Honor roll
Baseball
Kevin Clifford, Chestatee: Eight strikeouts from the mound and a home run at the plate in a win over Pickens on Friday.
Brian Clark, Buford: 2-for-2 with a triple and three RBIs in a win over Forsyth Central on Tuesday.
Luke Crumley, White County: Eleven strikouts from the mound and 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs at the plate in two games.
Hayden Cummins, White County: Two home runs in a win over Pickens on Tuesday.
Jason Demos, Jefferson: 2-for-4 with four RBIs in a win over Union County on Friday.
Chaiz George, Union County: Two home runs with seven RBIs at the plate and 14 strikeouts from the mound in two games.
Logan Jones, Lakeview Academy: Four RBIs in a win over Prince Avenue on Tuesday.
Anderson Loggins, Gainesville: 2-for-2 with three runs scored, one RBI and a home run in a win over Lumpkin County on Thursday.
Brady McCarter, Union County: Two home runs with a complete game win in two games.
Kyle Mills, White County: Two home runs in a win over Pickens on Tuesday.
Logan Pethel, Johnson: 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in a win over West Hall on Friday.
Jamie Ritchie, Buford: 5-for-7 with two home runs and six RBIs in two games.
Taylor Simpson, Lakeview Academy: Threw six strikeouts and went 3-for-3 with two RBIs in a win over Athens Christian on Thursday.
David Sosebee, White County: Threw 13 strikeouts and went 2-for-5 with a double in a win over Gilmer on Friday.
Jacob Whitenton, Lakeview Academy: 3-for-3 with two RBIs in a win over Athens Christian on Thursday.
Soccer
Anaelly Contreras, Johnson: One goal and three assists in a win over Lumpkin County on Friday.
Kaitlyn Hooper, White County: Five goals in a win over East Hall on Thursday.
Stephanie Johnson, Johnson: Two goals in a win at Lumpkin County on Friday.
Kayla Madsen, Johnson: Three goals in a win at Lumpkin County on Friday.
Tania Perez, West Hall: Three goals in a win over Stephens County on Wednesday.
Felix Ramierez, West Hall: Two goals and one assist in a win over Forsyth Central on Friday.
Alexis Rebollar, Chestatee: Two goals and a save in a win over Stephens County on Friday.
Rick Valentine, North Georgia Christian: Three goals in a win over New Creation Christian Academy on Tuesday.
Golf
Austin Booker, Lumpkin County: 3-under at Royal Lakes on Thursday.
Grant Cagle, Johnson: 3-under at Royal Lakes on Thursday.
Jimmy Lloyd, North Hall: Carded a 36 in nine holes at Chestatee Golf Course on Tuesday and a 73 in 18 holes at the TaylorMade/Adidas Invitational on Saturday.
Track
Jason Kles, Jefferson: Won the shot put and the discuss on Saturday at the Greater Atlanta Christian School Invitational.
Paul Malquist, Gainesville: Won the pole vault, the 300-meter hurdles, and helped the 4 x 100 relay team place first at Flowery Branch on Saturday.
Ty McCormack, North Hall: Set a meet record with a 4:17.56 in the 1600-meter at the Coaches Classic at Georgia Tech on Saturday.
C.J. Moore, Buford: Won the 100-meter dash and helped the 4 x 100 relay team place first at the Greater Atlanta Christian School Invitational on Saturday.
Blake Sims, Gainesville: Won the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and helped the 4 x 100 relay team place first at the Flowery Branch Invitational on Saturday.
Marlin Veazie, Riverside Military: Won the 100-meter dash and helped the 4 x 100 relay team place first at Dawson County on Tuesday.
Chris West, Gainesville: Won the high jump and helped the 4 x 100 relay team place first in Flowery Branch on Saturday.
OAKWOOD — A year ago, Trae Wilson was an admittedly nervous freshman starting on a young team that was still finding its way.
For Wilson and his teammates on Johnson’s baseball team, there may be no better teacher than experience.
“Last year, to be honest, I was scared of varsity,” Wilson said. “I was nervous a lot and had butterflies. Now I’ve got more confidence because I’ve seen it and I’ve done it.”
That confidence is starting to show.
Going into last week, the Knights (6-4, 2-0 Region 7B-AAA) were on a four-game losing skid and it would have been easy to let the losses continue to pile up.
Instead, the Knights found an offensive spark, led by Wilson’s seven hits — including two three-run home runs — and picked up three wins in five days.
Trae’s father and Johnson coach Tony Wilson, believes that Trae’s newfound confidence developed last summer while playing with a travel baseball team. The team, based out of Seneca, S.C., consisted mainly of 18-year-olds.
“He played with older kids and I think playing with (players) that were a little older than him made him step his game up just a little bit,” Tony Wilson said.
Trae Wilson and the Knights certainly made strides in the right direction last week.
With Wilson at the forefront of the onslaught, Johnson outscored East Hall, Pickens and West Hall by a total of 39-2.
Despite his nerves starting as a freshman last season, Wilson performed well, hitting .315 with four home runs and 16 RBIs.
But thanks to a growth spurt, he’s showing more power, and the Knights, who won just six games a year ago, are benefitting.
“Trae has physically matured over the past year,” Tony Wilson said. “He’s gotten bigger and stronger.”
When asked about his growth, the 6-foot-2, 230-pounder chuckled.
“Yeah, I’ve grown like five inches (since last season),” he said.
His height is not the only thing that has grown, so has his confidence at the plate. He’s already matched last season’s totals with four home runs and 16 RBIs through seven games this season, and he’s carrying a .480 batting average.
His confidence seems to have rubbed off onto his teammates.
While the offense has captured the attention, it’s the Knights’ defense and pitching that has Tony Wilson excited.
“In the previous four games we lost, we were averaging five errors a game,” he said. “In the three games last week we only committed two errors total for the entire week.”
In those four losses, Johnson pitchers were averaging four to five walks per game. In the three wins, the Knights decreased that to two per game.
The week’s wins also have Trae Wilson feeling positive about the rest of the season.
“(I am) feeling better about our season this year than last year,” he said. “Last year we were just trying to stay in ball games, this year we can win more.”
The Knights look to continue their winning ways when they visit undefeated Chestatee at 5:55 p.m. Wednesday.