Local Sports Notebook: Spring in quite a few words

Published 12:02 am Thursday, March 23, 2017

There was a trending topic on Twitter earlier this week. #SpringIn5Words.

Easy.

Today’s game is rained out.

It’s the nature of the beast this time of year. The weather is starting to get slightly warmer, but storms are a fairly frequent occurance and since every spring sport is outside, cancellations are inevitable. As a result, you get days like this week — two or three washouts, with maybe a scattered game here or there, then a couple days of chaos after everything gets pushed back.

I threw out the idea on Twitter (@TonyDDCSports, there’s my shameless plug) to start at least one indoor spring sport so rain days weren’t complete washouts. Varsity Man vs. Food competitions maybe?

But once things were able to happen this week, quite a bit happened.

DESTRUCTION IN MURRAY COUNTY

Thankfully the powers that be in the Murray County school district made the call to send kids home early and cancel all practices on Wednesday. If not, the Indian baseball team would’ve likely been practicing when a tornado hit Chatsworth, and the Murray County baseball field.

The aftermath of the storm was an ugly scene but it could’ve been a lot worse. Nothing damaged can’t be replaced. Most of the damage occured to fencing, bleachers and equipment. The field remains in pretty decent shape and it remains a possibility the Indians will be able to get back on the field later in the season.

Talking to Indian coach Kim Alderdice about the situation, one of the most encouraging things he told me was the calls and offers of support he received from neighboring schools. Other area schools offered their fields if needed and also equipment to replace things that were lost.

It’s fantastic to see such a tremendous show of support and communities rallying together in tough times.

A GREAT EXPERIENCE

Saturday, the Northwest Whitfield baseball team got to play a game against Ringgold at AT&T Field in Chattanooga, home of the Lookouts, Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. It’s got to be a thrill for any kid to get a chance to play in a professional stadium on the same field a lot of current Major League stars passed through.

It would be great to see more games with more teams getting that opportunity. Hopefully it’s something the Lookouts and the stadium management look in to. And not just in Chattanooga, but even Rome or Gwinett would be great facilities to host a series of high school games.

Even down the road after it gets broken in, maybe even SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves, can put together a series of games. When I worked in Ohio, Progressive Field in Cleveland hosted a good number of high school games, and it went beyond Cleveland area teams as schools from as much as two hours away were brought in. It would be great to see the Braves do something similar over the next few years.

WON, BUT NOT DONE

Congrats to the Dalton State College basketball team on winning the Southern States Athletic Conference champions.

It was a great accomplishment for Tony Ingle’s Roadrunners, but it’s far from the end of the line. Up next is the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City. If Dalton State can keep playing like it has, a second national championship in three years is a definite possibility.

What makes Dalton State’s recent play encouraging, is even though they haven’t been blowing teams out of the water, they’ve been winning in different ways. A defensive battle, an outside shooting barage, a back-and-forth slugfest, Dalton State is capable of playing any style of game and have success doing it. They should be ready for whatever comes its way in Kansas City.

6?

Northwest soccer player Nicolas Infate had one of the most incredible games Friday against Ringgold. Six goals. Six. A double hat trick.

Infante is far and away the top goal scorer in the area at this early point in the season. He’s found the back of the net 13 times, five clear of his nearest challenger, who just happens to be his teammate Frank Hererra.

TEEING OFF

Golf season is underway and already the Dalton boys golf team is looking scary good. Saturday at the Apple Mountain Invitational, the team’s four scorers were only a combined 4-over-par. Having your No. 4 golfer being able to shoot 74 is ridiculous for most high school teams not named Marist. The Cats have great depth, anyone of a number of golfers can be the low-man and it’s a safe bet all scorers will be hovering near the par line whereever they play.

Last year it was the Dalton girls that brought home a state title. This year, maybe it’s the boys turn.

UP NEXT

Weather permitting, the spring season continues with region play getting into full gear in baseball and soccer. Northwest and Southeast Whitfield are scheduled for a three-game series this week. But all the fun is not limited to region showdowns. Dalton and Northwest are schedule to tussle in soccer on Friday.