The tournament routinely attracts top regional golfers in the Southeast. Among the over 60 entries scheduled to compete are defending champion Jeremy McGatha, Heath Jones, Matt Rogers and Frank Brady.
McGatha, originally from Piedmont, has won the Invitational two of the past three years. He shot a two-day total of 135 in last year’s tournament to finish two strokes better than Mike Williams and Hunter Hawkins.
For more information on this year’s tournament, contact Steve Baker at the Cherokee County Country Club at 256-927-5070.
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In the Dixie Youth Baseball 11-12 year-old O-Zone State Tournament in Fairhope over the weekend, the Cherokee Nationals split their first two games.
They lost to Southeastern Blue on Saturday 8-3. The two teams were tied at 3 at the end of six innings, but Southeastern Blue scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning for the victory.
On Sunday, the Nationals rebounded to claim a 7-6 win over host Fairhope American. Down 3-1 at the end of three innings, the Nationals pushed across five runs in the top of the fourth. Fairhope picked up a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-4, but Cherokee added an insurance run in the fifth and carried a 3-run lead into the bottom of the sixth. They escaped with the win after Fairhope scored twice and left two on as the game concluded.
The Nationals play an elimination game against Spanish Fort on Monday.
The O-Zone State Tournament continues through Thursday in Fairhope. All state tournament games can be viewed in real time at www.jockjive.com.
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Former Jacksonville State and Cherokee County High School standout Maurice Dupree was recently named the Professional Indoor Football League 2012 Offensive Player of the Year.
Dupree, who plays for the Columbus Lions, had a record-setting year in just his second season in the league. He led the PIFL in scoring (242), touchdown receptions (40), and receiving yards (1278). Without returning a kick, his 1,278 yards landed him second in all-purpose yards while his 95 receptions landed him second only to teammate London Crawford.
In 2012, Dupree had multiple touchdowns in all 12 regular season games. In half of those games, he had four or more trips to the end zone.
Eight of Dupree’s 40 touchdowns grabs came from 30 yards out or further, the most of any receiver in the PIFL. Dupree was also the lone offensive player to have been selected unanimously to the All-PIFL First Team.
Dupree was a multiple All-OVC selection in 2008, where he was a first-team wide receiver and a second-team return specialist for Jacksonville State.
The Centre native set a Jacksonville State record after catching 10 touchdown passes as a senior in 2008, while finishing the season with 799 yards on 49 catches and averaged 72.6 yards per game.
As a return specialist, he led the Ohio Valley Conference in kickoff returns and was second in punt returns, averaging 28.26 yards per kickoff, and 11.35 yards per punt return to rank among the national leaders.
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Former Cherokee County High School and current Jacksonville State two-sport standout Coty Blanchard went 2 for 4 with a RBI Sunday for the Falmouth Commodores in a 3-1 loss to the Chatham Anglers. Blanchard is batting .353 over his last five games.
Through 20 games this season, Blanchard is batting .308 with eight walks, three doubles, five runs and eight RBIs. He’s also swiped four stolen bases for the Commodores (14-12), who are a game out of first place in the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Western Division.
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Sand Rock’s Zane Farrar and Ethan Jimmerson recently helped the North Georgia Chiefs earn the Dizzy Dean Senior Division State Championship in Boynton, Ga.
The Chiefs (13-3-2), based out of Menlo, Ga., went 4-0 at the state tournament and dethroned the host Boynton Bulldogs, who have won the state title for at least the past 12 years.
This is the Chiefs’ second state championship in three years. They won the Junior Division of the Dizzy Dean League in 2010. This year’s team is comprised of players from Cherokee and St. Clair counties in Alabama, as well as Chattooga, Floyd, Polk, Bartow, Cobb, Taylor and Pulaski counties of Georgia.
Next up for the Chiefs is the Dizzy Dean World Series in Southaven, Miss., on Friday.
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Congratulations go out to Spring Garden. The school was one of 97 in the state recognized for not having a fine or ejection throughout the 2011-12 sports season. The announcement was made Friday at the Sportsmanship Luncheon in Montgomery as part of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s All-Star Sports Week festivities.
Spring Garden also received a $1,000 grant from al.com.
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