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Indian baseball season ends in playoffs
By Joey Marchant
Dodge had a tough draw in the first round of the state playoffs traveling to Alma on April 24th to face the 8th ranked Bacon County Red Raiders who had a record of 21-8. Bacon had a solid lineup, good pitching and excellent defense. They were easily the best team Dodge faced this year.
Andrew Lowery took the mound for Dodge in the first game and pitched a complete game allowing just four runs on nine hits. He walked one batter and hit one batter. He struck out two. Dodge played solid defense behind Lowery.
Dodge got on the scoreboard first in the third inning when DJ Bursch walked and stole second. Garrett Durden drove in Bursch with a base hit to give Dodge a 1-0 lead.
Bacon tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the third.
It appeared Bacon would break it open in the fourth, but Bursch got a great jump on a ball hit in the right center gap and made a diving catch for out three. At the crack of the bat, it looked like a sure double that would plate two runs. The score remained tied.
Dodge had a chance to take the lead in the fifth. Brendan O’Connor reached on an error. Durden walked, and Brodie Woodard walked to load the bases with one out. Kadin Burse hit a rocket right at the third baseman which had it been a few feet either way would have plated two runs. That did not happen. The third baseman made the catch and was able to beat O’Connor to the third base bag for the double play to end the inning.
Bacon added two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead.
Dodge had another opportunity to score in the sixth as Lowery, Parker Hardin and Bursch all drew walks to load the bases with two outs. Dodge could not score. You cannot load the bases twice without scoring against a good team and expect to win.
Bacon added another run in the bottom of the sixth on a questionable balk call as Lowery attempted to pick off a runner. Bacon led 4-1.
Woodard and Burse had base hits for Dodge in the seventh bringing the tying run to the plate. Dodge ended the game by grounding into a double play falling by a score of 4-1.
Leading hitters for Dodge were Brodie Woodard who was three for three with a walk and Garrett Durden who was one for three with one run batted in (RBI).
Dodge would need to win the second game to stay alive and force a third game the next day. Parker Gay started the second game on the mound for Dodge. After struggling early, Gay settled down and showed a lot of guts the rest of the way pitching five innings allowing six runs on seven hits.Gay walked two batters and hit two batters. He struck out six.
Bacon came out on fire taking a 5-0 lead after one inning. Gay worked his way out of a bases loaded one out jam in the second by getting a ground back to the pitcher and a fly out to first base.
Gay struck out the side in the third but did allow an unearned run thanks to a walk and a Dodge error. Bacon led 6-0.
Gay did not allow a run in the fourth. Meanwhile Dodge went hitless through the first three innings. Dodge rallied in the fourth. Garrett Durden and Brodie Woodard had consecutive base hits to start the inning. Noah Mincey would later draw a walk, and DJ Bursch came to the plate with two outs. Bursch was due for the big hit Dodge so desperately needed. Bursch was averaging one homer a week over the last month. He got a belt high fastball and did not miss driving the pitch to the deepest part of the ballpark. Had he pulled the pitch to left as he had done often over the last month, it would have been another homerun. Bursch would have to settle for a bases clearing double over the head of the centerfielder driving in Durden, Woodard and Mincey. Parker Hardin singled driving in Bursch to cut the Bacon lead to 6-4.
Gay finished his high school career on a positive note sitting down the Raiders in order in the fifth. Woodard had his fifth base hit of the day in the bottom of the fifth, but Dodge could not score.
Landin Crummey came in to pitch the sixth for Dodge. Crummey deserved to escape the inning unscathed, but two Dodge errors led to a Bacon run and a 7-4 Bacon lead.
Bacon all but closed the door in the seventh by scoring four runs for an 11-4 lead. Dodge would not give up until the final out. O’Connor reached on an error and went to third on a base hit by Durden. O’Connor scored on a wild pitch. Woodard walked. Burse recorded the final Dodge hit of the season and his high school career driving in Durden with the final Dodge run of the season in the 11-6 defeat.
Leading hitters for Dodge were as follows: Garrett Durden was two for four with two runs scored. Brodie Woodard was two for three with a walk and one run scored. Kadin Burse was one for four with and RBI. DJ Bursch was one for three with double and a walk with three RBI and one run scored. Parker Hardin was one for one with a walk and one RBI.
Dodge finished the season with a record of 17-9. Great things are expected from Dodge next year as they return seven players with significant starting experience and a host of capable reserves.

Four basketball players receive state honors
By Chad W. Smith
Several Dodge County High School (DCHS) basketball players were selected to various all-state teams for the 2018-19 basketball season.
Three senior members of the girl’s team received honors. They are Destanee Wright, Europe Brown and LaShauna Coley, along with boy’s senior Chris Clark.
Destanee Wright, a four-year starter for the DCHS Squaws basketball team, led her team to the Region 3AA Championship for the second year in a row and was named Region 3AA Player of the Year. She finished her senior season averaging 23.6 points a game, nine rebounds a game and 3.9 steals a game. She scored 1,000 points by the end of her junior season and finished with over 1,650 points in her high school career. Destanee was named the 2019 AA State Player of the Year by The Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC) and was named to the AJC AA All-State First Team; 2019 Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) South Senior Player of the Year; 2019 GACA South Senior All-Star Team; 2019 HypeSouth All Middle Georgia Best Offensive Player (leading all of Middle Georgia with 655 points); 2019 HypeSouth All Middle First Team and 2019 Sandy’s Spiel Girls AA All State Honors First Team.
Europe Brown finished her senior season averaging 16.9 points a game and scored over 1,000 points in her high school career to help lead the Squaws to their second Region 3AA Championship and to the state playoffs. She was named to the 2019 GACA AA South All State Team; 2019 AJC AA All State Second Team; 2019 Sandy’s Spiel Girls AA All State Honors Second team and 2019 HypeSouth All Middle Georgia Honors Second team.
LaShauna Coley finished her senior season averaging 10.6 points a game after missing the first eight games due to illness. She was named 2019 HypeSouth All Middle Georgia Honorable Mention.
Chris Clark led the Indians this year with 16.9 points a game. Clark was named to the 2019 GACA AA South Boys’ All State Team.

This past week was a very big one for the future of the Falcons. The annual NFL draft was held in Nashville, Tennessee. This was the draft that the team was hoping would fix the defensive line. The key word here is “hoping”. Things really looked good as major targets Ed Oliver and Christian Wilkins actually fell down a little. Oliver fell to ninth and was picked up by Buffalo. I cannot imagine what it would have required to move just five spots.
No big deal I thought as Wilkins was still on the board at 13. I don’t know if the Falcons brass thought the Dolphins were looking quarterback but they weren’t and Wilkins is off to South Beach. I would think a third round or maybe a fourth would have gotten the Birds the 13th pick. My hopes for a trade down were dashed as the Falcons decided to go for guard Chris Lindstrom out of Boston College. After going “who is this guy”, I started to check my mock drafts and yes, this guy was a huge reach. He was mostly viewed as a second or even third round pic. I guess the pair of free agent guards that they signed aren’t projected to be very good.
My last hope was maybe the Falcons would grade back into the bottom of the first round. Sure enough, they dealt their second and third round pick to the Rams for the 31st pick. After wasting little time, they picked another offensive lineman. You have got to be kidding me! Kaleb McGary from Washington. I think he will do fine but is he actually the team’s biggest need? So much for improving the defensive line. I hope no one gets hurt!
That takes us to day three. The Birds traded up six spots to take Kendall Sheffield, a corner back out of Ohio State. Reports are he is real fast and has decent size as he is right at 6 feet tall. Why did he fall to the fourth round? Of course he is hurt! He tore his pectoral muscle at the combine. They worked out the draft from the powerhouse programs of Charleston, Louisiana-Monroe and okay Washington and Pittsburgh. There was an NFL record 64 players out of the SEC. Guess how many the Falcons got? You guessed it, zero! For the record, the six true Super Bowl Champion Patriots grabbed five SEC players out of the ten players they drafted. Listen, I hope the pair of offensive linemen are Falcons starters for 15 years but they don’t address their biggest need this year. Things could be worse. It might be the Braves bullpen! Yes, it was another rough week for the boys of summer. They went 2-4 on the week and they were fortunate to win one of the games they did win.
It took a three run homer in the 8th by Donaldson on Sunday to win 8-7 over the Rockies. The offense isn’t the problem. The heart of the order, Donaldson, Freeman, Markakis, Albies and Acuna has all been good. The pitching is not so good. Gausman allowed ten runs in two starts and Teheran hit the wall after five innings. A positive thing is that Soroka-Fried and Foltynewicz all pitched good but they also had a win and a loss to show for it.
The problem is this staff has no ace and no closer. We all knew this when the season started and yet ownership has done nothing. The bullpen allowed nine earned runs in six innings against the Rockies over the weekend. I think AJ Minter will be a solid pitcher in the game but he is not ready to be a closer for a contender. If only there was a seasoned closer out there that could be had for say a second round pick. The Kimbrel story has gotten out of hand. If you want a silver lining to the 13-14 Braves, it is that they are only two and a half games out of first place going into Monday night’s play. The problem is the rest of the east will continue to get better. Will the Braves?

Albert Charles "A.C." Sanders
Age: 59
Deceased: April 23, 2019
Arrangements: Hardy-Towns Funeral Home

Martha Ann "Billie" Hudson
Age: 83
Deceased: April 24, 2019
Arrangements: Hardy-Towns Funeral Home

Billy Ray Bond
Age: 80
Deceased: April 27, 2019
Arrangements: Stokes-Southerland Funeral Home

Marcia Jean "Jeannie" Lancaster
Age: 66
Deceased: April 24, 2019
Arrangements: Hardy-Towns Funeral Home

March Madness is my favorite sporting event and this was a superb year. Congratulations to the Virginia Cavaliers, NCAA basketball champions. There are a bunch of surprises each year in the tournament.
Gwinnett County, Georgia votes NO again on MARTA – good move. I voted against it when I lived in Atlanta, DeKalb and now in Gwinnett. My state rep in Gwinnett a few years back told me he’d never had a constituent ask him to vote for MARTA but had many tell him to vote against it and he always did so.
Beto: breaking enthusiastically toward oblivion.
In February 2018 Central Wisconsin was having the heaviest snowfall ever – global warming in action.
Sixty-three percent of non-citizens in the USA are on welfare, 4 to 6 million people officially, probably much more. They’re trying to replace the old white male population; the deplorables, lacking in diversity, must go. More Demos voting is the objective, of course.
“Ruffians are breaching the U.S. border near Tijuana, demanding access to the American Welfare State. That’s the reality!”
IlanaMercer.com  12-7-18   
Ilana Mercer is a fine writer but I’ve never seen her in a newspaper. I’ve recommended her columns to the Gwinnett Daily Post but apparently they aren’t interested. I used to subscribe to that paper but it’s now owned by the Washington P- - - company so I gave it up. The old Gwinnett Daily News was better. It was bought by the Atlanta Newspapers and immediately shut down.
Liberals hate Donald Trump – good for him.
Twelve states now have driver ID, drivers licenses for illegals, as of December 2018. Every such move gives illegals more formal papers, moving closer to a free ride with every each concession. Leftists now argue legality to make it easier for illegals here. Illegals are becoming the top victim group, welcomed for their pre-Democrat status.
In 1992, 7% of journalists voted for George Bush I, 89% for Bubba Bill Clinton, maybe the rest abstained or voted for liberal Ross Perot, who tried to talk the conservative line but it was fakery.
[Full Story »] 

By Mary Beth Dopson
The Dodge County High School Tennis team hosted two competitors two weeks ago to begin the first round of state playoffs.
Both the boy’s and girl’s team were victorious in their played matches and will advance to the “Sweet 16”, second round, in the playoffs.
The boys battled against Swainsboro High School and swept their opponent with a 5-0 team win. Winners for the boys included: first singles Jaret Underwood, second singles Nathan Newman, third singles Dane Hardin, first doubles Jason Peterson and Orlanda Brown, and second doubles Brayden Nardi and Ryan Clements.
The girl’s team defeated their opponent, St. Vincent’s Academy, with a team score of 3-2. Winners for the girls included: second singles Jessie Thomas, first doubles Abby Christian Manning and Abbey Manning, and second doubles Mattie Grace Hutcheson and Precious Coleman.
The teams traveled to Augusta on April 22nd to play their Sweet 16 match against Davidson Fine Arts School.
The boy’s and girl’s team showed up and showed out in their played matches and will advance to the Elite 8, third round, in the playoffs. The crowds were fired up watching the intense matches played.
The boys battled against Davidson Fine Arts School and won with a score of 3-2. First singles Jaret Underwood pulled out an outstanding win of 6-3 1-6 6-1 in a third set. Third singles Dane Hardin dominated his opponent with a 6-1 6-2 win. First doubles Jason Peterson and Orlanda Brown played awesome with a 7-5 6-3 win.
The girl’s team defeated their opponent, Davidson Fine Arts School, with a team score of 3-2. Third singles Annie Jones won in a tough played match win of 6-4 6-2. First doubles Abby Christian Manning and Abbey Manning smashed their opponents with a 6-2 6-3 win. Second doubles Mattie Grace Hutcheson and Precious Coleman crushed their opponents with a 6-2 6-2.
Team members pictured above are (front row, l-r) Abbey M. Manning, Precious Coleman, Leighton Jones, Makiya Roberson, Mattie Grace Hutcheson, Abby C. Manning, Mary Beth Dopson; (middle row, l-r) coach Marcie Jones, Annie Jones, Ellie Jones, Olivia Cranford and Jessie Thomas and (back row, l-r) Orlanda Brown, Jaret Underwood, Dane Hardin, Nathan Newman, Brayden Nardi, Ryan Poole, Caleb Singletary, Ryan Clements, Jason Peterson.
The Indians will play the third round of state matches before April 28th against Rockmart.

Covenant College softball sophomore Faith Manning was named to the USA South All-West Division second team when the conference named the season award winners on Thursday, April 18, 2019.
Manning, a sophomore from Eastman, is currently batting .330, is second on the team in runs batted in (RBIs) with 14, a slugging percentage of .407, an on-base percentage of .407 and has had 11 walks. Manning has played and started in all 33 games on the year, including 32 starts at catcher. She is one of two Covenant College players to tally four hits in a game this season as she accomplished the feat in a win over Agnes Scott on March 27. Manning has seven multi-hit games on the season.
In conference play alone, Manning led the Scots with a .426 average and 11 RBIs to go along with a slugging percentage of .511 and a .473 on-base mark.
All awards are voted on by the softball coach at each institution. The divisional team voting is completed only by those coaches in the particular division. The first team all-conference and individual award voting is completed by all coaches.
Manning is the daughter of Jimmy and Ashley Manning of Eastman and a 2017 graduate of Dodge County High School.

Indian baseball team advances to playoffs
By Joey Marchant
Dodge was fortunate to overcome a ton of mistakes against Telfair back on March 25th. This time Dodge was not that lucky as Telfair squeaked out an 11-10 come from behind victory on April 15th.
Parker Gay started on the mound for Dodge and pitched well. Dodge appeared to have a strategy of allowing its pitchers to throw around forty pitches. Dodge was in the midst of seven games scheduled over a nine-day period, so managing pitch counts was important.
Dodge came out swinging in the first. Brendan O’Connor led off with a walk and stole second base. Brodie Woodard drove in O’Connor with a base hit. The ball was mishandled by the centerfielder allowing Woodard to take second. Kaden Burse hit a grounder up the middle that struck second base and caromed into the outfield driving in Woodard to give Dodge a 2-0 lead.
Telfair took advantage of two Dodge errors to score one run in the bottom of the first in what proved a foreshadowing of things to come. Dodge came right back in the second. Parker Hardin led off with a walk, and Timmy Johnson came in as a courtesy runner for Hardin. Johnson moved to second on a wild pitch. Cole Cranford hit a ground ball, and Johnson got caught between second and third. However, Johnson was able to elude the Telfair defenders. DJ Bursch hit a long sacrifice fly to score Johnson. O’Connor walked. Garrett Durden singled to score Cranford. The right fielder elected to throw behind O’Connor who was rounding second. The throw scooted through the infield and into leftfield allowing O’Connor to score and Durden to reach second. Woodard reached on catcher’s interference. Noah Mincey singled driving in Durden and Woodard, but Mincey was thrown out trying to make second base. Dodge led 7-1.
Telfair went quietly in the second, and Dodge added to its lead in the third. Hardin singled, and Johnson entered as a courtesy runner for Hardin. Cranford drove Hardin in with a double, but Cranford was thrown out trying to go to third. Dodge led 8-1.
Dodge’s offense then stalled for several innings as Telfair mounted a comeback. Andrew Lowery relieved Gay with two on base and one out in the third. He struck out the next batter. Then he induced a ground ball on which Woodard made a nice play ranging to his left for the third out. Telfair scored three runs in the fourth on a bases loaded double by Ramsey Hancock cutting the Dodge lead to 8-5. A two-run double by Cameo Blankenship and an RBI single by Hancock tied it 8-8 with no outs in the bottom of the sixth. Landin Crummey entered in relief of Lowery and retired the next three batters in order.
Dodge rallied in the seventh without recording a hit. Woodard reached on an error. Burse walked. The runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch. Mincey had a sacrifice fly to score Woodard. Crummey walked. Hardin had a sacrifice fly to score Burse giving Dodge a 10-8 lead. Telfair took advantage of a couple of Dodge errors in the bottom of the seventh. Crummey struck out Landin Connell on a breaking ball in the dirt. Because the pitch was in the dirt, the runner was allowed to attempt to reach first base safely. Dodge threw the ball into right field allowing Connell to trot into second rather than back to the dugout. Jacob Mullis and Jude King reached on infield hits loading the bases. Telfair brought in their slugger Tre Bess as a pinch hitter. Bess had been running the 200 meters at the Region track meet earlier in the afternoon and did not start. It was soon apparent that Bess was swinging for the fences. Crummey managed to throw a fastball by him for the first out. Cameo Blankenship drew a bases loaded walk to score a run. Hancock had a bloop single to center for his fifth RBI of the day tying the game. King was out at third as he had to hold up to make sure the ball fell for a hit. With two outs, Dodge dropped a routine fly ball off the bat of Tre Blankenship allowing Cameo Blankenship to score for the 11-10 Telfair victory. This ended Dodge’s eight game winning streak.
Leading hitters for Dodge were as follows: Garrett Durden was one for four with one run batted in (RBI) and one run scored. Brodie Woodard was two for four with one RBI and three runs scored. Kaden Burse was two for three with a walk, one RBI and one run scored. Noah Mincey was one for three with three RBI. Parker Hardin was one for two with a walk and one RBI. Cole Cranford was two for four with a double and one run scored.
Parker Gay pitched two and one-third innings allowing one unearned run on two hits and one walk. Gay struck out two. Andrew Lowery pitched two and two-thirds innings allowing seven runs (five earned) on six hits and one walk. Lowery struck out two. Landin Crummey pitched two innings allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk. Crummey struck out three.
Dodge returned home to face the Northeast Raiders on April 16th where they won 14-4. Dodge recognized its three seniors prior to this final home game of the season. They are Kaden Burse, DeJa “DJ” Bursch and Parker Gay.
Brendan O’Connor started on the mound for Dodge. Northeast put three runs on the board in the first on the strength of three hits and a Dodge error giving Northeast a 3-0 lead.
Coach Herring penciled his three seniors into the first three spots on his lineup card. They did not disappoint. DJ Bursch led off with a homerun over the leftfield fence, his team leading fourth homerun of the season. Parker Gay and Kaden Burse followed with base hits moving to second and third on a wild pitch. Brendan O’Connor hit a sacrifice fly scoring Gay. Garrett Durden was hit by a pitch. Brodie Woodard singled. Noah Mincey reached on an error, which allowed Burse, Durden and Woodard to score. Andrew Lowery walked. Bursch singled scoring Mincey. Bursch took second on the throw home. A wild pitch allowed Lowery to score and Bursch to go to third. Bursch later scored on a wild pitch giving Dodge an 8-3 lead. Dodge added to the lead in the second. O’Connor was hit by a pitch, and Noah Cummings entered as a courtesy runner for O’Connor. Durden tripled driving in Cummings. Woodard drove in Durden with an infield hit giving Dodge a 10-4 lead.
Dodge added a run in the third. Burse and O’Connor reached on errors. Durden drove in Burse with a single for an 11-3 Dodge lead.
Macky Rowland relieved O’Connor to start the fourth, and he struck out the side. Dodge scored three runs in the fourth. Lowery and Parker Hardin led off with base hits and moved to third on a wild pitch. Bursch walked. Gay hit into a fielder’s choice scoring Lowery. Bursch scored on a bad throw back to the pitcher. O’Connor had a base hit scoring Gay for a 14-3 lead. Northeast would add a run in the top of the fifth ending the game in a 14-4 Dodge victory.
Leading hitters for Dodge were as follows: DJ Bursch was two for three with a walk, a homerun, one RBI and three runs scored. Parker Gay was one for three with a hit batsman and two runs scored. Kaden Burse was one for four with one run scored. Brendan O’Connor was one for two with a hit batsman, two RBI and one run scored. Garrett Durden was two for three with a triple, a hit batsman, one RBI and two runs scored. Brodie Woodard was two for three with one RBI and one run scored. Noah Mincey was one for three with a run scored. Andrew Lowery was one for two with a walk and two runs scored. Parker Hardin was one for two with a walk.
O’Connor pitched three innings allowing three unearned runs on three hits. He hit one batter and struck out four. Macky Rowland pitched two innings allowing one unearned run on one hit and no walks. Rowland struck out five.
Dodge traveled to Macon on April 18th for its regular season finale with Northeast and barely escaped with a 4-2 victory over the Raiders. Garrett Durden started on the mound for Dodge and pitched four innings allowing two runs on nine hits. Durden walked one and struck out four. Landin Crummey relieved Durden and pitched three scoreless innings allowing two hits and no walks. Crummey struck out three.
Dodge took an early lead. O’Connor led off with a walk and advanced to third on a single by Brodie Woodard. Kaden Burse drove in O’Connor with a sacrifice fly to give Dodge a 1-0 lead in the first.
Northeast managed four base hits in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1.
Dodge took the lead in the fifth. Timmy Johnson led off with a single. O’Connor singled, and a throwing error on the play allowed Johnson to take third and O’Connor to take second. Durden had a sacrifice fly to score Johnson. Woodard reached on an error, which allowed O’Connor to score and give Dodge a 3-1 lead.
Northeast came right back in the bottom of the fifth. Durden gave up two base hits before being relieved by Crummey who retired the next three batters in order. However, one run scored and was charged to Durden cutting the lead to 3-2.
Dodge added a final run in the sixth as Andrew Lowery doubled and scored when Crummey reached on an error. Northeast managed to get two hits in the seventh and had the winning run at the plate, but Crummey struck out two and Durden, now playing second base, caught a line drive moving to his right to help preserve the victory.
Leading hitters for Dodge were as follows: Brendan O’Connor was one for three with a walk and two runs scored. Garrett Durden was one for three with a double and one RBI. Brodie Woodard was one for four. Noah Mincey was one for three. Andrew Lowery was one for two with a double, a hit batsman and one run scored. Parker Hardin was one for three. Timmy Johnson was one for two with one run scored.
The doubleheader with Jeff Davis was cancelled by mutual agreement as both teams ready for postseason play. Dodge finished the regular season with an overall record of 17-7 and a region record of 9-3. Dodge finished tied for second in Region 3AA with Washington County. However, Washington County held the tie breaker over Dodge, so the Golden Hawks get the second seed in the playoffs while Dodge gets the third seed. Dodge travels to Alma to face the Bacon County Red Raiders (21-8) in the first round of the state playoffs on Wednesday April 24th at 4:30 pm. The teams will play two games on Wednesday. A third game will be held on Thursday if necessary to determine the series winner. The winner of this series will face the winner of the Thomasville/Laney series on May 2nd.

Lara Katherine Bennett
Age: 34
Deceased: April 17, 2019
Arrangements: Hardy Towns Funeral Home

Lillian Joyce Williams Spires
Age: 73
Deceased: April 19, 2019
Arrangements: Stokes-Southerland Funeral Home