Pierce County High School athletics brought home the Region 2-AAA All-Sport trophy this past spring in recognition of sports excellence for the 2016-17 competition school year. PCHS finished with a total of 47 points. Appling County and Liberty County tied for second with 27 points apiece. The region awards schools 4 points for each region title, 3 points for second place, 1 point for third place, and 1 point for fourth place.
The PCHS baseball and girls soccer teams both finished as region champions, while boys tennis and boys track each finished as region runner-up. Girls tennis, boys soccer, and girls track each gleaned third-place region finishes.
This past fall and winter, PCHS won region runner-up in football and won region championships for cheerleading (also state champs), softball, one-act play, and literary team.
Wrestling and golf are not counted in the region points race. Nonetheless, the PCHS boys and girls teams both brought home first-place finishes at their respective area tournaments, which each team hosted. Sloan Lanier and Kayla Petrowicz were both named to the all-area golf team for the girls, coached by Erica Grady. Ty Metts won area medalist honors for the boys and was named to the boys all-area team, along with Zac Thornton, Taylor Sweat, Jake Harvard, John Ben James, and Kole Kicklighter. In May, James and Kicklighter also signed letters of intent to play golf next year at Georgia Military College. The boys were coached by Stuart Stipe
PCHS baseball posted a regular-season ledger of 20-7 (9-1 region) under first-year head coach Andrew Evans to continue a longstanding run of diamond excellence. PCHS opened the state playoffs by sweeping Rutland and Hart County in the first two rounds of the playoffs. PCHS then hosted GAC in Round 3.
Lady Bears soccer posted a 16-1-1 regular season mark, including an unblemished 10-0 slate in region play. Coach Alvin Thrift’s squad then mercy-ruled Rutland in Round 1 of the state playoffs, 9-0 in just 60 minutes of play. Unfortunately, the Lady Bears bowed to Bremen 3-2 in Round 2. The team was led this year by seniors Brittney Mayhew, Mary Courtney Puryear, Marisa Ramirez, McKayla Carter, and Abigail Walker.
Boys soccer bowed in the first round of the state playoffs in a road game against Peach County to finish 10-7-1 on the season (7-3 region). It was the first season for the Bears under Coach Matthew Wheeler. The roster of seniors included Ben Hopkins, Ashton Cantrell, Adrian Sierra, Cooper Saussy, and Thomas Echols.
Boys tennis, coached by Millie Walker, made a run to the Elite Eight before bowing to Lovett. Jake Herrin, the Region 2-AAA Player of the Year, paced the team at No. 1 singles. Mason Bennett and Alan McIntosh competed at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively. The tandem of Caleb Williams and Dalton Fernandez competed at No. 1 doubles, with Keanu Myles and Eric Smith at No. 2 doubles.
The girls tennis team of Coach Kathy Bradley swept Westside Macon at home in Round 1 of the state playoffs, but fell on the road to Calhoun in Round 2. The team was led this year by Serena Strickland, Haley Theis, and Rachel Gay in singles. The doubles tandems of Amber Holland/Sadie Marfil and Chloe Hersey/Mabrie Johnson rounded out the competition roster.
The girls track team coached by Robbie Spires fell short of sending qualifiers to the state meet, but the boys track team of coach Kip Burdette featured state qualifiers Emmanuel Jernigan (long jump and triple jump), Ty Foreman (pole vault), Leroy Mason (110-meter hurdles and 300 hurdles), Kylill Miles (110 hurdles and 300 hurdles), and Dee Bethea (200 and 400).
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PCHS Claims All-Sports Trophy
