After a rough start to the 2013 season, the Portal Panthers are starting to turn things around on the baseball diamond. The Panthers have won three of their last five games with the bat and arm of Evan Street leading the way.
    Street’s hot hitting has been a fixture in the middle of Portal’s batting order all season, but he is just now getting back on the mound. Some arm troubles limited him to a role at second base until recently, but Street took the mound for his first appearance at home on Tuesday, going the final two innings to finish off an 8-6 win over Claxton.
    “It felt great to get back to pitching,” Street said. “I was a little shaky in the last inning, but my team backed me up. Hopefully, all of us can just keep improving.”
    Claxton strung together a few hits off of Street to nearly pull off the comeback in the final frame, but it was Street’s offense that had given Portal its comfy cushion to work with.
    Street highlighted a big fifth inning for the Panthers when he smacked a three-run home run over the wall in left field.
    “That was a big one,” Portal coach Dennis Moore said. “We had a chance to do some damage and Evan came through. That’s what we’re trying to see more of.”

    In the spring of 2010, the Southeast Bulloch girls track and field squad got a big boost as a big class of talented freshman started competing and producing in their first season at the varsity level.
    Fast forward to today and Bre Gates is a standout on a solid core of athletes – now in their senior season – who are looking to accomplish big things in their final season with the Lady Yellow Jackets.
    “It’s great to have a big group that all progresses together through four years,” SEB coach Jolie Britt said. “We knew that we had some talented girls even in their first spring with us. They have pushed each other hard every day and that has led to all of them improving.”
    Gates is a cornerstone of the team, not only consistently performing at a high level, but doing so in many different events. In the meet that SEB hosted against South Effingham and Claxton on Monday, Gates won the 100 and 200 meter dashes, the long jump and ran the anchor leg of the winning teams in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
    “Getting good performances in so many different events is what really excites us,” Britt said. “That’s what it’s going to take to win in the postseason meets.”
    Gates and the Jackets are slated to host another meet today before hosting the Region 1-AAA meet on April 15.