Coaching carousel: Mary Persons fires and hires a baseball coach, hires two basketball coaches; Dublin plucks from Washington County
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By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
A 148-60 record, three region titles, and five playoff trips in six seasons wasn’t enough for Clae Mathis to return as head baseball coach at Mary Persons.
He was fired more than a week ago.
“I’m shocked and heartbroken,” Mathis told the Monroe County Reporter. “It’s hard to believe.”
The paper said athletics director Robert Lindsey didn’t return messages and that principal Tammy Marion said the school wanted to go in a different direction.
The Bulldogs went 22-13 in Mathis’ final season, his seventh, the fourth 20-win season in six.
Clae Mathis
Mathis navigated the program through two player deaths.
In June of 2020, 16-year-old catcher Dillon McCoy died in a single-vehicle accident south of Forsyth. In November of 2021, catcher Caden Swancey was killed in a one-car accident halfway between Forsyth and Juliette.
Mathis told The Reporter that he had already signed a contract to teach in Monroe County in 2023-24.
“I will continue to be a fan of the boys that I coached, and I pray that they all have awesome careers,” he told the Reporter in a lengthy statement. “… I am heartbroken that it has come to an end. If it were up to me it wouldn’t, but at this point, I am waiting on God to lead me to what is next.”
Blake Cannady
The school announced on social media Monday night that Blake Cannady has been promoted from his assistant job to succeed Mathis.
Cannady is a Peach County grad who signed with Georgia in 2002 and was a freshman in 2003, was on the 2004 team that won the SEC title and went to the College World Series, lettering in 2006-07. He joined the Mary Persons staff in 2021-22 after several years at Jones County. Before that, he was an assistant and then head coach at Northside, also serving as head softball coach for a period.
Mary Persons has new head girls and boys basketball coaches.
Lemetrice Ray succeeds Jason Morrow as the boys head coach, and Tray Tucker as head girls coach, following Lamon McElhaney.
Ray comes from Wayne County and Tucker from Lanier County’s boys team. Wayne County went 16-10 last season after going 15-13, and Lanier County finished 11-15, 20-4 a year earlier.
Dublin plucks from Washington County (again)
Carlos Hope is mighty familiar with the path from Sandersville to Dublin, having coached the Washington County boys basketball team against the Irish many times when the two were region rivals.
Now, he’ll be leading the rival.
Hope was approved Monday night by the Dublin City Board of Education to succeed Ben Smith, who left earlier this month for the same position at Baldwin.
“I’ve been in Washington County the past 17 years, and I’m excited for a new start,” he said in Dublin City Schools post. “I’m rejuvenated here. I’ve seen this program far off, and I’ve competed against this program.
“I think Dublin has the potential to be one of the best in the state, and we’re going to play a brand of basketball that’s going to be very appealing to our student body.”
Hope will see a familiar face at his new job. Former Washington County head football coach Joel Ingram has been on the Dublin football staff since February of 2022, two months after he was dismissed with the Golden Hawks.
Hope brings a lengthy Washington County resume to Dublin as well. He led the Golden Hawks to the state postseason in 15 of 17 years, often going against the Irish in frisky region showdowns when Dublin was in Class AA.
He started his career in 2000 at South Aiken (S.C.) before moving six years later to Sandersville, going 333-134 with Washington County.
Washington County will also have to replace a boys cross country coach with Hope’s departure.