Jeff Hart

Take out Dunwoody senior first baseman Tim Linn and the Gainesville baseball team would already be preparing for the quarterfinals of the Class AAA playoffs.

It’s hard to be the ‘old man’ of any group at the ripe old age of 18. But Gainesville catcher Sloan Strickland played the role well last week in the first round of the Class AAA baseball playoffs.

Region 8-AAA proved to be too much for the field Monday at the Class AAA state golf tournament at the Columbus Country Club. But while 8-AAA was putting its stamp on the top spots, Gainesville and Lambert out of 7-AAA showed they can play a little as well.

Gainesville girls golf coach Clay McDonald is constantly preaching to his squad to ‘stay in the moment.’ Well, the moment has arrived for the Lady Elephants, who will take on the state’s best Class AAA teams Monday at the state tournament at the Columbus Country Club.

Asked to describe how he would categorize his team, Gainesville baseball coach Jeremy Kemp had to pause a while before answering.

Gainesville won most of the individual battles on Tuesday in the Region 7-AAA track championships. But West Forsyth rallied to win the war as the Wolverines clinched their first-ever boys track title that went down to the final event at Flowery Branch High.

Both the Johnson and Lumpkin County boys’ golf teams feel they have something to prove as they prepare for Monday’s Class AAA state championships at Maple Ridge Golf Course in Columbus.

Some familiar faces - and some not so familiar - highlighted the first day of the talent-rich Region 7-AAA boys track-and-field meet Friday at Flowery Branch High School.

Youth was served for Gainesville on Wednesday in the Red Elephants’ winner-take-all battle for the Region 7-AAA title against Creekview at Ivey-Watson Field.

With a possible showdown for the Region 7-AAA title against Creekview looming Wednesday, it would have been easy for the streaking Gainesville baseball team to look past a slumping Johnson squad Monday.