Two longtime local coaches will be inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame over the weekend.
Former Jordan baseball coach Tony Dimitri and former Shaw and current Brookstone sotball coach Debbie Ball are among the inductees this year in Atlanta.
Ball, who began coaching at Shaw in 1979 and retired from the Muscogee County School District in 2008, revived Brookstone’s softball program. Ball coached almost every sport at Shaw, including wrestling during the 2007-08 school year, and became the school’s athletic director when Charles Flowers left in 2006.
She was the first female athletic director in the county.
Dimitri, who died in 2008, was head coach at Jordan from 1991 until his death. He was the head coach at Hardaway from 1981 to 1990 before moving to Jordan as the coach and AD. Dimitri was a member of Jordan’s 1971 Class AAA state championship squad.
Dimitri will be represented by his sons, Tony and John, at the ceremony Saturday. John became the Red Jackets baseball coach after his father’s death and Tony takes over the job this spring.
“This is special for us because it’s really nice for people to think about our father this way and honor him in this way,” Tony said. “It speaks well of our dad that people want to induct him into this hall of fame.”
Tony and John played for their dad at Jordan.
“We’re a Jordan family, there’s no doubt about that,” Tony said. “But my brother and I always saw one side of our dad. This honor shows that people really respected our dad as a coach.”
Individuals from Columbus High also will be honored in the ceremony. Slugger Kyle Carter was named the co-player of the year for the state, sharing the honor with Ringgold’s Matthew Crownover. Columbus coach Bobby Howard is being honored as the Class AAA baseball coach of the year, and Will Soloman was named the Class AAA player of the year.
The Georgia Dugout Club is a nearly 50-year-old organization of baseball and softball coaches around Georgia that promotes the sports and teaches players and coaches.
Howard and Flowers previously were inducted into the hall of fame.
Smith’s Station wrestling
The Smiths Invitational wrestling tournament begins at 5:30 p.m. today at Smiths Station High.
Some of the best wrestlers and teams from the Chattahoochee Valley will be participating in the two-day event. The following teams have committed: Smiths Station, Central-Phenix City, Northside, Hardaway, Spencer, Russell County, Stanhope Elmore, Chattahoochee County, Callaway, Wetumpka, Bowdon, Jeff Davis, Southside of Gadsden, Auburn, Upson-Lee, Pacelli, Tallassee, Lagrange, Pell City, Prattville and Harris County.
There will be two championship rounds Saturday. The semifinals Saturday start at 9:30 a.m.
Raiders get physical
Shaw boys basketball coach Anthony Jenkins used 15 players during his home blowout victory Tuesday over Central-Carrollton.
The Raiders’ pressing, physical play disrupted the Lions throughout the game, but the 16-point victory could have been closer if Central had hit a few more free throws. The opportunities at the line were plentiful, since the Raiders were hit with the bonus early in each half.
That physical play is by design.
“Our team enjoys playing physical -- as long as the refs let us play physical,” Jenkins said. “When we scrimmage in practice, I make it a habit to not call any fouls, just so they can get used to it and used to the banging that goes on in those games. We’re used to the physicality, and we’ll play it as long as the refs let us play it.”
