Cook, Moore earn preseason all-state honors

Published 11:45 am Sunday, December 11, 2022

MOULTRIE — Colquitt County junior baseball players Cam Cook and Mason Moore have been named to the Georgia Dugout Club’s preseason All-State second team.

Cook, who was the Packers shortstop last season, hit .385 with eight doubles, two homers and a team-leading 37 runs batted in.

Moore, who played right field and pitched, hit .366 with nine doubles, two triples and one home run and drove in 26.

He had a 3.23 ERA while working on the mound.

Of this and that:

• Two former Packers were on football teams that came up just short in the recent GHSA state championships.

Scott Roberts is the head coach at Swainsboro, which fell to Prince Avenue Christian 52-34 in the Class A-Division I final.

Roberts was an assistant coach under Colquitt County head coach Mike Singletary in 2004.

He has been the head coach at Swainsboro from 2008-2009 and from 2017-2022, posting an overall record of 67-30, including 13-2 this year and 11-3 in 2021.

Sherard Reynolds was on the staff at Fitzgerald when the Purple Hurricanes beat Thomasville to win the Class AA state championship in 2021.

But Reynolds and the Hurricanes couldn’t repeat his year, falling to Thomson 32-27.

Fitzgerald finished the season with a 14-1 record and was 27-3 over the last two.

Reynolds was an outstanding player for the Packers and was an assistant at his alma mater before coaching at both Thomasville and Fitzgerald.

A number of former Packers are on college football teams that will take part in bowl games over the coming weeks.

• Will Rykard, a center who was named to the All-Conference USA second team, will help lead UAB into the Friday, Dec. 16, Bahamas Bowl against Miami (Ohio).

UAB has hired Trent Dilfer to become its head football coach.

• Troy, which will meet Texas-San Antonio in the Cure Bowl, also on Dec. 16, has former Colquitt County assistants Evan McKissack, who works with the tight ends, and Travis Pearson, the cornerbacks coach, on its staff.

The Cure Bowl will be played in Orlando.

• Brian Daniels, the equipment manager for the Wake Forest football team, will help get Demon Deacons prepared for their Dec. 23, Gasparilla Bowl game against Missouri.

The game will be played in Tampa.

• The University of Buffalo, where Pershaun Fann is playing his freshman season, will meet Georgia Southern at noon on Dec. 27, in the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.

• Zy Brockington and his Memphis Tiger teammates will meet Utah State in the First Response Bowl, also to be played on Dec. 27, in Dallas.

• The Pinstripe Bowl, which will be played on Dec. 29 in The Bronx, will feature Syracuse squaring off with Minnesota, where Zy Brockington’s cousin Lemeke Brockington is a redshirt freshman receiver.

• Also on Dec. 29, Oklahoma will face Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando. Ryan Fitzgerald is the Seminoles place-kicker.

• At noon on Dec. 31, No. 5 Alabama will face No. 9 Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl. Redshirt freshman Omar Daniels is a defensive back for the Wildcats.

• At 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Georgia and its fine junior running back Daijun Edwards will meet Ohio State in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff game at Mercedes Benz Stadium.

• Defensive back Jay Ward has declared for the NFL draft, but will play his final game for LSU when the Tigers meet Purdue at 1 p.m. on Jan. 2 in the Citrus Bowl.

Ward also is expected to play in the Senior Bowl, which will be held on Feb. 4, at the University of South Alabama.

• The offensive line coach for the University of Kentucky is Zach Yenser, who was a member of Rush Propst’s first Colquitt County staff in 2008. The Wildcats will meet Iowa on Dec. 31 in Nashville’s Music City Bowl.

• Brent Brock is the director of football operations for Middle Tennessee State, which will face San Diego State at 8 p.m on Christmas Eve in the Hawaii Bowl.

• Former Packers assistant Josh Crawford is the co-offensive coordinator for Western Kentucky, which will meet South Alabama on Dec. 21, in the New Orleans Bowl.

Also, former Lady Packer Janiah Ellis is having a fine start to her senior basketball season at Clark Atlanta, averaging 11.9 points a game. She leads the Lady Panthers with 18 assists.