Staff report
A handful of White County High School baseball players have been named to the 6-AAA All-region team.
The region coaches picked Greater Atlanta Christian's Jakobi Bowers as the Player of the Year and Pickens' AJ Rice was named the Pitcher of the Year. North Hall head coach Trevor Flow was named the Coach of the Year after leading the Trojans to the regular season region title.
For the WCHS contingent, junior outfielder Cooper Garrett garnered first team honors, with junior third baseman Alex Freeman named to the second team. Seniors John Bannon, Trevor Butler, Caleb Campbell and Shelton Ramey were all named to the honorable list.
Garrett had a breakout season at the plate, leading the Warriors with a .430 batting average and a .566 on base percentage. Garrett had a team-high 34 hits, including six doubles, three triples and one home run. He led the team with 37 runs and 15 steals, and was third on the team in RBI with 18.
Joining Garrett on the first team are Pickens' Dawson Lowit and Kam Jenkins, North Hall's Kenny Foudy and Ty Kemp, Lumpkin County's Mason Hester and Adian Rogers, GAC's Zach Koons, and Dawson County's Preston Bannister. The first team pitchers are North Hall's Payton Campbell, GAC's Christian Starks and Denzell Watkins, and Dawson County's Tripp Williams.
Freeman, who played third base and was the Warriors' closer, made the second team. Freeman had 27 hits and finished with a .310 batting average. He had seven doubles, three triples and two home runs, and tied for the team-lead with 19 RBI and scored 15 runs. On the mound, Freeman worked 15 innings, picking up a pair of saves and striking out 19.
Bannon, the team's shortstop, hit .304 with 24 hits, and had 13 RBI and scored 12 runs. Campbell, who played outfield and first base, hit .338 with 23 hits. He scored 21 runs and drove in 13 runs. Ramey, who pitched and played outfield, finished the season with 22 hits and a .265 batting average. He had a pair of doubles and a home run, scored 12 runs and tied for the team lead with 19 RBI. On the mound, Ramey worked 42.2 innings, posting a 2-3 record. He had a 3.93 ERA and struck out 59.
Butler bounced back from an early season injury to lead the pitching staff with 46.2 innings and a 4-3 record. He posted a staff-best 2.40 ERA and 1.11 WHIP and struck out 61. Butler hit .324 with 23 hits.