ATHENS CHRISTIAN BASEBALL

Spring Records:

The 2016 Athens Christian baseball season has not started. Their season opener will start Tuesday Feb. 16 at Jackson County.

Last Season Standings:

The Eagles went 15-11 overall last season under head coach Allen Osborne. In the region 8A the Eagles went 9-7. At Athens Christian home field the eagles went 9-2, on the road; the Eagles were 6-9.

Key Games and Tournaments:

The Eagles finished their 2015 season ranked fourth in the region 8A division. The Eagles will start there season playing in the Round Robin Tournament held at Athens Christian on Feb. 19 against Brookstone and Feb. 20 against Jefferson.

The Eagles happen to have a calm schedule in the beginning of the season playing teams ranked underneath. The Eagles will have a major series towards the end of the season with top-ranked Hebron (14-2 region, 24-11 Overall) who was ranked No. 1 of the region 8A division on March 31 at home and April 1 at Hebron. A couple weeks later the Eagles will be playing another hard series against No. 2 Providence Christian Academy (14-2 region, 22-4 overall.)

The 2015 season for the Eagles came out to be what they expected. The team finished 9-7 of the region 8A division, and went 15-11 overall, ranking them fourth in 8A division and ranked 132 overall in Georgia.

Last Season:

The Eagles are going to need to step up the playing abilities this season to beat No. 1 Hebron. After last season’s disappointment losing to Hebron 5-4 at home, right before playoffs and then losing two straight games in a row against Eagle’s Landing Christina Academy

There was one injury that occurred last season. Starting pitcher Austin Turgeon was out do to a broken his finger on his right hand mid-season. Turgeon returned at the end of the season helping the Eagles get back on track.

Coaches Tenure:

Allen Osborne: Head Coach, Fourth Season.

Jeff Griffith: Assistant Coach

Jake Westbrook: Assistant Coach, Second Season.

Lee Naylor: Assistant Coach

Championship History: NA

Key Players This Season:

Junior Pathel (Infielder): Junior Junior Pathel will be returning this season looking to increase his batting average from last season. Pathel with a batting average of .449 with 17 RBIs, 31 runs, and having 26 game appearances last season.
Andrew Hayes (Utility): the Junior Andre Hayes will be returning this season ready to lead the eagles in batting averages with Hit .398 with 33 hits, 22 RBIs, and 23 runs last season.

Key Players Last Season:

Austin Turgeon (Infielder): Turgeon was a key player last season for the Eagles. Hit .553 with 39 RBIs, 27 runs and six homeruns. Also had a pitching mark of 2-4 and 11 appearances of a 2.38 ERA and 53 Strikeouts.
Andrew Hayes (Utility): Hayes was also another key player for the Eagles Hit .398 with 33 hits, 22 RBIs, and 23 runs.

Key Statistics This Season:

Athens Christian Eagles have not played any games yet this season that provides any of the 2016 season statistics.

Key Statistics Last Season:

Austin Turgeon Lead the Eagles in stats: Senior Austin Turgeon led the Eagles in stats, after being injured and missing a couple weeks, Turgeon played a total of 26 games, with a Hit .553 and fielding average of .970 of the 2015 season.
The Eagles total average of the 2015 season. The Eagles had a batting average of .338, with a total of a 169 runs. An ERA of 2.79 and a fielding percentage of .937

Big Storylines This Season: NA

Big Storylines Last Season:

Athens Banner-Herald: Athens Christian Baseball Thriving Under Osbornes Tutelage.
Athens Banner-Herald: Athens Christian Hires Former MLB Pitcher Westbrook
Athens Banner-Herald: Sit Back and Watch ‘Austin Turgeon Show’

BEAT BLOG REPORT 1: REGION 8A ATHENS CHRISTIAN BASEBALL

Coach Allen Osborne Interview

J) How long have you been the head coach for Athens Christian?

O) This is my third season here coaching. I was an assistant coach and a recruiter at UGA for several years before moving.

J) From being a coach at the college level to now coaching at a high school level, what were the challenges and changes in your coaching philosophy?

O) It was more of teaching the game. We had to teach it from the ground up. We get kids who don’t truly know how to play the game. We have to teach them how to go from gripping the ball to learning how to hit and throw the ball. It has been good to me; I get to teach kids how to play baseball from the ground up. Obviously at the college level you don’t need to necessarily teach that. You got to coach them up. It’s been a good change and I am blessed to teach these kids.

J) Last season you got coach Westbrook as an assistant coach. How has he helped this team and how do the players look up to him as a coach?

O) Westbrook is a great friend of mine; he is a world serious champ and an all-star. He gets great credibility from the players. When he says something, everybody listens. He coaches pitchers and basically coaches players from the ground up also. He tells the pitchers how to grip the ball in different ways and to look for signals. The guys have been really respectful. He has done a tremendous job with this team.

J) With a young team and only having two seniors, what would you say your expectations are for this season compared to the last two years you coached?

O) We won 25 games my first year coaching and 18 last year. This year if we can squeak into the playoffs, that means we had a great year. We are going to have three freshmen playing infield, four freshmen on the mound, our senior first baseman who is coming back from an arm injury; we also have a junior playing behind the plate that hasn’t experienced much of his position. It will be a learning experience for them, it will be just learning on the job and I believe they can do it.

J) What positions are the strongest and what can be improved?

O) My freshman infielders are very talented but they are young. They are 14 years old. My catcher is a leader. My first baseman is a leader and is the hardest worker. He works very hard and does a great job. We are going to be solid. The Center fielder is really good. My left hander is my right fielder but is banged up right now and is rehabbing. My left fielder is very athletic so I am moving him to second base, but he is going to have to play both positions this season. We are talented, but we lack experience. I believe we will make it through.

J) I hear you have several athletes on the team that play multiple sports.

O) Yes, we have quite a few of them. Four of my out fielders are multi-sport athletes and three of my infielders are multi-sport athletes. We try to spread the wealth and I have no problem with that.

J) As a college coach and a high school coach you probably have experienced it a lot. What is your opinion towards athletes who play multi-sports? Does it take effect in injury? Does it take more effect on changing their mind perception?

O)No I don’t necessarily worry about injury; I think it helps them to become a little bit tougher. Obviously, when you get the players back onto the field during baseball season you got to get them into back shape with working different muscles and a different mentality. The difficult part is you cannot train them year around, so they need to learn how to get back into their baseball atmosphere. They do a good job once they get back on track.

Beat Report 2:

Benefits of Multi-Sport vs Single-Sport Athletes

Benefits of Mult-Sport vs Single-Sport Athletes

The number of multi-sports athletes has decreased in the past couple of decades. The main focus now for youth and high school sports is being a single-sport athlete. The current belief by young athletes and their family, is that specialization can achieve there athleticism and fundamental skills when focusing on a single-sport. It is believed to say that being a multi-sport athlete can cause great harm to your body, performance and mind. Playing more than one sport can cause health related issues, injuries, lack of focus and burnout of your physical activity. All these facts about being a multi-sport athlete are false. It happens to be the other way around.

Studies have shown that becoming a single-sport athlete can cause greater harm to your body, physical performance and mind. There are three major key elements that prove that being a single-sport athlete causes more harm than a multi-sport athlete. Ohio State researchers show that being a single-sport athlete has an effect of adult inactivity; that athletes who have committed to playing a single sport at an early childhood of 14 years old are the first ones to quit and suffer a “lifetime of consequences.” The second element that causes an effect on athletes is the overuse injuries; a study by researchers of Ohio state find that an athlete specializing in a single-sport that 70% to 93% are more likely to get over use injuries than multi-sport athletes. This is because single-sport athletes are constantly working the same muscle groups, causing more tension and stress. A last major key element is that single-sport athletes will tend to burnout quicker, due to stress, lack of motivation, and decreased enjoyment.

Based on research, there are more benefits for the multi-sport athletes. Major elements include, better overall athletes, they are more social, smarter, creative players and better teammates. There is less of a chance to burnout because of expanded interest. There are fewer injuries due to over use and stress of tendons and muscles.

With my experience playing sports from a very young age and being a multi-sport athlete, I witnessed a lot friends and fellow teammates who had made the commitment of being a single- sport player and eventually just quit out of injuries and frustration. My experience was much more positive. I become a better athlete and teammate.

There are many star athletes in the big leagues that come from Playing Multiple sports. The famous Bo Jackson, a multi-sport athlete who played both football and baseball in high school, college and the pro-level. John Elway who was also a multi-sport athlete, was a star pitcher and quarterback for Stanford. A well-known athlete Deion Sanders was a baseball, football and track star at Florida State and pursued his professional career playing baseball and football.

Beat Blog: Three Trend Stories in High School Sports

Three high school trend stories that are related to my Beat

High School Trend Stories

1) There are three trends that work around multi-sport athletes’ vs single sport athletes at the high school level. The first trend I found really interesting, was the article: The Psychological and Social Benefits of playing True Sports, published in TrueSport. We learn based on research that as a youth, playing sports provides a positive role in youth development. It plays a huge part in health and fitness benefits, academic learning, social skills, boost of self-esteem, and behavioral skills. Based off many studies, sports have a large effect on the five “C’s”, competence, confidence, connections, character, and caring. As a youth athlete, all these benefits will continue to play a huge role in the high school and college level.

2) Another trend related to the first one was an article written in Stack, focuses on three benefits of being a young multisport athlete. This article is written by a softball coach that has experienced and witnesses these positives of double sport athletes, and the negatives of single sport athletes. Today, the youth and teenagers are the specialization in sports. There are many great benefits that come from being a multisport compared to a being a singles sports athlete. In fact being a multisport athlete at a young age builds better muscle fatigue, because when you are playing more than one sport you are working different muscles and from this it builds and makes muscles stronger. Compared to a single sport you are working the same muscle group over-and-over that leads to a higher chance of injury. Also being a single sport athlete can prevent mental and emotional burnout. This is important because many kids, especially in high school, focus on one sport because in their own mind they want to be successful with it and move up to the next level. By doing this it causes stress, boredom, frustration and a burnout where they don’t want to play that one sport anymore. Coach provides an example of one of his players that was wanting to quite because of these reasons.

3) For the last trend, it relates to both the first and second trends. In The Fanvsn there is an article called the Vanishing of the Three-Sport Athlete, it discusses how high schools are showing a decline on three sport athletes do to exhaustion and mental focus. In studies, they mention how being a multisport athlete has a lot benefits, but sometimes playing multiple sports can have negative approaches in the high school level. In high school, the level of competitiveness in sports is greater than youth sports, not only are kids focusing on sports they are also focusing on their academics. It affects the athlete because they are exhausted which effects them mentally and physically. Because athletes are focusing more on their sports they are not focusing on their academics that affect their studies. Other schools have mentioned that an athlete’s time is crunched when playing three sports. Athletes want to develop better skills in their sports so they can move on to play in the college level. Playing three sports they cannot develop greater skills because they are focusing on to many different techniques. Eliminating one sport will allow that athlete to have more time to focus and progress their skills.

BEAT REPORT 1: Coach Allen Osborne Interview

Multi-Platform: Athnens Christian High Shool Beat

Weekly High School Beat Blog for Athens Christian Athletics

Five Topics for High School Sports

The school I am covering for my beat is Athens Christian School. I have found many links within the athletics program which are both interesting and are relatively relevant to Athens Christian basketball team and University of Georgia basketball player William “Turtle” Jackson.

The articles and links I have found are related mostly to Athens Christian Basketball program and athletes. The first article happens to be on former head coach, Ron Link. Coach Link, Coach of the Year recipient over a dozen times, died of ALS in May of 2015. He had over 45 years of coaching experience, including Athens-Clarke County School Cedar Shoals.

The 67 year old basketball coach was at the school for over eight years and left a lasting impression on his players. Nine of the players he coached at Athens Christian School were named Athens Banner-Herald’s Player of the Year. Link mentored and coached William ”Turtle” Jackson, freshman guard for the UGA basketball team.

Former head coach Ron Link was succeeded by Cooper Dyer after Link’s passing in May 2015. Dyer has over 25 years of basketball experience, including private school Athens Academy. Players and basketball assistance, including Terrance Crawford, were skeptical of the new head basketball coach.

Dyer came into the season with a fresh team, with nine seniors graduating the season prior. Regardless of the new starting lineup and new head coach, Dyer is still confident that the team can make it to regions this season. Dyer, currently 68, plans on ending his coaching career at Athens Christian School.

William “Turtle” Jackson originally committed to UConn but then later decommitted after the head coach announced his resignation. Days after decommitting from UConn, Howard committed to University of Georgia where Jackson brings large fan base to basketball games. He is both a popular player within the University and within the Athens community.

Another topic I would like to cover for my high school beat would be on athletes who play multiple sports for Athens Christian. Because of the specialization of athletes, it is very rare to see athletes play more than one sport. Most athletes today do not play more than one sport do to provention of injuries.

William Jackson is not the only familiar name within Athens Christian School. Richard Jibunor, a 6-3 sophomore for the school plays multiple for Athens Christian. Jibunor has already gotten the attention from collegiate coaches after attending a football camp last summer and played all of the 2015 season. When it is off season for football, you will see the student athlete playing for ACS basketball team. Jibunor, from Nigeria, is a stand-out player for the school’s basketball team.