McCallie's Winston Whitener commits to Lee University

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

McCallie School senior pitcher and first baseman Winston Whitener has committed to continue his baseball career at Lee University. He plans to make that official in the NCAA early signing period starting Nov. 13. "I've seen Winston play since he was 9, and he's always stood out because of his size and ability," McCallie coach Greg Payne said. "He can absolutely dominate a game from the mound when he's on. ... We are looking forward to a big year out of Winston." Whitener plays club ball for the Chattanooga Cyclones, and Cyclones general manager George Koontz said, "Winston has progressively gotten better for us. He has a huge upside. When he finally stops growing and settles into his body, I think he can be a consistent upper-80s [mph pitcher]. He's got good late movement on his ball, and his breaking ball has really improved. He's also hit well for us and is starting to pull it with authority."

Golf

• Middle Tennessee State sophomore Avery George from Walker Valley High School and homegrown University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Jordan Britt are first and second individually in the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate golf tournament at Greenville (N.C.) Country Club at 142 and 143 after Monday's 36 holes. George shot a 5-under-par 67 in the second round. East Tennessee State leads the 16 teams with a 596 total (288-308), with host East Carolina at 597, MTSU at 598 and Old Dominion at 599. UTC is ninth at 610 with Emily McLennan and Isabella Loza tied for 40th at 156.

• Lee University's Hunter Vest opened with a 69 and was one of three Flames scorching the Paris Landing course at Buchanan, Tenn., with 67s in the Skyhawk Classic. Lee leads the 16-team field with a 556, four shots better than host UT-Martin and 14 ahead of third-place Southern Illinois with one round to go. Vest is tied for first place, and teammates Adam Wright and Matt Emery are fourth and tied for sixth at 138 and 140 with Taylor Davis at 143 and Shea Sylvester at 146. "It was just a great day, the kind every coach waits for," Flames coach John Maupin said in a school release. "We had five guys putting it together, and we could only count four of the scores."

• Sewanee's Emily Javadi from Chattanooga and Baylor School won the BSC Southern Shootout women's golf tournament in a playoff Monday with Birmingham-Southern's Sarah Dolmovich from Signal Mountain. They shot 147 for 36 holes. Lee University and Lee's Courtney Shelton led after Sunday's round but wound up third and a tie for fourth, respectively, at 611 and 149. Rhodes won the 12-team event with a playoff against University of the Cumberlands after each wound up at 603. Lee's Bernadette Little was ninth at 151 and teammates Madison Alexander and Cori Burns tied for 19th and 21st at 155 and 156, and Jenna King from 11th-place Sewanee shared 13th at 154. Sixth-place BSC's Kaleigh Toole from Baylor tied for 25th at 158.

• Former Baylor golfer Blake Maum shot a 4-under-par 68 to earn medalist honors and help his Gardner-Webb team win the 18-hole Patriot Intercollegiate/Conference Preview at Patriot Golf Club at Grand Harbor in South Carolina on Saturday. The freshman won by two shots.

• In addition to the 10 golfers with Hamilton County ties profiled in Sunday's sports section, Hunter Green from Rhea County will begin PGA qualifying soon for a potential 2014 spot on the Web.com Tour. The former Middle Tennessee State University standout -- a conference golfer of the year who won five college tournaments -- will join Adam Mitchell, Thomas Smith and Ryan Thornton in Oct. 22-25 qualifying at Callaway Gardens. Green made the top 50 in the NGA Tour money list despite playing only six tournaments.

Tennis

• Wesley Cash of Chattanooga is in the singles quarterfinals after beating 5 seed Jeff Davis of Treasure Island, Fla., 6-1, 6-4 Monday at the USTA National Men's 55 Clay Court Championships at Savannah, Ga. Cash, a 9 seed in singles, and Mark Vines of Lynchburg, Va., are scheduled to begin doubles play today as the top seeds, but No. 2 Vines defaulted his singles match Monday to David Fitzgerald of Maryland because of injury and is uncertain for today. Cash faces Fitzgerald, a 12 seed, this morning.

Soccer

• South Carolina transfer Snoopy Davidson scored both goals on corner-kick plays as Covenant College won 2-0 in men's soccer Monday evening at Emory & Henry. Noah Wiersema and Matt Hudnut kicked the corners that led to the scores in the 22nd and 64th minutes -- Garrison Dale getting the assist on the first with a head flick -- and Shuler Polk made seven saves for the Scots (7-4-2).

• Sewanee senior Ellie Quinn was the Southern Athletic Association women's soccer defensive player of the week for her part in the Tigers' five-game run of shutout wins. They outscored their foes 21-0 in that stretch.

Volleyball

• Covenant College senior Estes Carlson was the USA South volleyball defensive player of the week, and Sewanee's Jamie Sue Wilson was the Southern Athletic Association's offensive player of the week. Wilson had 12 and 17 kills on .458 and .300 attack percentages in two weekend SAA wins; she leads the Tigers with 163 kills. Carlson had 50 digs in three matches, including 27 against Averett.

Running

• Tennessee Wesleyan had three top-25 individuals and finished third out of 26 men's teams in the Greater Louisville Classic non-Division I cross country race last Saturday. TWC's Roderick Bowman and Arnold Mutuse were 14th and 16th in the 8-kilometer event, and teammate Joseph Mullen was 23rd. The Lady Bullldogs' Robbiccaa Williams and Leah Chance were 24th and 27th in the 5k women's silver race.

• Covenant was first out of seven teams and second out of nine men's teams in the Maryville College Invitational cross country meet last Saturday. The Lady Scots' Beth Burgess and Spookie Eaves were first and second in the women's race, and teammates Esther Anderson, Anna Hankal and Grace Bodron were fourth, sixth and ninth. Covenant's Stephen Dillon was eighth among the men with Matt Gorter 12th and Zach Smith 17th.