By Stephen Dawkins

The Jemison volleyball team might feel honored to have the coach of the University of Alabama team run its summer camp, but the players might not know that the feeling is mutual.
UA coach Judy Green last week instructed Jemison players for the fourth consecutive year.
Green has committed to Jemison coach Leighsa Robinson that Green will continue to conduct the camp as long as possible.
“This one kind of kicks off their camp season,” Robinson said, “and she said it’s hard to find other groups that are willing to work like these are, that don’t complain.”
Another reason for Green’s presence—and the players and assistant coaches that also help—might be the baskets of peaches donated by Culp Fruits each year.
Regardless, Robinson and her players agree the team is better off because of Green’s willingness to help.
“They get the one-on-one that you don’t get from a Division I coach when you go to a team camp,” Robinson said. “They work very hard because they want to make that impression on her—they have so much respect for her.”
Thirty-two Jemison players—varsity, junior varsity and middle school—participated in the camp.
One participant was Kasi Wells, a rising senior setter. Like Robinson, Wells said having Green in town benefits Jemison volleyball.
“We learn a lot,” Wells said. “She makes it fun, but she makes you learn it.”

A hearty crowd turned out for some early morning summer baseball on Friday, as the Peach Classic Baseball Tournament continued with its second day of games at Clanton City Park.

The Thorsby Rebels scored eight unanswered runs to defeat the Benjamin Russell High School Wildcats 8-3.

Falling behind three runs in the second inning after a BRHS RBI single, the Rebels relied on Tanner Bush for a quick pick-me-up. Bush drove in one run, and another Thorsby player reached home on a throwing error, bringing the deficit to one run.

After THS’s Stewart Scott reached first on a blooper single, Matt Morgan brought him home with his own single, tying the game.

With victory in sight, the Rebels didn’t let up after that.

Blake Elkins ripped an RBI double, scoring Andrew Farris and Brantley Maddox for a two-run lead at 5-3 in the third inning. Adding another run was Elkins on another Bush single.

BRHS opted to change pitchers, but Thorsby wasn’t done with the onslaught. Wesley Smitherman smacked a two-run double, bringing home Farris and Bo Hoffman.

Cody Carroll started the game and picked up the win, as relief pitcher Stephen Mims entered the game in the fourth inning and allowed no runs.

Thorsby then played Holtville High School, whose players sat under the City Park shade to watch their next opponent’s victory.

THS coach Ab Argent is pleased with what he’s seen so far this summer, coming off of a victorious doubleheader at Isabella High School last week. With five seniors graduating two weeks ago, they’ve begun rebuilding the varsity baseball team. But Argent thinks the summer games will build skills and character as they make their transition.

“We’ve got a good nucleus,” he said. “We want to play these games to see who can do what. It’s a really good level of competition for our kids.

“It’s just a good chance for us to compete close to home against good teams like Benjamin Russell and Holtville.”

Thorsby defeated Holtville 2-1 in seven innings to complete the Friday doubleheader. Shane Beam started the game while Brantley Maddox, Bo Hoffman and Tanner Bush finished in relief.

By Stephen Dawkins

The Jemison basketball team had just lost three games in one day, but coach Stacy McGehee was still in good spirits.
McGehee was less concerned with results than improvement during Monday’s exhibition games, and his Panthers played their best game of the day in their last game of the day, a 44-40 loss to Class 6A Clay-Chalkville.
“We finally got the tempo we wanted offensively and defensively during that game,” McGehee.
The tempo McGehee speaks of is a breakneck tempo, which the coach said his team will have to employ in the winter because JHS lacks height.
“We’re gonna have to cause chaos and play uptempo,” he said. “Our goal is zero transition time; we want offense and defense to be the same.”
An example of what happens when the Panthers don’t dictate the pace of play was the Keith game, which Jemison lost 60-40. McGehee estimated Keith scored at least 20 points on offensive rebounds.
Jemison fell to Holt, 48-44.
But, overall, JHS was much improved over this point last season, McGehee’s first.
McGehee on Saturday tried to substitute for each player after he had been on the court for three minutes—three minutes of maximum effort.
“We told them, ‘If you’re not tired after your three minutes, then you cheated the team,’” McGehee said.
An important part of how Jemison wants to play is conditioning. McGehee said his 11 players could have played a fourth game Monday if necessary.
The Panthers were co-hosting, with Verbena, a summer “play date” tournament, which included eight teams.
JHS will be the site of another such event on June 14. No admission is being charged, and concessions are available.
Jemison will also play in a team camp at Birmingham-Southern College this weekend.

By Stephen Dawkins

When Ab Argent agreed to the job before the 2005 season, he was told he couldn’t win as coach of the Thorsby baseball team.
Six seasons—and 132 wins, six playoff berths, four area championships and three appearances in the state playoff quarterfinals—later, the doubts still motivate Argent.
But perhaps the greatest testament to the job Argent has done is the fact that his players motivate themselves, as evidenced by a commitment to strength training last summer that helped the Rebels earn a ranking as high as No. 2 last season and make the third of those quarterfinal berths.
And the greatest example of that offseason commitment is junior pitcher Cody Carroll , who compiled a 12-2 record with a 1.85 earned run average and 96 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings pitched. His dominance was best demonstrated in a five-inning no-hitter at Ashville and a performance at Vincent in which Carroll was one out away from a perfect game but gave up an infield hit.
“We could’ve played 20 innings and they wouldn’t have been able to hit him,” Argent said.
Carroll is The Clanton Advertiser’s Baseball Player of the Year, and Argent the Coach of the Year.
After the 2009 season, when Thorsby was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round for the first time in Argent’s tenure, coaches and players agreed something more had to be done if the Rebels were going to achieve the success they wanted.
So, each team member began making three visits a week to Cornerstone Fitness and Wellness, where they worked with trainer Barry Baker. The Rebels even continued the routine as they began playing regular season games.
“We told Barry not to cut them any slack, and he didn’t,” Argent said. “In the beginning, it wasn’t any fun. He said, ‘y’all will thank me later.’”
And they did, after the players realized how much their offseason work helped them on the field—and in their heads.
“We had a little more swagger this year than in the past,” Carroll said.
Carroll added 15 pounds of muscle (he weighs 190 pounds) in a year and added about 10 miles an hour to his fastball (he was clocked at 82 mph during the season). Carroll also grew a few inches, yielding a 6’2” frame Argent said college coaches will find attractive.
“His better days of baseball are ahead of him,” Argent said but added that Carroll must continue to work. “If you get content with where you’re at, you’re not going to improve.”
Argent talks like his own baseball future will include much of the same.
THS features varsity players like Carroll who are willing to go the extra mile to be successful, a youth league with all the tools necessary to produce capable players, and a school and community proud of their baseball program and willing to support it.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else, really,” Argent said. “It’s hard for me to believe I’ve ever been anywhere but here.”
But Argent said the best part about his job is that Thorsby isn’t so big or stressful that his daughters, 9-year-old Adi and 4-year-old Sarah Beth, can’t be a part of the program.
Adi wakes up ready for the day’s game and even gets in on the strategy.
“We’re up in Lexington, quarterfinals of the playoffs, and I’m sitting there on the bucket, into the game, and there’s this tap on my shoulder,” Argent said. “I turn around, and it’s her. She says, “What (pitch) do we got called? I look at her for a minute, and I say, ‘fastball away.’
“It’s one of those moments you just can’t explain.”

By Scott Mims

A new athletic training facility was once just wishful thinking among coaches at Thorsby School.
But it is soon to be a dream come true.
Thanks to the efforts of the school’s booster club, parents, students and other generous individuals, plans are underway for a structure that will provide breathing room for the school’s athletic programs.
Once complete, the building will house multiple weight stations, practice equipment and more.
“It’s going to make it possible for us to get all our kids from every sport into one facility to be able to work them out, and that’s huge,” said Billy Jackson, Thorsby’s athletic director and football coach.
The building will measure 75- by 85-feet. One side will house approximately 14 weight training stations—doubling the capacity of the existing field house. On the other side will be batting cages, practice pitching mounds and other types of equipment. The building will also contain restrooms and a coach’s office.
Currently, there is not enough room for the school’s 200-plus athletes to train under one roof simultaneously. In order for everyone to get time in the weight room, varsity and junior varsity must alternate training days.
“Weightlifting is the backbone of any program,” Jackson said. “If your kids are not working out and getting stronger, everyone else is. It’s tough to compete with the bigger schools.”
An indoor training area will also come in handy on rainy days, especially for the school’s baseball team. It will end the inconvenience of splitting the students into groups between the field house and gymnasium.
The old field house, which was built in the early 1990s, will likely be turned into a full locker room.
“I think it will be very beneficial to all sports here at Thorsby,” said baseball coach Ab Argent. “It’s something we desperately need. We need a bigger area to accommodate our kids—male and female athletes.”
School Principal Russ Bryan thanked Sen. Hank Erwin for a $10,000 gift toward the facility. He also thanked the athletic booster club for helping the school reach out and locate resources to fund the project.
An architect is working on plans to present to the Board of Education and the State Building Committee in June.

By Scott Mims

Several Thorsby Rebels have spent long hours in the weight room during the off season, and this was evident Monday during the Rebels’ spring scrimmage.
Eric Camarillo, Marcus Bray and Andrew Farris all have bulked up, as have others, but coach Billy Jackson reminded them that they must train consistently to be in shape for the upcoming season.
“We’re much further along this spring than we were last spring,” Jackson said, “but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Forty-eight players suited up Monday, and Jackson said he wants to see all of them on the field this fall. In the meantime, they must work to build endurance and know where to line up defensively and offensively.
The players seemed to be pretty evenly matched Monday, as the White Rebels tied the Maroon Rebels 18-18. Bray was a standout on the field, scoring all of the touchdowns for the White team.
But it wasn’t just the veteran players who drew attention Monday.
“We saw some kids that kind of surprised us,” Jackson said.
Perhaps the least experienced part of the team is the offensive line. With only two out of five offensive linemen returning from last year, the Rebels certainly must rely on players to step up to leadership roles.
“I’m proud of our team,” Jackson said. “We’ve got 48 kids, and I think our program will be making strides if we can keep them all out.”

By Stephen Dawkins

The Jemison football team that took the field for a spring jamboree Friday may have looked familiar.
When the Panthers lined up and ran a play, though, fans may have been left scratching their heads.
Jemison lost only five players combined to graduation, but coach Brad Abbott tested his team’s maturity by using the event as an opportunity to experiment.
The Panthers unveiled a new offense, a more traditional I-formation look compared to the shotgun spread they ran last season.
Jemison running back Javae Swindle, a rising junior, was the team’s primary offensive weapon a year ago—and rising senior Isa Bentley was a productive second option. The I is more conducive to a rush-heavy attack than the spread, which requires a back line up on either side of the QB, dictating which side of the field the play will go toward.
Bentley and Swindle found plenty of rushing lanes Friday in an 18-8 win over Central-Coosa in what amounted to a half of football.
Maplesville defeated Central 22-0 and led Jemison at press time, 14-6, with 7 minutes left in the first quarter.
Abbott also said players had trouble processing the play call, which comes from the sideline without a huddle, and then players are required to look up their responsibility on a card strapped around their wrists.
“I just felt like it was time to get away from that,” Abbott said. “We decided we would use this as a chance to look at [the offense running the I]. If it doesn’t work, we’ve been running the spread for five or six years, so we could change back if we needed to.”
The change could also benefit Scott Clements, the returning starter at quarterback.
“With the shotgun, he has to take his eyes off the secondary for a few seconds to take the snap,” Abbott said. “When he’s under center, he doesn’t have to do that.

By Stephen Dawkins

If lights are installed at Verbena’s baseball and softball fields, as the Chilton County Board of Education at its Tuesday meeting voted to allow, Thorsby’s baseball field would be the only varsity baseball or softball facility in the county without lights.

Though coaches agreed on the benefits of a lighted field, they also agreed on the significant cost.

Rick Wilson with the Verbena booster club said he thinks lights could be installed on both fields for about $25,000.

But there should eventually be a return on the investment. Jemison installed lights on its baseball field before the 2006 season, a move coach Jason Easterling said paid immediate dividends.

“I went from $300-$400 gates to $800 or even $1,000,” Easterling said, “because it allows you to play later—more people can make it. And people come by and see the lights are on and stop by to see what’s going on.”

Verbena baseball coach Tommy Headley said his players are probably excited about the prospect of playing home games under the lights but said they would be used only when appropriate.

“We’re not going to play games in February at night” because of the usual low evening temperatures, Headley said. “The only reason we would use lights at the beginning of the season would be to finish a game.”

Thorsby coach Ab Argent said people involved with the baseball program discuss lights every year.

“Yeah, it would be nice to have lights,” Argent said. “But if we just had some money and I got to pick what we used it for, I’d say the indoor hitting facility. We can use the indoor hitting facility year-round.”

Argent might get his wish. School officials have discussed the construction of a new athletic facility, which would include a weight room and batting cages, adjacent to the current field house.

Thorsby baseball has an advantage over Verbena because of the town’s Richard Wood Park. Thorsby’s middle school and junior high teams both were allowed to play at youth league fields. Meanwhile, the only opportunity for Verbena’s junior high team to play was to travel with the varsity to away games and play either before or after the big boys—because Verbena has no youth league park and home doubleheaders with the varsity can’t be squeezed into daylight hours.

The junior high Red Devils played seven games this last season. Thorsby’s junior high squad played more than 20 games, Argent said.

Verbena’s booster club will raise the money necessary for the lights through fundraisers. Wilson said those involved with athletics at the school worked a concession stand at Auburn University home football games last season and raised about $14,000, which was split up among the various athletic programs, including cheerleading and band.

Wilson said he hopes Verbena can work both Auburn and University of Alabama games this fall and said that school athletic director Mike Harris had agreed a percentage of the money raised could go toward the light project.

The plan is have lights installed on both fields by the beginning of the next baseball and softball season.

Then, possibly, Verbena can look forward to more admission money—and a higher power bill to add to the list of expenses.

“With baseball, you’ve got to pay for fertilizer, watering the grass, equipment, gas for the buses,” Argent said. “Every time you turn around…more money.”

By Stephen Dawkins

Andrew Morton comes from a family that includes a father that is a tennis coach and three older brothers who play the sport. Jake Long didn’t pick up a racquet until the fifth grade.
Morton plays aggressively, relying on powerful groundstrokes. Long’s approach is based more on accuracy. Morton is taller with dark hair; Long’s is blonde.
You get the idea.
Jemison’s No. 3 doubles team has many differences but has enjoyed success because Long and Morton, above all else, are close friends that play unselfishly.
“They have cooperation, chemistry,” Jemison coach Benton Morton said about the North Chilton Advertiser’s Boys Spring Players of the Year. “Neither one of them is trying to outdo the other.”
Long and Andrew Morton, both eighth graders, have gone a combined 92-5 in doubles and singles matches in their two-year varsity careers and this past season led the Panthers to their seventh consecutive state tournament appearance under Benton Morton—and scored all of their team’s points in the tournament.
The two started playing together in the fifth grade. Long had never played before and was invited down to the city’s courts one day after school by Andrew Morton, who participated in the varsity team’s daily practices, though not necessarily by choice.
“Andrew, bless his heart, he had to come out there after school because I was his ride home,” Benton Morton said.
Long tagged along occasionally at first but then regularly by the time he and his doubles partner were sixth graders.
They played their first competitive matches together as seventh graders and haven’t looked back.
“We’re best friends,” Long said about the duo’s success, “so we’re able to communicate out there.”

By Stephen Dawkins

Sade’ Archie isn’t done making history just yet.
A sophomore member of Thorsby’s track and field team, Archie brought the school its first individual state championships in any sport by winning the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash at the 2009 state meet.
Archie won those same two events at this year’s state meet and is the North Chilton Advertiser’s Girls Spring Player of the Year. By improving her starts to races, Archie hopes to achieve even loftier goals.
“She knows exactly what she wants to do,” Thorsby track coach Keith Williams said. “Winning the state was her goal this year. Next, she wants to set the records.”
The goal is within reach. Archie’s times at the state meet April 30-May 1 at Birmingham-Southern College were less than a second off the state records.
Archie ran 100 meters in 12.74 seconds and the 200 in 26.23. The state records are 11.97 in the 100 and 25.4 in the 200.
Williams said he thinks Archie can better those times by improving her starts to races.
Archie doesn’t use starting blocks—an unusual approach—simply because she hasn’t in the past and isn’t comfortable with them. Williams wants to help Archie make her starts as dominant as her finishes.
“When she makes the curve and comes down the stretch, she’s at least 25 meters ahead of everybody else,” Williams said.
Archie has been a member of the Thorsby track team since her seventh grade year, when Ken Copen was coaching the team. She runs against the male athletes in practice for the sake of competition.
Williams said one of Archie’s strengths is her ability to manage meets.
“She knows when she has to race; she knows when to rest and when to start preparing,” Williams said. “She’s invaluable. She’s one of those players you don’t have to worry about being at practice.”
Archie’s success has brought more attention to the track program at a school where more attention is given to football, baseball and even softball.
“Last year, they were surprised,” Archie said about her peers’ reaction to her state championships. “This time they were expecting a repeat.”
Note: Look for the boys player of the year in next week’s edition of North Chilton Advertiser.