Area Sports

Cottage Hill Christian Academy’s Shadarius Toodle is the No. 12 linebacker in the country according to On3’s composite ratings and said his flip from Auburn to Georgia Sunday was based on his chances of making the NFL and being used in an expanded role with the Bulldogs.           By ARTHUR L.…

By JASON BOOTHE CHATOM — Justin Whitsett was named Washington County High School’s permanent head football coach Thursday evening by the Washington County Board of Education. Whitsett was appointed the interim coach last year to finish out the 2024 season following Johnny Carpenter’s sudden resignation last October for unspecified reasons. “I’m blessed and thankful for…

    By JIMMY WIGFIELD Leroy principal Gerald Pace didn’t have to talk to anyone about being the school’s new head football coach after Jason Massey left for the Clarke County job, not even Chan Lowe, whose job interview came in 2023, when he led the Bears to a second straight Class 1A state championship…

      LEROY — Three days after Tabitha Baggett’s death, the scoreboard at Baggett Field was dark and mute but there was no need to wish it could speak of all the things that happened underneath it through the years. No, the only score that mattered that Sunday was kept by the 32 former…

    A column by Jimmy Wigfield God filled out his starting lineup for Thursday and in one of the boxes He wrote, “No. 5, T. Baggett. Position: Heaven.” By the time Chan Lowe learned of Tabitha Baggett’s departure while sitting in an airplane on a tarmac in Atlanta, Baggett had already triumphantly circled the…

      By JIMMY WIGFIELD Tabitha Baggett taught her Leroy softball players more than how to successfully handle the nuances of the sport. Even as her life ebbed away on Thursday, it was obvious she had long ago lit an eternal flame that will be carried for generations by the thousands of people who…

    By JIMMY WIGFIELD SARALAND — Such is life in Saraland that the Spartans can lose one of the state’s all-time greatest quarterbacks and not be concerned that they are about to fall into a ditch full of cottonmouths. K.J. Lacey has gone to Texas’ Forty Acres after three years. Jamison Roberts is now…

    By JIMMY WIGFIELD Jackson’s E.J. Crowell, who is considered the nation’s top running back in the class of 2026, will reveal his college choice on June 26 at a commitment party, he announced on social media. The five-star prospect dramatically moved up the timing of his commitment, which was originally planned for Dec.…

      By JIMMY WIGFIELD OXFORD — Saraland softball coach Donna Sunnycalb felt her team had been dismissed as a state championship contender from the beginning of the season, so clutching the Red Map after losing to Helena 5-3 in Friday’s Class 6A finals shouldn’t have been a massive disappointment. Yet, the tearful, No.…

            By JIMMY WIGFIELD SEMMES — The meaning of Mary G. Montgomery’s 34-21 win over defending Class 4A state champion Jackson Thursday night to conclude spring practice is open to interpretation. The Vikings obviously have better depth, so was the final score misleading? The starters vs. starters first half was…