VALDOSTA —
The 2012 fall athletic season is nearly in full swing. High school athletic teams throughout the state are gearing up for the fall season, including the softball teams at Lowndes and Valdosta.
Both teams enter this season with new coaches. Lowndes hired former Valdosta State pitcher Stewart Thomas as the replacement for Alex Gray, who resigned in March.
Valdosta hired Kristina Ely, a former All-American at VSU, but she less than two months later she backed out of the position, and the Wildcats hired Berrien County native Samantha Luke.
Both coaches have had busy offseasons since they were hired.
For Thomas, he is looking to replace four seniors that helped the Vikettes win back-to-back region championships in 2010 and 2011. For Luke, she is looking to turnaround Valdosta’s program that has simply been a doormat program in recent years.
Both schools begin play Aug. 9; Lowndes will scrimmage Cook and Valdosta will open its regular season against Brooks County on the same day.
Valdosta and Lowndes open region play Aug. 25. All region games will feature doubleheaders.
Following its scrimmage with Cook, Lowndes will travel to the metro Atlanta area for the first of two times this season.
The Vikettes will be participating in the Georgia Dugout Tournament at Kennesaw Mountain High School Aug. 17-18.
The Vikettes then go on the road for back-to-back region games, at Brunswick (Aug. 25) and at Colquitt County (Aug. 28). The Vikettes then welcome Cook back to The Field of Dreams for a regular season meeting on Sept. 5 before visiting Coffee on Sept. 11.
Lowndes hosts the Vikette Invitational Sept. 14-15 at Freedom Park. Valdosta will participate in the tournament.
The Vikettes head back to Atlanta Sept. 20-21 and will participate in the Brookwood Invitational at Brookwood High School in Gwinnett County.
Following the long trip to Gwinnett, Lowndes closes the regular season with three straight region series at home; the Vikettes face Valdosta Sept. 27, Camden County Sept. 29 and Tift County Oct. 2.
Following its season opener against Brooks County, Valdosta welcomes Berrien Aug. 15, Bainbridge Aug. 16 and Worth County Aug. 20 before opening region play Aug. 25 against Camden County. Valdosta’s first road contest of the season comes Aug. 28 at Worth County, followed by a visit to Berrien Sept. 5, Brunswick Sept. 8 and Brooks County Sept. 10.
The Wildcats host Colquitt County Sept. 11 before participating in the Vikette Invitational. They then host Tift County Sept. 25 before visiting Bainbridge Sept. 26 and Lowndes Sept. 27.
Valdosta closes its season Oct. 2 against Coffee.
If Valdosta and Lowndes qualify for the state tournament, play begins Oct. 10-11.
Local Sports
Lowndes, Valdosta softball announce 2012 schedules
Winnersville rivals meet Sept. 27 at Lowndes High
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VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
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Blazers take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
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Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
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Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
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Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Lowndes’ Willis, Breit named Region 1 Coaches of the Year
The All-Region 1-AAAAAA soccer teams were announced Wednesday and Lowndes was well represented.
Lowndes coaches Chris Willis (girls) and Jordan Breit (boys) were named the Region Coaches of the Year, after leading the Lowndes teams to region championships and going undefeated in region play. -
Vikings commit 4 errors, fall to Roswell, 5-2
The small things matter in baseball, especially in a winner-take-all game three.
On Wednesday, Lowndes’ baseball team made too many mistakes on the little things. The Vikings committed four errors that led to five Roswell runs and were eliminated in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets. - More Local Sports Headlines
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