JV Leopards ready for home tournament Sat.

Banks County’s JV Leopards have stepped up this year in a big way.

With only four dropped games so far in the season and the Banks County Leopard JV Tournament scheduled for this Saturday, the JV team has earned each of the seven wins and shown big improvement from last season.

Saturday’s tournament includes long-standing rival Commerce, Franklin County and Lumpkin County. The JV Leopards play Commerce’s JV Tigers at 10 a.m.

Franklin County will square off against Lumpkin County at 12:30.

The game for third place will follow at 3 p.m. and the championship game starts at 5:30 p.m. in Homer.


Season Glance
The JV Leopards got started with an extra-inning win over Rabun County, Feb. 24. Banks won 7-6.

Banks gave up three runs early on, but held Rabun off until the sixth inning. As the Leopards’ bats started to swing, Banks brought in four runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead 6-3. Rabun responded in the sixth with three runs to tie. A scoreless seventh inning forced the extra inning where Banks put it away for the win.

Pitching for the JV Leopards included Taylor Foster, Brian Mathis and Seth McEntire (Winning Pitcher).
At the plate, Mathis made a single for an RBI. Dean Ewing (2-3) made a triple and a single, picking up an RBI and scoring three runs. McEntire (2-4) hit two singles with one RBI, and scored two runs. Kris Hellmeister (2-4) hit two singles with one RBI and scoring one. Cameron King hit a double and scored. Jameson Flynn hit a single.

March 4
Up next for Banks was down-the-road rival Commerce. The JV Leopards handily defeated the Tigers 12-1.

“Our hitters were very disciplined and drew 13 walks,” said JV head coach Brent Howell. “We did a better job with keeping our nerves under control and really played well.”

Winning pitcher Ewing was the starter and stayed on the mound for three and 2/3 innings pitching seven strikeouts and giving up one hit. Flynn stepped on for two strikeouts and no hits for one and 1/3 innings.

On the stick: Jessy Hudgins hit a single and scored two runs. Ewing hit a single for an RBI, nabbed one stolen base and scored. McEntire hit a single for two RBIs and would score. Eli Autry hit a triple for two RBIs, and scored.

Andrew Berry was walked twice and picked up an RBI. Jacob Blalock and Jonah Thomas were each walked and credited an RBI.

March 7
Elbert County provided the team its first double header of the season. Unfortunately, for Banks County, both games ended in defeat, 1-11 and 1-4.

In game one Autry was the starting pitcher for one and 1/3 innings with two strikeouts, giving up three hits and eight earned runs to take the loss. Relief pitcher Mathis came in for four and 2/3 innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs, and pitching five strikeouts.

Hitting for Banks was limited to Hudgins with a single and Flynn with an RBI that brought in Ewing who made a triple.

In game two, Elbert wasn’t able to run the score up as high, but still managed to secure a win over the JV Leopards 4-1.

Foster started on the mound for Banks staying in for three innings and taking the loss with four strikeouts giving up three hits and three earned runs. Flynn pitched two innings in relief with three strikeouts and two hits allowing one earned run.

Hewell hit a single to score Ewing who had reached on error
“I thought the second game we came out and played better,” said Howell. “Offensively we could not get it going against Elbert in either game. I give Elbert’s pitchers credit because they threw strikes and allowed the defensive players to work.”

March 9
Brushing off the doubleheader loss Banks welcomed Oglethorpe County on March 9 with a 10-4 game for the Leopards’ third win.

McEntire took the win as starting pitcher with eight strikeouts in five innings giving up six hits and allowing three earned runs. Hewell came in for two innings, pitching five strikeouts, with one hit and zero runs.

Hudgins made a single for an RBI and scored two runs.

Autry hit a triple and a double, picking up one RBI and scoring two runs. Berry made a single for an RBI. Foster hit a double and scored two runs. McEntire made a single for two RBIs. Flynn hit three singles, scored two runs. Blalock hit two singles and picked up two RBIs. Ewing hit a double.

“Our bats came alive with 14 hits,” Howell said. “We did a good job of adjusting and waiting on a good pitch to hit. We jumped out of the gate early with four runs and that set the tone for the rest of the night.”

March 11
Banks faced rival Commerce in the team’s sixth game. The Tigers hoped for a rematch and the Leopards didn’t disappoint taking a 14-4 win over Commerce.

Flynn started on the mound and took the win after three plus innings only allowing one hit and pitching four strikeouts. Ewing came in for one and 1/3 innings, pitching two strikeouts with no hits. Hewell pitched 2/3 innings without any hits.

At the plate, Hudgins scored three runs and hit a single and a double for three RBIs. Mathis hit a three-run homer, and a single, for four RBIs total. Hewell hit two singles, and scored two runs. Blalock hit two singles, and scored two runs. Flynn made a double run scored.

March 12
Up next for Banks was a big game against another big rival, Jefferson.

In the first match-up between the schools during the season, Jefferson took the victory by one run, 6-5.

Mathis started on the mound for two and 1/3 innings, giving up three hits, and taking two strikeouts. McEntire came in for relief and took the loss after three and 2/3 innings, giving up four hits, taking two strikeouts.

At the plate the JV Leopards were coming out strong with five runs before the fourth inning. But fell short as the game progressed. Hudgins made a single. Mathis hit a double, and scored two runs. Hellmeister scored after getting walked. Hewell made two singles, scored one run. Blalock hit a double for two RBIs, and scored.

Howell said, “I think our guys learned that baseball is not over until the last out is recorded. Jefferson is a good team and never gave up. This was a tough loss because we felt like we were in control for the majority of the game.”

March 19
Banks got a rematch against Jefferson the next week after a rescheduling. In the second time around, things were a bit different as Banks took the one run win, 12-11.

After an up and down game where Banks jumped ahead early on, everything came down to the wire.

“Jefferson would not quit and with two outs in the seventh had a man reach on a walk and then a double drove him home to tie the game back up,” Howell said.

Starting in the bottom of the seventh 11-11, Jefferson loaded the bases on walks after a single from Kane Duncan. Chase Armour stepped to the plate for a single to bring in Duncan for the game-winning run.

“I am very proud of the guys for not giving up and always battling until the last out,” said Howell.

Several walks allowed Jefferson to get into scoring position throughout the game. Hewell took the win on the mound after two and 1/3 innings pitched with two strikeouts, and giving up one hit. Foster pitched one and 1/3 innings, with one strikeout and no hits. Mathis played three and 1/3 innings, with four strikeouts giving up two hits.

Duncan went 4-for-5 with four singles, to gain two runs scored after three stolen bases. Hudgins hit a single and scored. King hit a double. Jay Coen made a single for two RBIs. Blalock scored after advancing after being hit by the pitch. Autry scored two runs off a walk and being hit by the pitch. Foster scored twice off walks.

March 21
Banks split a doubleheader against Hart County dropping the first game 7-1 and winning the second game 1-0.

Last week the JV Leopards were in Lexington facing Oglethorpe on Monday. After six innings, Banks took the win 10-5 over the Patriots. Additional stats were unavailable at press time from these games.

Tuesday, March 31, Banks was scheduled to play Rabun Gap on the road. Results from Tuesday’s game were not available at press time.

Coming up is the Banks County Junior Varsity Tournament this weekend. Banks plays Commerce at 10 a.m. on Saturday.