The Lanett Panthers have been one of the area’s dominant football programs the past four seasons. The Panthers have racked up a 50-5 record in that time with three region titles and two state championships.
This is the week prep football programs in Muscogee County have been waiting for. The school district gave the go-ahead and they've all gone ahead with vengeance, starting up voluntary workouts in advance of fall training camp. No one was more anxious to get started than the Carver Tigers.
Monday morning was a busy time for Hardaway Hawks head football coach Michael Woolridge. It was temperature taking time and questionnaire collecting time and introduction time for the first voluntary workout of the summer.
On Tuesday, everyone got the word. There'll be no minor league baseball season because major league teams won't be supplying the players. Players like infielder Josh Lester.
Tanner Glisson was excited for the first day of practice.“It was like the first day of school when you lay out all your clothes,” Glisson said. “You had new clothes where you went shopping and we’re excited to be back. It’s like a kid in a candy store.”
Back in March, Jordan Weems was making his mark as a non-roster invitee to Oakland's spring training. He had a legit shot at earning a spot in the A's big league bullpen until things got crazy with the pandemic.
Callaway head football coach Pete Wiggins knows there will be challenges every season."There's always been adversities that you know are going to come your way, but this has been something different," Wiggins said.
Day one of practice looked different for Chambers Academy -- and it looks different now. They’re allowed to use equipment, so the football was flying around this week.
The GHSA gave to go-ahead to restart football practices on June 8, but Muscogee County schools had to wait. On Monday, the school district gave the word. Programs can begin voluntary on-campus workouts on July 6.
It was something a little different on Thursday afternoon at Hale Field in Columbus -- not a baseball game, but something a little bigger, as a trio of Calvary Christian Knights made it official, signing college baseball scholarship offers.
Everybody is playing catch-up these days thanks to the pandemic shutdown, but the Smiths Station Panthers are enjoying playing catch-up a whole lot more than they were enjoying waiting for the restart.
Most area prep football programs haven’t just greeted the re-opening of on-campus workouts with open arms, they’ve pretty much attacked it with everything they have. That’s certainly the deal down in Seale.
Columbus State’s Bryson Horne grew up a big Braves fan. “I wore number 10 because my favorite player is Chipper Jones," Horne said. Now he’s on his way to Atlanta’s farm system.
Brookstone head football coach Blair Harrison is happy to get his guys back."I'm just glad that we're here,” Harrison said. “We weren't thinking we were going to be back this soon so we're happy with that."
Surrounded by family and friends -- at a distance -- Carver senior guard Diamond McGilberry made it official on Friday afternoon, signing a scholarship offer to play basketball at Savannah State University with an eye toward a career in nursing.
Carver high guard Kionna Gaines made her call on Thursday, verbally commiting to play basketball at Clemson. She made her decision known with a post on her Twitter page.
MCSD system athletic director Jeff Battles said on Wednesday that the District wants to make sure things are under control before they open up campuses, emphasizing the approach of safety first.
Little by little things are starting to open up again. Proof of that can be found in the state of Alabama, where prep football teams have been cleared to begin practicing.The Central Red Devils among the first to get things going this week.
Kayson Boatner planned on hitting the gym back home in Columbus -- but not yet, not until she and her Anderson University Trojans teammates were done making a run deep into the Division Two playoffs, maybe even all the way to Denver for the D2 Women’s World Series right about now.
The first local sports team to hit the field for real this year will likely be the Columbus Lions. But sad to say, the word likely is still the one to use because things are still on hold in the world of sports, and it's driving everyone crazy in Lions country.
Anfernee Grier has been more than ready to leap into the 2020 baseball season. Events have nixed that for him and for every other pro baseball player in the country.
Football players are getting ready, baseball players are trying to stay ready, and in Columbus they're doing it together at a local gym. Chason Perry of Impact Performance is running this show.
Baseball is a game of timing, and the timing of things couldn’t be any worse for high school senior baseball players, especially for a pair of Russell County Warriors who were sure shots to be high rough draft picks this year. But things have changed, thanks to the reaction to COVID-19.
Ucambre Williams has become a fixture in the Canadian Football League. Williams was a key part in the Calgary Stampeders three straight trips to the Grey Cup Finals, and their capturing the championship in 2018, as the center anchoring the Stamps dominant offensive line.
Saying J.D. McKissic made a big splash on his first professional play is to understate things. The former Central Red Devil signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2016, and his first touch in the Birds' preseason opener was a beauty, taking the second half opening kickoff 101
The Columbus Lions have been searching for the answer at kicker for several years now. What if the answer to their problems was literally in their own backyard? They may have found the guy to author what would be an incredible story.
The Columbus State men's tennis program has become a Division Two national power. They won an NCAA championship two years ago and were cruising along to what looked like another title in 2020 until they hit a roadblock called COVID-19.
This isn’t how it was supposed to be for Columbus Lions quarterback Mason Espinosa. He wasn’t supposed to be at an empty high school stadium working out and waiting for the indoor football season to start.
It’s been an uphill battle for Tae Crowder. Despite a solid senior season anchoring Georgia’s defense, the former Harris County Tiger didn’t receive an invite to the Senior Bowl or NFL Combine. Then to top it off, UGA’s pro day was cancelled because of the pandemic. He’s not letting it get to him.
Aspiring major leaguers like Smiths Station native Blake Rivera of the San Francisco Giants organization are supposed to be lacing up their spikes in April. It's just not supposed to be happening at Northside High's football practice field.
The Peach Belt Conference announced on Friday afternoon that the spring sports schedule has been cancelled for all of the league's schools, which means closing up shop at the Columbus State athletics program for the spring.
Teams in East Alabama will soon be without baseball because of the Coronavirus, but they still had Friday night to play some games before the state suspends play.
The Federal Prospects Hockey League announced on Thursday that the season is postponed indefinitely due to the effects of COVID-19, which means the Columbus River Dragons’ inaugural season is on hold.
The Columbus State Lady Cougars opened their Peach Belt Conference slate the right way, sweeping the USC Aiken Lady Pacers 9-1 and 3-0 on Thursday at Cougar Field, but the victories were overshadowed by Thursday’s announcement by the NCAA that they will not hold spring sports championships.
Tucker Kite homered on the very first pitch of the bottom of the first inning to key a 5-run frame to help lead the Pacelli Vikings to a 13-3 six-inning victory over the Manchester Blue Devils in the subregion opener for both teams on Tuesday at Deimel Diamond.
A benches clearing fight on Sunday led to multiple ejections and gained national attention. Coach Jerome Bechard shares his side of the story with WTVM.
Aleh Shypitsyn scored with 40 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, and Cameron Dimmitt provided the game-winning score in the shootout, as the Columbus River Dragons beat the Carolina Thunderbirds 3-2 on Friday night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds.
Caitlyn Canady was 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, to lead the Columbus State Cougars to a 11-8 win over the Erskine Flying Fleet in the opening game of the Cougar Red-White-Blue Softball Classic on Friday afternoon at Cougar Field.
Trinity Jones had 21 points and Jelissa Reese added 19 as the Americus-Sumter Lady Panthers topped the Troup Lady Tigers 66-52 to claim the GHSA Class 4A Girls state basketball title on Friday afternoon at the Macon Centreplex.
The Troup Tigers are looking to add a state title trophy to the case for the first time ever, but they know it's going to take a big effort to get past Americus-Sumter, a program that claimed the championship just four years ago.
There’s only one game remaining on the prep basketball schedule for area teams, an all-area showdown for the GHSA 4A girls state title. The Americus-Sumter Lady Panthers have been here before as a program. But a state title four years ago means this is an all-new crew heading to Macon.
Two games. Two sites. Same results. Both the Columbus State men’s and women’s basketball teams beat USC Aiken in the quarterfinals of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday to advance to the conference’s semifinals this weekend.
The Central-Talbotton Lady Hawks are hoping to win their GHSA first title since 1986.The No.1 seeded Hawks are facing a tough Wheeler County, seeded No. 3 in Class 1A-Public.
Devan Dudal pitched seven innings of six-hit baseball while Bryson Horne had a two-run inside-the-park homer to lead the No. 23 Columbus State Cougars to a 4-1 win over the Lander Bearcats on Saturday at Ragsdale Field.
The Calvary Christian Knights exploded for 10 runs in the final three innings to beat the Glenwood Gators 11-1 in six innings on Thursday afternoon at Hale Field.
The Lanett Panthers weren’t able to give retiring head coach Richard Carter the storybook ending to his Panthers career. The Pickens County Tornadoes rallied from an 8-point fourth quarter deficit to hand the Panthers a 57-55 loss and claim the AHSAA Class 1A boys state title on Thursday night.
The Central Red Devils saw their run for the AHSAA Class 7A girls championship end in the semifinals on Thursday as they fell to the Hoover Buccaneers 58-42 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
David Meadows went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI and Tyler Cadenhead pitched four-hit ball over seven innings to lead No. 23 Columbus State to a 9-1 victory over Montevallo on Wednesday afternoon at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field.
The Columbus State Cougars got 23 points from Landrius Horton and 19 from Bryant Givens to beat the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes 80-73 on Senior Night on Wednesday at the Lumpkin Center.
The Opelika girls and Eufaula boys both saw their state title dreams end on Wednesday in the AHSAA state semifinals at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center while the Americus-Sumter Lady Panthers beat the Spalding Jaguars 49-42 to advance to the GHSA Class 4A state semifinals.
The Carver Tigers outlasted the Woodward Academy War Eagles 70-63 on Tuesday night in the GHSA Class 4A girls state quarterfinals, but the win came at a heavy price.
Logan Austin threw a no-hitter and struck out 17 to lead the Russell County Warriors to a 7-0 win over the Dothan Wolves on Saturday afternoon at Tony Rasmus Field.
Isaac Bouton and Robert Brooks hit their first homers of the year to lead the Columbus State Cougars to a 6-1 win over the Flagler Saints on Friday night at Ragsdale Field in the first game of a three-game Peach Belt Conference series.
The Spencer Greenwaves held off a furious fourth quarter rally to hang on and post a 60-57 win over the Dublin Fighting Irish in the second round of the GHSA Class 2A state basketball playoffs on Thursday night in Columbus.
Landrius Horton had 26 points and Bryant Givens added 22 as the Columbus State Cougars beat the Clayton State Lakers 108-90 on Wednesday night at the Lumpkin Center.
