The Pirates baseball team of Coach Jeremy Smith won the Region 1-AAA championship in April with a 2-1 victory over Southeast Bulloch High School. The win gives the Pirates home field advantage through the first two rounds of the state playoffs. Appling ended the regular season at 18-6-1 (16-1-1 in Region 1-AAA) and won eight out of their last 10 regular season ball games, including seven in a row. The Pirates shut out Pierce County to claim the top seed in the sub-region. They then went on a scoring tear, putting up 44 runs in three games, including shutout wins to sweep Savannah High in the first round of the region playoffs. The Pirates then moved onto the first round of the state playoffs where they hosted Region Four’s fourth-seed North Clayton.
Track & Field
The Pirates track and field teams continue to have strong showings at area track meets. In April, they competed in Richmond Hill at the Georgia Apex Game Changers Meet. The Lady Pirates of Coach Garrett Cranford had several athletes place, including Kelsie Jones, who placed first in the shot put; Samantha Mims, who was second in the long jump; Sharna Dasher, who placed fourth in the shot put; and Katelynn Paulk who was fourth in the discus.
The boys’ team of Coach Sheldon Pearce had a strong finish with several athletes placing. The 4×100 team of Bo Jones, Al Lewis, Japheth Morris, and Devon Moore, won their event, as did Moore, who also won the 200-meters in a new school-record time of 21.52. The 4×400 team finished third with a crew of Jephtor Williams, Tamarick Nails, Jones, and Moore. Henrey Dasher and Ethan Johnson finished third and fourth (respectively) in the shot put, and Joshua McLean finished fifth in the mile run with a time under five minutes.
Later in April, the teams traveled to Brooklet for the Region 1-AAA meet hosted by Southeast Bulloch High School. Top finishers for the girls’ team were: Kelsey Jones and Sharna Dasher (finished one and two in the shotput), sophomore Turkesia White, who was second in the 100- and 200-meters. She was also part of the team that finished second in the 4×100 meters.
Kaitlyn Paulk was second in the discus, Samantha Mims was third in the long jump,
and Breona Dicker was fourth in the 400 meters.
On the boys’ side, junior Devon Moore won the 100- and 200-meters and was part of the 4×100 meters team that took first for Coach Sheldon Pearce’s Pirates. The 4×400 meters team took third. Joshua McLean was fourth in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Al Lewis was fourth in the 100-meters, Latrell Bell was fourth in the discus, and Ethan Johnson was fourth in the shotput.
Sectionals will be held at Southeast Bulloch on April 30. Qualifiers will advance to the State meets: Girls in Albany on May 5-7 and boys in Jefferson May 12-14.
Southeast Georgia/ May 2016
Written by Rob Asbell
Appling County High School
Pirates Claim Region Baseball Title
