MARCH MISCELLANEA

THREE ROUTS IN ONE DAY - True routs in baseball aren’t that common, especially when the winning team scores twenty or more runs than their opponent.  The Dublin Irish baseball team, ranked first in the state for the first time in history, were stinging from their first loss of the season to local rival, the Bleckley County Royals, on the day before.

The Irish took out their frustration of their lack of hitting when they faced Laney High School at Bush Perry Field.  The Irish pushed across 10 and 13 runs in the first two innings.   Coach Chuck Beale sent in three freshmen pitchers to finish the game.  By the end of the fourth inning the Irish lead slipped to 30 to 6.  The game ended one-half inning later under the 10-run rule.

Across town, the Trinity Crusaders were hosting Bulloch Academy. In the 1st inning of the first game of the doubleheader, the Crusaders sent twenty- two batters to the plate, scoring 17 runs. Trinity won the first game 24 to 1.  The first inning of the second game was a little bit better for the Bulloch pitching staff.  The Crusaders managed only 14 runs.  The Crusaders took the night cap by the score of 21 to 0.    In the two games, Trinity had 34 hits while over 30 batters were walked.  Kevin Williams went 7 for 7 with a double and triple in the first inning of the first game.  Trinity pitchers limited Bulloch Academy to only 2 hits and one runs in the double header.  

They say good things come in threes and on this March day when the local teams won 30-6, 24-1, and 21-0 for a combined score of 75-7.  Dublin Courier Herald, March 17, 1999.

THE LAURENS COUNTY DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS  - During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Laurens County school children organized a county-wide marching band under the leadership of County School Superintendent Elbert Mullis and band leader, A.R. Morris.  The band performed in parades and festivals all over the state.  The band members had the thrill of a lifetime when they were invited by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to perform for him at his home in Warm Springs, Georgia.  The band performed as the 4-H Club Band and wore the national 4-H colors.  Since more of its members belonged to the 4-H Club than any other organization, the Laurens County kids were designated as Georgia’s 4-H Club band.  After the band returned from Warm Springs, they had no chance to rest.  The next day they traveled to the other end of the state and performed in the Coastal Empire Paper Festival in Savannah.  Dublin Courier Herald, March 28, 1940.

WORLD CHAMPION BILLIARD PLAYER COMES TO TOWN - Willie Mosconi, 15-time world champion billiard player, put on two  exhibitions of his unparalleled billiard playing ability  in Dublin  at Rudy’s Rack and Cue on March 6, 1971.  The event was held at the Rudy’s location at 710 N. Jefferson Street, which opened on July 18, 1970.  Mosconi held the world record for running 526 balls off the table without missing a shot. Mosconi’s appearance was his second time in Dublin, the first coming on February 18, 1959 at the Sure Shot Billiard Parlor.  Dublin Courier Herald, March 2, 8  1971.









A GREAT DAY AT THE COUNTRY CLUB - For the most part, golf, at the Dublin Country Club, is mostly played by men.  But on March 4,  1965, two legendary lady golfers, Kathy Whitworth and Carol Mann, put on a golf clinic at the club.  The ladies were on a national tour sponsored by Wilson Sporting Goods.  Following the luncheon and clinic, Whitworth and Mann played a nine-hole exhibition round against Jeanelle Lovett and Mary Birdsong of the Dublin Ladies Golf Association.

             Mann, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame,  joined the LPGA Tour in 1961 and won two major championships and 38 LPGA Tour events in all.

        Whitworth  won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, more than any other member of the women’s golf assocation.  Also a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Whitworth was the first woman to earn a million dollars in winnings on the LPGA tour.  Dublin Courier Herald, March 1, 5, 1965, p. 4.


FIRST TO FIGHT - Robert Frank Rozar enlisted on March 4, 1862, in the Laurens Volunteers in the Confederate Army.  Captain James T. Chappell appointed Rozar as the 4th Corporal of the company.  What Captain Chappell didn't realize was that Corporal Rozar was only 15 years old. Roster of Confederate Soldiers, Vol. V, p. 254.

J.E. Cullen, a resident of Laurens County, around the turn of this century, enlisted in Co. E, "Washington Rifles,"  of the 1st Georgia Infantry on March 18, 1861.  Thus making him the first Laurens Countian to enlist in the Confederate Army, although at the time he was a resident of Washington County. Roster of Confederate Soldiers, Vol. 1, page 257.

FIRST WOMAN COMMISSIONER - On March 4, 1968, Lela Pope Warnock was named the first and only woman county commissioner of Laurens County.  Mrs. Warnock served the balance of the term of her husband Dewey Warnock, who died on February 23, 1968.   Mrs. Warnock was a retired seamstress for J.P. Stevens and Company.  She died on April 4, 1992.   Mr. Warnock operated a country store on the Soperton Highway at its intersection with a road which was renamed in his memory in 1968. Mrs. Warnock chose not to run for election in 1968 and was replaced by Robert Beacham.   Dublin Courier Herald, 3/5/1968, p. 1.

FLEET FOOTED GOLFER - Jimmy Orr, star receiver of the University of Georgia and the Baltimore Colts, finished in a second place tie with Fred Wagner with a 36-hole score of (85-82-137) in the fifth flight of the annual St. Patrick's Golf Tournament at the Dublin Country Club in 1972.  David Potts, of Macon, won the tournament with a combined score of 140, followed by Dee Smalley, of Dublin, who finished 1 stroke behind.  Orr was invited to Dublin by his good friend, “Brother” Claxton, a Dublin car dealer.   Jimmy Orr was an outstanding offensive star for the Georgia Bulldogs in the 1950s.  In 1958, he was selected as the NFL Rookie of the Year.

After three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Orr was traded to the Baltimore Colts, where under the passing prowess of Johnny Unitas, he became a formidable wide receiver.  Orr, a two-time Pro Bowl selection,  played in Super Bowls III and V with the Colts.  Dublin Courier Herald, March 30, 1972, p. 9.