Thursday, May 18,  2006

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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
    Jaimie McGlothlin is fast and good. Zack Counts is good and fast.   
  Each athlete led their respective teams to titles at the Black Diamond District track and field championships Wednesday at Twin Valley Middle School.
    Counts led the Haysi boys to a rout, while McGlothlin helped Honaker edge Twin Valley in the girls meet.
  Depth was a factor for both winners. Counts (100 and 200 meter dashes), Tyler Powers (400 meters, 110 meter hurdles and triple jump), Lucas Powers (shot put) and Cody Yates (800) all won individual events as the Tigers amassed 170.5 points to 109 for the second place Honaker Tigers.
  McGlothlin, meanwhile, won five individual events as the Honaker Lady Tigers edged host Twin Valley, 150-146, to win the girls crown.
  Counts blazed the way for Haysi, posting impressive times in the 100 and 200 meter dashes as the Tigers won the BDD for the ninth straight year. Haysi has now won 22 of the last 27 district titles.
  A four-sport standout, Counts added an 11.2 mark in the 100 to a personal best (11.0) he ran just four days earlier in the Dogwood. The senior sprinter ran his best time (23.1 seconds) in the 200 on Wednesday.
  “It’s my best (times) of the year, so I’m pretty excited,” Counts said. “I didn’t think I was 100 percent after the 400, but I ran my fastest (200) time (23.1). I’ll push to break 11.0 (in the 100) and I plan to be in the 22 area (in the 200) next week.”
  Playing baseball and running track has kept Counts busy this spring, but he won’t allow a busy schedule to affect his goals.
  “I have high expectations for myself,” Counts added.
    “I always have more to improve on, but I always give it 100 percent. (My schedule) is always tough. Sometimes I go to baseball, then track and I always lift. I do all three about every day, in no particular order.”
  Tyler Powers topped both Counts and Honaker standout Andrew Bostic in the 400, edged Bostic in the triple jump and won easily in the 110 meter hurdles.
  Lucas Powers won easily in the discus. In the 800, Cody Yates edged “one-mile” or 1600 meter champ Dan Presley of Council.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

Panthers Edge Council in BDD Thriller, 8-7

by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
       Twin Valley and Council have only met twice, but they’ve played enough innings for almost three games.
  Jeremiah Lester smacked a sinking liner to right with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to score Jory Rife as Twin Valley edged Council, 8-7, in a Black Diamond District thriller last Tuesday (May 9) at TVHS.
  It was the second extra-inning contest between the two rivals in nine days, and the Panthers got the best of the Cobras in the tenth each time.
  Council (3-12, 1-4) staged a dramatic comeback from a 7-0 deficit Tuesday, tying the game with seven runs in the sixth.
  Cody Jackson, Justin Helton and Ethan Ball delivered RBI singles, while Corey Barton contributed a two-run single to the rally. Jackson scored the game-tying run on an error.
  Lester, Cory Hicks and Josh Crigger had three hits apiece to pace Twin Valley (5-7, 3-2). Hicks and Crigger each had RBI hits and Lester drove in two runners in the second as the Panthers jumped out to a 6-0 advantage.
  Hicks reached base five times overall and Rife scored a pair of runs for Twin Valley. Lester finished with three RBIs and got the win in relief of freshman Hunter Simpson, who struck out nine before leaving the mound in the sixth.
  Two other freshmen made significant contributions for the Panthers. Ethan Prater had two hits and catcher Jacob St. Clair had an RBI single in the fourth inning.
  Helton had three hits for the Cobras. Wade Jackson, Council’s fourth pitcher of the day, worked four-plus innings and took the loss.   Twin Valley has a bye into the BDD semifinals on Tuesday. Council had a makeup game yesterday (Wednesday) at Honaker and returns to Harding Field Friday to open BDD tournament play against Hurley.

Tuesday’s Game


Twin Valley 8, Council 7


Council  000 007 000 0—7 10 5 


T. Valley  060 100 000 1—8 12 3 


  Bostic, Compton (2), Ball (5), W. Jackson (6),

 Bostic (10) 
and D. Lester. Simpson, J. Lester (6) and

 St. Clair. W—J. 
Lester. L—W. Jackson. 

by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
      Haysi tuned up for Tuesday’s showdown with Honaker with a 14-0 rout of Council in Black Diamond District action Friday afternoon at Willie Sullivan Field.
  The Tigers scored in every inning and pounded out 13 hits, led by Justin Stanley, who had two singles, a triple, three runs scored and one RBI.
  Everyone in the Haysi batting order reached base. The bottom five spots contributed five hits and four RBIs, including a two-run triple by pinch-hitter Tyler Mullins in the fifth, when Haysi (11-5, 6-0) scored six times to shorten the game to five innings under the 10-run mercy rule.
  “We’ve been hitting the ball pretty well the last three weeks,” said Haysi Coach Dewayne Stanley, whose club had to replace several key starters this spring.
    “The difference lately is the bottom part of the lineup has been hitting the ball.”
  The Tigers 3-4 hitters, Ryan Jones and Adam Hill each went 2-for-3 and drove in a run. Leadoff man Kevin Viers doubled, walked, reached on an error and scored two runs.
  Designated hitter Lucien Patton, who bats seventh, had two hits. The starting pitcher and number six hitter Lance Compton helped his own cause when he walked twice, was hit by a pitch, stole two bases and scored two runs.
  The junior lefthander also flirted with a no-hitter until Wade Jackson looped a single to center in the fifth. Compton, who pitches behind Haysi aces Jones and Viers, settled for a one-hitter and struck out seven.
  “Lance has a no-hitter and a one-hitter in three decisions,” Stanley said. “That’s not too bad. He’s going to have to be number one next year. But we have three solid pitchers right now.”
  Council (3-13, 1-6) lost to the Tigers for the second time this week.
  “We played a little better than we did (Monday),” Council Coach Dave Rasnake  said. “We put the ball in play. We just couldn’t get anything going. Haysi is just too good a ball club for us right now.”

Friday’s Game
Haysi 14, Council 0
Haysi        412  16—14 13 0
Council      000  00— 0  1 3
  Compton and Hill. Bostic, W. Jackson (3), S. Compton (4) and Lester, C. Jackson (4). W—Compton (3-0). L—Bostic (2-3).