Author: Robert Preston

It was going to be hard for Coffee pitcher Michael Strickland to top last Friday night’s performance. He was nursing an injury to his throwing hand and was seemingly out of commission. Then, in game one of the scheduled double-header, Coffee and Lee found themselves in a dogfight. In the fifth inning, head coach Scott Grove called on Strickland to face a few batters and see if he could get a couple of guys out at a pivotal point in the game. Strickland ended up going 6 1/3 innings, giving up five hits, two runs (both earned), striking out 10,…

The South Georgia State College Hawks remain at .500 in conference play after splitting a double-header with the Andrew College Fighting Tigers in Cuthbert Wednesday afternoon. The Hawks took game one 19-9 but lost game two 3-2 on a walk-off single. In game one, SGSC jumped out to a 6-0 lead after Luke Boone singled to score two runs, Coffee’s Payton Bryant doubled to score two, Chaz Encarnacion doubled to score one, and Talon Daignault drove in one on a double of his own. In the second, Boone tripled and Bryant singled, each scoring a run. The Hawks put six…

The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets weren’t very gracious hosts Tuesday night. They handed the Coffee Trojans their third region loss of the season, defeating Coffee 7-4 in Thomasville. Both teams came out scoring. The Yellow Jackets scored a run in each of the first five innings and two in the sixth. The Trojans scored one in the first, two in the second, and one in the fourth. That, however, was all Coffee would get. Trailing 2-1 in the third, the Trojans tied the game on a single by Jimmy Timothy that scored Ben Fussell. Connor Stewart then reached first…

If the rest of the Coffee Trojans’ region schedule unfolds like the Lee County series did, Coffee Regional Medical Center’s Cardiology Group is going to see a significant increase in its number of patients. Tuesday’s game one was decided in the seventh inning. Then the final two games of the series – a double-header played Friday night in Leesburg – took 19 total innings to decide. Coffee won game one 10-9 in 11 innings. Lee took game two 1-0 in eight innings. Game one was a back-and-forth affair for the first five innings. Lee jumped out to a 1-0 lead…

The South Georgia State College Hawks scored 12 runs in two innings, and overcame a one-run deficit late in the game in the process, to collect their first conference win of the 2025 season. The Hawks defeated the Georgia Highlands Chargers 12-8 at Crider Field in Douglas on Tuesday afternoon. The Chargers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second then the Hawks answered with seven runs in the fourth. Former Coffee Trojan Payton Bryant doubled with the bases loaded to drive in two runs and give SGSC a 3-1 lead. Logan Taylor followed with a ground ball that…

The Coffee Trojans appeared to have the region opener against the Lee County Trojans in hand. Then Lee mounted a seventh-inning comeback that ended Coffee’s quest to start region play with an important win. Lee jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second. Then Coffee answered with four in the third. Jimmy Timothy led off with a double then Brax Carson was hit by a pitch. Connor Stewart laid down a bunt but reached on an error by the Lee defense. The miscue scored Timothy and Carson to tie the game at two. A couple of batters later, with…

The Georgia Department of Education has named Wiregrass Regional College Career Academy (WRCCA) a 2023-2024 Title I Reward School.  As a Title I Reward School, WRCCA is among the top five percent of the most improved schools in Georgia.The Title I Rewards list has 79 schools listed and WRCCA is one of five schools serving 9th – 12th grades. To receive this distinction, WRCCA showed significant progress in improving student achievement and closing the achievement gap between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.  “Our teachers do a great job of meeting students where they are and progressing their learning to the next level.…

On February 19, 2025, a 33-year-old Douglas man was arrested on a variety of charges after an alleged domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend. The incident took place at around 1:30 a.m. According to a report from the sheriff’s office, a deputy responded to a domestic call on Bud Hutcheson Road on February 19. In the report, the complainant stated that she had to take her daughter out of town for a chemotherapy appointment. She asked her ex, Anthony Abney, 33, if he wanted to go. He said no. They went to the appointment and came back home, the report states.…

The ongoing liquor store saga in West Green took a big step towards getting resolved at Monday morning’s county commission meeting. The county approved a liquor license for West Green Liquor, potentially the second of two liquor stores in West Green. The county’s approval, however, is not the final step in the process. Now the state has to decide if it will grant the license. And that’s not necessarily a given. The issue is that, according to state guidelines, liquor stores must be 1,500 feet apart from each other. There is another liquor store, Fairway Liquor, 1,203 feet away from…

Since a jury convicted Jason Anderson, 45, of Douglas, of felony murder, aggravated assault, and making false statements earlier this month in connection to the death of Vann Brown on January 1, 2020, Anderson has hired a new attorney who has wasted no time attempting to secure a new trial for Anderson.  Atlanta lawyer Brian Steel is now Anderson’s counsel.   Steel has already filed several motions, at least one of which is null and void (this writer’s words, not the court’s) due to the timing of its filing, while the other is still pending. The first motion is a…