Recreation Department is accepting adult team registrations for their 2015 Fall Softball season. The league will play a 10-game schedule on Monday through Thursday nights at Dellinger Park. Divisions include Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Church, Industrial, and Co-Ed. The team fee is $450. ASA and Cartersville Recreation Department rules will apply. Games will begin September 21. For questions or additional infomration, contact Adult Athletic Coordinator Britt McGill at 770-607-6175 or email bmcgill@cityofcartersville.org.

Former Cartersville High School and Georgia Southern University southpaw, Sam Howard, continued his 2015 season success against the Rome Braves Monday night in Asheville as he and the Class A Tourists blanked Rome, 2-0. In 21 1/3 innings against Rome this season, Howard is now 1-1 with an 0.84 ERA. The Tourists are now 19-11 in the second-half of the South Atlantic League standings and are the defending champions. Following Monday’s victory, the Colorado Rockies’ prospect told reporters he used a mixture of off-speed pitches and an inside fastball to keep the Braves off balance. He needed only 81 pitches for his complete game shutout. Howard improved to 1-1 with an 0.84 ERA in 21 1/3 innings against Rome this season. The win boosted the Tourists' second-half record to 19-11 in their defense of the South Atlantic League crown. In 18 starts for the full season, Howard is now 6-8 with a 3.55 ERA in 91 and 1/3 innings pitched.

Cartersville Little League’s 12u all star team was eliminated from the double-elimination Georgia State Little League tournament in Athens Monday night by Warner Robins American West. Warner Robins sent 18 men to the plate in the first inning and scored 13 runs in that opening frame on their way to a four-inning, 20-3 victory. Jackson Norris hit a 3-run homer in the top of the third to account for Cartersville’s runs. Warner Robins added five runs in the second inning to take an 18-0 lead and added two more in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 20-3. Micah Earwood, Matthew Surrett, Nick Bailey, and Ethan Wolfe had the other Cartersville hits in the loss. Warner Robins advanced to another elimination game Tuesday against the host, Athens Little League. The Georgia Little League 11/12 State Tournament continues through Friday, July 31. The Cartersville team roster includes: Tyler Putz, Micah Earwood, Jackson Cline, Trevor Montgomery, Christian Martin, Alex Freeman, Jackson Norris, Charlie Heidmann, Matthew Surrett, Ethan Wolfe, and Nick Bailey. Jimmy Cline is the manager. His coaches are Mark Mathison and Mark Wolfe.

The Georgia High School Association permitted an opening day of preseason conditioning Saturday, but for most schools in Georgia Monday is the first official practice date of the 2015 season. The five day mandatory preseason conditioning period (today through Friday, July 31) includes workouts in helmets, shoulder pads, and shorts. Saturday, August 1 will be the first day teams are allowed to practice in full pads. Since this is a time of year common to high heat and humidity, temperature monitoring and restrictions are required by the GHSA. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature readings are required every hour, beginning 30 minutes before the beginning of practices. Most programs will utilize the mandatory conditioning week to install schemes and go over fundamentals. They will also spend time on special teams installments, alignments, and coverages. Bartow Sports Zone continues to help you prepare for the 2015 high school season with our weekly coaches show on AM1270 WYXC each Friday morning from 7am to 8am. Guests scheduled for Friday, July 31 are Tony Lott (Woodland head coach) and Joey King (Cartersville head coach). Bartow Sports Zone and AM1270 WYXC have also partnered in 2015 to broadcast 13 local high school games live. The broadcast schedule opens Friday, August 21 with Adairsville at Ridgeland. The following week, the broadcast schedule includes Woodland at Adairsville (Thur., Aug. 27) and Cartersville at Cass (Fri., Aug. 28).

Former Cartersville High School football and baseball standout, Hayes Linn, has been listed by the football staff at Air Force as a starter at safety on the depth chart for 2015. Linn (6-0, 185, Junior) has been a regular on the Falcons' kick coverage teams the past two seasons and played in all 13 games last year as the Falcons went 10-3 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West Conference. Linn is one of our Athletes Beyond Bartow at Bartow Sports Zone. Find out more about his career at Air Force here. For even more, read Jason Greenberg's article 'Linn enters junior season as starter for Air Force,' at The Daily Tribune News. Air Force Falcons 2015 Football Schedule Date Opponent / Event / Location / Time 09/05/15 -- Morgan State USAFA (1:30 p.m. MT) 09/12/15 -- vs. San Jose State * USAFA (8:15 p.m. MT) 09/19/15 -- at Michigan State East Lansing, MI (12:00 p.m. ET) 10/03/15 -- at Navy Annapolis, MD (3:30 p.m. ET) 10/10/15 -- vs. Wyoming * USAFA (TBA) 10/17/15 -- at Colorado State * Fort Collins, CO (1:30 p.m. MT) 10/24/15 -- vs. Fresno State * USAFA (TBA) 10/31/15 -- at Hawai'i * Honolulu, HI (4:30 p.m. HT) 11/07/15 -- vs. Army USAFA (TBA) 11/14/15 -- vs. Utah State * USAFA (TBA) 11/20/15 -- at Boise State * Boise, ID (7:30 p.m. MT) 11/28/15 -- at New Mexico * Albuquerque, NM (TBA) Photos courtesy USAFA Athletic Communications

Each week, Bartow Sports Zone tracks the professional golfers on tour affiliated with Cartersville Country Club's Scott Hamilton Golf Academy. Scott Hamilton is the long time Director of Golf at CCC and is teacher/advisor/instructor to many prominent golf professionals. Final results for July 23-26 for professional golfers affiliated with Cartersville Country Club's Scott Hamilton Golf Academy: RBC Canadian Open -- July 23-26 -- Glen Abbey GC -- Oakville, Ontario, Canada T70 -- Tom Gillis (-2) MC -- Jim Renner (The winner was Jason Day at 17-under-par. He edged Bubba Watson by a shot and Canadian David Hearn by two shots.) ********** ********** The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex. Sunningdale GC (Old Course). Berkshire, England T34 -- Joe Durant (+1) (The winner was Marco Dawson (-16). He edged Bernhard Langer by one shot and Colin Montgomerie by three.) ********** ********** The web.com Tour had the week off. Next week at Utah Championship in Lehi, Utah

Sam Seaman (Adairsville HS), Carrington Evans (Cartersville HS), Anthony Seigler (Cartersville HS), and Noah Daniel (Cartersville HS) were named Saturday to the 2015 Perfect Game WWBA 16u National Championship All Tournament Team. The tournament was centered July 10-17 at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint in Emerson. Seaman, playing for the Double Day Rockies, was 10 for 18 (.556) in the tournament with a double, two triples, seven RBI, seven runs scored, and three stolen bases. His on base percentage was .636 and his slugging percentage for the tournament was .833. Evans, playing for TECB Astros 16u, hit .500 in twenty-two plate appearances with three doubles and five RBI. He scored four runs with an OB% of .545 and a SLG% of .667. Seigler, who was recently named MVP of the 15u National Championship, also played for the East Cobb Astros in the 16u event. He was 9-for-20 (.450) in the 16u tournament with six RBI. His OB% was .520 and his SLG% was .450. Seigler pitched in 3 games during the 16u event and picked up a pitching victory. He pitched 10 innings, allowed 8 hits, only 1 earned run (0.70 ERA) with 5 strikeouts. Daniel was 5-for-13 (.385) with a double, two RBI, and six runs scored for Titans Baseball Orange. He swiped three bases and compiled a .462 SLG%.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association recently announced former Woodland High School standout, Randi Wimpy, the 2015 Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year for NAIA. Wimpy, a NFCA and NAIA first team All-American at Reinhardt University in Waleska, has been a team leader with the Eagles for the past two seasons. Wimpy had a tremendous junior campaign as she was named Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the second time. The Cartersville native finished fifth in NAIA with a .912 slugging percentage and 22nd with 57 RBI. She led the Lady Eagles with a .447 batting average to go along with 16 doubles, 11 home runs, 53 runs scored, 42 walks and .575 on base percentage. The Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year award is presented annually to the top catcher from an NFCA member institution in each of the following divisions: NCAA (Divisions I, II and III), NAIA, NJCAA (Divisions I, II and III), Cal JC, NWAC and high school. A committee comprised of head coaches in each of the 10 divisions determined the winner of their respective award. The other winners of the 2015 Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year award include: NCAA Division I LEXIE ELKINS – LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE NCAA Division II MARLA REITER – DIXIE STATE UNIVERSITY NCAA Division III KIERIN STEVENS – UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT TYLER NJCAA Division I MORGAN OLIVER – JEFFERSON COLLEGE NJCAA Division II BRITTANY PLIMMER - KANKAKEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE NJCAA Division III VIVI MARQUEZ – ROCK VALLEY COLLEGE Cal JC LEILANI AKAI — COLLEGE OF SAN MATEO NWAC SIDNEY HAZEN – WENATCHEE VALLEY COLLEGE High School REAGAN HATHAWAY — OLATHE NORTHWEST (KANSAS) HIGH SCHOOL Visit www.nfca.org for more information.

Hart County Little League pounded out 16 hits on their way to an 18-4 opening round victory over Cartersville Little League at the Georgia 11/12 Little League State Tournament. The state tournament is being held at Holland Park Youth Sports Complex in Athens. Hart County, playing as the visitors, used an RBI double and a 2-run homer in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead, but Cartersville responded with a pair of runs of their own. Ethan Wolfe walked to open the inning and Christian Martin drove him in with a 2-run blast over the right field wall. That would be as close as Cartersville would come. Hart County added two runs in both the second and third innings to extend their lead to 7-2. They added four more runs in the fourth and closed out the game with a seven-run top of the fifth. Matthew Surrett hit a solo homerun in the third inning for Cartersville and Nick Bailey singled home Jackson Norris in the fourth for Cartersville’s other runs. Hart County out hit Cartersville 16-5 in the contest and played error free. Norris suffered the pitching loss for Cartersville in two innings of work. He allowed nine hits, no walks, and struck out a pair. Micah Earwood, Bailey, and Martin also spent time on the mound. In other action, Northern Columbus edged Warner Robins American West 3-2; Smyrna held off Elbert County 12-10; and Athens routed Midway Heights 16-1. The tournament continues Sunday. Elbert County plays Warner Robins American West and Peachtree City takes on Northern Columbus. Both games are scheduled for 1pm starts on the two fields at Holland Park. Cartersville returns to action Monday at 8pm in an elimination game against the Elbert/Warner Robins winner. Other games Monday include Athens against the Peachtree City/Northern Columbus winner; Hart County against Smyrna; and the Peachtree City/Northern Columbus loser against Midway Heights in an elimination game. The double-elimination tournament continues through Friday, July 31 with an ‘if needed’ game scheduled for Saturday morning.

Back to school plans may already be taking place locally, but baseball is still in full swing at Perfect Game Park South in the LakePoint Sporting Community in Emerson. The park has played host to many different travel baseball events this summer, including the WWBA National Championships with more than 300 teams in each age category. Even though those larger events have determined their national champs, there are plenty of titles yet to be determined at the park for teams from all over the country. Below is the baseball scheduled through August 3 at LakePoint: Continuing through July 28 — 2015 13u Perfect Game World Series Continuing through July 28 — 2015 14u Perfect Game World Series Continuing through July 29 — 2015 16u Perfect Game World Series July 26-30 — 2015 15u Perfect Game World Series July 29 - August 2 — 2015 Perfect Game Evoshield Classic (13u - 18u tournaments) July 29 - August 3 — 2015 Super 25 for 15u and 16u