Multiple Hardin County bowlers play key roles in sweep of state titles
Hardin County’s Faith Welch and Calin Meeks had big weeks at the state bowling tournament last week as Meeks won the individual state championship and Welch was named the TPBA Miss Bowler of the Year and finished third individually.
But, those two weren’t the only ones who had a solid bowling state tournament.
The Lady Tigers won a fifth straight state championship with a 23-4 victory over Creek Wood in the title match.
Welch bowled 200 or more in six of her nine games, including a 688 series (235, 225, 228) in the championship match.
Hardin County freshman Kailee Channell bowled three 200-plus games with two coming in the quarterfinal win over Lebanon.
Abbygale Hunt and Lacy Tims bowled 222 games in the championship match.
The Tigers won a second straight state championship with a 16-11 victory over White House in the championship.
Meeks led the Tigers through the semifinals and final with a 750 series (255, 249, 246) in the semifinal win over Tullahoma and a 670 series (253, 179, 238) in the championship match.
John Smith was also key with eight 200-plus games. He had a 732 series (244, 276, 212) in the quarterfinal win over Collierville and a 670 series (241, 227, 202) in the championship match.
Jacob Short bowled a 712 series (241, 224, 247) in the semifinal win.
• West Carroll’s snow problems: The boys basketball team at West Carroll played one game during the first 21 days in the month of January. That game came on Jan. 11 against Big Sandy.
Winter weather played a big part in that with postponements and cancellations.
The War Eagles will make up for it this week and next week. They are scheduled to play six games in nine days with all six games coming in District 11-A play.
West Carroll played Monday night against Huntingdon and followed it up with a home game against Clarksburg on Tuesday night.
The War Eagles have Wednesday off, but they travel to Bruceton on Thursday, to McKenzie on Friday, to Natchez Trace on Monday and to Big Sandy on Tuesday.
• Bradford honored at ETSU: Former Humboldt standout Desonta Bradford recently became the 41st player in East Tennessee State University history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
Bradford finished off the feat as the Bucs beat VMI.
ETSU is now 16-4 on the season.
• Riverside’s Odle commits to Columbia State: Riverside senior baseball player Raleigh Odle recently committed to continue his baseball career at Columbia State.
Odle helped lead Lexington to a top-four finish in the Class AA state baseball tournament. He transferred to Riverside, where his father works, during the offseason.
He was an All-West Tennessee First Team selection after he went 8-2 with a 1.95 ERA and 76 strikeouts, along with batting .397 with 11 doubles, 27 RBI and 23 stolen bases.
Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.