The Cleburne News - 05/15/14

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Serving Cleburne County since 1906 CCHS & RANBURNE I SPORTS 4

Cleburne County Voter’s List inside

See local scores from the week’s softball games.

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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Dreams do come true RIP DONOVAN

News Sports Correspondent

One minute you’re in the batting cage with manager Dave Miley working on bunting – which is pretty strange because International League pitchers don’t hit – and the next minute you realize that Miley has you in the cage working on getting bunts down because you’re headed to New York and may be the starting pitcher for the New York Yankees today when the Yanks and inter-league rivals the New York Mets finish their ‘Subway Series’ in the Mets home park, where pitchers Whitley do hit. That’s how Ranburne native Chase Whitley found out

Tuesday he was about to become a major league baseball player. “Miley took me into the batting cage and gave me a couple of balls to bunt and he told me right before I started doing that,” Whitley said via telephone from his New York City hotel room late Tuesday night. “It was definitely surreal. It was awesome.” Whitley and his Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders teammates were in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for a series with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He and wife Brooklyn gathered up their things, hopped in their car and made the two-hour drive to the Big Apple. Whitley, who was drafted by the Yankees in the 2010 June draft, was used as a relief pitcher until the very end of the 2013 season at Scranton when the RailRiders starting staff was so depleted he became a starter by necessity, and pitched very effectively. Still, he went to spring training this year as a reliever. He was chosen as one of the minor leaguers to make the trip to Panama when the

big club Yankees honored retired closer Mariano Rivera with a Legends Series in his native country and pitched in relief in one of the games. Two days after returning from Panama, Whitley moved from the major league spring camp across the street to the minor league complex. There the big right-hander began the process of preparing his are to pitch as a starter. In his last five appearances for Scranton, dating back to April 17, the former Southern Union and Troy standout has pitched 21.2 innings with 27 strikeouts. He has given up 12 hits, five walks and just three runs. All three runs were earned and came at the end of a four-inning relief appearance on April 29. The Yankees have placed starter CC Sabathia on the 15-day disabled list and must fill his slot in their rotation today. Whitley was scheduled to start for Scranton n See Whitley page 4

American Idol winner to headline concert this weekend in Heflin LAURA CAMPER

news@cleburnenews.com

The Rajun Cajun Festival, a fundraiser that will help build a new fire station in Hollis, will kick off Saturday with some entertainment that isn’t usually available in Cleburne County. Taylor Hicks, an American Idol winner and Alabama native, is set to take the stage at Ross Mountain Adventure as headlining act for the festival. Opening act for the festival, Ryan Robertson, said he’s excited to be a part of a music line-up including Hicks. “The best part is, we don’t have to set up for this,” Robertson said. “We have a professional company set up for this, just like the big stars.” And the equipment will be of a professional quality his band doesn’t usually get to use, Robertson said. “It’s fun for us to get to play loud with big sound gear,” Robertson said. Hollis Volunteer Fire and Rescue organized the festival to help raise about $1.3 million to build a new facility. The department has outgrown its current facility and wants to locate in a more central location in its service area, said Chief Dan Hopkins.

The department has tickets for sale at WM Grocery on Almon Street in Heflin or at www.rajuncajunfestival.com through Friday. On Saturday tickets will only be available at the gate. VIP tickets are available for $100 and general admission tickets are $20. On Saturday, the tickets will be $25. The tickets provide admission to a whole day of music beginning with the Ryan Robertson Band at 12:30 p.m., Hopkins said. Hicks will sing at 8:30 p.m. The festival will also offer games and a hot air balloon, Hopkins said. Food vendors will be serving up Cajun favorites including crawfish, shrimp, red beans and rice, gumbo and etouffee, Hopkins said. There will also be a selection of traditional fair foods including ribeye sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers, he said. Adult beverages will be available including beer, hurricane drinks, which is a New Orleans specialty, and a special drink called the Rajun Cajun, Hopkins said. The Rajun Cajun Festival will be at Ross Mountain Adventures at 3825 Alabama 9 in Heflin. Gates will open at noon on Saturday. Staff writer Laura Camper 256463-2872 in Heflin and 256-2353545 in Anniston. On Twitter @ LCamper_Star.

For news stories call Laura at 256.463.2872 + Matthew 22:37 Don’t wait till there is a problem with your tank

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Lady Tigers are state bound RIP DONOVAN

News Sports Correspondent

Winning your first two games in an eightteam double elimination tournament makes life a lot easier at the end of the day. Cleburne County head softball coach Ron Ervin said he and his players talked about the importance of winning early prior to last weekend’s North Central regional tournament in Tuscaloosa. “If you stay in that winner’s bracket, good things can happen for you,” Ervin said Wednesday evening. “If you get in the loser’s

bracket, it’s a long day. We stayed on the top of the bracket and things worked out good for us being on top.” Falling into the elimination bracket Saturday morning after losing their third game of the tournament, Cleburne County only had to play one more game to advance to the Class 4A state tournament. That final game turned out to be an eleven-inning affair but the Tigers were the fresher team and eventually defeated Oneonta 8-3 with five runs in the top of the eleventh. Onen See Tigers page 4

INDEX: Opinion/Editorial . . . . . . 3 Church Sponsor . . . . . . . 6 Sports . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 4

Heflin Highlights. . . . . . 2 Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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256-463-2872 P.O. Box 6, Heflin, AL 36264 FAX: 256-463-7127

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