SPORTS LEDGER June 2025 Read Free Online at www.TheSportsLedger.com Page 6 The
Aaron Triplett Named GSCC Tennis Coach Aaron Triplett has been
his passion for coaching. “Gadsden State meant so much to me as a player and a student when I was here. I feel like this place helped me find myself. It’s been a dream of mine to be able to return and help influence the next generation of students and tennis players at Gadsden State. I am incredibly thankful to Coach Lewis and Gadsden State for this opportunity.” Triplett looks forward to developing driven student-athletes and giving back to the institution. His primary focus will be centered around putting players first and finding what will help each player to succeed. He believes inspiring each player to buy into teamwork is a critical aspect of team sports. His desire is to teach players life lessons that can be learned from tennis, because those are the same lessons that shaped him as an individual. Triplett and his family are excited to join the Gadsden State community.
named the new tennis coach at Gadsden State. He brings a strong background as both a player and coach. Triplett played high school tennis at Guntersville High and continued at the collegiate level, competing for Gadsden State Community College and Huntingdon College. He held top positions in singles and doubles and contributed to multiple tournament appearances for the Hawks, such as the USA South Tournament Semifinals as a junior and helped the team reach the conference tournament for a second year as a senior. His coaching career began at Boaz High School in 2017, where he led both the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams, and coached through 2024. In 2024, Triplett took over as the head boys coach at Albertville High School. Between these programs, he achieved over 100 wins, two Section Championships, and multiple top 10 AHSAA
Aaron Triplett
tournament finishes. Triplett emphasizes building strong player relationships and focusing on life lessons through tennis. “Coaching has been an incredible part of my life,” says Triplett. “I have been blessed to have coached some incredibly gifted young men and women who have bought into the program each year. I hope my players have learned as much from me as I have from them over the years.” Returning to Gadsden State is a personal dream for Triplett, as the college played a key role in shaping
Photo by Susan Armstrong
Albertville 8th grader Leigh Claire Armstrong enters the water during a recent swim meet at the Albertville Recreation Center. Tennessee Baseball Falls in NCAA Super Regionals
its big fourth inning that changed the course of the game. Cam Kozeal scored on a wild pitch to open the scoring in the frame and Logan Maxwell provided the big swing with a two- out grand slam that barely cleared the left-field fence and landed in the UT bullpen to make it 7-1. Things continued to get away from the Big Orange in the seventh inning as the Razorbacks tacked on three more runs to increase their lead to nine and effectively end any hope of a UT comeback. Cole Gibler tossed 2.2 innings of shutout relief for the Hogs, allowing just one hit while striking out four to earn the win. Starter Gage Wood did well to hold the Vols' bats in check in the early portion of the game, allowing one run on three hits and two walks over 3.1 innings of work. In an otherwise disappointing day for the pitching staff, junior righthander AJ Russell put together another successful relief appearances, allowing one run on just one hit over 2.1 innings. Sophomore lefty Dylan Loy was also effective in 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, allowing a run on two hits.
Tennessee's offense struggled for the majority of the day but showed some life in the later innings and finished with eight hits. Kilen finished with a single, a walk and a run scored while Dean Curley added an RBI single in the eighth inning. Freshman pinch hitters Chris Newstrom and Jay Abernathy didn't let UT go down without throwing one finally punch and accounted for the Vols final two runs of the game. Newstrom doubled to left center field before scoring on a mammoth 429-foot homer off the video board by Abernathy a few batters later, his first long ball of his collegiate career. Redshirt senior Hunter Ensley also had a base hit in what was the final game of his unforgettable Tennessee career that included four combined SEC titles, three trips to Omaha and the program's first national title. Andrew Fischer had a single and also drew a walk in his first at-bat to finish the year having reached base in all 65 contest. The walk was his 63rd of the season, which tied Chase Headley's single season program record set back in 2005.
No. 14 Tennessee's season came to an end on Sunday, June 8, 2025 with an 11-4 loss to No. 3 Arkansas in game two of the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium. A five-run fourth inning from the Razorbacks proved to be the difference as the Volunteers were unable to dig themselves out of a six- run hole. Tennessee starter Liam Doyle fell to 10-4 on the year after pitching just 3.2 innings while allowing five runs on five hits. The junior lefthander and Golden Spikes Award finalist had six strikeouts to add to his single season program record and finish with 164 for the year. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the third, the Vols (46-19) had a chance to tie or take the lead in the bottom of the inning after loading the bases with three consecutive singles from Cannon Peebles, Manny Marin and Gavin Kilen to start the frame but were only able to scratch across one run after the next two batters grounded into a double play and flied out to center field. Arkansas (48-13) carried that momentum into
The Southeastern Conference has announced an 11:45 a.m. CT kickoff time for the UAB Blazers football game at the University of Tennessee, which will be played on September 20 at Neyland Stadium. The game will air on the SEC Network. This will be the sixth time UAB has faced the Vols, all of which occurred in Knoxville. The most recent contest came back in 2019. The Blazers now have all four kickoff times set for their non-conference schedule, which also includes Alabama State (August 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT), Akron (September 13 at 7:30 p.m. CT) and at UConn (November 1 at 11 a.m. CT). Photo by Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger UAB football set for early game time at Tennessee
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