Spring sports will heat up as spring break comes to an end
Published 4:58 pm Friday, April 1, 2022
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As local students will begin filtering back into their respective school hallways on Monday after enjoying a week off for spring break, it can only mean one thing for spring sports athletes as they enter a grueling six-week run to the end of the season and tournament play determines who has a shot at going to the Spring Fling in Murfreesboro.
Some teams decided to spend a little time from the county during the break with the Elizabethton Cyclone softball and baseball teams traveling to South Carolina and North Carolina to play some solid teams to prepare for their respective conference runs.
The Hampton Bulldog baseball team also took a perfect 6-0 record to the Smoky Bear Classic where they absorbed their first loss on Thursday to Clarksville Academy who soundly defeated the ‘Dogs 18-1.
Now, the teams will be looking to get back to the grind of playing more familiar teams in their conferences in an attempt to gain a good seed heading into district tournaments.
The question for coaches who haven’t played much this week will be how do you refocus your team to get back to business.
Elizabethton head soccer coach Bill McClay said that the toughest part of taking the week off is when his Cyclone team returns to school and plays two and possibly three games a week for the rest of the season with not much opportunities for practice.
For some teams, the break was much needed as some athletes came straight out of basketball into action on the baseball and softball diamonds without much time to recoup.
That’s the joy of being youthful and having energy unlike some of us older sports reporters whose job it is to cover these young ones.
It will be exciting to see how Carter County teams respond and battle to qualify for post-season play. It’s already been a great early season, especially for the Hampton Lady Bulldog softball team who has already put three wins under their belts after going three years without even winning one.
That program is up and coming and the remaining 2022 season should be fun to watch.
Right now what these teams need is for each respective community to come out and fully support them. It’s easy to support football and basketball but these spring sports athletes who play tennis, participate in track and field, take the pitch in soccer, and kick up the dirt on the baseball and softball diamonds deserve the same support.
