Lindsey Young

The national pastime is facing a national crisis, the ramifications of which are already being felt in the greater Chattanooga area.

Todd Middleton admits he's not the type to look too far ahead. So when asked following Tuesday's 6-2 Region 7-AAAA win over Heritage about where his Northwest Whitfield High School baseball team stands with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the veteran coach hedged his answer a bit.

It's the time of the prep baseball season when Mike Dunfee usually begins to fine-tune his Gordon Lee High School team for another long postseason run.

There's a saying in football, one popular among coaches, that "Iron Sharpens Iron." In other words, the better the competition faced the better a team or individual may become.

The negative impact on high school athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented.

The start of a new baseball season, or any sports season for that matter, is a time for optimism. Atlanta Braves fans have every reason to feel all shiny as the 2021 season begins. After all, the team is coming off three consecutive National League East titles and has, by nearly every expert analysis, the best of its Brian Snitker-managed squads.

If there was one constant in the five state championship teams for the Dalton High School soccer team, it's been on the defensive end.

Like so many other aspects of life's routine, high school stadiums and playing fields in the Chattanooga area were silenced last spring as the nation began to cope with COVID-19.

Heritage used big performances at the plate by Dylan Bryan and Cannon Stafford, plus 10 shutout innings from pitchers Cade Kiniry and Landen Skeen to beat Southeast Whitfield twice Friday.

If Christian Heritage boys' basketball coach Tyler Watkins decides to watch the video of Saturday night's home loss to Mount Pisgah Christian, he'll likely clench his jaws and fists at what could have been.

When asked if he felt his baseball team was playing at an acceptable level two weeks into the season after Friday's 13-3 home win over Ringgold, Gordon Lee High School coach Mike Dunfee laughed as if the question was rhetorical.

Citing family reasons, LaFayette High School football coach Paul Ellis announced he is stepping down after a three-year run that included leading the Ramblers to their first appearance in the GHSA playoffs in 27 years.

The second round of the GHSA basketball state tournaments begin Friday night with five girls' games involving area teams, with a pair of boys' games set for Saturday.

It was a tough night for most of the area boys' basketball teams competing in the first round of the GHSA state tournament.

Sometimes the on-court offensive production isn't pretty when action heats up in the basketball postseason, but that's not necessarily a concern for the Northwest Whitfield Lady Bruins.

McCallie senior point guard Eric Rivers added to his laundry list of achievements with the Blue Tornado Tuesday night.

When Howard basketball coach James Talley talks about Kerrick Thorne's incredible growth he isn't referring to the senior post's 6-foot-6 height.

With a pedigree for putting its skill position players in the best spots to make big plays, the University of Memphis looks to be a perfect fit for McCallie's Eric Rivers.

Longtime assistant coach and former player Kit Carpenter will be the next head football coach at Dalton High School after the Dalton Board of Education approved the hiring at a specially-called meeting Tuesday at the school.

Howard defeated Tyner Saturday in a key District 6-AA boys' basketball game, splitting the regular season two-game set and reinforcing the fact the two longtime rivals are the league's teams to beat in the upcoming district tournament.