| Remember When? —Central’s John Robert McCullough will pitch for Union | | Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2012 7:00 pm
| Remember when takes a look back at the local stories from the files of The Messenger that took place 1, 5, 10, 20 and 30 years ago.
30 Years Ago
June 3 — The Messenger-Obion County Basketball Tournament requested permission from the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association to experiment with the 3-point shot in the fifth edition of its event in November. Tourney director Dave Bartholomew — citing that colleges would be also experimenting with the shot beyond a perimeter arc as well as a shot clock — said he expected an answer by the early fall. The tournament, which involved Obion County’s four high schools (Kenton, Obion Central, South Fulton and Union City) ranked eighth in the state among 56 such tourneys in attendance the year before.
June 5 — Obion Central baseball standout John Robert McCullough signed scholarship papers with Union University to continue his career at the next level. McCullough, who helped the Rebels to consecutive state tournament appearances his final two years on the prep level, posted a brilliant 33-3 record during his three varsity seasons. He was 12-2 as a senior. McCullough was also the class valedictorian at OCCHS for 1981-82 with a 3.97 grade point average.
20 Years Ago
June 4 — Rives whipped Troy 12-1, Samburg thumped Woodland 19-5 and Troy Surratt bested Troy Manufacturing 15-4 in Obion County Little League play. Chris Simpson homered and singled three times for victorious Rives, while Chad Gray smacked a pair of roundtrippers in Samburg’s triumph. Brett Ashley hit a home run and Caleb Barker singled twice in Troy Surratt’s win.
June 5 — In Kawanis Softball League play, Hospital Flower Shop topped Rehab Center 14-8 in the junior circuit, while Reelfoot Bank doubled up Rives 10-5 in the senior division. Julie Higgins homered, tripled and singled for HFS, while both Marcy Stringfield and Katie Bondurant each had a pair of hits in support of winning pitcher Julie McKnight. In the older group play, Kathi Potts went 3-for-4 and Tina Baggett had three hits for the winning Banker team. Christy Powell got the pitching victory.
10 Years Ago
May 31 — The Sherwood Brothers — Cameron and Branson — were standouts in local minor league play. Cameron twirled a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts in Collision Specialty’s 5-1 victory over Tyson. Branson had two hits and was the winning pitcher in UC Insurance’s 9-8 triumph over E.W. James. Justin Taylor also had a pair of singles for UCI. Despite his team’s 5-4 loss to Sonic, Craig Lowrance struck out a whopping 15 batters for Storie’s. Lowrance also homered and doubled.
June 5 — Several local youths fared well in a couple of Vince Gill Jr. Golf Tournaments held in the area. Matt Kendall placed fifth in the 16-18-year-old division of a tourney played at The Farms in Dyersburg. Bradley Bugg was third in the 14-15 age group, while Ryan Chandler came in seventh in the 12-13 category. In a tourney at Wynridge Greens in Troy, Jake Underwood was second in the 16-18 masters division.
5 Years Ago
June 4 — Longtime Union City Babe Ruth League official and board member Jim Cawley threw out the first pitch in the Union City Greyhounds’ third season. Cawley, the revered voice of Union City High School sports for more than three decades, had held every position from president of the UCBR League to coach during his years of service. The Greyhounds then began their season in the wooden bat circuit with a 3-0 victory over Tradewater during which James McDonald and Jarrett Casey combined on a four-hit shutout.
June 5 — Obion County Central tennis coach Allen Pounds honored several members of his tennis team at a year-end banquet. Among those receiving special accolades on the boys’ side were Jason Maness, Matt Moore, Trevor Smith, Jordan Powell, Lukas Hanley, Steven Castellaw and Spencer Minyard. Those girls’ players honored were Kristen May, Rachel Roberson, Morgan Craddock, Autumn Victory, Jessica Crackel and Shannon Trout.
1 Year Ago
June 2 — Union City’s Taylor Hargrove and Angela Chesteen and Paxton Sisson of South Fulton were chosen and participated in the West Tennessee High School All-Star Softball Game in Jackson. Sisson, an all-state catcher as a junior, and Hargrove both signed scholarships to play at Union University.
June 6 — The Jackson Thunder, helped by Union City High School junior-to-be Drake Parker, won the championship of the 19-and-under division of the Northwest Tennessee Diamond Wars at Elam Stadium. Golden Tornadoes’ head coach Jeremy Maddox served as an assistant coach on the team that also included Dresden standout Matt Beatty and Greenfield’s Dalton Potts. Beatty was later drafted professionally, but opted for college at Belmont, while Potts had inked with UT Martin.
Published in The Messenger 5.31.12 | | | | |
