When Bryan County held its graduation ceremonies last Friday night it sent off into the world a talented and hard-working group of athletes who helped the school enjoy what quite possibly was the best year in school history for athletics.
That was especially true for the spring sports teams: although all-region teams were not picked in track where the school’s girls team finished an unprecedented seventh in the state meet and the boys also had their best finish ever with a 19th-place finish; in soccer, tennis and baseball, Redskins teams were well represented.
Both the girls’ and boys’ soccer teams reached the Sweet 16 of the state playoffs as did the girls’ and boys’ tennis teams—the girls for the fourth straight year—and the baseball team was in the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Also not to be overlooked is the boys and girls golf teams making the state playoffs for the first time ever.
In four years under Coach Kristen Barnhill, making the playoffs is now the expectation for girls soccer. The strength of this year’s team was defense led by junior Liz Harvey who was named the Region 3A-DII goalkeeper of the year and was an all-region pick for the third straight year.
Harvey had six games in which she had double digit saves including 23 against Claxton. She had 24 in two games against Metter and in the second round 3-0 loss to Irwin County she was strong in goal with 15. She was also all-region in softball and basketball.
Haley Thomas, who became the first Bryan County girls soccer player to sign a college scholarship when she signed with Georgia Military, was a first team pick for the second straight year. Camryn Parker, a junior better known for her prowess on the softball diamond, was the region Defensive Player of the Year and was also all-region for the second straight year.
Kolbie English, another of the Redskins’ talented juniors, was first team after leading the team in scoring with six goals, while Reese Raeburn, Adelaide Longino and Lauren Sanderson were honorable mention.
Coach Jason Lee took over a floundering boys program two years ago and while the Redskins are still a work in progress the team’s improvement was noted with it having three first team selections.
Semajay McKinney was voted Goalkeeper of the Year. He was joined on the first team by fellow seniors Hayden Williams and Rylan Hernandez. Junior Will Summerford, one of the top distance runners on the track team, and freshman Josiah Coffey made honorable mention.
Girls’ tennis had three all-region picks in senior singles players Caycelyn Davis, Jada Conley and Emma Strickland. With both doubles teams also being seniors that leaves Coach Laura Blair with a major rebuilding job for next year, but she is excited about what the future holds for the boys team which had only one senior.
Junior Drew Long, who played No. 1 singles, was all-region while sophomore singles players Cameron Kilmer and Jackson Gay were second team picks.
Baseball had a late season swoon as it couldn’t overcome a collective team batting slump but the Redskins still managed to make the state playoffs for a fourth straight year which gives first year coach Kyle Farmer something to build on in the off-season.
Seniors Cooper Ennis and A.J. Thomas along with freshman Gunner Ennis were first team all-region, sophomore Eli Koskela was second team and junior Ethan Williams was honorable mention.
Gunner Ennis led the team in hitting at .354, RBI with 22 and stolen bases with 15. His 28 hits trailed only Cooper Ennis and Thomas who had 29 each. Gunner Ennis is expected to be the starting quarterback in football this fall.
Thomas, who played first and pitched, hit .337 and Cooper Ennis, who excelled at short and on the mound, hit .312 with 11 stolen bases and had a 3.92 ERA with 56 strikeouts and only 11 walks in 59 innings.
Koskela started at catcher and was the No. 2 pitcher. He had a team leading 3.17 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 42 innings while hitting .329. Koskela led the Redskins in on base percentage (.464) and slugging percentage (.526) as he had 10 doubles and a home run among his 25 hits.
Williams was a jack-of-all trades as he hit. 243 while leading the team in runs scored (23) and walks (16). He caught when Koskela pitched and also played all three middle infield positions.
