Clayton News Daily

By Doug Gorman

dgorman@news-daily.com

The 2009 high school baseball season won't go down as one of the best ever in the Southern Crescent-after all, there was no state championship-there was however-plenty of talent, and plenty of drama.

Six teams, including Henry County, Dutchtown, Ola, Luella, Eagle's Landing Christian and Union Grove all made it to the postseason.

By the time the dust had settled, only ELCA, Luella and Ola had moved on to the second round of the postseason.

Eagle's Landing Christian nearly missed out on the postseason all together when activities were suspended at the private Christian School because a student was diagnosed with the swine flu.The Georgia High School Association later reinstated the Chargers and the baseball team defeated Commerce in round one of the Class A playoffs before getting knocked out of the tournament by Darlington in round No. 2.

Ola had plenty of diamond magic this year, winning their first ever Region 4-AAAA title and knocking off Westside-Augusta before falling to South Effingham in the second round of the Class AAAA playoffs.

Luella beat Tift County in the first round and then fell to Newnan in the second round of the Class AAAAA baseball tourney.

Picking a Clayton News Daily/Henry Daily Herald Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Coach of the Year was not an easy task for the sports department, but here is who we came up with.

For Player of the Year, Henry County's Alex Glenn wins top honors.

Glenn, who will attend Southern California on a baseball scholarship, finished the year with seven triples. That puts him third all-time in the state for triples in one season.

"USC got a chance to see me, and I played with the coach's son," Glenn said the day he signed. "They had a little interest in me, and later on things kind of picked up and they offered me a scholarship. I went out for a visit and I fell in love with it out there."

Luella's Kelly Holt bounced back from Tommy John surgery to help lead the Lions into the playoffs. Holt missed much of his sophomore year and all of his junior year before returning to the mound for the 2009 season.

Despite missing most of two seasons, Holt attracted the attention of college scouts, and will begin his college career with Division I program Kennesaw State.

Ola baseball coach Ryan Parejko has been named the Coach of the Year.

Parejko's team set several school records this year including going 24-6 overall and 15-1 in Region 4-AAAA.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Alex Glenn, Sr., Henry County

Another impressive talent from Henry County High, Glenn hit .511 with 5 home runs, 28 RBIs and led the state with seven triples as the Warhawks made the playoffs again. Was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 37th round, but will play for Southern California.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Kelly Holt, Sr., Luella

After missing his entire junior season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Holt came back as the Lions' No. 1 starter and led Luella to the second round of the playoffs, where it lost to Newnan. Will play for Kennesaw State.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Ryan Parejko, Ola

Parejko guided the Mustangs to unprecedented success in just the program's third season. Ola went 24-6 overall and 15-1 in Region 4-AAAA to capture the program's first region championship in school history. Mustangs lost to South Effingham in the second round of the playoffs in three games.

FIRST TEAM

Pos.

Player

School

P

Mason Mills,

Dutchtown

P

Sam Bell

Eagle's Landing

P

Brandon McClure

Henry County

P

Antonio Allen

Jonesboro

P

Darryl Dickey

Ola

C

Brad Blount

Ola

C

Ben Carr

Stockbridge

INF

Trey Nelson

Dutchtown

INF

Chad Kenney

Henry County

INF

Trey Malone

Luella

INF

Tyler Padgett

Union Grove

OF

Drew Tolleson

ELCA

OF

Marc Threet

Mt. Zion

OF

Jordan Akins

Union Grove

DH

Bobby Woodall

Ola

SECOND TEAM

Pos.

Player

School

P

Justin Herring

Dutchtown

P

Wes Kenon

Dutchtown

P

Matt Barlow

ELCA

P

Josh Pape

Luella

P

A.J. Sunstrom

Ola

P

Michael Thorne

Union Grove

P

Adam Lass

Union Grove

C

Mario Cummings

Jonesboro

INF

Isaac Okwandu

Eagle's Landing

INF

Reggie Mitchell

Mt. Zion

INF

Darius Harper

North Clayton

INF

Cameron Lewis

Ola

INF

Kyle Truman

Stockbridge

INF

Ryan Griffin

Union Grove

INF

Tanner Bailey

ELCA

INF

Austin Murphy

ELCA

OF

Quan Jones

Henry County

OF

Dacota Cole

Ola

OF

Chris Bebout

ELCA

HONORABLE MENTION

INF Cameron Griffin, Dutchtown; INF Cullen Jennings, Dutchtown; OF Jonathan Richey, Dutchtown; Charlie Buck, Dutchtown; Cody Yancey, Dutchtown; C Keion Dukes, Henry County; IF/OF Josh Couch, Henry County; INF Perry Woods, Jonesboro; OF Demetrius Rogers, Jonesboro; Cameron Jones, Jonesboro; Jonathan Smith, Jonesboro; OF Andrew Tumlin, Luella; C Joel Williams, Mt. Zion; Cedric Hathway, Mt. Zion; P Justin Brown, North Clayton; OF Michael Kitchens, North Clayton; OF Khalil Stinson, North Clayton; OF Dionte Washington, North Clayton; INF Seth Lucio, Ola; P Mike Venturelli, Ola; INF Kyle Beech, Ola; Samari Portlock, Riverdale; C Will Harrison, Union Grove.