Ringgold High School baseball coach Brent Tucker was named the Class AAA state coach of the year and Tigers pitcher Matthew Crownover was honored as player of the year by the Georgia Dugout Club for their 2010 season accomplishments. Calhoun pitcher Carter Harrison, who won 16 games and batted over .450, was named the Class AA player of the year for the state champion Yellow Jackets. Crownover was 12-4, including 5-1 in the playoffs, and allowed only eight earned runs and strick out 177 in 94 innings pitched as the Tigers won 28 games and finished runner-up to Columbus in the state finals.
Soccer
* GREENVILLE, S.C. – Despite the third straight double-digit saves game for University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman goalkeeper Taylor Mangrum, Furman defeated the Lady Mocs 1-0 in Southern Conference women’s soccer Thursday. The Paladins (8-3-2, 3-0-2) outshot UTC (3-10, 1-4) 25-7 with a 14-4 edge in shots on goal, but only Rachel Shelnutt managed to score, converting a Graham Marchman assist 3:39 into the second half. “Taylor’s got good hands,” UTC coach J.D. Kyzer said. “She’s mentally strong and is doing a good job.” Kyzer praised Mangrum and her teammates for not allowing an early score, and he noted that “Furman is a very talented team.”
* Two players from Sweewater, Melissa Morris and Morgan Gruenenfelder, scored goals three minutes apart early in the second half as Carson-Newman won 2-1 in women’s soccer Wednesday at Lincoln Memorial. Morris, a defender, headed in a corner kick to tie the score; Gruenenfelder scored unassisted on a 20-yard shot.
Golf
* JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Former Signal Mountain resident and Baylor School and University of Georgia standout Michael Morrison of Roswell, Ga., tied for second with an even-par 70 in stroke-play qualifying Thursday at the Atlanta Amateur Match Play Championship at Rivermont Golf and Country Club. Three-time defending champion David Noll Jr. of Dalton joins Morrison and 30 others in action as match play begins today.
* The UTC men’s and women’s golf teams open play today in tournaments in Macon, Ga., and Knoxville, respectively. The male Mocs will be one of 12 teams in the 15-school field at the 54-hole Brickyard Collegiate Championship that took part in NCAA regional play last year. One of those is third-ranked Augusta State, the Brickyard and national defending champion. The female Mocs will be among 11 of 15 teams in the Mercedes-Benz Championship at Holston Hills Country Club that reached NCAA regionals in 2009. Four of the 15 reached the overall nationals.
Softball
* The Black Softball Circuit is playing one of its fall tournaments this weekend at Chattanooga’s Summit of Softball, and 72 teams are entered in coed, men’s 40-over and men’s recreational divisions. More than 60 are from out of state. The BSC is based in Tallahassee, Fla. Tonight from 8 to 11 at the complex near Collegedale, there will be a players’ get-together, a “Battle of the States” home run derby and a Florida-vs.-Michigan stars exhibition game. Games will start at 8 a.m. and run through 11 p.m. Saturday. Sunday’s schedule is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.