Mocs' D.J. Key, Kadeem Wise on CFPA DBs list

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has added two more players to a College Football Performance Awards watch list for 2013, as Mocs seniors D.J. Key and Kadeem Wise were among the 36 defensive backs honored. They follow quarterback Jacob Huesman, tight end Faysal Shafaat, defensive linemen Davis Tull and Derrick Lott and linebacker Wes Dothard on CFPA lists for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. Wise, from Lawrenceville, Ga., is a three-time All-Southern Conference selection with 10 career interceptions. The SoCon freshman of the year in 2010, he has started all 33 games the past three years. Key, from Centerville, Tenn., is a two-time all-conference pick with five career interceptions and a school-record 85-yard pickoff return for a touchdown. He was second on the team with 82 tackles last year. UTC is one of only four schools with two defensive backs on the watch list.

photo Taylor Hicks
photo Kaytlin Hicks

Softball

• Tennessee Temple University softball coach Randy Crawford pulled off a nice double play Monday, signing twins Taylor and Kaytlin Hicks from Ooltewah High School and the Frost Falcons for his Lady Crusaders. They played for him as eighth-graders at Ooltewah Middle, and both said he, the players they met and the campus were reasons they liked TTU. Knowing they wanted to stay together, they also talked to Cleveland State. "They came and worked out with the girls some, and I was really impressed with them," Crawford said. "Both are naturally left-handed in everything they do, and they can hit away or slap or drag. And they've played for some very good teams." Said Norma Nelson, who coached the twins at Ooltewah High: "They both have decent batting averages, and they're both fast. Taylor played all four years, but this was really the first year Kaytlin played the whole season. She had some arm problems in the past." Taylor was the Lady Owls' No. 1 pitcher and also played first base, and Kaytlin played right field. She batted .322 with three triples, three doubles and a home run among her 29 hits this past season, while Taylor hit .302 with four triples and five doubles in 26 hits.

Baseball

• The Chattanooga Cyclones K baseball team split a doubleheader Saturday against the Southern Prospects at Samford University in Birmingham. The Cyclones won the first game 10-5 with Gabe Rich registering the pitching win and Jackson McClain earning a save. Trey Silmon doubled twice among three hits and drove in three runs for the Cyclones, while Corey Edgemon scored three and Seth Hickman and Hunter Mercer each had two hits and an RBI. Winston Whitener had two hits and an RBI and Aaron Granger contributed an RBI double in the subsequent 7-4 loss.

• The Chattanooga Cyclones V team beat Birmingham Baseball twice Friday at Samford, the second game 10-0 with Tyler Reed pitching a one-hitter, Noah Hill and Cade Evans each collecting two hits and two runs, Hunter Oliver recording two hits, a run and an RBI and Davis Culpepper and Thomas Boals adding two hits and an RBI apiece. Evans had three hits and three runs, Oliver had three hits, two RBIs and a run and Nick Gaddis added an RBI triple and scored in the first game, when Justin Glover got the pitching win and Jackson Bell had a save. Like the Cyclones K team the next day, the V's used wood bats while their opponents used metal.

Auto Racing

• Flat Rock, Ala., resident Robert Gant won the Super Late Model featured race Saturday night at Fort Payne Motor Speedway, and Kasey Hall of Geraldine won the Crate Late Model race for the second week in a row. The track will host its biggest event of the season on June 29, the FireCracker 50 paying $3,000 to win.

Fishing

• Billy Brindle of Calhoun, Ga., was ninth among the pros in the Walmart Bass Fishing League Bama Division tournament Saturday on Lake Neely Henry near Gadsden, Ala. Brindle's five-bass limit totaled 14 pounds, 5 ounces. The winner was Wes Logan of Springville, Ala., with 18-9.

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