Spring sports round-up: March 7-13

Monday, March 12

Soccer: Eagles drop non-region tune-up

THE EAST Jackson boys’ soccer team (4-4-1, 1-1) dropped a Monday out-of-region contest with Riverside Military 5-1 with a Friday showdown with Jefferson looming.

Jake Pitcher scored the lone goal for the Eagles who have lost two straight.

“They have a strong, international team and played a nice game,” East Jackson coach Chris Cooley said of Riverside.

Cooley noted that East Jackson’s most important games lie ahead. The Eagles have three-straight subregion games coming up on the schedule with Jefferson, North Oconee (March 20) and Elbert County (March 23).

“We were treating this (the Riverside game) as a practice game,” Cooley said. “Our main focus over the next couple of weeks is on region play.”

Saturday, March 10

Boys’ track: East Jackson’s Pirtle wins 1,600 and 3,200 meters at Grayson

EAST JACKSON track standout Cale Pirtle won the 1,600 and 3,200-meter events Saturday at the three-team Grayson Invitational to lead the Eagles, who finished third in the event with 108.5 points.

Pirtle ran a 4:47 in the 1,600 and a 10:27 in the 3,200, just five seconds off his school-record two-mile pace from last week.

Montell Reynolds added second-place finishes in the 110-meter hurdles (17.32 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (43.36 seconds).

Cade Roberts also finished second in the discus (118-1), while Jeff Chandler was third in the shot put (39-2).

Girls’ track: Lady Eagles finish third at Grayson

EAST JACKSON’S girls’ track team finished last out of three teams at Saturday’s Grayson Invitational.

Lauren Sanders had the top showing for the Lady Eagles with a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles (18.31 seconds). Robin Adair added third-place finishes in the 300-meter hurdles (54.33 seconds) and high jump (4-6).

East Jackson’s girls finished with 43 points.


Thursday, March 8

Soccer: Eagles lose on PKs to subregion foe

THE EAST Jackson boys’ soccer team (4-2-1, 1-1) suffered a costly 2-1 loss to 8-AA South opponent Oglethorpe County Thursday, losing 4-2 on penalty kicks.

After a scoreless second half and two scoreless overtime periods, the 1-1 game was decided on penalty kicks. Edwin Lopez and Jonathan Zarco successfully converted their kicks for East Jackson but Oglethorpe County made four of its five PK tries.

Jake Pitcher tallied the Eagles’ lone goal in regulation in the 15th minute, and Oglethorpe County scored the equalizer in the 25th minute.

East Jackson coach Chris Cooley said his team let Oglethorpe County control the center too much and didn’t make the most of its scoring opportunities.

“It was just finishing,” Cooley said. “We made plenty of opportunities but we wasted some.”

Tennis: EJCHS teams drop matches to Walnut Grove

WALNUT Grove handed the East Jackson tennis teams a pair of losses at home Thursday.

The girls fell 3-2, getting wins from Jesse Fulcher at no. 3 singles and Mimi Khang and Hali Sailors at no. 2 doubles.

East Jackson coach Jimmy Williams noted the play of Carly Brooks at no. 1 singles.

“Carly Brooks is playing great,” he said. “She lost her match, however, she is playing as well as anyone on the team — boys or girls."

The boys lost 4-1, getting their lone win from Sherying Ly at no. 1 singles. Williams also pointed to the play of the Eagles’ no. 2 singles player.

“Caleb Maxwell at no. 2 singles played well and lost a very close match,” he said.

Wednesday, March 7

Golf: Garner, Fife lead Jackson Co. girls to win over East Jackson

JORDAN Garner and Katie Fife shot rounds of 33 on six holes Wednesday as the Jackson County girls beat East Jackson, 66-78, at Double Oaks Golf Club.

“They played a great match and corrected the little mistakes that has been hurting the scores,” Jackson County coach Jeff Algard said.

Scoring for East Jackson were Victoria Nixon (37) and Sara Spinelli (41).

Golf: Panthers cruise past rival EJCHS

THE JACKSON County boys' golf team moved to 4-0 with a 165-211 win over East Jackson Wednesday at Double Oaks Golf Club.

York Delloyd and River Bryant both carded rounds of 40.

Cody Nix led East Jackson with a 50, followed by Dylan Anderson (52), Nathan Crumley (53) and Spencer Davis (55).