Apalachee baseball’s dugout erupted on March 19 as players poured out after a 5-1 win over rival Winder-Barrow, celebrating with shouts and high-fives. The victory brought Apalachee’s record to 8-9 this season.
But beating a neighboring school just seven miles across the county meant more than another win in the standings. It meant another star, one that would be stitched onto a letterman jacket in a rivalry where wins are worn, not just recorded.
At Apalachee, the rivalry with Winder-Barrow goes beyond wins and losses. It is rooted in a tradition of awarding letterman jacket star patches for each win over Winder-Barrow. The patches symbolize success, pride and community connection across all sports, and athletes describe the rivalry as both competitive and personal, shaped by a shared history between the schools.
As the two oldest schools in Barrow County, Apalachee and Winder-Barrow have built a cross-county rivalry. In recent years, school administrators have leaned into it, promoting games through themed events and encouraging student participation to build anticipation around each matchup.
The win carried added meaning for senior baseball player Ryan Bowers. A former Winder-Barrow student who transferred to Apalachee his junior year, he has experienced the rivalry from both sides, making this year’s result especially personal after last season’s loss.
It felt good because last year we didn’t win,” Bowers said. “Then we finally won this year.”
The tradition behind those stars has been around for years, though no one knows exactly when it began. Still, its significance has only grown over time.
“We don’t know how long, but it’s a tradition that everybody is very familiar with,” said athletic director Caitlin Schmidt.
Even beyond Apalachee, the tradition stands out. According to Scholastic Images, the school’s letterman jacket provider, it is rare to see programs award patches specifically for rivalry wins, making Apalachee’s system unique.
Athletes begin by earning a varsity letter, then add inserts and bars for continued participation. Stars, however, are reserved for one thing: beating Winder-Barrow.
“So if they’re really good at it, they could have an entire sleeve of stars for beating Winder-Barrow,” said Schmidt.
While many athletes collect patches throughout their careers, the stars stand out immediately, often displayed prominently on the sleeve or over the varsity letter “A” on the right chest, serving as a visible record of rivalry success.
For many athletes, those stars become more than decoration. Senior Akuya Opoku, who competes in cross country, basketball and track, said the ability to earn multiple stars across sports adds to their meaning.
The rivalry itself also brings a different level of intensity.
“It was cool to see the dynamic shift and the competitiveness amp up,” Opoku said.
That energy extends beyond the athletes. Pep rallies, themed shirts and packed student sections build anticipation leading up to each matchup, creating an atmosphere that feels bigger than a typical game, especially during football season.
Football is almost like an entire community event,” said Schmidt.
Games often draw crowds from across Barrow County, including students and families from neighboring Bethlehem Christian Academy, which does not have its own football team, turning Apalachee versus Winder-Barrow nights into shared community experiences.
Still, the competition is balanced by familiarity. Many athletes have grown up playing together, creating a relationship that feels more like siblings than enemies.
“We have friendly banter with the Winder-Barrow girls, but at the end of the day, you do want to compete,” said senior pole vaulter Addison Willer. “So it is good to have that, to want to win.”
Schmidt described the dynamic similarly.
“They’re rivals until they’re not,” said Schmidt. “It’s almost like they’re sisters and brothers. Then they play each other, and afterward, they’re back to being brothers and sisters.”
That dynamic is also visible in moments outside competition. Schmidt said that when Apalachee’s girls basketball team did not advance to the state playoffs, players still went to cheer on Winder-Barrow in the first round, having grown up playing together.
The rivalry stretches across every season, including events like the “Best of Barrow,” an annual track meet that brings the county’s top athletes together, along with matchups in basketball, baseball and more.
With each win, another star is added. Small in size, but significant in meaning.
While many schools celebrate championships with rings or honor seniors with keepsakes, Apalachee’s stars stand out as lasting markers of each athlete’s journey, representing not just individual accomplishments, but what is built within the team over time.
“It kind of gave a different meaning to basketball, not just sticking together as a team, but sticking together to win,” Opoku said.
Lexie Wheless is a student in the undergraduate certificate program at the John Huland Carmical Sports Media Institute at UGA.
