Bar Rentals & Bartender Staffing inAlpharetta, GA

ALPHARETTA — Fetch Park – the trailblazing off-leash dog park bar and social hub that has been featured by the likes of The Travel Channel, ESPN, Discovery Channel, Magnolia Network, GoDaddy and more is set to open its fourth BARk location at 11440 Maxwell Road next door to Ameris Bank Amphitheatre and just a stone’s throw away from both downtown Alpharetta and North Point Mall.

The Alpharetta park will join its flagship location in Old Fourth Ward, its second Atlanta intown location in Buckhead, and its outpost in Columbus. The gathering spot features a full-service bar and expansive greenspace for people and pups.

Fetch Park Alpharetta is similar in look and feel to Fetch’s other locations and features greenspace covered in durable, mud-free field turf, cooling stations and a bath area, shaded seating, Wi-Fi throughout and multiple Ultra Bright Outdoor Televisions.

The crown jewel of the BARk is a vintage airstream equipped with a selection of beer, wine and spirits, as well as a complete coffee bar filled with exclusive blends. A nod to founder Stephen Ochs’ baseball past, the design of the park resembles an old-school minor-league baseball field with murals, concessions at the airstream, fences enclosing the space and illuminated signage. Fetch Park employs attendants, called “Woof Wardens,” to ensure the safety of all dogs and guests and maintain the grounds.

Fetch Park Alpharetta will be unique in that it will be the first to introduce the company’s phase two plans. Phase two will feature an on-leash patio, a shipping container bar serving up coffee and cocktails, a food truck lane, as well as two beach volleyball courts which will host leagues and tournaments. Completely separated from the park, phase two will require all dogs to remain on leash. No dogs will be allowed on the volleyball courts to ensure a safe playing environment.

The BARk will also host regularly scheduled events in the park, including the “Unleashed & Unplugged” live music series every Friday evening, “Ales, Tails…& Trivia” each Wednesday, “Barks & Banter” live stand-up comedy shows, “Could It Bae” singles nights and more. “Fetch is all about building community, getting off your phone and meeting your neighbors. The events play an integral role in creating the happy welcoming environment we strive so hard to create.” said founder Stephen Ochs.

Founded by Ochs in 2018 after a five-year journey that involved numerous hurdles including hearing “no” from 86 banks due to the uniqueness of the concept, Fetch Park was born out of his desire to create a safe place to socialize with both Ochs’ beloved boxer Oakley and his friends.

“We’ve listened to our guests’ overwhelming desire to add more locations to the metro Atlanta area,” says Ochs. “We’re thrilled to work hand in hand with the City of Alpharetta to make Fetch happen in the best way possible for the many dogs and humans in the neighborhood who love the Fetch Park experience but want it closer to home.”

Fetch is free for humans to enter and enjoy, with a membership program available for dogs. Entrance to the park for pups ranges from a daily $10 rate to monthly and annual membership options. Members can enjoy all Fetch locations under their membership dues. To enter the property, all dogs are required to have up-to-date vaccinations on file and be spayed or neutered if eight months or older. More information about Fetch Park’s entry requirements is available at www.FetchPark.com.

“Hospitality is at the center of everything we do, and we are thrilled to have Fetch Park’s new concept BARk join our family of tourism assets in Alpharetta,” said Janet Rodgers, President and CEO of the Alpharetta Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The addition of a top-tier attraction like Fetch Park allows us to enhance our guest’s experiences and continue to showcase our award-winning community.”

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ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia junior pitcher Jonathan Cannon along with graduate shortstop Cole Tate and senior pitcher Jack Gowen were named to the Southeast All-Region team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings, it was announced Wednesday.

Cannon, a native of Alpharetta, made the First Team while Tate, a Bishop native, and Gowen, a native of a Folkston, were Second Team selections. ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team selections are nominated for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. The ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-America Teams will be announced this Friday prior to the start of the 2022 NCAA Div. I College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Cannon, who has been named a Third Team All-American and First Team All-SEC selection, anchored the 2022 rotation with a 9-4 mark and 4.02 ERA. He made a team-high 13 starts for the Bulldogs who went 36-23 and advanced to the NCAA Chapel Hill (N.C.) Regional. In 78.1 innings, he tallied 68 strikeouts and 12 walks. In SEC action, Cannon went 6-2 to help the Bulldogs to a 15-15 mark, good for second place in the Eastern Division. He ranks among the top prospects for the 2022 MLB Draft (July 17-19).

Tate led the Bulldogs with a .359 batting average in 42 starts. He collected seven doubles, two triples and six home runs plus ended his career on an 11-game hitting streak. He batted a team-best .455 in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional. Tate was named to the SEC Community Service Team too. In his Bulldog career, he batted .324-10-72 in 165 games and earned a degree in Sport Management.

Gowen went 2-0 with a 2.39 ERA and 10 saves for the Bulldogs. He was 10-for-10 in save chances including seven in league play. Earlier this month, he was named one of 10 finalists for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division 1 Baseball. A co-captain on the 2022 squad, he is on track to earn a degree this summer in Consumer Economics.

The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 13,000 members represent all 50 states and 23 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, and Youth.

ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Teams

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS: For the latest Georgia baseball news, visit www.georgiadogs.com and follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@BaseballUGA), Facebook (@GeorgiaBaseball) and Instagram (@baseballuga).

Clemson has landed a commitment from one of the nation’s top defensive linemen in the 2023 recruiting class.

Warner Robins (Ga.) High School four-star Vic Burley announced his verbal pledge to the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.

Burley (6-5, 275) is ranked as high as the nation’s No. 22 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports, which considers him the No. 2 prospect in the Peach State and No. 4 defensive lineman in the country for his class.

Clemson beat out Georgia, Michigan State and Tennessee, among others, for Burley’s commitment.

As The Clemson Insider reported in the latest edition of The Insider Report on Monday, we gathered enough information to make a sunny forecast for Burley heading into his commitment.

While Burley wasn’t in attendance for Clemson’s official visit weekend from June 3-5, TCI was told by a source not to discount players who weren’t in town as a wave of commitments came in early last week.

And while Burley last visited for Clemson’s Elite Junior Day on Jan. 31, it was then that he told TCI that the Tigers were at the top of his recruitment. He just wanted to make other visits before pulling the trigger on a commitment.

“I know they’re at the top, I just don’t really have a good (feel) on my list right now,” he said back in January. “But I know they’re at the top, though.”

One thing stands out the most to Burley when he thinks about Clemson’s program.

“They think more of the person than the athlete,” he said.

Burley becomes the 11th commitment in Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class overall, joining Briarwood Christian (Birmingham, Ala.) five-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina, St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) four-star defensive end David Ojiegbe, Vandegrift (Austin, Texas) four-star offensive lineman Ian Reed, Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.) four-star cornerback Avieon Terrell, First Baptist Academy (Naples, Fla.) four-star tight end Olsen Patt Henry, St. Francis (Alpharetta, Ga.) four-star cornerback Branden Strozier, Sumner (Riverview, Fla.) four-star safety Kylen Webb, Rockwall (Texas) four-star wide receiver Noble Johnson, Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.) four-star linebacker Jamal Anderson and Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.) three-star tight end Markus Dixon.

No fanbase is more passionate about winning. Clemson fans and businesses have always stepped up to provide what is needed for the Tigers to compete with the best. The college landscape has changed with name, image and likeness. Dear Old Clemson will do things the ‘Clemson way’ to support a grassroots effort to help the best fanbase in the nation meet this new challenge. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

ATHENS, Ga. — Billy Payne, the man whose name adorns the Georgia indoor practice facility, was talking in mid-2018 about what it was like following the football program.

“I can’t tell you how many times people call me and say: ‘Did you see who committed to us today, did you see who signed today, do you know how many five-stars we have?’” Payne said. “It’s just an amazing, positive spirit that is over the entire football program. It just makes us all proud.”

The recruiting successes never stopped over the next four years. But Georgia is finally enjoying the first offseason when it has something to show for it.

Well, there’s always been something, to be fair: An SEC championship, four SEC East titles, wins in the Rose, Sugar and Peach Bowls were nothing to be diminished. But without the national championship, the naysayers always had something to fall back on. Now they don’t.

“Georgia has been recruiting at a high level for years now. The natty and the (NFL) Draft made it harder for teams to negative recruit against Kirby (Smart) and his staff,” said Rusty Mansell, the recruiting analyst for Dawgs247.com.

And after winning that ring and dominating the NFL Draft, Georgia currently has zero five-star commits. The top current commitment, at least according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, is a four-star tight end: Pearce Spurlin of Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., who comes in at No. 71 in the overall rankings. The worry-wart would point out that’s not a five-star, and that Georgia already has plenty of tight ends.

Should Georgia fans be worried about not capitalizing on the last six months? Is something going on with NIL that has the Bulldogs falling behind?

Nah. The same antsiness has been there in past summers, and Georgia has still managed to finish in the top 3 all but one of the past six years, including third last year. Those close to the program shrug off the NIL factor; Georgia is in basically the same situation as everyone, and Smart has proven to be a dynamic recruiter, so few doubt that he’ll adjust accordingly.

In fact, the Bulldogs are in the midst of some heavy recruiting weekends, with five-stars (including a certain quarterback) finishing up visits. The buzz is Georgia’s class will start to fill up with some big names the closer things get to August and preseason practice, as prospects seek to make their decisions before the start of their high school seasons. Here’s a look at where Georgia currently stands:

Georgia will generally try to sign the best players it can, regardless of need, mainly because it can. This year will be no different. But three positions stand out as the most intriguing for this 2023 class.

Wide receiver has taken on more prominence with the direction college football is taking, and the Bulldogs are increasingly looking for speed. They’ve had that on their roster all along, in particular Arian Smith (a top-100 player in the 2020 class), but he’s battled injuries. But coming back at a good time is Bryan McClendon, who as Oregon’s receivers coach the past two years (and before that South Carolina) recruited nationally. Now he can tap into those contacts, along with the ones he had during his previous stint at Georgia. (McClendon recruited south Florida very well, landing Sony Michel when he was tailbacks coach.)

Also back on staff is offensive line coach Stacy Searels, after an 11-year absence, and he already has three commits on his ledger. The most recent is three-star Joshua Miller, a prospect from Virginia who on Monday flipped from Penn State. What Searels does with this class will be intriguing because while Georgia has O-line depth — more than 17 on scholarship — things are much different than when Searels was at Georgia the first go-around. The transfer portal means there’s only so many players willing to wait and develop, so while ideally Searals hopes competition causes good SEC starters to emerge, he also has to hit on some good ones on the front end.

Then there’s outside linebacker (the edge rusher spot), where Georgia again has a new coach, Chidera Uzo-Diribe, who inherits two starters (Nolan Smith and Robert Beal) who are both seniors. There’s some good talent behind them, namely junior MJ Sherman and freshman Marvin Jones Jr., but the team needs to infuse more talent in that room this cycle to avoid getting too thin.

There are nine commitments as of Tuesday morning, Miller being the most recent. After Spurlin, the highest-rated commitment on the 247Sports Composite is Bo Hughley, an offensive tackle from Fairburn, Ga., who comes in at No. 90. The other current offensive line commit is three-star RyQueze McElderry of Anniston, Ala.

Receiver Raymond Cottrell, who comes in at No. 101 overall, is a bigger receiver (6-2, 203), but not quite the track type they’re increasingly targeting. (More on that shortly.)

Georgia has dipped back into Las Vegas for another prospect: Cornerback Justyn Rhett from powerhouse Bishop Gorman, who comes in at No. 137 overall.

The class at this point is rounded out by a trio of in-state prospects: Four-star edge rusher Gabriel Harris (Valdosta, Ga.), four-star tight end Lawson Luckie (Norcross, Ga.) and three-star defensive lineman Seven Cloud (Powder Springs, Ga.).

There’s that Arch Manning fella, of course. It looks like it’s down to Georgia and Texas, and handicapping that one is anyone’s guess.

Caleb Downs is the nation’s highest-ranked safety, and he lives in Hochston, Ga., but the other big boys (Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, etc.) are making their plays, too.

Georgia is considered the favorite for five-star safety Joenel Aguero of Lynn, Mass. The Bulldogs were in good shape even before Aguero visited Athens last weekend, so momentum appears to be heavily in their favor.

Five-star edge rusher Jaquavious Russaw is being pursued by Georgia, and it may be a battle between the Bulldogs and his home-state team, Alabama. (Russaw is from Montgomery.)

Troy Bowles, an inside linebacker ranked No. 44 overall, may be a lean to Georgia right now. Bowles father, Todd, is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bulldogs also haven’t stopped recruiting Raylen Wilson, an inside linebacker from Tallahassee, Fla., who is committed to Michigan.

One of the top tailback prospects in the country is Justice Haynes, who is from Buford, Ga., so Georgia is considered the favorite, but Haynes is good enough that everyone else — namely Alabama, Ohio State, USC, and Florida — continues to push for his services.

At receiver, Hykeem Williams, a top-50 recruit from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a major target. Tyler Williams, a four-star receiver from Lakeland, Fla., has Georgia in his mix along with Clemson, South Carolina and Texas A&M. He’s an interesting blend of size (6-3, 180) and athletic ability (also a basketball prospect). Anthony Evans, a four-star from Converse, Texas, is also another speed target.

On th eoffensive line, Kelton Smith, a four-star interior offensive lineman from Columbus, Ga., could be another addition to the class at some point. So could tackle Shamarud Umarov of Alpharetta, Ga., who visited Athens this past weekend. Searels has also been trying for a few top-100 prospects, including Chase Bisontis of Ramsey, N.J., and Monroe Freeling of Mount Pleasant, S.C.

As always, this is by no means a comprehensive list, and Georgia’s recruiting board can be fluid. For all the perception that Smart and his staff have chased five-stars, they’ve actually been very choosy, being careful on which five-stars to pursue, and trusting their own evaluations, which has led to getting the likes of Jordan Davis, Ladd McConkey and Adonai Mitchell — three-star prospects who became starters on a national champion. Not to mention Stetson Bennett, or some four-stars who were well outside the national top 250 but have played above their ranking.

Of course, that title team had plenty of five-stars, too. Georgia may not have any of those at the moment, but that changing, and perhaps soon, is a very safe bet.

(Top photo: Rob Davis / UGA Athletics)

CHICAGO – The U.S. Under-23 Women’s Youth National Team will play its first international matches since the fall of 2019 when a 21-player squad travels to Sweden during the upcoming international break for friendlies against India and the hosts in the Women’s U-23 Three-Nations Tournament.

The USA will face India on June 25 in Helsingborg the first-ever match between a U.S. Women’s National Team and the country that will host the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in October. The USA will face Sweden on June 28 in Vittsjo. Australia was scheduled to participate in this tournament but withdrew, making it a three-team competition.

The U.S. roster consists of eight current National Women’s Soccer League players, 12 collegiate players and one youth club player in Alyssa Thompson, who plays for a Total Futbol Academy boys’ team in Los Angeles. Thompson, a speedy winger, was a member of the U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team that won the Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in the Dominican Republic in March and helped the USA qualify for the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The 17-year-old Thompson is the only player from that U-20 squad on this roster.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Shelby Hogan (Portland Thorns FC; Franklin, Mass.), Ruthie Jones (Duke; Charlotte, N.C.)

DEFENDERS (5): Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride; Batavia, Ill.), Megan Bornkamp (Clemson; Mooresville, N.C.), Emily Madril (Florida State; Boise, Idaho), Brianna Martinez (Notre Dame; Albuquerque, N.M.), Kate Wiesner (Penn State; Monrovia, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Hannah Bebar (Harvard; Naperville, Ill.), Croix Bethune (USC; Alpharetta, Ga.), Mikayla Cluff (Orlando Pride; Kaysville, Utah), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC; Long Beach, Calif.), Sierra Enge (Stanford; Cardiff, Calif.), Jenna Nighswonger (Florida State; Huntington Beach, Calif.), Brianna Pinto (North Carolina Courage; Durham, N.C.), Taryn Torres (NJ/NY Gotham FC; Frisco, Texas)

FORWARDS (6): Messiah Bright (TCU; Dallas, Texas), Ava Cook (Chicago Red Stars; Battle Creek, Mich.), Anna Heilferty (Washington Spirit; Falls Church, Va.), Samantha Meza (UNC; Dallas, Texas), Alexa Spaanstra (Virginia; Brighton, Mich.), Alyssa Thompson (Total Futbol Academy; Studio City, Calif.)

Players in this year’s U-23 WYNT pool must be born on or after Jan. 1, 1999, but this tournament is allowing up to five overage players born before that date. The USA will bring three such players: Chicago Red Stars forward Ava Cook, Racing Louisville FC midfielder Savannah DeMelo and Portland Thorns FC back-up goalkeeper Shelby Hogan. All were born in 1998.

Nine players on this roster were a part of the U.S. U-23 WYNT squad that participated in the pre-season tournament last March against NWSL teams: Duke goalkeeper Ruthie Jones, defenders Emily Madril (Florida State), Brianna Martinez (Notre Dame) and Kate Wiesner (Penn State), midfielders Hannah Bebar (Harvard), and Croix Bethune (USC) and forwards Messiah Bright (TCU) and Alexa Spaanstra (Virginia). The USA drew 0-0 with the Chicago Red Stars, fell 3-0 to Portland Thorns FC and drew OL Reign 1-1.

The U-23s will be coached by Jené Baclawski, the former long-time Technical Director of the South Texas Youth Soccer Association and current U.S. Soccer Coach Educator who also heads U.S. Soccer’s Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP selection committee.

No players on this roster have caps with the full U.S. Women’s National Team, and the only player with experience training with the full USWNT is North Carolina Courage midfielder Brianna Pinto, but six players have played for the USA in a youth World Cup: Wiesner, midfielders Bebar and DeMelo and Pinto and forwards Samantha Meza (UNC) and Spaanstra.