MOULTRIE —
The way Colquitt County baseball coach Tony Kirkland looks at it, his Packers will play 12 important games this season: the ones that count in the Region 1-AAAAA standings.
And one of those is coming up on Tuesday when the Packers travel to Douglas to meet Coffee High, the team they are tied with for second place in the region standings.
So the Packers will not want to dwell long on Thursday’s 11-1 five-inning loss to Cook High in Adel.
“Our job is to rebound and do what we’ve got to do next week,” Kirkland said.
The Packers pounded Cook 12-6 on March 14 at Ike Aultman Field and the Hornets returned the favor on Tuesday.
Cook scored eight runs in the first two innings of starter Dillon Presley.
Palmer Betts had a two-run home run in the first inning and Tyler Norton added a grand slam in the second as Cook jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead.
Cook scored another run off Austin Dykes, who walked four batters in the third inning, and two more off Vann Pitts.
The Packers managed just five hits, all singles by Pitts, Matt Creech, Blake Bennett, Aubrey McCarty and Jared May.
The Packers loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first, but came away with just one run.
Bennett drew a one-out walk, McCarty followed with a base hit and Pitts walked to load the bases.
Dykes hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in Bennett, but that was all the Packers could come away with.
“We didn’t play what you would call horrible,” Kirkland said. “We really didn’t. It was a non-region game and it was the day before spring break.”
The Packers will not want any more such breakdowns in what is proving to be a tight region race.
Lowndes is 4-1; Colquit and Coffee are 3-2; Tift County is 3-3; and Valdosta is 0-5, but could still be a factor.
The region championship, won by the Packers last year, appears to be anyone’s to win.
“And it’s as much ours as anybody’s,” Kirkland said.
Local Sports
Diamond Packers pounded by Cook 11-1
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Quality Employment, Liberty Tax win tournament titles
Quality Employment added the Midget League tournament championship to its regular-season title on Thursday, defeating Davis Insurance 10-0 in five innings at the Magnolia Sports Complex.
And Liberty Tax scored seven runs in its final two at bats to take the Farm League tournament championship with an 8-4 win over Ameris. -
Packers lose LB Key to knee injury
What Colquitt County coach Rush Propst called a better than average spring ended on a disappointing note on Thursday when senior starting linebacker Brandon Key suffered what could be a season-ending knee injury in the last of the 10 spring practices sessions.
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Rec tournament championship games set for Thursday
Ameris dealt Davis Insurance its first loss of the season on Tuesday and will advance to the Farm League tournament championship game.
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Colquitt County soccer banquet
The Colquitt County soccer teams recently held their annual banquet. Winning individual awards for the Lady Packers were Flor Ciniceros, Offensive Player of the Year; Madison Turner, Defensive Player of the Year; Diana Durham, Most Improved Player; and Natalie Griffin, Coach’s Award. Winning top awards for the Packers were Alejandro Cardenas, Offensive Player of the Year; Adan Jimenez, Defensive Player of the Year; Jay Tolbert, Most Improved Player; and Jorge Villalobos, Coach’s Award. Shown at the banquet are, front, from left, Austin Hunnicutt, Richard Garcia, Luis Padilla, Alex Cardenas, Fernando Miranda, Ryan Littleton, Garrett Moore, Garrett May, Elias Moreno, Jorge Villalobos, Adan Jimenez, Hudson May, Josh Smith, Jay Tolbert, Mathew Moody and Eric Gould; back, Kali Summerlin, Diana Durham, Karli Horne, Flor Ciniceros, Elizabeth Charles, Madison Turner, Macie Chitty, Taylor Hoes, Natalie Griffin, Jaycee Lott, Ferrell Tyndall, Kailey Middlebrooks, Kristina Scott, Katie Croft and Bert Vega.
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11 Colquitt County players named All-Region in soccer
Six members of the Colquitt County boys soccer team and five from the girls team have been included on the All-Region 1-AAAAAA team selected by the league’s coaches.
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YMCA flag football champions
R.B. Wright Team 2 defeated Odom in championship game to win the Moultrie YMCA’s Elementary School Sports League flag football title. The team includes, front, from left, Evan Hiers, Gabe Horne, Will Zember, Jackson Avera, Matthew Coop and Chloe Sumner; and, back, Sara Strickland, Ben Howard, coach Greg Coop, Nyquann Washington, Tahj Sanders and Jamad Willis. The Elementary School Sports League, hosted by the YMCA, allows children in fourth and fifth grades to play sports for their schools during the school year.
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Bull Durham takes second in Junior league
urham Insurance scored four runs in the bottom of the final inning to defeat BJ’s Plantation 7-5 on Monday to claim second place in the Junior girls softball league.
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Georgia Hawks heading to Orlando
The Georgia Hawks seventh- and eighth-grade basketball teams will play this weekend in Orlando and are coming off strong recent performances.
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Soccer banquet
The Colquitt County soccer teams recently held their annual banquet. Winning individual awards for the Lady Packers were Flor Ciniceros, Offensive Player of the Year; Madison Turner, Defensive Player of the Year; Diana Durham, Most Improved Player; and Natalie Griffin, Coach’s Award. Winning top awards for the Packers were Alejandro Cardenas, Offensive Player of the Year; Adan Jimenez, Defensive Player of the Year; Jay Tolbert, Most Improved Player; and Jorge Villalobos, Coach’s Award. Shown at the banquet are, front, from left, Austin Hunnicutt, Richard Garcia, Luis Padilla, Alex Cardenas, Fernando Miranda, Ryan Littleton, Garrett Moore, Garrett May, Elias Moreno, Jorge Villalobos, Adan Jimenez, Hudson May, Josh Smith, Jay Tolbert, Mathew Moody and Eric Gould; back, Kali Summerlin, Diana Durham, Karli Horne, Flor Ciniceros, Elizabeth Charles, Madison Turner, Macie Chitty, Taylor Hoes, Natalie Griffin, Jaycee Lott, Ferrell Tyndall, Kailey Middlebrooks, Kristina Scott, Katie Croft and Bert Vega.
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State champion flag football team
Colquitt County won the gold medal in the Senior/Master Traditional Flag Football competition at the recent 2013 Special Olympics Georgia State Summer Games last weekend. Colquitt County defeated Gwinnett County 26-0 in the opening round and defeated Gwinnett again in the championship game 24-0. The team includes, front, from left, Quan Ballard, Joseph Bentley, Wayne Cooley, Jonathon Barnett and James Moxley; back, assistant coach Nick Edge, Shane Jacobs, James Palmore, Jack Hipps, Local Coordinator Grant Hammack, Donta Merritt, Kelvin Holmes and head coach Dennis Eubanks.
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