High School Sports

Tyler Gross is a quiet leader, a consistent pitcher, a natural lineman and a blue-collar athlete. He makes sacrifices for the good of the team and does not seek recognition or glory for the work he puts in.

These are some of the comments made by two of the coaches who know him best and among the reasons why Gross was selected as the 2011 Male Student-Athlete of the Year, an award sponsored by The News-Democrat and Earl Floyd Ford.

Zach Wise was named the 2011 NCKC player of the year and the 31st District player of the year, head coach Jay Jones announced.

All of the awards were voted on by conference and district coaches. NCKC players were ranked 1-12 with 12 being the highest rating, and coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.

Dillon Craig and Tyler Gross were also voted on to the NCKC All-Conference team.

The following players were voted on to the 31st All-District team: Wise, Craig, Gross, Ethan Stewart, Derek Williams and Brady Hill.

The season ended in the district tournament for the Lady Panther softball team as they lost 11-5 to the Gallatin County Lady Wildcats on Tuesday May 24.

The teams were able to get through four complete innings the day before and were in the top of the fifth when heavy storms delayed the game to Tuesday.

While they notched 11 hits to Gallatin’s 13 in the game, errors and a six-run third inning by the Lady Wildcats foiled their plan for a comeback.