Newspaper Page Text
Mouston
The Home Journal’s
SANDLOT
ON DECK
Today
Major League Baseball
■ New York Mets at Atlanta,
1:20 p.m., FOX
BRAVES CORNER
MARLINS 6, BRAVES 1
ATLANTA -- Faith Day at Turher
Field did nothing Thursday to
inspire any for the Atlanta Braves
as they head into a series that
one player called the biggest so
far this year.
Already seeming to need divine
help to catch the Mets in Ihe
National League East, the Brakes
looked lethargic Thursday in a
6-1 loss to Florida that gave the
Marlins their first series victory in
Atlanta since 2002.
Olsen (9-4) held the Braves to
two hits and no runs in six innirigs
for his third consecutive victdry.
Fellow rookie Anibal Sanchez
gave up a run in seven innings in
a 2- victory Tuesday.
Jason Shiell (0-2) said he waht
ed to keep sliders down, and face
Olsen if he had to, but he madd a
poor pitch and left something bp
for the light-hitting catcher.
- R. Travis Haney, Morris
News Service
IN BRIEF
TOPSoccer, CGSA
holding registration
TOPSoccer, an outreach pro
gram for children 4-19 with menial
or physical disabilities, and Central
Georgia Soccer Association are
having registration now through
Monday. To register go to www.
gasoccer.org/cgsa and click bn
the registration link.
If you would like to learn mole
about this program go to www.
usyouthsoccer.org and click bn
the TOPSoccer link and look for
the Parents Guide or contact orie
of the CGSA's coordinators.
Registration fee for TOPS is
$25. Uniform is a separate cost.
Also, if you would like to become
a volunteer or know someohe
who would, contact Coordinator
Heike McDaniel at 478-953-
8528 or Heike2o@cox.net,
Assistant Coordinator Marigrace
Beverage 478-971-1365 or
hoodlumsrus@msn.com.
Landings sets dates for
Linkup2golf program
The Landings golf course will
be holding its Linkup2golf prd
gram for new and re-newinq
golfers Aug. 8-31. The group will
meet Tuesdays and Thursday!;
9:30-10:30 a.m. for early classed
and 5:30-6:30 p.m. for evening
classes.
The cost is $129 which
includes clubs. Call Bill Goggin
at 923-5222. Or e-mail him at
Bill@goggingolf.com. Check out
website at www.goggingolf.com.
Rec volleyball signups
set; cheerleaders needed
The Warner Robins Recreatiori
Department will begin registra
tion for volleyball Aug. 14. It will
run from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and is
open to girls and boys 13-18.
The age control date is Aug,
31.
A birth certificate is required
upon registration unless it is cur
rently on file. Participants must
also have the required fee at the
time of registration.
Registration fees are as fol
lows: $25 for city of Warner
Robins residents, SSO for coun
ty residents and SBS for out of
county residents. Call 929-1916
for more information.
Also, the department still has
openings for those interested in
cheerleading. Call the aforemen
tioned number for more.
Panther football season
tickets going on sale
Perry High School season foot
ball tickets are now on sale.
The cost of a season ticket is
$45 for six home games; tickets at
the gate will be SB.
Season tickets will be sold at the
Perry High School office.
For additional Panther Football
information, visit their website at
www.perrypantherfootball.com.
SATURDAY,
jIILY 29, 2006
Stakes increase for International City Warriors
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
As much as the International City
Warriors are savoring a weather-
Phenix City at
International City
Warriors in Central
City Park, Macon,
7 p.m.
International City sits in a tie for
second place in the American West
division with the Phenix City (Ala.)
Falcons. The two teams that sport
2-1 records so far in the 2006 season
will meet at Lucas Field on Saturday
with a chance to jump into a first
place tie with the division-leading
Bkf ' ..
ENI/Gary Harmon
Perry football player Tyler Martens pushes a golf cart - loaded down even more with a Panther coach in the driver’s
seat - during The Grind held Thursday at the high school.
Panthers compete in grueling test of endurance
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
What better way to get
yourself ready for a foot
ball season than lifting a
tire, throwing medicine balls
behind your back and push
ing a golf cart.
The coaches of Perry High
School put their Panthers
through just those tasks
plus a few others Thursday
in a unique style of obstacle
course known as The Grind.
It’s a concept second-year
head coach Andy Scott devel
oped along with his staff
before his rookie season in
2005.
It must have worked, for
Perry finished second in
Region 4-AAA and won in
the state playoffs for the
first time in more than a
decade.
“It’s something that we
did in college,” said Scott.
“They learn how to compete,
and at the same time they
push their bodies to physical
limits they didn’t know they
had. They’ll think, ‘lf I can
do this, I can do anything.’”
The Grind starts with each
participant pushing a wheel
barrow carrying 150 pounds
of weight from the school’s
weight room. Up next is a
giant 200-pound tire they
have to turn over two times.
After crawling between two
shortened vic
tory against the
defending Southern
Football League
champions last
weekend,the stakes
for the Warriors are
much more impor
tant this weekend
at Macon’s Central
City Park.
Back to 'The Grind'
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Brandon Golden flips a 200-pound tire as others look on.
lines of cones, the Panthers
hit a tackling sled just as
they would in practice. Then
they approach a line of six
12-pound medicine balls in
Sports
'We kind of feel out a team to see what they do on
offense first. We try to put our defense on the Held
first so we can set the tone on how we want the
game to go.'
- International City Warriors head coach Darrell McNeil
South Georgia Stars on the line.
The Stars are the defending cham
pions of the SFL. With rain and
lightning all coming out of the sky
last Saturday in Macon, the Warriors
managed to make one touchdown
hold when play was finally halted.
At the same time, Phenix City
took on the Gadsden (Ala.) Avengers
and came out with a 14-0 win.
“They’ve got a decent team, from
what I’ve heard,” said International
City head coach Darrell McNeil. “We
played them (as the Middle Georgia
Stallions) when they were called the
Bulldogs two years ago. They had an
O.K. team then, but it was a blowout
the first time.”
So what does McNeil do about a
game plan with not much in terms
of a scouting report to fall back on?
“We kind of feel out a team to see
what they do on offense first,” said
McNeil. “We try to put our defense
on the field first so we can set the
tone on how we want the game to
the end zone of the Panther
football stadium. They must
throw these balls behind
them and over the goal-post
crossbar.
ENI/Gary Harmon
Any balls that don’t go
over result in a five-sec
ond penalty. Plus, the play
ers must line the balls
See TEST, page 8B
1B
go. We do the same on offense, feel
things out with our running game
to see if it can open up the passing
game and the big hits.”
Last Saturday left somewhat of
a bittersweet feeling among the
Warriors. On the one hand, the
South Georgia Stars is by far this
team’s top rival, and coming out
with a 7-0 win was a big step for
ward in International City look
ing to recapture what the Middle
Georgia club once had.
However, McNeil said the prefer
ence would have been to play out
the entire game and leave no doubts.
Now, both teams may still feel there
is something left to prove to the
other, but that will have to wait
until the rematch in Americus on
Sept. 2.
As for the progress report
See STAKES, page 3B
2 locals to
contoniin
qualifier
Special to the Journal
Drew Lasseter of
Kathleen and Luke
Hendon of Bonaire are
among those listed to con
tend in the second of two
sectional qualifiers for
the 2006 U.S. Amateur
Championship.
They will go head-to
head against 123 oth
ers at The Stadard Club
in Duluth Monday and
Tuesday for one of five
qualifying spots and two
alternate positions in the
Championship.
The 106th U.S.
Amateur Championship
in turn will be held at
Hazeltine National Golf
Club in Chaska, Minn.,
Aug. 21-27.
At Duluth, golfers will
compete over 36 holes
with the field being cut
to the low 30 percent and
ties, as well as anyone
within eight strokes of
the lowest score, after
18.
The first U.S. Amateur
qualifier in Georgia
took place July 25-26 at
Piedmont Driving Club
in Atlanta. Advancing
from that site were
Thomas Hagler of
Ringgold, Steven Tiley
of Atlanta, Matthew
Swan of Montgomery,
Ala., Roberto Castro
See CONTEND, page 3B
Some athletes truly
are camping in the
'wild' outdoors
Something I
noticed during my
recent month-long
sojourn at ASU was the
nu m -
ber of
summer
camps
the
campus
offered.
College
coaches
supple
me n t
their
income
by spon-
soring camps meant to
improve student athlete
performance.
I can’t tell you if any
actual athletic knowledge
is imparted because the
only time I saw anybody
doing anything was at
the cafeteria. The ath
letes were never late for
breakfast, lunch or din
ner.
Coaches offered
See SERSEY, page 3B
SECTION
-am*,
Jsd
Joe Sersey
HHJ Correspondent
“From Left Field”
elesnorloe@iin.net