Newspaper Page Text
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SATURDAY,
JULY 15, 2006
The Home Journal’s
SANPLOT
ON DECK
Saturday
Major League Baseball
■ Atlanta at San Diego, 10:05
p.m., TBS
IN BRIEF
Memorial Stampede date set
The 2006 Jim Herrin Memorial
Stampede takes place Aug. 12.
The 5K and 10K runs start at
7:30 a.m., and the 1 Mile Fun
Run starts 8:15 at the Galleria
Mall in Centerville.
Each year, the Robins Pacers
Running Club sponsors a SK/1 OK
Road Race as a memorial to the
late Jim Herrin, past president of
the Robins Pacers.
The proceeds of this race will
be split evenly to fund two annu
al one-time scholarships for a
senior boy and a girl graduating
from a high school in Houston
County who has significant track
and field and/or cross-country
participation and college ambi
tions.
Entry fees are sls post
marked on or before Aug. 7, $lO
for participants 19 and younger
(anytime), $lB for Race Day reg
istration from 6:15-7:15, and $lO
for the One Mile Fun Run (any
time).
Refreshments will be avail
able for all participants after each
race.
There are awards for overall
top three male and female finish
ers in 5K and 10K, overall top
male apd female masters in 5K
and 10K, top three finishers in
the following 5K and 10K age
categories:
9 and under, 10-14, 15-19,
20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-
44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64,
65-69, 70-plus, and overall top
male and female runner in the 1
Mile Fun Run
See robinspacers.org for
additional race information and
results.
For further information, contact
David Erpelding at 328-3208.
Registration can be done online
at active.com.
Youth center sets registration
The Robins Air Force Base
Youth Center’s sports registration
will be held July 15. Parents may
resister from 1-6 p.m. on that day
and from 3-6 p.m. the following
Monday-Friday.
Youth may register for cheer
leading ages 5-12, NFL flag foot
ball ages 5-10, tackle footbail
ages 11-12 and fall soccer ages
5-16.
Registration will continue until
teams are full.
Also, the center is currently
accepting applications for volun
teer cheerleading/football/soccer
coaches.
No experience is required.
Training will be provided though
the youth center.
Apply in person at Robins
Youth Center or call Ron Hayes
at 926-2110.
Cross country series dates set
Warner Robins High School
head cross country coach David
Erpelding is hosting the Sixth
Annual Middle Georgia Cross
Country Summer Series at Pearl
Stephens Elementary School in
Warner Robins.
The races - two have already
been held - are open to everyone
and the following race is left: July
20: 5000 Meters.
The race is slated to start at
7:30 p.m. on the Thursdays listed
above.
Awards will be given for the top
five in each age group male and
female. 14-and-under, 15-19 and
20 and over. \
Runners register on race day.
Contact Erpelding at 328-3208 or
via e-mail at Erpelding@bellsouth.
net for more information. The entry
fee is $5.
HLCC to host clinic, more
Houston Lake Country Club
will be holding a Junior Club
Championship July 27.
Call the Pro Shop at 218-5252
to sign up or for more informa
tion.
In addition, the 25th Annual
Ron Stafford Invitational Two-man
Best Ball tournament sponsored
by Coca-Cola will be held July 22
and 23 at the course. Sign up is in
the pro shop.
Demons return from classic in Hawaii
By.MATTHEW BROWN
HDJ Sports Writer
How did you spend your
summer vacation? A pair of
Warner Robins High School
students will have one of the
better stories to tell once
classes begin again.
Through their talents as
Demon baseball players,
Jordan Beatty and Matt
Hvizdzak received an invita
tion to play for Team Georgia
in a tournament called the
King Kamehameha Classic
in Hawaii. For these young
sters, it wasn’t a case of
getting off the plane, put
ting the uniforms on, tak
ing their turns at-bat, then
waiting for the next game.
These first-time visitors
got the whole Hawaiian
experience.
“I was expecting just
mountains and beach,” said
Hvizdzak. “Honolulu is
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ENI/Gary Harmon
Jason Varnadoe with the Tiger is out at third after trying to stretch a double into a triple with their game with the
White Sox at the Bibb Co. Sports Complex in Macon Thursday afternoon.
Tigers rally past White Sox
By MATTHEW BROWN
HDJ Sports Writer
After four complete innings
of play at Macon’s Bibb
County Sports Complex, the
Tigers outscored the White
Sox 11-2 to take a come-from
behind win 13-6 in a first
round game Thursday in
the Middle Georgia Baseball
League’s Rosenberg Series.
The Tigers join the Red
Sox and the aNationals as
opening-round winners in
the 2006 Middle Georgia
Baseball League postseason.
The Eagles also beat the
Cardinals on Thursday at
Peach County High School.
So the four winners will con
verge on the Bibb County
Complex on Saturday with
the Red Sox meeting the
Eagles at 11 a.m. and the
Nationals-Tigers game fol
lowing at 2:30 p.m.
In each of the first four
games, the higher-seeded
team came out victorious.
In the case of the Tigers
and the White Sox, it was
No. 4 against No. 5, and the
game played out as the most
tightly-contested match-up
of the first round with the
lead changing hands three
times in the first six frames.
Sports
actually like Atlanta, a big
city. I wasn’t expecting that.
But as soon as you got out of
the city, it was exactly like I
expected, farmlands, moun
tains, the roads right on the
beach. It’s beautiful.”
“Probably the best scenery
I’ve ever seen,” said Beatty.
“Pine trees everywhere.
Beautiful grass everywhere.
Blue sky all the time.”
There were eight teams
in the tournament repre
senting eight states, includ
ing the Hawaiian Junior
Olympic team. Before there
was any baseball, the play
ers got to enjoy a couple of
days of typical tourist activi
ties.
The tour included Pearl
Harbor, the Dole plantation,
the North Shore and a flea
market at Aloha Stadium.
The players took part in
See DEMONS, page 8C
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Troy Varnadoe with the Tigers is out at second during a steal attempt.
The Tigers were trailing
4-2 in the bottom of the
fifth inning. There were
two outs and one runner
on base via an error. Micah
Smith grounded the ball
hard through the infield
and all the way to the fence
for an RBI triple. Smith
scored the tying run on an
error at first base.
In the home sixth, Andrew
Meredith followed a leadoff
walk with a bunt single,
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Matt Hvizdzak (left) and Jordan Beatty, Warner Robins High School baseball team
mates, enjoy some relaxing time before suiting up for Team Georgia
and Jason Varnadoe’s chop
single loaded the bases.
Catcher Lance Portivent
also had a chop single that
scored two go-ahead runs.
Khore Beauford, center
fielder for the White Sox,
turned a double play for
his team catching a shallow
fly ball and throwing out
the Tiger runner trying to
score from third base. But
the Tigers managed to add
a third run on a wild pitch
ENI/Gary Harmon
and an error to lead 7-4.
After the Tigers took
the lead, the only runs the
White Sox scored came off
the bat of manager Donald
Outlaw. He hit a solo home
run in the top of the sev
enth.
The Tigers answered
with a four-run rally in
the bottom half as starting
pitcher Mark Irwin led off
with a bunt single. David
See TIGERS, page 2C
1B
It’s all
about
priority
So the World Cup has
come and gone. Didn’t
see a match. Not that
I’m anti-soccer. It just wasn’t
a priority.
Infact, Wimbledon whipped
by without any viewing from
me. Same thing applies to
the U.S. Opens for the ladies
and the senior men.
There is, though, an inter
esting point of sports debate
in regards to the World Cup.
The question: Where do you
find the most passionate die
hard fans in the world?
On the one side, there’s
an argument that there is
no com-
parison
to how
those in
European
and Latin
American
countries
feel about
their soc
cer teams.
On the
other side,
what big
ger, more
attended
Matthew Brown
HHJ Sports Writer
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and antic
ipated event is there in the
U.S.A than a college football
game?
Or, what caused more tears
and more release of joy than
the Boston Red Sox finally
winning that World Series
title two years ago?
I did catch some of the
scenes of the massive cel
ebration in Italy after their
team won the World Cup
final against France last
weekend. Such a situation
has to be a nightmare for
the local law enforcement.
Time to pull out the riot
gear.
Then again, our country’s
done its fair share of riotous
celebrations of victory. We
can overturn a car and set
a bonfire in the middle of a
street with the best of them.
That’s what winning is all
about, chaos and anarchy!!!
Settle down, now. Settle
down. It’s just a game (how
many times has that been
said).
If you want to talk about
noise levels, perhaps an
international soccer crowd
would win the unofficial
championship. And it’s non
stop, just like the action.
Listen closely and you can
hear songs and chants break
ing out at any time.
Yes, I have a personal
account to prove this point.
During the World Cup tour
nament of 1998, I entered a
Savannah shopping mall. At
the point I walked in was a
Mexican restaurant. I was
See BROWN, page 2C