St. Pius Weekly Sports Recap

The week in athletics at featured two teams clinching the top seed in their respective region tournaments as well as another shutout on the gridiron, and strong finish on the course. The Golden Lions boys’ cross country team continues to be the top-ranked team in the AAA ga.milesplit.com poll but dropped in the All-Classification poll to No. 7. The lady harriers retained its second spot in the AAA poll.  Football maintained its No. 3 spot in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution rankings, while moving up a spot in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) poll to No. 3.

The football team moved to 5-0 with its third shutout of the season as they defeated North Atlanta, 42-0. Logan Rosborough rushed 20 times for 165 yards and four touchdowns. Nick Ruffin and Geno Smith each added a rushing touchdown. Joseph Crochet led the defense with 10 tackles while Jacob Hambrick and Michael Healy chipped in with 9 apiece. Healy also recovered a fumble for the Golden Lions, which will travel to Riverwood on Friday night at 7:30pm.

The volleyball squad (No. 1-AAA) secured the top seed in the Area 5 tournament as the Golden Lions won all three area matches against No. 6 Riverwood (AAA), Towers and Columbia to up its record to 36-4.  St. Pius faces several ranked teams this week as they wrap up the regular season travelling to No. 9 Westminster (AA/A) and No. 9 Marist (AAAA) Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Saturday, the netters are scheduled to face three-ranked teams including No. 2 North Cobb (AAAAA), No. 3 Eagle’s Landing Christian (AA/A) and No. 5 Wesleyan (AA/A) over the five-match day at the Harrison Play-Day. The Area 5 tournament begins next week at North Springs.

The boys’ cross country team finished second overall and as the top AAA finisher at the Atlanta Classic in Douglasville. Austin Sprague placed fifth and Calvin Tirrell ran in seventh to pace the Golden Lions. Andrew Anastasiades, Chris Beach and Paul McNeil rounded out the effort for the harriers as they placed five runners in the top 35. The boys’ team will travel to Cary, NC, this weekend to participate in the Great American Cross Country Festival. The girls’ team was idle this week and will travel to Albany on  Saturday to run in the Westover Invitational.

The softball squad captured two Region 5-AAA games this week defeating Grady and Riverwood by double-digits. Against Riverwood, the Golden Lions were led at the plate by seniors Liz Schneider and Dylan Krause who were a combined 5-6 with four runs scored and five runs batted in. Freshman Jordyn Portis hit her first career home run to help back pitcher Natasha Sherrod who allowed just one run on one hit while striking out nine in the 13-1 rout. St. Pius will end the regular season hosting Marist on Monday at 5pm and will travel to Washington on Tuesday and Eastside on Wednesday. The region tournament will begin Oct. 3 at Riverwood.

The competition cheer squad will look to build on its top three effort earlier this year when they travel to Parkview for the “Rumble in the Jungle” on Oct. 8.