We are saluting our spring sports teams that saw their seasons cut short due to the coronavirus. This week we feature East Union. 

This week I am taking a look back at the spring sports scene that could have been for 2020. I wrote a piece for the Daily Journal a few weeks ago with other sports writers in which we mentioned one particular event we missed. 

BLUE MOUNTAIN - Blue Mountain College announced today that Saltillo High School's Matthew Reeder will lead the inaugural Topper Women's Soccer program that will begin play in the Southern States Athletic Conference of the NAIA in 2021-22.Reeder, a BMC alum, began his coaching career at Salti…

Editor’s note: The coronavirus pandemic shut down our local Gazette sports and Dennis shares some of the things that quite possibly could have taken place had we been able to play our seasons...

Four players from Union County made the Daily Journal All-Area team for 2019-20. Zach Shugars from Ingomar was named to the first team. Mitchell Shettles of New Albany, Annie Orman of West Union and Kinsley Gordon of Myrtle were named to the third team. 

ELLISTOWN - Todd Lott will make his way to the eastern side of Union County this fall as he takes over the head coaching duties of East Union football. Lott comes to the Urchins after spending the past two seasons as Athletic Director and assistant football coach at New Albany.

NEW ALBANY - There will be no baseball and softball in New Albany for local little league players this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The New Albany Board of Aldermen decided to cancel the season after much thought and deliberation. 

NEW ALBANY - Bo and Suzy Bowman have seen their lives and work affected in multiple ways by the coronavirus pandemic as high school, youth and adult tennis have come to a halt for the past several weeks. 

We are all facing adversity in the nationwide situation that is currently going on. Every family is enduring pain, heartache and hardship in some shape, fashion or form. 

ELLISTOWN - Todd Lott has been approved by the Union County School Board to be the next Head Football Coach at East Union. Lott takes over for Kevin Walton, who resigned last month to take an assistant position at East Webster. 

The basketball coaches at the five schools that participate in the Union County Tournament named their all-county selections for boys and girls basketball. A total of 18 players made the boys team while 12 girls were recognized. 

Many times in our lives we can draw parallels from real life occurrences and the wide world of sports. Our current situation we find ourselves in with the coronavirus might be a case in point. 

It’s not how Gray Spencer expected to spend his 22nd birthday—heading home to New Albany after three weeks at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson.

Kelton Hall was on a tear at the plate for the Northwest Ranger baseball team this spring and looked almost unstoppable, but the coronavirus epidemic was able to set Hall down when opposing pitchers could not. Hall was batting .500 in only 12 games while going 18 for 36 with four home runs a…

Union County had three players that received recognition for the Mississippi Association of Coaches North Basketball All-Star teams back in March. Annie Orman of West Union was named to the 1A/2A/3A Girls North team. Zach Shugars and Tyson Smithey of Ingomar were named to the 1A/2A/3A Boys N…

Union County had a trio of fastpitch softball players that were recently named to the MAC 1A/2A/3A North All-Star Fastpitch Softball team. Players that earned the honor were Emily Coggin of East Union, Kaily Edwards of Ingomar and Sarah Kate Thompson of Myrtle. The games were scheduled to be…

Emma Callicutt of West Union and Kinsley Gordon of Myrtle were recently named to the 2020 Rising Stars Fast Pitch Softball North Team. Players were chosen from all six classifications of MHSAA fastpitch softball for the North team. The all-star games were scheduled to be played on May 29 and…

I recently took a drive at the suggestion of Mark Mathis, one of our pastors at First Baptist Church, and shot photos of crosses in New Albany and Union County. 

New Albany had a total of seven players make the Division 1-4A All-Division team as four players from the boys team were recognized while three girls players were also honored. 

Sam and Emma Callicutt should be right in the thick of a busy spring schedule about now, but the siblings are trying to manage the coronavirus benching their sports. 

The Executive Committee of the the Mississippi High School Activities Association voted Wednesday morning to cancel all sports and activities until the start of the 2020-21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I have lived my entire life in amazement at the power of a seed. I mean seriously, you plant one seed, cover it with dirt, make sure you water it and then something that is nothing short of miraculous happens.

Coach Kevin Walton resigned recently as head coach of the East Union football team. Walton had coached the Urchins for the past five seasons as well as serving as an assistant to Scott Duley for one year. 

East Union had four players to make the 1-2A All-Division team recently. There were two players each from the boys and girls team. Josh Henderson and Rett Johnson represented the Urchins on the boys team while Lady Urchins Kaitie Boatner and Sylvie McVey made the girls team. 

New Albany seniors Max Spencer and Cristian Perez recently earned All-Area recognition on the Daily Journal team.

Mitchell Shettles, a graduating senior at New Albany High School, has received an appointment to the Naval Academy Prep School for the United States Coast Guard Academy. 

The New Albany Bulldogs hired former Tupelo head coach Trent Hammond on Tuesday as defensive coordinator after he announced his resignation from the 6A school on Monday. 

Coach Kevin Walton has resigned his position as Head Football Coach at East Union Attendance Center. Walton has been coaching at East Union for 6 1/2 years. He has been head coach for the past 5 seasons. In that time he has led the Urchins to 5 straight play-off appearances and back to back …

The Gordon family has shared a lot of memories on the fields of competition during the spring sports seasons, but nothing will quite compare to this year. The coronavirus situation has brought the season to a screeching halt for all four members as coaches and players. 

We enter another week of the coronavirus saga and the situation is bad, but how I choose to deal with it can have a tremendous influence on how I weather the storm. I can choose to become embittered, exhausted and consumed by all the negativity or I can be a source of encouragement, energy a…

Myrtle and West Union were represented on the Division 3-1A basketball teams that were chosen recently. Myrtle had two players for the boys team, A.I. Nugent and Jaden Taylor. The Lady Hawks were represented by Kinsley Gordon and Raykiah Strickland. 

The East Union Lady Urchins should be preparing to defend their Class I State Powerlifting title at the present, but with the coronavirus has shut down the schools in Mississippi. The Lady Urchins are now searching for ways to attempt to keep an edge at home in hopes of an opportunity that s…

My schedule has seen a significant change with the coming of the coronavirus, school closings, suspension of prep sports events, social distancing, seclusion and any other word that begins with the letter "s" that applies. 

The Division 2-1A All-Division team was a sea of Falcon blue as Ingomar placed five players on the boys team. 

Clinton – In concurrence with Gov. Tate Reeves’ decision to close all public schools in Mississippi due to the Coronavirus, the Mississippi High School Activities Association on Friday extended its suspension of all competition and practice in athletic and fine arts activities until April 17.

The sudden shutdown of schools, businesses and various other venues has affected our county, city and communities. New Albany Tennis had just gotten their season off to a good start with several matches before spring break. 

We have definitely been experiencing some difficult and drastic times over the past couple of weeks and probably will for a few more. 

New Albany had three boys to earn all-division in 1-4A soccer and three girls. Both teams had two players to make honorable mention. 

Jatyjia Jones, former Ingomar player, helped lead Jones Community College to a 94-60 win over Northwest in the Region 23 Championship game at Clinton. 

CLINTON – After a solid run in last week's NJCAA Region 23 Tournament, Northwest sophomore guard Lindsay Hall and sophomore forward Mallory Russell were chosen as the Rangers' selections for the all-tournament team.

West Union bowling and archery photos courtesy of Lacy Raines.

CLINTON — To protect the health and safety of our students and communities, the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) is suspending all sanctioned contests and activities due to the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in Mississippi. This policy was put in place after a confe…

Gara Beth Self has seized the chance to prove herself at the Division I level.

BOONEVILLE - Lafayette tried to rally the ship after falling behind East Union 8-1, but the young Urchins withstood the rally and won 10-7 on Tuesday. The teams were playing in the Booneville Spring Break Tournament at NEMCC. 

The New Albany Invitational Track Meet was held on Thursday, March 5th with over a dozen teams competing. Here is a collection of a few of the New Albany athletes that took part in the meet. 

Gene Phelps | Special to the Gazette

Buzzer-beater gives Falcons state title

BOONEVILLE - Myrtle proved to be their own worst enemy in Friday's 10-0 loss at Booneville as they Lady Hawks committed three costly errors that impacted the game in a huge way as they directly led to six runs crossing the plate. Myrtle finished the night with five total errors. 

Gene Phelps | Special to the Gazette