By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
With only three seniors on their roster, one would think the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers have a good chance to make another run at the Class 3A state softball tournament next season.
Then again, so do most of the other Class 3A state participants.
Danville, which beat T.R. Miller in the opening round, has just one senior on its roster. West Blocton, which eliminated the Lady Tigers, has no seniors and just two juniors. Springville has six starters back. Three-time state champ Alabama Christian has just one senior as does Ardmore. Dadeville and Glencoe both have six starters back.
Home was a sweet home for T.R. Miller this season. The Lady Tigers were 14-1 on their home turf, which included a perfect 7-0 in the postseason.
However, the Lady Tigers were just 4-7 away from home and lost four of their last five games away from the friendly confines of the Brewton YMCA Park.
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The T.R. Miller Tigers football team will be getting an extra home game next season.
Abbeville will now play at Brewton Municipal Stadium on September 17. The Tigers had originally been scheduled to play at Abbeville that evening in a Class 3A Region 1 contest.
"We offered them a financial package to come here and they accepted. It's really a pretty good deal for both sides. They get some money out of the deal, it saves us some money by not having to travel and it eliminates a long road trip for us," T.R. Miller coach and athletic director Jamie Riggs said. "In this new region, we will have to make several long trips the next couple of years to Headland, Dale County, Slocomb and Pike County. Meanwhile those eastern teams in this region, like Abbeville, only have to come this far only a couple of times, to W.S. Neal and us."
Abbeville will also return to Brewton in 2005 as part of its regularly scheduled trip so T.R. Miller fans will avoid that trip in the current two-year region format.
The addition of Abbeville now gives the Tigers six home games next season. It also breaks up an early stretch of road games in the schedule. T.R. Miller had been slated to play three of its first four and four of its first six games on the road.
The Tigers are still slated to open up at Escambia County in a non-region game on August 27.
Region 1 play starts September 3 with a date at Straughn. T.R. Miller's home opener will be September 10 against Dale County followed by the Abbeville home game the following
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week. The Tigers will play a third straight home game on Spetmber 24 against Andalusia in a non-region game.
T.R. Miller returns to region play on October 1 at Slocomb. Homecoming is October 8 against Headland. T.R. Miller's final road game is October 15 at Pike County and its final region game will be art home October 22 against W.S. Neal. The Tigers close out the season on October 29 at home with a non-region game against Jay (Fla.).
T.R. Miller High School along with the Brewton YMCA will host a girls volleyball camp at the YMCA June 2-4
Sessions for incoming seventh through 12th grade players will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Sessions for incoming fourth through sixth grade players will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The camp is being conducted by the Samford University coaching staff.
The fee to participate is $20 per player.
For more information, contact the Brewton YMCA.
Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks baseball coach Jim Morrill will be hosting an instructional camp June 14-18 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at JDCC.
The camp is open to players from age eight to 18. Cost to attend is $150.
Registration fees can be sent to Morrill at P.O. Box 958, Brewton, Alabama 36427.