Edsel Johnson was among Conecuh County's greatest local athletes

The Courant was sad to hear during the past week that Edsel Johnson had passed away.

During his heyday, Edsel was one of Conecuh County’s finest athletes, and was known to many as the brother of local baseball great, Ottis Johnson, who died after getting hit by a pitch in a baseball game.

During his high school years in the early 1940s, Edsel attended Evergreen High School, where he was a star on the basketball court. He was an outstanding defensive player, but was an even better scorer. In many games against other local schools, Edsel was typically the leading scorer in the game for both teams.

After high school, Edsel managed the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper route in the Evergreen area, and he later joined the U.S. Navy. He attended basic training at Bronson Field in Pensacola and then went to a four-week commando school at Bronson Field.

After World War II, Edsel joined Evergreen’s semi-pro baseball team, the Evergreen Greenies, and he led the Greenies in batting during the 1946 season.

Playing alongside such greats as Ottis Johnson and Wendell Hart, Edsel went on to star for the Greenies in the 1947 and 1948 seasons. He was arguably the league’s best pitcher, one of the most feared hitters and led the league in stolen bases more than once. When he wasn’t pitching, he usually played third base.

In late 1948, Edsel was promoted to the Brewton Millers, a professional team that was part of the Alabama State League. Even at that higher level, Edsel continued to be among the best of base stealers and was known to cause all sorts of problems for opposing pitchers.

The 1948 season was Edsel’s only season of true professional baseball, but he played on and off for the Greenies on up into the 1950s.

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The twelfth week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest is in the books, and the standings after the dust settled Saturday night showed that Glennis Curry remained in first place for the seventh straight week.

Steve Stacey remained in second place for the fourth week in a row. Ricky Taylor and Mike Dailey were tied for the third place spot. Ricky was in fifth place last week, and Mike was in fourth place last week.

Mark Peacock dropped from third place to fifth place. Rod Sims and Sharon Peacock were tied for sixth place. Rod was in eighth place last week, and Sharon was in sixth place last week.

Jeremy Matheny was in eight places, up from ninth place last week. Ricky Powell dropped from seventh place to ninth place. Joan Stretz and Arthur Ingram III rounded out the Top 10, finishing the week tied for the tenth place spot.

With just two more weeks to go, the contest is moving into its final laps, but a lot can change when it comes to how the final standings will turn out. If you’re playing in the local contest and didn’t finish in the Top 10, don’t sweat it. Much can change over the course of the next couple of weeks.

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In the SEC this week, there are three head-to-head games between conference opponents on Saturday and five other games involving SEC schools.

For what it’s worth, here’s how I see each of those games playing out. I like Alabama over Western Carolina (duh?), Auburn over Samford, South Carolina over South Alabama, Ole Miss over Arkansas, Tennessee over Missouri, Mississippi State over Vanderbilt, Florida over Eastern Kentucky and Georgia over Charleston Southern. Kentucky, LSU and Texas A&M don’t play this week.

Last week: 4-2. So far this season: 73-22.