My first year was a trip, time whirled by in 2006 and before I knew it, the prep sports faucet of live games had turned off.

Things were still happening though as a prior May tour by college football coaches coming to Lewisburg to scout Marshall County’s Dont’a Hightower grew to fever pitch when Tennessee Vols coach Phillip Fulmer came and was followed by representatives from Auburn, and finally the big one when Alabama’s Nick Saban touched down in a private jet at Ellington Airport.

It was very exciting for everyone, including me.

At that time, Hightower had offers from Ole Miss, MTSU, and Tennessee Tech and we would find out later, that on that day, Saban had extended Hightower a full scholarship to the University of Alabama.

It would be a little while until Hightower made his decision and after starring on the field during his senior season, Hightower was named the Class 3A Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Lineman of the Year.

Hightower was also selected to play in the 2008 U.S. All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

His dream was coming to fruition.

He earned it, the kid was good and he hit harder than anyone I had ever seen, by far. I liked him too.

The kid from Lewisburg went on to be the most successful athlete in the history of Marshall County (maybe the entire state), winning two national championships at Alabama and three Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots.

He’s not done yet as Hightower enters his ninth year in the NFL, all with New England.

Minor leaves mark in district baseball, wins SEC Rookie of the Year

Forrest graduate Mike Minor left a lasting mark on the prep scene he dominated his senior season as a Rocket hurler, leaving behind a rule change that basically stopped a team’s number-one pitcher from facing a district opponent twice in the regular season.

From that point on, all district matchups are played on back-to-back days.

Boy, that’s some sour grapes if you ever heard it.

That’s how good he was though, he did not allow any runs, period. Twelve shutouts in 2006 with a 0.08 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 86 innings

Minor decided to go to Vanderbilt University, even though he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after his senior season.

The big lefty from Chapel Hill immediately took on a starting role with the Commodores and finished the 2007 season with 9-1 won/lost record, a 3.09 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 88.1 innings.

His outstanding season earned him many honors, including the 2007 Second Team All-SEC, 2007 SEC All-Freshman Team, 2007 SEC Freshman of the Year, and the 2007 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American.

Hooper shines as backstop at Austin Peay

Some people were born to ball players and current Forrest Assistant Principal Daniella (Hooper) Beckman is one of them.

Beckman started at shortstop as an eighth-grader and freshman for the Lady Rockets before moving behind the plate in her sophomore season.

Forrest had an incredible year with the eighth-grade shortstop, putting up a 38-5 record and advancing all the way to the state title game where they lost a 1-0 heartbreaker. Beckman had four hits and seven RBIs in the tournament.

They Lady Rockets returned to the state tournament the following season and went 1-2, but Beckman went 5-for-7 at the plate with four RBIs.

Forrest won both the district and region titles in her sophomore season, only to be beaten by Franklin Road Academy in a state sectional game.

Injured her entire junior year, Beckman came back for her senior year and the Lady Rockets once again captured district and region titles, beating Summertown 4-1 in a state sectional game.

Beckman had a pair of doubles and four RBIs in her third state tournament appearance as Forrest split four games.

Beckman was selected as an All-State player and chose to go to Austin Peay University in Clarksville where she continued to shine in 2007, being selected first team All-OVC.

The Lady Govs’ backstop had one error the entire season and led the team in batting average (.322), hits (49), doubles (10), and tied for RBIs (27).

Jenkins transfers to Radford

In the 2003-2004 prep season, Forrest’s Jamar Jenkins became the school’s all-time leading scorer with over 1,700 points. Jenkins also pulled down 1,000 rebounds in his career and averaged 19.6 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as a senior.

After being named to the All-State team, Jenkins signed with Western Carolina where he did not play much his first two seasons (one as a redshirt freshman) before transferring to Jackson State where he had a great sophomore campaign, averaging 16.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game and was named to the T.J.C.C.A.A/N.J.C.A.A. Region VII All-Western Division Team.

Jenkins was the fourth leading scorer in the Tennessee Junior College Athletic Association that year.

Jenkins went on to play in 36 games over the next two years for the Highlanders.

Stoltz signs with MTSU

Marshall County senior Judd Stoltz, along with junior Seth Lintz were part of an awesome one-two punch on the mound for the Tigers, who went 29-14 and advanced to the state tournament for the first time in four years.

Stoltz sealed the District 10-AA title on Tuesday, April 24 when he tossed a 2-1 complete game senior night victory over archrival Giles County at Joe George Field in Lewisburg.

The big righty tallied 19 career wins on the mound for the Tigers and had a .360 batting average with six home runs and 61 RBIs.

Stoltz, who had a gaudy 4.0 GPA and scored a 33 on ACT in 2007, signed a scholarship with MTSU to continue his academic and athletic career.

Stoltz would go on to appear in 41 games for the Blue Raiders in his collegiate career and make the Dean’s List at MTSU.

Living summer at the ballfields

Hanging out at the ballpark was a given when I was growing up in New Jersey, whether you were playing or not that night.

First at Sayen Park in Hamilton Square for Little League and then at the now historic Switlik Park in Yardville for Babe Ruth.

I played on Pat Pavers in the Hamilton Babe Ruth League, which was the first of its kind in the country and that has given me a great sense of pride when I started to cover the Marshall County Babe Ruth League and it remains one of favorite places to go to this day.

2007 was a blast at the ballpark and I got to meet several people that became inspirational to me and were just fun to watch.

Two of those guys coached the hated Elks, the team everybody was out to get.

Danny Hollingsworth and Steve Hobbs remain two of my favorite coaches to this day because they coached with a passion and knew a ton about the game that they passed on to their players.

It wasn’t always pretty, but it was very effective and they had had a lot of success before I got there and went on to have much that I had an opportunity to catch a ride with.

The Elks won the title in 2007 and Mike Mills’ Marshall Medical squad had to settle for second place.

Mills was a class act then and he remains one today, still coaching an MMC team that won a bunch of Babe Ruth titles.

I also found out that I did more travelling to faraway places covering Babe Ruth and Little League over the past 14 years than anything else and it was that way in 2007 as I tried to cover everything.

Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t and I had another road block in the way because it was the first year my daughter played softball and like any other dad, I wanted to see her play and help her.

So I was working and at a ballpark all summer.

Hollingsworth coached the 13-year old Babe Ruth all-stars that year and led the squad to the state title game where they faced archrival Giles County in late July.

The Rage lost 4-3 that night, but the sportsmanship Hollingsworth showed for the manager in the other dugout was special.

Giles County was coached by Tommy Young forever and it Young’s first state title and the two good friends embraced after the game.

"To win against, without a doubt, one of my best friends (Hollingsworth) makes this special,” Young said after the game. “I have the utmost respect for that man, Marshall County, and Marshall County baseball." Good stuff. Unforgettable.

There a bevy of Hollingsworth and Hobbs stories to get to down the road, believe me.

Little League stars shine too

The Marshall County Nationals 11-12 year old Little League team, coached by Richie Smith and Tim Harber went to the state title game at Gallatin after winning a 15-inning marathon in Pulaski on July 8.

The Nationals sported a strong pitching staff that included Zach Horvath, Matt Sharp, Jalen Jones, and Jacob Maultsby.

Austin Harber batted leadoff for the squad that had plenty of punch in Malik Crawford, catcher Jesse Kilpatrick, Horvath and Richie Smith.

Freddie Howard was on the bench, managing the 13-14 year old Marshall County softball All-Star team because their regular manager Chris Roberts was serving his suspension from an unfortunate player substitution miscue.

Howard and the Girls came away with 7-5 win at Pulaski to win the crown with Lori "Tree Frog" Pearson in the circle for Marshall County.

Kaameria Howard, Bethany Vanhooser, Brianna Roberts, Whitney Byrd, and Candace Caneer were just a few players on that squad.

Spook does his dance

The late Eugene "Spook" Clark is a coaching legend in Marshall County and in 2007 he may have had his finest moment and it was for sure for the people who were around him on a fateful night in at Minor Hill ballpark in Giles County.

Spook promised his girls a hip-hop dance on the field if they claimed the Senior League Girls 15-16 year old state title.

They shellacked Giles County 20-12 and as I wrote at that time, “That is just what they got as he did a shake, rattle, and roll in a late evening moon-lit sky in front of the traveling Marshall County fans after the clinching victory.”

That was a fun team to cover and they had some great personalities in Rian Wright, Mandy Sanders, Jessica Hunt, Selena Smith, and Stacia Osborne just to name a few.

The beginning of a long dance

I met my good buddy and future coaching cohort Dwayne Dowers that summer as he put together a 9-10 year old Little League softball team that was called the Chapel Hill Cruisers.

My daughter Kiyoko had been in to gymnastics, but for reason I still don’t really remember to this day why, but she wanted to play softball with her friends from school and Dowers was the coach.

I don’t think we won a game, but we had a gas and she fell in love with the sport and the rest is history.

I also met three guys that I went on to spend a lot of time with and have very much respect for in Casey Davis, Mike “Gumby” Wortham, and Scott “Potty” Walls.

Kiyoko was selected to play for the all-star team and I got a taste firsthand what that excitement was like.

What a team that was and many of the same girls played together for quite some time in the following summers to come.

That year the team won two-of-three from Giles County at Richard Cashion Park in Lewisburg to win the district title and advance to the State Tournament in Bartlett, TN.

Nine-Year old Grace Medley got the win in the circle for “Gumby’s Girls” that night and she got plenty of help from Madison "Mad Dog" Thomason, Demi Davis, Mecia Reed, Ashton Watkins, Kristin "Mousey" Graham, Sam Dalton, Kiyoko, Kelsey Wortham, McKenzie Jo Anderson, Britton Stewart, and Lauren Pegg.

Although they lost at Memphis that season, the nucleus of that team went on to win state titles and a third place finish at the Southeast Region Tournament a few years later.

Help me out

This is where we will pick it up again next week, big things were coming in the remainder of the basketball, wrestling, and spring sport seasons.

If you have any questions, comments, or old photos you would like to share please contact me at apuca@marshalltribune.com and I will be happy to share with everyone else.

I want to thank Scotty Brock and George “Pap” Warren for their generosity in teaching me a lot about photography and sharing their photos over that first season and up to this day.

Bill Beasley in Chapel Hill has done the same, as has Danny Parker and Jimmy Jones from the Shelbyville Times Gazette, and a special thank you to Jim Bryan for his expertise and teaching that was essential.

I want to thank all the fans, parents, athletes, coaches, school administrators, and work colleagues for helping me live this wonderful dream.