Sports Editor

It's hard to start slow, but that's what the Upson-Lee Knights' baseball team is going to have to do in subregion play this year.

The Knights saw their chances of getting off to a solid start in subregion play dashed Monday afternoon as they fell to Eagles' Landing 6-0 in their subregion opener.

Eagles' Landing grabbed the early lead with a one-run second inning and then added to it with a two-run third.

Upson-Lee held Eagles' Landing scoreless over the next two innings, but were unable to cut into their lead, and Eagles' Landing made them pay.

Eagles' Landing broke a scoreless two-inning drought with a three-run sixth inning to seal the subregion opening win.

"I thought we played one of our best games of the season in this game even though we lost," Upson-Lee head coach Gary Sharpe said. "We were only down 3-0 going into the sixth inning, so we were in position to do something, we just couldn't get the big hits when we needed them. We had played solid defense all game until the sixth inning and then we started making mistakes that allowed them to score their last three runs."

Offensively the Knights totaled four hits, two of which were doubles. Jaret Burkett, Marcus Cherry, John Maguire and Kris Guenther had one hit each in the loss for the Knights.

"We didn't do a good job at the plate," Coach Sharpe said. "The hits that we got were solid hits, but other than those four hits we couldn't do anything at the plate. I have to give them credit though. They had a great pitcher that was doing good things against us. He was throwing in the high 80s and he was running the ball in on our hitters' hands, which is not easy to hit."

Nath Legg went all six innings for the Knights on the mound giving up six runs on five hits, three walks and four strike outs.

"I feel like we have seen one of the better teams in our subregion now and we have to build from here," Coach Sharpe said. "This region is going to be tough. Maybe it isn't going to be as tough as the region we were in the previous four years, but it's going to have some good baseball players. I think this game is going to help though. It gave our young guys a chance to see what region play is like. The young guys struggled in this one, and they are going to have to make an adjustment to the high level of play."

Last Friday the Knights saw their record fall to 2-6 as Troup Co. handed them an 11-3 loss.

Troup Co. grabbed the early momentum with one run in the first, and then exploded for six runs in the second and two more in the third before the Knights could get anything going offensively.

Upson-Lee used a two-run fourth to cut into the Tiger's lead, but it was too little too late as Troup Co. was able to add two more in the bottom of the fourth to regain their nine-run lead, 11-2.

The Knights added another run in the top of the fifth to make it an 11-3 game, but that was as close as they would get as both teams went scoreless over the last two-and-a-half innings.

Burkett, Andrew Crews and Benjamin Watson led the Knights' offensive charge with two hits each, while Cherry added one.

Guenther pitched one inning for the Knights giving up seven runs on six hits and one walk. Alex Johnson went three innings giving up four runs on four hits and two strike outs, and Legg pitched two innings giving up no runs on one hit and two strike outs.

The Knights' game with Troup Co. that was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up this Thursday at 5 p.m. at Thomaston's Silvertown Ballpark The Knights return to action today as they travel to Forsyth to take on Mary Persons. The Knights will host Troup Co. this Saturday afternoon at 11 a.m. at SIlvertown Ballpark in a make-up game, and the Upson-Lee JV Knights will play Jackson immediately following the varsity game at Silvertown Ballpark this Saturday.

Upson-Lee JV baseball team off to fast start

By Andy Johnson

Sports Writer

The Upson-Lee JV baseball team has gotten off to a great start in it's 2005 season, starting 6-2.

The JV Knights got out to a rough start, losing to Luella 14-1, but followed up with two wins against Griffin (16-0) and Spalding (7-5).

The Knights then lost to Jackson 7-2, but followed up with wins against Stockbridge (16-5) and Henry County (5-3).

Upson-Lee got its last two wins in a double-header this past Saturday against Jonesboro. The Knights won the first game 10-0 and the second 9-6,

"I'm extremely proud of this team," said JV head coach Chip Clarke.

"They've far exceeded my expectations, but we're going to continue to work hard."

Coach Clarke commented on the keys to his team's success.

"We work extremely hard in practice on defense and they make the plays in the game. The pitching has also been outstanding."

Carrying the load on the mound so far this year have been Logan Collins, B.J. Stagg, Bray Bishop, and Tyler Benson.

"I'm as proud of this team as any team I've ever coached," said Clarke.

"They play well together. They have lots of camaraderie. They really get into games and they play with a lot of heart."

The JV Diamond Knights continue in action against Luella today at the municipal field. The team travels to Griffin tomorrow and will be back at the municipal field on Saturday for an 11:00 game against Jackson.

Upson-Lee blanks Stockbridge 9-0

By Ben Thrasher

Sports Editor

The Upson-Lee Knights' soccer team moved one game closer to claiming the 3-AAAA North title last Friday night as they knocked off subregion foe Stockbridge 9-0 at Thomaston's Matthews Field.

The Knights (6-2-1, 4-0) jumped on the visiting Tigers early and often and then cruised to the win late to embarrass a team that had played subregion foe Eagles' Landing to a 2-0 game.

"We came out and scored early and I think that was the difference in the game," Upson-Lee head coach Matt Bentley said. "They had played Warner Robins to a 3-1 game and Eagles' Landing to a 2-0 game, so it was important for us to get on top of them like that. I think they dropped their heads when we got on them early."

Upson-Lee's leading scorer Nick English got the Knights rolling in the early minutes as he scored three minutes into the game.

Jonathan Boyd followed English's goal with the Knights' second goal of the game at the 33:22 mark.

English scored his second goal of the game three minutes later to give the Knights a 3-0 lead with 30:29 left in the first half.

Lex Allen scored his first goal of the season with 22:19 left in the first half to give the Knights a 4-0 lead and Travis Bascilisi added his first goal of the season less than a minute later as the Knights began to pull away with a 5-0 lead.

Jonathan Hall capped off the first-half scoring the Knights as he gave the Knights a 6-0 lead with 12:31 left in the half.

The Knights were on cruise control from there.

Boyd opened the Knights' scoring in the second half as he kicked in a loose ball on an Upson-Lee free kick with 24:13 left in the game.

English added his third goal of the game at the 16:05 mark to give the Knights an 8-0 lead and Caleb Johnson scored his first goal of the season with just under four minutes left in the game to finish off the game's scoring.

"We had a lot of guys step-up big for us in that game," Coach Bentley said. "Wynn (Trice) was a little hurt going into the game so we limited his playing time. The guys knew that somebody was going to have to step-up when Wynn wasn't on the field and I thought they all did a good job. Lex, Caleb and Travis went in when we needed some help and we never missed a beat really. Lex and Travis have both been battling injuries of their own, so it was good seeing them get out there and play the way they did. I was also pleased with the play of Gavin Hamby. He gave us some good quality minutes off the bench. He does a good job of playing with a lot of emotion and setting an aggressive tempo when he goes in."

The win keeps the Knights in a tie for first place in the subregion along with Eagles' Landing, The Knights will travel to Luella High School Tuesday night to face the Lions in a subregion game before hosting Eagles' Landing in what could turn out to be the subregion title game this Friday night at Thomaston's Matthews Field.

"We never really know what we are going to get from our subregion games because most of them are new teams," Coach Bentley said. "This team doesn't really care about that though. That's the good thing about this group. They go into every game thinking they are playing the No. 1 team in the state and I think that is why we have been able to win as many games as we have won. We are going to go into the Luella game thinking the same thing."

Scores and results from Tuesday night's game were not available by press time. Friday night's subregion showdown with Eagles' Landing is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Matthews Field.

Lady Knights top Stockbridge, stay unbeaten in region

By Ben Thrasher

Sports Editor

The Upson-Lee Lady Knights' kept their shot at a subregion title intact last Friday night as they knocked off 3-AAAA North foe Stockbridge 9-0 at Thomaston's Matthews Field.

The Lady Knights (5-2-2, 4-0) wasted little time getting out to an early lead as the Lady Knights' all-time leading scorer Jesse Larson gave the Lady Knights a 1-0 lead just five minutes in.

Natalie Alverson extended the Lady Knights' early lead to 2-0 with 33:26 left in the first half. Four minutes later, Larson was back at it. Larson gave the Lady Knights a 3-0 lead with 29:20 left before halftime.

After going 16 minutes without a goal, Lady Knight senior Hailey Pope capped off the first-half scoring with the Lady Knights' fourth goal of the half with 13:50 left to play.

Larson started the second half much like she did the first as she grabbed the early momentum for the Lady Knights with a goal just 48 seconds into the half.

Larson added her fourth and final goal of the game three minutes later to give Upson-Lee a 6-0 lead.

Alverson added her second goal of the game with 22:36 left in the game and Sarah Gardner closed the game's scoring with back-to-back goals in a five-minute span.

"I was real pleased with the way our girls played this game," Upson-Lee head coach Jamie Joiner said. "The competition was not every strong, but we played really good soccer. Earlier in the year we weren't doing that. We would play weaker teams but not play good. It's good to see that we might be starting to click at the right time."

The win keeps the Lady Knights in a tie for first place in the subregion along with Eagles' Landing., who they play this Friday at Thomaston's Matthews Field in what could be the subregion championship game.

As of right now, the Lady Knights have a slight edge on Eagles' Landing, but only if Friday night's game ends in a tie and both teams win the remainder of their subregion games. Both teams are currently 4-0 in subregion play but the Lady Knights have a goals-allowed advantage having not given up any goals against a subregion opponent, while Eagles' Landing gave up one goal to Griffin.

"Ashlee Day might a great play Friday night to save a ball that everyone, including myself, thought was going to be a goal," Coach Joiner said. "They took a shot and Ashlee came out of no where to save the ball right before it went into the goal, and that was a huge play. We still haven't allowed a goal in subregion play and Eagles' Landing has. If for some reason we were to end up tying our game with Eagles' Landing and then both teams win the remainder of their subregion games, we would have the advantage on a tie-breaker because we haven't allowed a subregion goal. That play Ashlee made can end up being huge."

The Lady Knights were scheduled to play Luella Tuesday afternoon but were postponed due to inclement weather. The Lady Knights' showdown with Eagles' Landing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday.