Southern League honors Frank Burke, and more sports news

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Staff File Photo by Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press Lookouts' owner Frank Burke sits in right field with an oversize glove during a game against the Birmingham Barons. "I do it for luck," said Burke.
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In his last season as Chattanooga Lookouts president and general manager, Frank Burke is the Southern League's Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year, as voted on by his peers. The league's attendance leader since 2009, Chattanooga hosted 224,974 fans this season as one of five league clubs with an increase from 2010, and the Lookouts won the North Division second half. Burke previously was executive of the year in 2001, and Lookouts officials have won the award four times in all. Burke is in the process of selling the team he bought with his father, Daniel Burke, and Charles Eshbach in 1995. Baseball America honored the Lookouts in 2002 as the Bob Freitas Award winner for long-term Class AA success. Burke, who has an MBA from Harvard, pitched three years for Middlebury College in Vermont.

  • The Chattanooga Cyclones K baseball team won the Carson-Newman Wood Bat Invitational tournament this past weekend. Dakota Hudson and McLain Bauchus struck out 13 batters in a 3-0 win over the 17-under Desert Eagles, when Austin Morris tripled, Chris Caffrey doubled and Cody Rhinehart had an RBI hit. Bobby Towne and Brent Smith pitched the Cyclones to a 7-0 win over Parkway White, and Lee Gibson had three hits, two RBIs and a run, Rhinehart had two hits and scored twice, Ben Rollins had two hits, an RBI and a run and Sheldon Brogden had a two-run double. The Cyclones routed the Desert Eagles 18s 11-1 in the championship game with Brogden contributing three hits, three RBIs and two runs, T.J. Binder two hits and two RBIs, Gibson two hits and two runs and Hudson a two-run hit. Zach Thompson was the winning pitcher with relief from Logan Baldwin. The Cyclones S team went 2-1 and finished third in the tournament, losing 6-3 to the Desert Eagles 17s. Jared Ryan was the winning pitcher in a 12-4 win over Parkway White, Brandon Dycus and Drew Williams shut out Parkway Orange in a 5-0 victory and Williams, Gabriel Rich, Josh Poole and Winston Whitener were top hitters.

Softball

  • Ridgeland High School senior Nicole Daniels signed scholarship papers last week to continue her softball career at Truett-McConnell College. The infielder is currently batting .400 with three doubles and 12 RBIs for the 9-6 Lady Panthers. "It is a dream of mine to play softball in college, and to have the opportunity to play at a Christian college that has what I am majoring in is even more of a plus," said Daniels, who plans to major in early childhood education at the Cleveland, Ga., school. "As soon as I arrived on campus I fell in love with the school -- from the administration, coaches, players, facilities and the spirituality." Ridgeland coach Scott Harden said one workout was all it took for the Lady Bears' coaches to offer the scholarship. "Nicole is a first-class young lady who will continue to do great things in college," Harden said. "She is a leader in all aspects of life on and off the field. Truett is a great match for what her and her family wanted for her future education as well as to grow in her spirituality."

Auto Racing

  • Mike Allison of East Ridge won the Foot Brake class this past Saturday night at the Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip with a 7.02-second run on a 7.00 dial-in in his 1973 Dodge Charger, and he won the double-money $800 by outdragging 18 cars. Jeffrey Montgomery of Powder Springs, Ga., got $400 for second place in his '69 Chevelle SS, and David Bigham of Calhoun, Ga., was third in a '68 Dart. Also at the strip Saturday night, the jet-powered Heat Wave Funny Car stirred the crowd by going 173.85 mph.

  • Craig Reece of Dalton won the 20-lap Crate Late Model feature race Sunday at the Rome Speedway. The driver's father, Larry Reece of Dalton, heads the winning team.

Golf

  • FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- Scott Moran and Scott Masters from Knoxville's Fox Den Country Club won by four strokes with a 10-under-par 62 in the Tennessee PGA's TaylorMade-Adidas Pro-Assistant Championship tournament Monday at Westhaven Golf Club. Four groups tied for second at 66, and Chattanooga Golf and Country Club head pro Bruce Etter teamed with Matthew Brock for sixth at 67 and with Mitch Brock to tie for seventh at 68.