With the arrival of warmer weather and lots of pollen come spring sports, but not before some last-minute winter action finished up on the basketball court.
The Lady Gators basketball team of coach Mandy Lingenfelter made it to the Sweet 16 of the state basketball playoffs with a last second putback by Mataea Boyd to defeat Woodland High School 45-44 in the first round. That put the Lady Gators square in the crosshairs of Gwinnett County powerhouse Buford. After making the five-hour journey to metro-Atlanta, Ware fell to the Lady Wolves to end a spectacular season at 24-5.
Baseball
Baseball was among the spring sports getting underway at Ware County . The Gators team of coach Tony Yeomans got off to a tough start but regrouped in February at the annual Baseball at the Beach tournament held in Brunswick. After falling to 0-4 on the season, the Gators came alive at the tournament, defeating Appling County and Glynn Academy on consecutive nights. Ware will continue playing non-region opponents until the first day of spring when they travel to Statesboro to open their region schedule.
All games are broadcast live on the radio. You can listen to all the Gators baseball action with legendary coach James Conley and In the Game SEGA publisher Shawn Smoak on WWUF, 97.7 The Wolf.
Soccer
On the soccer pitch, Julio Nataren, who has already scored a hat trick (three goals in one game) in a one-goal victory over Brunswick, leads coach Jim Farmer’s boys team. The Lady Gators Soccer team of coach Michael Cook got their first win of the season with a 10-0 win over Bacon County. Seniors Kennedy Sanders and Madison Lloyd along with junior Sara Hitt led Ware.
2017 Ware County Soccer Schedule
2/2 @ Thomas County Central
2/7 vs. Colquitt County
2/10 @ Coffee County (boys only)
2/13 vs. Richmond Hill
2/15 vs. Brunswick
2/12 @ Coffee County (girls only)
2/28 @ Camden County
3/3 @ New Hampstead
3/7 vs. Valdosta
3/9 vs. Coffee County
3/14 vs. Statesboro
3/16 @ South Effingham
3/21 vs. Wayne County
3/23 vs. Pierce County
4/4 vs. South Effingham
4/6 @ Atkinson County
4/11 @ Statesboro
4/13 @ Wayne County
4/17 vs. New Hampstead
4/19 @ Glynn Academy
Tennis
Number one singles player Matthew Bagley leads the men’s tennis team of coach Ross Bedford. The Lady’s team of coach Nate Mooneyhan returns doubles tandem Kiersten Moye and Jayme Russell.
“They are also the only seniors on my team,” Mooneyhan said. “Both have taken college or AP courses and are managing the difficult challenge of keeping their grades up with difficult courses while playing tennis in the spring and volleyball in the winter.”
2/2 vs. Wayne County
2/7 vs. Coffee County
2/9 @ Brantley County
2/14 @ Pierce County
2/22 vs. Glynn Academy
2/23 vs. Brunswick
3/1 @ Glynn Academy
3/2 vs. Wayne County
3/4 Ware Invitational @ Waycross
3/7 @ Appling County
3/8 vs. Camden/Lowndes
3/14 vs. South Effingham
3/16 @ New Hampstead
3/21 vs. Bacon County
3/23 vs. Statesboro
4/11 Region 2AAAAA Tournament
SE-SF-0317-Ware
Written by: Rob Asbell
Spring Has Sprung
