Clay County’s Nick Varney went 3 for 4 against Herbert Hoover in the Class AA, Region 4, Section 1 baseball tournament. Herbert Hoover went on to win 11 – 2 over the Panthers. Gabe White went 3 for 5 with three RBI’s to lead Herbert Hoover (10- 15) to the win.

5-14-09 Abby Smith Leads Clay to Softball Victory

   Abby Smith pitched and hit host Clay County to a 3-0 win over Sissonville Panthers in a Class AA Region 4 Section 1 softball game.
   Smith fired a five-hit shutout, struck out four and went 3-for-3 with a double and triple. Kelli Cole rapped out a pair of hits for the panthers. Kaytee Gibson doubled and Dee Dee Loftis fanned nine for Sissonville (12-14), which plays the Herbert Hoover- Clay loser at 6 tonight in an elimination game

5-7-09 Clay County 10 and Calhoun Count ZERO!

5-5-09 Sectional Softball at Clay
   The girls sectional softball will be held at Bradley Field on May 6,7,and 8, 2009. Sissionville, Herbert Hoover and the Clay Panthers will play in a double elimination tournament.
   Clay girls will play at 5:00 on Wednesday May 6, 2009 and the winner of that game will play again 30 minutes after the first game.
   Admission for the tournament is $5.00 for adults and $4.00 for students.  This is a WVSSAC tournament and only those that have a coaches card will be admitted free.
   Also the Athletics Boosters want to remind all that the Elimination Dinner is 5:00 on May 9, 2009.  Tickets are $50.00 each.  This will include a dinner for two and a chance to win some of the $5,000 that will be given away.  There will be lots of door prizes.

4-30-09 Eric Workman, Player of The Week

   WVC Players of Week: Clay County native Eric Workman was named West Virginia Conference co-pitchers of the week after striking out 14 and allowing three hits and no earned runs in a completegame win for West Virginia State over Ohio Valley.
   Wheeling Jesuit’s Noah Mull shared the award after striking out 10 in a complete- game victory over West Liberty.

4-23-09 Gilmer Defeats Clay

   Nick Varney singled in the fifth inning for Clay County High School baseball team and that was the only hit allowed by the Gilmer County High School as Devin Cottrill carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Cottrill finished with a one-hitter and struck out nine in the victory over Clay.
   In addition to his pitching, Cottrill went 2-4 with a double and two RBIs.

4-5-09 Clay County Schools Sports Banquet

   On the 24th of March, Clay County Middle School hosted their annual Sports Banquet. Approximately 200 people gathered to recognize in part, the accomplishments of the student athletes of CCMS in volleyball, cheerleading, girl’s and boy’s basketball, and wrestling. The banquet gave the coaches an opportunity to boast on the accomplishments of their teams and recognize outstanding achievments.

   All of those in attendance were served a delicious hot meal prepared by the cooks at CCMS consisting of ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, hot rolls, a salad and dessert. Thanks to Nancy Preast and Jan Nelson which stayed late to help serve and clean up. The banquet was also to thank the parents for their support of the athletic department.
   It goes without saying that all of the admission fees, hot dogs, candy bars, drinks and nachos bought throughout the various sports seasons, add up. This was our way of saying thanks. Without your generous help, we would be unable to have a successful athletic program.
   Thanks to all of the parents who volunteered their time and worked in the concession stands, ran the clock, or stayed late to help clean up. These seem like thankless jobs, but the help provided by our volunteers is very much appreciated.
   Thanks also to the administration; Joe Paxton, Anita Stephenson, Mary Ann Triplett, Dee Brady, and the Athletic Director Geoff Hamrick for the countless hours they spent selling tickets at games, scheduling and organizing events, directing traffic, or just being on hand for whatever problems arose.
Photos courtesy of Allen Hamrick
more photos in this week's paper

3-20-09 Local Girl Competes at College Cheerleading Competition

   The 2009  CHEER-FEST was held during Spring Break in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina. There were 24 teams competing in various divisions. The Glenville Pioneer Cheerleaders form Glenville State College competed and came home Sunday to proudly display their 1st place trophy.
   The Glenville Cheerleaders consist of students from not only this area, but from many other states. Among those is Clay County’s own, JERRICA CAUDILL. Jerrica is a junior at Glenville where she is majoring in Business Management.

3-4-09 Danny Suite Memorial Wrestling Tournament

   The Danny Suite Memorial Wrestling Tournament was held on Sunday with 40 teams and over 340 wrestlers competing from all over the state. The fans were given the opportunity to see plenty of great matches filled with the intensity that is so common with this sport. The Clay High School gym was filled to near capacity as fans and coaches cheered each wrestler on. There were many wrestlers from the local area who competed in the tournament and did very well. In the end it was Mahembra wrestling club taking the top spot edging out Clay who came in second, by two points. The Young Guns wrestling club from the Beckley area came in third. Those involved would like to thank all those who gave up their time in support for the tournament to make it a great success this year, it was very much appreciated.

3-4-09 Valley 53, Clay County 49

2-25-09 Backyard Brawl with Braxton County Clay County 54, Braxton County 40

   The Clay County Basketball team beat Braxton County, Tuesday night at home a score of 54-40.
   The Panthers held Braxton to only 13 points in the first half. While scoring 20 points, Matt Carte and Luke Kleman led the way on offense in the first half with 7 points each. In the 3rd quarter, the Panthers outscored the Eagles by 3 points to extend the lead to ten. In the 4th quarter, the Eagles put the Panthers on the line where the Panthers then iced the game. Coach Gibson was happy with the team’s effort on defense. He stated, “Any time that you hold a team to only 40 points your doing something right.”

Stats for the Clay v. Braxton Game
Breken Gray 7pts. And 4 rebounds
Sean Duffield 3pts. And 7 rebounds
Jeremy Schwartz 11pts. And 3 rebounds
Matt Carte 17pts and 6 rebounds
Luke Kleman 11pts and 3 rebounds
Stephen Miller 5pts. And 2 rebounds
Nathan Pritt 0pts. And 4 rebounds

2-18-09 CCHS Basketball

   Clay invites Webster to visit for a regular season games, but results were in Webster favor. The panthers were led in points by Matt Carte with 15 points. Brecken Gray followed with 13 points. Final score the panthers fell to Webster County 61 and Clay County 55.
   Roane County pushes through the panther with a score of 80 to 57. The Lady Panthers were led in points by Savannah Boggess with 25 points.

2-18-09 Revised Basketball Schedule Clay County High School Girls Basketball

2-11-09 Attention! 

   Want Pictures of the Sport Scenes taken by Allen Hamrick? Call the Clay County Free Press at 587-4250 or Allen at 587-7137. Prices are 4x6’s - $5.00, 5x7’s - $7.50 and 8x10’s - $10.00. Larger Prints Are Available.

2-4-09 WSAZ Wrestling Tournament

   The majority of the wrestling community came to Huntington this past weekend where 29 High school teams and 42 Middle school teams converged upon the Big Sandy Arena in Huntington, WV. 1,100 wrestlers weighed in and competed in this event that began Friday evening and did not end until late Saturday night. In the Middle School division alone, there were 1,170 matches completed during the tournament.
   Competing in the Middle School tournament were the Clay County Mustangs coached by Geoff Hamrick and Cam Stewart. The team represented their county very well and managed a 10th place finish overall in the field over 42. This was a tremendous accomplishment considering the fact that the team forfeits 4 weight classes.
   If you are interested in being a part of a developing tradition of winning and watching the diligent efforts of young athletes pay off, get involved with Clay County wrestling.
   Wrestling at the WSAZ tournament was: Tyler Ramsey, Jack Cummings, Shawn Mollohan, Justin Triplett, Tyler Williams, Tyler Stewart, Ricky Ahart, Travis Naylor, Alex Suite, Mitchell Schoolcraft, Austin Reed, Wyatt Dawson and Jacob Hopkins. Receiving honors in the tournament was Justin Triplett at 90 lbs. - 3rd place; Tyler Stewart 110 lbs. - 6th Place; Alex Suite 123 lbs. - 3rd place; Mitchell Schoolcraft 128 lbs. - 4th place. Coach Hamrick would like to thank all of the parents that gave of their time and contributed food and drinks in support of the team as they traveled this weekend.

1-29-09 1-28-09 Clay Ladies Drop To Sissonville

   Clay County High School Ladies Panthers dropped a game to the Indians of Sissonville by the score of 64 to 37 Friday night at home. Kelli Cole scored 24 points for the Panthers in the losing effort. Kaitlin Snyder scored 29 points for the Indians, followed by Whitney Anderson

12-31-08 Sport's Schedules Now Online! Check them out at http://www.claycountyfreepress.com/sportsschedules.html

12-31-08 Middle School Wrestling Team

    The Clay County Middle School Wrestling Team attended their first wrestling tournament of the season on December 6, 2008 at the Wirt County Pepsi Invitational.
   Clay had several members of the team placing at this tournament with the team
placing 4th overall.  The second tournament of the season was spread over a two day period December 12 - 13, 2008 at John Adams Middle School.  The team finished up after 2 long days with 3rd Place.  Most recently, the team attended the Iron Man Tournament in South Charleston on December 19 - 20, 2008.  Once again, the team placed 3rd with only 6 points between them and 1st place and 3 points between 2nd and 3rd place.  This team makes Clay County proud every time they step on the mat and at every tournament they attend.  They are not only athletes, but they are respectful of others and represent this county with pride.  The Clay County Middle School with be hosting their first tri-meet in several years on January 21, 2009, please come out and support our local athletes. 

12-24-08 Clay Panthers Won

   Clay Panthers won against Wirt with a score 73-67 on Friday, December 19, 2008. Duffield 18, Schwartz 10, Breken Gray 19, Thomas 5. Perdue 7, Miller 3, Pritt 4, and Kleman 7.

12-24-08 Clay Lady Panthers Lost

   The Lady Panthers lost to the Lady Raiders on December 09, 2008 at the Raiders Home. The score was 72-17. 

12-24-08 Lady Panthers Lost Again

   Our Lady Panther lost their game against Summers County 32-86. Toni Holcomb and Kelli Cole notched 11 points each for the Lady Panthers.