Teamwork Takes Everybody On And Off The Field  

                                                                         2009 AAAAA FINAL FOUR TEAM 

                                                             CONGRATULATIONS 2009 EAST PAULDING RAIDERS

 SEE ABOVE LINK TO WEBSITE EFFECTIVE FOR 2011 SEASON

THIS SITE WILL REMAIN AS ARCHIVES FOR EAST PAULDING RAIDER BASEBALL 2004-2010--GO RAIDERS 2011 AND BEYOND

THANKS FOR ALL THE MEMORIES  -GO RAIDERS     IN 2011 

Raiders finished the season last night before a outstanding crowd at Ronnie Green Field for Senior Night.   The Raiders fell 10-2 to Marietta.  It was a beautiful evening for baseball and the pre-game ceremony went well.  Carolyn Mason (Wormys Gran-mom) won the Chipper Jones Autographed Bat and great meal was served afterwards in the Batting Facility.   A few tears were shed as the curtain closed on the season.  This group of Seniors JV/Varsity team had a record   overall of 70-29.  THAT’S A LOT OF WINNING.  Yes the year was disappointing but sometimes you have to learn to lose as well as learn to win.   Lots of very close games and it seemed we never got a break that went our way.  Over all we as parents , players , siblings and coaches have a lot to be thankkful for.  Good Friends have been made....Good Times have been had and Good memories have been made and a few we might want to forget.   GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE 2010 RAIDER SENIORS.     A special Thanks To Jim and Darlene Gable /Jerry and Shelly Batcher for a fine job on Senior Night and I am sure there are individuals I did not mention ...THANK YOU.  

   CONGRATS SENIORS  TYLER SIMS/BO VINESS/CODY DIVIN/CHRIS GARLAND/BOBBY REDNOUR/BRANDON SPAGNOLA/JORDAN NORMENT/TAYLOR DAVIS/CHASE CARRUTH/COUREY SNELLING AND LANCE GRAY  GOD BLESS AND GOOD LUCK  ...ITS BEEN A GOOD RIDE.  

            Raiders face pitcher Kent Emmanual and fall 1 run short.  1-0 was the final.  Tonight Raiders have Senior Night.  Come out and support this fine group of young men.    

                               CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2010 JV TEAM 

          The JV team led by Coach Roberts went 12-5  for the season.  Great Job,  There some sharp players coming up thru the system.   Coach Roberts has a fantastic record over the 4 years as head JV Coach of 63-8.   Awesome........

LETS ALL COME OUT FRIDAY NIGHT AND SUPPORT THE SENIORS OF 2010

       GAME VS.  MARIETTA BLUE DEVILS   AT 5:55

       Last night Zack pitched 5 innings in the Augusta Green Jackets 9-5 win over Savannah.   Zack got no decision  but had his best outing so far.  Green Jackets were one run down when Zack came out of the game.   Wheeler is currently the fourth starter in a 6 man rotation.   This is a major step up in a short year from High School Baseball.  Augusta Manager quoted in the Augusta Chronicle last week " We see improvement every time he starts and thats all you can ask".   KEEP IT UP ZACK AND WE ARE PULLING FOR YOU.

        East Paulding lost a heartbreaker in Marietta 5-4 in the extra innings.  The game was one to remember.  Very close the whole game.  The region standings are tight and playoffs are still possible.   East Paulding will need to have a strong second half of region play.

JV wins 15-9 and has a good record of 8-4.   Great Job JV guys and Coach Roberts 

          Zack Wheeler has donated a brand new scoreboard to East Paulding Baseball.  The board will look like the sample above.  Hunter Ledbetter is displaying the sample that came with the board as it  was delivered last week.    We will have to wait for the assembly due to the contractor is so backed up due to the wet spring we have had.   The part cut off at bottom Thanks Zack Wheeler /6th pick in the Major League Draft 2009.   Thank You so much Zack Wheeler and Family for the donation.  You and your family have meant so much to EP.     

      Those players, parents and students that experienced the Raiders 2009 baseball season will all agree it was a exciting one that saw the Raiders draw as close as 1 inning away from a State Championship Series.  The teams first year AAAAA was ended in a heart breaking loss to South Forsyth.  The yeas was full of excitment.  EP was invited to a Invitational Tornamnet in La Grange that saw some very exciting baseball.  Scouts from all over MLB were present at every game Zack Wheeler pitched in.  And the Raiders played some pretty excting baseball during the year also.  The Year was also highlighted by the dedication of EP baseball field being named after the late Coach Ronnie Green.  Also the opening of a new Indoor Batting Facility at East Paulding.

        The teams first ever AAAAA season was rolling along but did not kick into gear until a come from behind victory against Kennesaw Mt.  6-5 with a play at the plate ending the game as  Zack Gonosz was  called safe.  Kennesaw did not swallow that loss to well as it became pretty heated after the play at plate.  This was a turning point to a playoff run that would be EP's 10th straight visit to post season in a row.   EP ended up seating 3rd and faced heavy favorite Kell High School at Kell for round 1.   All 3 games in the Kell series ended in walk off hits.   The good news was EP took the last game with a 3 run walk off homerun by Trent Glover to win the game and the series 2 games to 1.  This series win allowed Raiders to come home and Play Mill Creek.  Raiders took the series again 2-1 after being lead by some good batting performances from Stuart Young, Andy Almonte, Steven Nix and Jacob Forest.     Third round was one that we wont forget. The Raiders left the high school through a student send off and on to a nice chartered bus for Valdosta to play Lowndes County.   In cold and steady rain EP won  both games that were played.  The radio announcer for Valdosta radio said it would be miricle if the games were played with the weather in the area.  Bobby Rednour and Zack Wheeler both had spectaculer pitching performances. The games  were played and EP took both games 2-1 sweeping series and setting the Raiders up for a very big celebration at the team hotel that night and a victorious charter bus ride to Dallas GA the next day.    

     Raiders were now a Final Four team in the toughest division in GHSA baseball AAAAA.  South Forsyth was the next team to play.  Raiders took game 1 with a pinch hit 7th inning homerun by Michael Goodman in front of about 2000 fans at South Forsyth.  Raiders dropped game 2.  And all was set up for game 3.  FOX 5 featured the EP fans that day and Raiders were winning till the 6th inning 2-1 with the pitching of Hayden Pettita.  South Forsyth came back with some key hits in the 7th and took the game 5-2.

        The EP Raiders baseball team had taken a sports teams as far as any East Paulding Team had done.  FOX 5 featured Coach Boyd and documented what a job the Raiders had done in their first year in Region AAAAA.  2009 A year that will be remembered.  

     The last event the team particiapted together in was the MLB draft in June where #45 Zack Wheeler was the 6th pick in the MLB draft to the San Fransisco Giants.  The event took place at Stars and Strikes and was a special evening capping off a special year,

     Raiders win tonight vs. South Cobb 9-4 and even the overall record to 4-4 on the season.    Raiders play a huge region match up Thursday night at Harrison.  Lets get a big Raider crowd to give support.   Go Raiders. 

     2009 Former EP Raider Derek Ward who is on the roster at Penn State Harrisburg  sent this photo taken by their head baseball coach.   WOW ....WHAT BATTING PRACTICE.  Good Luck to Derek and good luck in 2010.       

      Zack signed last week with the SFO Giants.  Congratulations and we will be pulling for you.  Hard Work and Dedication pays off and could not happen to a better guy and a better family.   THANKS ZACK AND RAIDER BASEBALL PROGRAM  FOR THE MEMORIES.........GOOD LUCK ZACK....WE WILL BE WATCHING

FALL BALL SET TO START 8/31.  This year will feature a Varsity and JV team.  The schedule is full of great match ups and this year we will have home games.  All Games are at 6PM.

Varsity Home Dates Are-  Sept 1,8, 15, 22, 29  Oct 6, 8,13 , 20

JV Home Dates Are-  Sept  2, 16 , 23, 30   Oct 7, 19, 26     

 http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090609&content_id=5228744&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf

SEE SFO GAINTS WEBISTE

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=sf

      Congratulations to Michael Goodman and Zack Wheeler for being selected to the 2009 400 Club.  John Shuerholz and the Atlanta Braves welcomed both of these players to the 755 Club Facility for this special presentation.  The Atlanta Braves honor top rated High School Baseball Players from all different regions.  In addition Zack Wheeler was selected and Georgia 400 Club Player Of The Year.   WAY TO GO GUYS.   

     RAIN-HAIL-FOG you name it it came.  So we moved the Coach Green Ceremony and the  large crowd indoors to the facility he wanted to build.   The Ceremony went on and was very nice.  Thanks to the many Alumni and Faculty that came out to honor our Former Coach.  Also thanks to Etowah for their  support also.  We will reschedule this game Saturday at 1PM.   Very Disapointing but thats the way it goes.    

     EP Vs. Kennesaw Mt....Rematch with the Mustangs will be Friday Night at KMHS.  After  the last game between the two teams this promises to be a hot contest.  Raiders need as many fans to support the effort  on the road as we can get.  Game time 5:55.

So Here is The Schedule for Next 2 Days

Friday Varsity at Kennesaw Mt.  5:55   VERY IMPORTANT GAME

Saturday JV Home 10:00AM Alexander  Last Game. Varsity Folks Come Out and support this team and congratulate them on a great season.

Saturday Varsity  1PM Vs. Etowah   JV stay and support Varsity as this could decide the Region lead depending on Fridays outcome.  See latest standings after Harrsion Loss Thur.

Friday night the Raiders took two from Ridgeland behind great pitching and great hitting. Zach Wheeler shut the door on the Panthers in game 1 with a 4 inning perfect game, striking out 11 of the 12 batters he faced. The offense did the rest, piling up 15 runs on 11 hits. Andy Almonte went 3 for 3 with a home run, Matt Aultman went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI's. Eric Gaylord had 2 hits and 3 RBI's, Stuart Young a triple and an RBI, Adam Brazenas a hit and an RBI, and Zach Gonosz also had a triple and an RBI. A great effort in Game 1.

In game 2, with Adam Hall on the hill to start, we piled up 4 in the second and never looked back. Another game with lots of hits (13) too. Adam Brazenas went 3 for 3 with an RBI and 3 runs scored. Eric Gaylord continued his torrid pace with 2 more hits and 2 RBI's, Matt Aultman had a triple, Trent Glover a double and a single, Andy Almonte had a double, Stuart Young a triple and 2 RBI's, Justin Griswell a single, Zach Gonosz a single and an RBI, and Jacob Forrest had a hit too. On the hill, Adam Hall went 5 innings for the win, allowing just 4 singles and 1 earned run.

The fans were great (albeit a bit rowdy), their coach got tossed in game 2, and we had a great turnout! Pretty much a little of everything last night. Next up is Salem at home on Wednesday. They will be a much more formidable foe. Lets keep the place rockin! Show up and cheer for the good guys. Man I felt sorry for their catcher though!

Cherokee and Alexander were eliminated last night and Sequoyah is playing their rubber game today. Let's pull for that other region 5 team, eh? See you soon!

Adam Brazenas, senior catcher and first baseman for the Raiders has agreed to a scholarship to attend Oglethorpe University and continue his playing career at the Buckhead (Ga) university next year. Adam has been a varsity starter at East since the end of his freshman season. He has also played for Team Georgia and was a pre season first team all state selection this year. His parents, Jeff and Lisa are very proud of him.  Go get em Adam!  Click on the underlined caption for the Oglethorpe writeup on Adam.

Adam's commitment makes a total of 3 Raiders (so far) who will be playing at the next level in 09!