So far the summer has been good for the Jackson County Panthers varsity and JV baseball teams.
Both teams took part in the Greater Athens Classic tournament over the weekend.
Varsity
It was a strong showing for the Panthers in the Classic City.
The Panthers were tied 3-3 with Hebron Christian when the skies opened up three innings in to open the tournament.
The Panthers then went on to record a 7-3 loss to the Raiders of Habersham Central. John Florentine recorded the loss, with John Fernandez and Quinn Grogan also taking turns on the mound. Grogan did not give up a run during his time on the mound.
Kelly Moates, Rob Williams and Trey Sorrells led Jackson County at the plate.
The Panthers then went on to defeat Banks County 2-0, with Larry Evans throwing a complete shutout.
JV
The JV Panthers recorded a 12-0 win over Franklin County to start off their tournament, with eighth grader Jacob Banks recording the win. They then lost 12-0 to Hebron Christian, and then rebounded with a 4-3 victory over Jefferson with Matt Bridgeman recording the win.
The JV Panthers wrapped up their tournament with a 13-6 victory over Walnut Grove.
“We were very happy with the results of the weekend,” said coach Tommy Fountain. “Last year, we won two JV games and one Varsity game all summer. In a lot of our tournament games, we were lucky to get to play the entire game. To have the varsity go 2-1 and the JV go 3-1 in the first tournament of the summer shows the work these kids have put in over the past year and the improvement that’s been made.”
Fountain said the summer play gives him and his players a chance to see some schools that might be nearby, but that they don’t necessarily get a chance to see otherwise.
“We haven’t gotten to play a lot of the local schools the past two seasons in the regular season, so to get to play and beat Banks’ varsity and Jefferson’s JV was fun for the guys. We’re hoping we can get some of those local schools scheduled in the regular season. There’s a lot of talk that goes on about who has the better program and such, but it’d be nice to see it really decided on the field in the regular season. For right now, we’ll have to take playing in the summer.”
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald.
