MURPHY
Youth ball on Saturday
The Mountain Youth Dizzy Dean season starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at Konehete Veterans Park.
This year’s opening day is dedicated to the late Ethan Robert Chance Neal of Andrews, who worked with the Cherokee County Recreation Department and Mountain Youth Dizzy Dean each year. His family will throw out the first pitch Saturday to begin the season.
Mountain Youth Dizzy Dean President Jamie Fowler said, “Ethan would be my run boy on Saturdays. He would come out sometimes 6 a.m. if the fields were wet and needed work … but he was always the first one by my side. He would be leaf blowing the water, putting the quick dry on the fields, lining the fields, cleaning the bathrooms, but he never did it without smiling.
“He was polite, he was generous, he was respectful, he was responsible. Every time I was near him, he was just a little light. He loved the game of ball.”
There are teams within the league that span Cherokee and Graham counties, as well as a team in Copper Basin, Tenn. The league has team baseball and softball teams in the ages 8 and under, 10U and 12U age groups, as well as 6U tee ball.
MARBLE
Parker was near perfect
Andrews high and middle schools competed in the Far West Shootout at the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Range on March 2.
Boone Parker, a junior at Andrews, shot “the best score I’ve ever seen in 10 years,” coach Brandon West said.
Parker competed in the archery, rifle and shotgun shooting events. He was the overall winner out of six teams with an overall score of 598 out of 600 possible points for the three events. He shot a perfect score in archery and shotgun. He had a score of 198/200 in rifle. He made the shoot-off in shotgun, plus won individual in the archery and rifle category.
Andrews Middle placed second in archery.
The next competition is Saturday at the regional tournament in Polk County, where the teams can earn a spot in the state tournament.
CULLOWHEE
Track teams at Kickoff
The Eagles and Jaguars track teams traveled to Western Carolina University in Cullowee to start their season at the WNC Kickoff on Thursday.
Tri-County Early College had four top-10 finishes. On the boys side, Sebastian Clevez finished fifth in the 400-meter dash, and the boys 4x800m relay finished 10th.
On the girls side, Fern Crayton finished ninth in the 400m run and 10th in the 800m run. The girls 4x400m relay placed 10th.
For Hiwassee Dam, Ethan Russell placed sixth in the 1,600m run and seventh in the 800m run.
MURPHY
Benefit fish tournament
The Darrell Beaver benefit fishing tournament will be held Saturday at the Hanging Dog Boat Ramp on Hiwassee Lake. The tournament will run from sun up to 3 p.m.
Blast off will be in the order of sign up. Two people per boat unless a child is under age 13, and life
jackets must be worn at blast off.
All bait is allowed, including lures, minnows and worms. There is a five-fish limit and a 14-inch minimum.
Lunch will be provided and prizes will be given away, with all proceeds going to the Beaver family.
Details: Call Jake at 423-241-7532 or Hunter at 828-734-2980.
MURPHY
TCEC girls soccer wins
After two straight winless seasons, the Tri-County Early College women’s soccer team opened the season with a 2-0 win against Blue Ridge on Thursday. Both TCEC goals were scored by Jasmine Tran.
On Monday, TCEC took on the Murphy Bulldogs at Murphy High School, where both teams play their home games.
TCEC lost to Murphy Monday night 6-0.
MURPHY
Athletes on second team
Basketball seniors Cam Rattler from Andrews and Dominick Rummler from Murphy were named to the District 12 second team over the weekend.
The Smoky Mountain Conference awards are voted on by the coaches. All-Conference awards will be announced once all teams have completed their season. The only team remaining in the playoffs is the Cherokee Lady Braves.
Compiled by Sports Editor Cannon Crompton.