Effingham Sports Digest Summer 2016 by JDelSUR Marketing Group

Sports Digest9 SUMMER 2016

Robbie Collum

The Shamrock Kid

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Katrice Williams She is a mother of two. She graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. After spending a fulfilling amount of time as an at-home mom, she decided to pursue an area of personal attractionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;writing.

Cindy Burbage is a native of Richmond Hill. She began writing in college and took a hiatus to raise her four beautiful children. Cindy enjoys traveling and is always ready for a road trip. She believes that faith is greater than fear.

Tonya Chester Perry is a married mother of two children. She is a full time photographer with a studio based in Rincon, Ga. She graduated from college with a degree in business. She is originally from Louisiana, after living in different states, she now resides in Effingham County. She is a Maternity, Newborn, Child, High School Senior and Wedding Photographer. When not working she enjoys spending her time with her husband & kids.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Write to us and tell us what you think. Effingham Sports Digest welcomes all letters to the editor. Please send all letters via email to Jeff Whitten at jeff@idpmagazines.com, or mail letters to P.O. Box 1742, Rincon, GA 31326. Letters to the editor must have a phone number and name of contact. Phone numbers will not be published. ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS Effingham Sports Digest welcomes story ideas from our readers. If you have a story idea, or photo essay you would like to share, please submit ideas and material by emailing Jeff Whitten at jeff@idpmagazines.com Stories or ideas for stories must be submitted via email, and we only feature people, places and things in Effingham County.

04 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

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Effingham Sports Digest | FALL 2015 05

What’s Inside

Robbie Collum: The Shamrock Kid

Tye Williams: Former ECHS Star, Current USC Star

JB Wendelken’s Chasing His Dream

Ben Brennan: A Family Game

Daniel Blackmore: Exceling In The Sport Of Paintball

Marie Fogle: Coaching The Georgia Southern Eagles

Ebenezer Middle School Girls Soccer: Four Championship Games in Four Seasons

Effingham County Recreation and Parks

06 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

ROBBIE COLLUM

The Shamrock Kid

story by jeff whitten photos by jeff whitten and provided by robbie collum

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 07

irst off, know that in MMA circles Robbie Collum is also known as the Shamrock Kid. Then know that he isn’t just playing around with this MMA fad. It’s serious business. Collum, a former state champion wrestler at South Effingham High School, is now 7-1 as an amateur Mixed Martial Arts fighter and has an eye on turning pro as early in 2017 as he can. Here’s how he put it: “I’m turning pro, and I’m looking for it to happen sometime between January and March,” Collum said. “Once you go pro, there’s no going back.” No turning back. And that’s just the next step. By 2019, Collum, who is managed by his dad Rob, wants to be in the UFC - which is short for Ultimate Fighting Championship. Perhaps he’ll even get a shot at his favorite fighter, Conor McGregor, the current UFC title-holder at 145 pounds. However, Collum, though clearly an athlete, doesn’t look like he could put you in the hospital in the time it takes you to turn around. He doesn’t even look like he might want to. Instead, he’s 5-foot-8, competes at 145 pounds, and seems about as laid back as it gets for someone who’s got his own team. And then the Sharmock Kid gets in the cage and something switches on, a competitiveness and drive to be the best he can be. It led him to earn the starting quarterback job for the Mustangs back in high school. It’s carried him to a 198-15 record as a high school wrestler, a mark which included the state title, a second place finish, and two third place showings. It took Collum to a college scholarship at Shorter and Brewton Parker and a host of conference honors. It’s led him to where he is now, being the Shamrock Kid. And the Shamrock Kid is driven, even when he almost wasn’t. “After college, I got tired of wrestling and cutting weight, and I decided

08 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

I wasn’t going to compete any more,” Collum said. “Then I got bored, and I got fat.” So he decided he’d give MMA a try because it looked fun. The sport is a mixture of martial arts, boxing and wrestling; no headgear is worn and only six-ounce gloves pad one’s fists. Amateur fights are three three-minute periods long; championship fights and pro fights are five three-minute periods long. Collum booked a fight, told his dad, and survived his fight. The rest is a timeline of training, fights, wins and one loss, which was a good thing in retrospect because Collum had began to grow a bit cocky. Now he’s staring first at a boxing match June 25 in Columbia, S.C., against Bart Weeks, a former Conflict MMA 145 pound title holder. It’s a tune-up of sorts to help prepare for the big fight July 30 in Charleston against the No. 1 ranked fighter in the southeast, a guy named Chris Teague. It will be interesting because Collum is ranked No. 9 in the southeast, and he and Teague know each other from college wrestling. Teague is one of the few who bested Collum on the mat. Promoted by Conflict MMA, one of the top promoters of amateurs in the Southeast, Collum is one of the most popular fighters with a large support base, along with an established and talented trio of coaches - Brandon Mitchem, Garth Spendiff, and Jamie Day - and a sponsor list that includes Rincon Chevrolet, El Potros, El Real, Alibis, Badcock Furniture, Freeport Transportation, Highland Mechanical, Affordable Concrete, Judgement Day Boxing Gym, Shearouse Motors Inc., USA Eagle MMA, Buddy’s Furniture, Harris Woodworks, Down 2 Earth Irrigation and Landscaping and STI Transport Logistics. Collum appreciates all of his sponsors and his loyal fan-base, which seems to grow every time he takes the ring. The Shamrock Kid is likable, you see. “Team Collum, we’re really a family -

me, dad, my coaches, my sponsors, my friends, and the people who support me,” he said. “We’re family.” But the guy who carries Team Collum into the cage is Robbie himself, who has a day job fixing electric motors (all he needs to get his bachelor’s to become a high school math teacher is to complete a semester of student teaching) and is engaged to Garden City Police Officer Lindsay Buchanan, a pretty girl with a bright smile. The Shamrock Kid is just a regular sort of guy in other ways, too. When he’s able to eat what he wants, without regard to making weight, Collum likes hot wings; and when he’s able to take a break from training, he is happy watching reruns of Sanford and Son, and he seems in that regard stuck somewhere in the 1970s, since his dream car is the Trans Am driven in Smokey and the Bandit. But there’s always the cage looming in the background, the place where more than mettle gets tested. Collum likens MMA to chess, only there’s a chance if you’re not careful a piece can knock you out and take your teeth with it. While there’s a method to all the madness, he

points to a quote from boxing legend Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” “When we train, we always train with the mindset that somebody out there is better than us,” Collum said. “They’re looking to take what I have. Sports is like life, and there are things in this life which will knock you down, the question is are you just going to tap out, or are you going to get back up. MMA is not much different than life in that respect.” Well, not much different than some lives. While most are content being spectators, those who push themselves into an arena are a breed apart, it seems. Collum, whom outside the cage is considered “a real nice laid back kid,” according to some, is such a person. Inside the cage, there’s no intent to injure, either. One simply wants to win, to be better than the other fighter. “It’s definitely an adrenaline rush. It’s a thrill,” said the Shamrock Kid. “Granted, nobody likes getting hit, but that’s part of the art of it: learning how to make people miss and counteract with punches. It’s like a chess game, with blows.”

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 09

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10 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

JB Wendelken

Chasing His Dream

story by jeff whitten photos by jeff whitten and provided by Oakland Athletics

is full name is Jeffrey Benjamin Wendelken, only everybody calls him J.B., just like they have for nearly all of his 24 years on this earth. It’s a good baseball name, sounds like it belongs to someone who can throw a fastball and changeup and curve good enough to get all the way from where he grew up on Nease Road in Effingham County to Major League baseball. But the road from here to there hasn’t been a straight one, nor is Wendelken’s baseball journey over. He had two days with Oakland early in May, but got caught up in a numbers game. Wendelken basically threw too many pitches to keep at a time when the A’s needed pitching, and was sent back down to Nashville, Oakland’s AAA club, to get more experience. He’s there in Nashville now, waiting for his next chance while pitching in relief for the Sounds. They compete in the Pacific Coast League. But Wendelken remains on the A’s 40-man roster, meaning he’s more likely to join the club than other players in the A’s minor-league system. And it’s about where he expected to be at this point after appearing in back-toback games for the A’s on May 8 and May 9. “I expected to be sent down,” Wendelken said. “But this ain’t ending me. I’m not calling it quits after that. I’ll just work hard and wait on my phone call to tell me to come back.” Regardless of when that happens, Wendelken is now the second player from South Effingham High School to play in a Major League game. That he’s with the same team as the first player from SEHS to make it to the bigs, outfielder Josh Reddick, isn’t lost on anyone, least of all Wendelken. But though they hail from the same county, it marked the first time the two had played together on the same team, because Reddick graduat-

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ed in 2005 and Wendelken in 2011. “He was out of (SEHS) before I could even scratch the surface of getting going in middle school,” noted Wendelken, who nevertheless said Reddick has been a great source of encouragement. Both have similar interests, both are from the same neck of the woods and both first went to Middle Georgia College before they were drafted by Boston and then wound up in Oakland. Another coincidence: The Red Sox were the second team Wendelken faced in relief in his short MLB stint. This was on May 9, and Wendelken can talk you through the inning, almost pitch by pitch. “I came in and faced Mookie Betts, a former teammate of mine, and got him to ground out. Then I walked Brock Holt on four pitches, got Xander Bogaerts to fly out to center field.” And then future Hall of Famer David “Big Papi” Ortiz came up to bat. Wendelken gets out front on an 0-2 count, but then Ortiz hits a pop up and it falls in the infield, landing in the infield. “It was possibly one of the more ridiculious infield RBI singles Big Papi ever had,” Wendelken said. He got out of the inning, but knew then his time with Oakland was limited, for now. And he appreciated every second of it. “I wouldn’t change anything in the world. That moment in time set me and my life on the right path. Now I know what I’ve got to do to succeed in the big leagues. And I’m going to do it.” Wendelken, the son of Jeffrey and Penny Wendelken, went to the old Marlow Elementary and South Effingham Middle before he attended South Effingham High Sschool. He started playing baseball at 4, when his parents signed him up for T-ball. He played rec ball and travel ball with the Chain as he grew up and took every chance he got to play. But the sport was never pushed on him. “I remember when we were playing in

Springfield at the Rec Department, I was like 10 or 11 and I was riding with dad in the truck to the gas station to get Gatorade. He asked me if I wanted to take the summer off or keep playing. He didn’t want to push the sport on me, wanted me to make my own decisions. I told him I wanted to keep playing, I never wanted

to take the summer off. Baseball was my summer.” Mainly a catcher in high school, Wendelken didn’t pitch until his sophomore year when then-coach Tony Kirkland converted him into a pitcher. Though Wendelken now throws in the low to mid 90s, he had an arm even then, hitting 85

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 13

mph on the radar gun. “I thought I was amazing,” Wendelken said. When Ron Womack took over, Wendelken “closed a little bit, caught a little bit,” and by his senior year was a starter for the Mustangs. At 6-foot and about 200 pounds, he began to get attention. Colleges and pro scouts came calling, and Wendelken thought he’d get drafted. He didn’t. “It was devastating and set me back a good bit,” Wendelken recalled. “For any young kid coming out of high school thinking it’s going to happen, and it doesn’t, that’s a big disappointment. But life goes on. I decided to go on to college, play my heart out and see what happens.” The next year, 2012, Wendelken was drafted in the 13th rouund by the Red Sox. He worked his way up through the minors from rookie ball to what’ s called “high A,” but in 2013 was traded to Chicago as part of a deal for Major League pitcher Jake Peavy. He got to AAA with Chicago and was considered the club’s No. 23 rated prospect before being traded in December to Oakland and being assigned to Nasvhille. It’s been an adjustment, each step along the way. Wendelken has had to learn new strike zones and is facing better hitters, but he’s adapting and thriving, learning. And while minor league baseball isn’t glamorous and the 140-plus games a year can become a grind, it’s not a bad life. And the fans are great and know baseball, Wendelken said. But it’s all about getting to the big league. Wendelken praises his coaches, men like Carlos Fable, Paul Abbot, Britt Burns, Steve Scarsone, Rick Rodriguez, George Lombard, for what they do. “You’re with these guys six months out of the year, so you’re with them more than you’re with your own family. You learn a lot from these guys, and no one really realizes what these guys actually do for us,” Wendelken said. “Their goal is to make it to the big leagues too, and they want to make it as much as we do.” In his off time, Wendelken goes fish-

14 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

ing. He and teammate Patrick Schuster build fishing poles out of blanks and one day Wendelken might build them to sell. A bass fisherman at heart, he’s learned to appreciate fishing for stripers, a hybrid bass that fight like there’s no tomorrow. He cherishes time spent with parents and his girlfriend Hailee, his sister Anna Helmey and brother-in-law Chris Helmey and nephew Colton, all of whom have believed in Wendelken even when others haven’t. That’s the message he has for youngsters. Believe in yourself. “You’ll have people tell you that you can’t make it and that kind of thing, and a few people have doubted me in my time. So, I think think the most important thing of all I can tell a kid is never listen to the naysayers. Don’t give up on your dreams. I can vouch for that, because for the most part, I never gave up on baseball, and it never gave up on me.” Wendelken points to Reddick, who also urges kids to keep pursuing their goal. “He’ll tell you the same thing. He got cut when he was in middle school, but he didn’t quit baseball and now look at him, he’s got a Gold Glove,” Wendelken said. “That alone should tell you to never give up on your dreams. If you want to be an astronaut, who is there to tell you that you can’t be an astronaut.” Or a major league pitcher. Five favorites with J.B. Wendelken 1. Favorite color: Green. 2. Favorite car: 1967 Shelby Mustang. “I’m a huge fan of that fastback look. 3. Favorite Food: Sushi. “I’ve become a huge sushi fan, raw or cooked. 4. Favorite actress; Natalie Portman. “She’s already a pretty woman, at the same time she’s just awesome. This is going to get me in trouble with my girlfriend.” 5. Favorite sport to play other than baseball: “Definitely hockey. If I could ice skate, me being rough and still a child, I would love that sport.”

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Daniel Blackmore:

EXCELING IN THE SPORT OF PAINTBALL story by jeff whitten

photos provided by daniel blackmore

16 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

pringfield’s Daniel Blackmore may only be 16, but he’s already a man on a mission. That mission is to grow paintball, a sport at which he not only excels, but coaches. “I’m trying to grow the sport, that’s my job out there, trying to get other people into the sport,” Blackmore said. Being the Johnny Appleseed of local paintball seems natural for Blackmore, a cheerful kid who likes all music except “opera and jazz,” and plays lacrosse to get in shape for paintball - just as some athletes use track or cross country to stay fit for, say, football or basketball. Blackmore came by his devotion to his sport about seven years ago when family friend Michael Draughn took him to Fun Zone in Pooler, where Draughn worked. Something obviously clicked. “I used to just go up there and help him and have fun, and that got me to where I wanted to start playing paintball all the time,” Blackmore said. In 2012, Hoppers Paintball in Savannah opened, and Blackmore started volunteering there as well as playing on their tournament team. As he’s improved, so have the teams he’s a part of and the divisions he’s competed in, with impressive results. Blackmore, who plays up front on five-man teams, was part of WHIL Paintball Kids, a Florida team which took second in Division 5 in the National X Ball League. Paintball is broken down into 10 divisions, with Division 1 being the highest level. Blackmore already plays as a guest for a Division 2 team, not a bad accomplishment for someone who still doesn’t have his driver’s license. In short, he’s a world class athlete in a sport that’s growing by leaps and bounds. Paintball as a competitive sport is hard to define to laymen. There are various leagues, and styles of play, and rules, and teams can vary from 3-man to 5-man to 7-man to 10-man. Blackmore, who plays what he calls speedball, plays on a 5-man team and coaches both 3-man and 5-man

teams. The playing field is 125 feet by 150 feet, and it’s divided lengthwise into two sides: a snake side, with low inflatable bunkers, and a Doritos side, which has obstacles which Blackmore explained got their name because they look like 3-D Doritos. The object of paintball is to get one of your team members from one side of the field to a “dead box” on the other side before the game ends. Games are five minutes long, though most games last about 3 minutes, and there are on average about 10.5 paintballs a second flying through the air. Five man teams include two front players, whose goal is to move forward toward the opponent’s end of the field, a middle player who is a sort of reserve front man, and two players in the back whose job is to lay down suppressing fire and cover the front men. Getting hit by a paintball is like getting stung by a bee, Blackmore said, “But it goes away faster, and it’s really more surprising than anything.” There’s no penalty if the paintball just bounces off a player. If it hits a player and breaks, that player is finished for the game. Depending on the tournament, teams play multiple games and try to advance by outscoring opponents through various methods which seem to be as inventive as the game itself - which is still in its infancy as far as Georgia is concerned. But at heart it’s all about competition for Blackmore, the son of Johnny and Stacia Blackmore and brother to Jonathan and Kristin Blackmore. Blackmore also has a girlfriend, Victoria Hendrix. Besides, what’s not fun about having fun? “It’s like any sport, you get hyped up, and that’s what makes me happy,” said Blackmore, a rising junior at Effingham County High School who also will be taking welding classes at Savannah Tech as a dual enrollment student. “I’ve always heard that if you have a certain trade that you’ll be able to accom-

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 17

plish more things in life. If you know how to do something you’ll be better off than the average Joe, and I’ve also heard that welding pays a lot of money, so that’ s my plan.” But it always comes back to paintball. Blackmore coaches those who range in age from 10 to 40, he said, teaching them the skills they will need to be successful in the sport. Those skills? “I teach the front guys better ways of not getting shot,” Blackmore explained. “I tell the back guys to get where they’re going and start shooting, and I teach them all how to play tight in their bunker. I teach them how to come out of the bunker where only part of your body, and your gun and part of your head is exposed, I teach them to be little, how to play tournament paintball.” Those who might be skeptical of Blackmore’s expertise in the sport because of his age are shown he knows his

18 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

stuff. “They listen to me. If they don’t, I take them out on the field and do a oneon-one. But most have seen me play. It’s a respect thing.” Blackmore stands 5-foot-8 and weighs about 150 pounds, and he’s quick. He plays midfield and attack for Effingham County High School’s club lacrosse team and went out for football. But he wanted to play tight end, so he didn’t get much playing time and is now a former football player. “That’s because of my poor choosing of a position,” Blackmore said, noting his advice to those who want to give his main sport a try is basically to come on out. The more, it seems, the merrier. “They need to come out and try to play to see if they like it,” he said. “And what I like to see is motivation and dedication. If I see dedication, then boom, I’ll help them no matter what.”

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Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 19

MARIE FOGLE

Coaching The Georgia Southern Eagles story by jeff whitten photos by tonya chester perry

20 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

hese days, Rincon’s Marie Fogle is helping other players be their best. The softball standout from Effingham County High School who went on to put her name in the record book at Georgia Southern, is now an assistant coach at her college alma mater, where she aims to help the Lady Eagles become one of the top programs in Division I. It should come as no surprise. Fogle is easily one of the finest fast-pitch softball players ever to come out of Rincon. Before graduating from ECHS in 2008, Fogle, an all around athlete, was a threetime first-team All Region performer in high school, also earning two All State bids. As catcher, Fogle led the Lady Rebels to three consecutive 20-win seasons, including her senior season when she hit .463 with 12 doubles, six triples and five home runs. College coaches came calling, and Southern beat out Armstrong State, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Brevard College, among others. The Eagles’ gain was everybody else’s loss, and Fogle gave notice from the outset she intended to be a force to be reckoned with by homering her first at bat. She went on to fare so well in Southern Conference competition. She became SoCon Freshman of the Year in 2009 and earned first-team All-SoCon honors after hitting .316 and leading the team in stolen bases with 12. All this while setting a GS record by swiping four bases in a single game - she went 4-for-4. Though an injury sidelined Fogle for nearly half of 2010, she still put in a solid season by just about any standard. But in 2011, Fogle was back to form, earning first-team All-SoCon honors as center fielder after hitting .351 and slugging .659, third best in the conference. And, Fogle reached base safely in 22 straight games her junior season. As a senior, she was again an All-Conference pick, and for the third time was a

National Fast Pitch Coaches Association tab for All Region honors while also being named SoCon’s player of the month in March. The Eagles went 42-20 that season. Fogle, batting leadoff, hit .397 in her final campaign. Fogle, who graduated in 2012 with a degree in middle grades education, remains Georgia Southern’s school record holder for career slugging percentage her’s is .553 - and her career batting average of .345 is third-best in GS history. Impressive, right? Right. But all that to say this. Fogle’s best days may still lie ahead. Not on the field, but in the dugout. After coaching stints at Effingham County High School, Ebenezer Middle School and in travel ball, Fogle was hired in 2014 by head coach Annie Smith to help lead the Eagles into Sun Belt Conference Competition. Now, Fogle’s goal is to be the best coach she can be. If it’s anything like her career as a player, then she’s likely headed for big things. And, as the daughter of Jeremy and Sonja Fogle and older sister to Ryan and Garrett, Fogle seems destined to be where she is, having grown up on softball fields. “I remember being on the field at the age of 2. My dad helped my grandfather coach my mom’s youngest sister, and he played men’s slow-pitch softball,” Fogle said. “Then I played T-ball and then moved into softball. I loved playing. I played rec ball for three years, before my parents moved me to travel ball. I started playing slow-pitch then when I was around 10 or 11 it became fast pitch. I realized I wanted to be involved in this from the time I started.” Softball has provided its share of highlights for Fogle, who once broke up a no-hitter by hitting left handed. She’s a right-handed batter. As a coach, she took a middle school team that had a losing record the previous year and helped them to a winning season and a third-place finish, and rel-

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 21

ished “watching my athletes work hard at something and accomplish what we have been working on.” If there’s a secret to Fogle’s success so far it probably lies in two words, or variations on those words. Hard work. Work hard. While she credits the lifelong support of parents and grandparents for helping make dreams come true, without hard work there’s something missing from the formula for success. “I have always had the determination to always be the best that I can be. But when you have parents and coaches that truly believe in you and let you know that you can accomplish whatever you want, as long as you put your mind to it and put in the work, I’ve always taken this to heart and done whatever I can to make it

22 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

happen,” Fogle said. And it’s the essence of what she tries to tell younger athletes who want to play softball, a game that can humble even the best. “The sport is a game of failure,” Fogle said. “As a hitter, 7 out of 10 times you fail. If you get 3 hits in 10 at bats that’s great. Softball is a hard game and takes a lot of work. However, if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish the task and be successful in this sport. And you are always learning something new, whether it deals with hitting, or how to field, or throw, or what can make you faster and quicker ... there is always something to help you get better.” In this case, it’s a coach who has been there herself.

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Tye Williams

Former ECHS Star, Current

USC STAR

forward by jeff whitten, story by Tye Williams photos provided by Tye Williams and University of South Carolina

eet Tye Williams, former Effingham County High School track, basketball and football standout and a twotime Savannah Morning News Coastal Empire Boy’s Track Athlete of the Year. He’s now on the University of South Carolina’s track and field team. Here’s his story in his words: “My full name is Ontonio Tyjon Williams, but all of my friends call me Tye. I was born August 17 in Savannah. I grew up in Effingham County. Growing up was tough for me. My family never had much, so I was intro-

24 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

duced to a hard work ethic at a young age. Watching my mother, Rachel Williams, struggle, put me into some tough places in my life. But I always had this drive in me at a young age about sports because I knew if I worked hard enough I could make it anywhere. I loved watching football, basketball and track on TV all the time because I wanted to be a star just like them. I remember at a young age asking my mother multiple times about playing sports, but she always said no and it crushed me every time. She wanted me to understand that she was too focused on trying to

provide for me and my brother. But, I wanted her to understand that I was just trying to make it and stay out of trouble. I already decided I was going to ask her until she let me play and eventually she started giving me the opportunity to play football and basketball in middle school. I made every team I tried out for and was a starter. I hit my growth spurt the summer before my freshman year of high school, and that’s when my athletic ability was really noticed. That’s also when I really started to focus on playing basketball and put football on hold because I thought I would go further in basketball. I had a dream of going

to the NBA. My basketball season did not go as well as I wanted it to my freshman year, and I did not have a sport to stay in shape. That’s when my older cousin, Ashley, convinced me to come out and run track so I could stay in shape. That’s how I started competing in track. I had a God-given talent in all the sports I played because I was good in all of them and was recruited by colleges in all three sports. But track is where I excelled the most. I still have Effingham County High School’s long jump record, triple jump record, and high jump record. I also have the Statesboro Relays meet record at 6-feet, 10 inches in the

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 25

high jump. Champ Bailey, the UGA and NFL star, had the record prior to me. Academics were and are also important to me. I graduated high school with a 3.9 GPA. I am currently going into my junior year of college. My major is public relations and my minor is psychology, and I am now a track and field athlete at the University of South Carolina. But to this day, my greatest sports moment is when I dunked on this guy 3 inches taller than me in a high school basketball game. Now, my goals are to get my degree and compete at my highest level on the track. As for inspiration, I think the most inspirational thing a coach has ever told me is this: “You are better than all of those

26 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

guys you are about to go up against, so go out there and get them.” My high school coach, Mike Ward, really impacted me with track. I would have never performed as well as I have without Coach Ward, who really inspired me to keep improving in track. He asked me every day when I would break more records, and that made me strive for greatness in track and field because I wanted to break every record I could, and I did every event that I could in high school. My advice for young athletes is to be dedicated to your sport and to every single thing you can do to succeed in your sport, even if it’s something as simple as a morning run, or push-ups at night before you go to sleep.

Luke Smith

PHOTOGRAPHY

LukeSmithPhotography.net (912) 547-9080

Effingham Effingham Sports Sports Digest Digest | SUMMER | FALL 2016 2015 37 31

Ben Brennan

A Family Game story by jeff whitten photos by luke smith

28 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

en Brennan was a toddler when he first picked up a set of golf clubs and has loved the game as long as he can remember. You could say golf has been pretty good to him, too. Brennan, who just graduated from South Effingham High School, was recently named the Savannah Morning News’ Boys Golfer of the Year after a stellar career that included being named to SMN’s first team All-Greater Savannah team all four years of high school and earning a spot on the All Region team since his sophomore year. You could also say the game runs in the family. Brennan’s grandfather, the late Tom Brennan, is a golfing legend in Savannah. So is his dad, Peter Brennan. But Ben is more than just a very good golfer. He’s played basketball since he was in the fourth grade and at South Effingham High Sschool made the varsity basketball team as a freshman and sophomore and again as a senior.

Brennan is also a gifted student. He graduated 28th in his class and is a member of both the National Honor Society and the BETA Club. No surprise, then, that he’ll head to the University of Georgia, where he aims to major in finance and, after graduation, move to Savannah and become a member of the Savannah Golf Club. In short, he’ll keep the tradition going, one that dates back as far as Brennan can remember. “We had pins set up in our backyard and as a kid, I would spend hours just hitting wedge shots to them from all over the yard and even the neighbor’s yard sometimes,” Brennan said. “I’ve been competing in golf tournaments since the age of 8. I’ve played in two state golf tournaments for high school and one Georgia State Golf Association junior tournament.” In addition to being the top golfer in the Coastal Empire this year and one of the best around in his entire high school career, Brennan, who is described as

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 29

an intelligent, tough golfer who doesn’t make many mistakes, can compete with the best. At 16 he was low medalist by four strokes at an Oglethorpe Invitational qualifier, carding a 4-under-par 67 and “beating out many college golfers from prestigious schools,” as he put it. In high school competition, Brennan was dominant this year, finishing as low medalist in all but three of his matches during the season. Brennan didn’t do it alone, of course. He credits his mom, Anna Brennan, and his dad and grandfather for their help over the years, as well as his brother, Andrew Christian, and sisters Caroline and Kate. “I couldn’t have done it without my mom taking me to all my tournaments and practice and my dad, who gave me pointers and put a golf club in my hand as soon as I could hold it,” Brennan said, “And my granddad, for the support and lessons over the years.” Brennan will keep playing, but even if golf goes no further than that member-

30 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

ship in the Savannah Golf Club and local amateur tournaments, he has already accomplished more than many who set out to be good at the game. He is good at the game once described as “a good walk spoiled” by noted sportswriter John Feinstein, and a frustrated Hank Aaron once said of golf, “It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course. ~ Brennan’s advice for aspiring young golfers? “It is going to take a lot of practice, so make your practice fun by finding a good group of friends who also enjoy it,” he said. “That goes for both basketball and golf, and any sport really.” Ben Brennan’s five favorites: Favorite food: Carey Hilliard’s. Favorite movie: The Legend of Bagger Vance Favorite car: Mercedes Favorite music: Mumford & Sons or Bruce Springsteen Favorite TV show: Seinfeld or The Office

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

Here’s To The Next

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BENEZER MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS’ SOCCER:

Four Championsip Games in Four Seasons

story by jeff whitten

iercely competitive. Hard working. Aggressive. Tenacious. Tough. Talented. All are ways Ebenezer Middle School girls’ soccer coach Patrick McCorkhill characterized his players as individuals and as part of a team, and it’s no wonder. Under McCorkhill, the Lady Eagles won the 2016 Coastal Empire Region soccer championship for the second time in four years. What’s more, the 2016 appearance in the title game is the fourth straight for Ebenezer Middle School. “Four championship games in four seasons, I really think that’s an incredible accomplishment,” said McCorkhill, who is retiring from coaching after this season. “These girls have done a phenomenal job.” None were any more phenomenal than the 2016 team, which outscored opponents 59-3 while suffering only one loss. It was a squad made up of girls who had a desire to be the best, according to McCorkhill, who said early on players told him they wanted to avenge last season’s 1-0 loss in the Coastal Empire Region title match. They did that, beating William James 3-1 in April to win the title. “These girls were determined not to let that loss in the championship game happen again,” McCorkhill said. “They put a lot of effort into a team goal and they decided from the beginning that they wanted to work hard. Practices were not just goofing around. They ran a lot, and it’s not easy to run a lot, but they told me, ‘coach, we want you to work us hard. Even if we complain, we want you to work us hard.’ That’s what we did, and we were very successful.” Though some previous EMS teams have been stronger on defense, this Lady

32 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

Eagle group was offense oriented and its attack centered around high-scoring eighth grade forwards Katelyn Ladner, the team MVP and a three-year starter, and offensive MVP Lloya Stevens, another eighth grader and longtime starter who could also find the back of the net. “No one could really stop them,” McCorkhill said. Getting them the ball was eighth grade midfielder and Coach’s Award winner Savanna Landis, a standout defender who moved up to midfield after an early season injury to Bailee Hildebrandt. Though McCorkhill lauded the talents of his forwards, he noted “Savanna Landis was like a quarterback orchestrating the offense and delivering passes, while Lloya and Katelyn would finish. They were like daggers cutting through the defense.” On defense, the Lady Eagles’ top player was eighth grader Grace Cunningham, another three-year starter who won the Defensive MVP. She “was an all round player and a coach’s dream,” McCorkhill said. Helping anchor the defense were three-year starters Cameron Long, a hard-nosed defender “who had such a fierce desire to attack the ball and win the ball,” the coach said, and Emerie Mingledorf, a solid defender who never gave up a goal. A handful of seventh graders also had an impact in 2016, including Lilah Cunningham and Hayden Cowart, both of whom played through pain. Cunningham was cleated in the head in one game, according to McCorkhill, who said he took her out of the game only to have her request he put her back in. And Cowart’s toughness may be off the chart. The girl suffered a broken arm in the Coastal Empire Region quarterfinal

match, an 8-0 win over Effingham County Middle, and continued to play. “I had no knowledge of it or I certainly wouldn’t have played her,” McCorkhill said. “She never said anything about it to me.” Cowart played again in the semifinals, a 2-0 win over South Effingham Middle, and didn’t have the arm checked out until afterward, and that’s when they learned it was broken. “I’m military, I’ve had two combat deployments and the level of toughess she displayed is on the level of grown men, not 12-13-year-old girls playing soccer,” McCorkhill said. “That’s an example of the gutsiness of these girls. “ Seventh graders Hannah Gordy and goalkeeper Riley Wohler, who could’ve started as a field player, also were important on-field additions to the Lady Eagles, who will reload next season and make a run at five-straight trips to the title game and a second-straight Coastal Empire Region championship. Next year’s Lady Eagles, however, will have some big shoes to fill. “We were dangerous to the other team at any time, we had a really strong offensive attack,” McCorkhill said. “Of the four teams I coached, all of which were

Coach Patrick McCorkhill very good, this team was better at control and at putting passes together, which is a sign of a more skilled team. And I would say these kids had a lot of fun playing together and had a great time. But they also had a lot of fight in them, they were tenacious and they wanted to bring it to the other team. They really were a pleasure to coach.”

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 33

Congratulations Coach McCorkhill and The Lady Eagles

Way To Go EBENEZER MIDDLE GIRLS SOCCER TEAM! 9

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he Effingham County Recreation and Parks track team participated at the Georgia Recreation and Parks District One track meet held April 30 in Swainsboro. The team participated in both running and field events against teams from Swainsboro, Statesboro and Augusta. In order to qualify for the GRPA State meet, the athlete had to place first or second in their respective events at district. ECRP had 11 athletes qualify to compete at the state meet held in Augusta on May 13-14. In Augusta, the athletes were paired with some of the most phenomenal athletes from around the state. All of the athletes competed

well and represented Effingham County at an exceptional level. The following is a list of the state qualifiers and their events. • Eight and Under Boys 8U: Jmere Davis: 50 Meter and 100 Meter • Ten and Under Girls 10U: Savannah Rodriguez: 400 Meter and Running Long Jump; Riley Spendiff: 100 Meter and Softball Throw • Ten and Under Boys 10U: Domenic Harrison: 800 Meter; Jamari McIvory: 400 Meter; Ethan Trombly: 1600 Meter • Twelve and Under Girls 12U: Evelyn Oberg: 1600 Meter • Twelve and Under Boys 12U: Dalton Meng: 1600 Meter • Fourteen and Under Girls 14U: Heather Lee:

36 SUMMER 2016 | Effingham Sports Digest

Standing Long Jump; Alyssa Mullenix: Standing Long Jump • Fourteen and Under Boys 14U: Johnothan Estrada: 1600 Meter

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Recreation & Parks EFFINGHAM PRE SEASON 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MITE BOYS CHAMPS Coach: Rusty Sessions, Team: Wildcats Team Members are: Will Blanton, Lance Davis, Wyatt Hamilton, Bryce Hodges, Kaleb Hodges, Javin Hollady

EFFINGHAM PRE SEASON 2 - MIDGET GIRLS CHAMPIONS Coach: Danny Johnson, Team: Stingers Team Members are: Mylee Davis, Trinity Garvin, Kiley Hale, Madison Holton, Alexis Hovey, Haylee Johnson, Juliana Palmer, McKinzy Reddick, Destinee Roberson, Hannah Sarver, Maddie Wake, Camryn Zipperer

Effingham Sports Digest | SUMMER 2016 37

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