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Houston /©aUg TJmmtal The Home Journal’s SANDLOT ON DECK Major League Baseball Today ■ Atlanta at Florida, 6:05 p.m., Turner South High school Softball Today ■ Northside at Up the Creek tourney at Sandy Creek, teams and times to be deter mined ■ Houston County at Jordan tourney in Columbus, teams and times to be determined ■ Perry at Diamond Classic in Griffin, teams and times to be determined High school Football Today ■ Northside versus Perry scrimmage, 7:30 p.m., McConnell-Talbert Stadium BRAVES CORNER BRAVES 5, NATIONALS 0 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Atlanta Braves found their way Thursday afternoon, and in the process found another arm for the starting rotation. Oscar Villarreal - remember that name - gave the Braves a much-needed jolt when the team needed it most, working five scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory over Washington at RFK Memorial Stadium. A reliever for all but one game of his three-year career, Villarreal made his second start in a critical game that kept Atlanta’s wild card hopes alive. His five innings were a career-high, but the way he kept the Nationals on their heals was exactly what the Braves needed to salvage a four-game split -- and to head into an increasingly impor tant three-game series tonight at Florida with some momentum. The shutout was only the sec ond of the year for Atlanta - the last coming April 15. Brian McCann homered in the second inning to put the Braves out front 1-0, then Atlanta added three more runs in the fifth. Villarreal was lifted after five innings. He gave up one single and didn't allow a Washington base runner past first. At 9-1 with a 4.13 ERA, Cox may have found a long-term solu tion, not a quick fix. While Atlanta only had seven hits, they made them count. Three of them were two-out hits that resulted in four runs scored. - By Don Coble Morris News Service IN BRIEF Rec volleyball signups set; cheerleaders needed The Warner Robins Recreation Department has begun registra tion for volleyball. Registration is open 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. Warner Robins chamber to hold Playday Classic The Warner Robins Chamber of Commerce will hold the Playday Classic 2006 Sept. 14, at The Landings Golf Club. Registration deadline is Sept. 7. Tee times available at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The registration fee of SBS includes greens fees, a cart, breakfast or lunch and admis sion to the Celebration & Food Festival. Prizes include a set of tires, a Nissan truck from Jeff Smith Nissan, a SIO,OOO CD from Sun Mark Bank and a Rolex watch from Satterfield & Dempsey Jewelers. For information, call 328- 7745. SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 2006 J J§jL ‘ ■ .7. / ft kv.,4? if mi, Journal/Matthew Brown Jacobi Rodrigues (10) is getting a feel for what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a thrown football at Northside’s preseason practices. Rodrigues was the starting quar terback when the Eagles played for the state championship last season. NS weighs QB options By MA TTHEW BROWN Journal Staff Writer There’s a possibility that a change in the starting quar terback position is about to take place at another county high school. Marques Ivory, who saw a fair amount of playing time under center as a sophomore for Northside High during its run to the 2005 AAAA state championship game, is the first Eagle one might see running the offense at the start of practice. Jacobi Rodrigues, a senior who is the incumbent at that posi tion, is instead flanking out wide along with several other vT ;: ENI/Gary Harmon Warner Robins defenders wrap up a Peach County defender during the two teams’ scrimmage Thursday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium. WR making up for lost time Wright airs it out in Peach County scrimmage By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer With Parkview and Northside leading off the Warner Robins 2006 foot ball schedule, it was only fit ting that the Demons play a championship-caliber school in a preseason scrimmage situation. Mark Wright Jr. returned to a full-speed game atmo sphere after losing most of the 2005 season to an injury. Sports "That's off and an. Hopefully it will work out that Marques can step hi there and play it and Jacobi can go out and play wide receiver. Certain things have to be done... than what our hopes are." - Northside head coach Conrad Nix, on the Eagles’quarterback shuffle veteran targets in Conrad Nix’s multiple scheme. Thatdoesn’tmean, though, that Rodrigues doesn’t take any snaps. In fact he often does later in practice. Nix hasn’t declared one or the other the absolute starter, but does recognize the ben His 39-yard touchdown pass to Laureal Richardson in the fourth quarter keyed a 24-14 win for the Demons against defending Class AAA state champion Peach County High at McConnell-Talbert Stadium Thursday. “It’s good to be back,” said Wright as the closing seconds ticked off the game clock. Head coach Bryan Way said afterwards Peach County was just the type efits of having both of these athletes on the field at the same time. “That’s off and on,” said Nix about the quarterback shuffle. “Hopefully it will work out that Marques can step in there and play it See WEIGHS, page jB of opponent Warner Robins needed to gauge where the team is after a lesser num ber of practices than usual in mid-August. Without having a camp setting this year, Warner Robins lost 10 possible practices, and Way said some areas, such as the running game, are behind in their development at this stage in the preseason. Hence the little air show Wright orchestrated See TIME, page iB Patterson, Clarke lead PY past Hawklnsville By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer With shortstop Marla Patterson leading the way, Perry High School did one better in its home run total to earn i. its second straight home win at the start of the 2006 HU PERRY PeiTy 18, Hawkinsville 8 softball season. Patterson hit two home runs for a total of five runs batted in while pitcher Jenna Clarke also went deep to give Perry an 18-8 five-inning triumph against Hawkinsville. Patterson was 4-for-4 overall at the plate with a pair of singles mixed in to her hitting spree. Ashton Jones drove in two runs on two hits, one being a double, Ashley Craddock 'Downtown' Matthew Brown: Ift nil abnut the nicknames One of the best parts about being in this sports writing and column-writ ing position, other than the free passes into all the ball games ... I always love going up to an athletic director and say ing, “Hey, you know they charged me double my usual Matthew Brown HDJ Sports Writer price to get in.” It’s actu ally taken some a minute or so to realize double of nothing is still nothing. Sorry, had to digress. One of the best things to do in sports journalism, something that has gone on since the dawn of the sports civilization, is to cre ate nicknames for various athletes. Like one time there was a high school baseball play er in Wayne County during my time in Jesup. He had Riley, company face uphill battle in Ga-Fla matchup Special to the Journal Mary Riley of Perry and Eastman’s Christy Cheek, playing for Georgia in the opening round Thursday of the 26th annual Georgia- Florida Women’s Team Matches, could only man age a half point by halving the back nine with Mary Jane Hiestand of Naples and Winter Park’s Julie Garner. Hiestand and Garner went on to close out their match 3 and 1. Overall, Florida jumped out to an early 9 1/2-8 1/2 lead on Georgia after the Toombs, Ward to contend in qualilier Special to the Journal Thomas Toombs of Perry and Willis Ward of Warner Robins are among the 139 players listed to contend in a sectional qualifier for the 2006 USGA Senior Amateur Championship Monday at Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville. SECTION B had three hits and Jessica Wright, both coming in the same inning. Clarke pitched the first three innings against the Hawkinsville offense with no runs and only one hit allowed with two PWalks and six strikeouts. The Panther offense gave Clarke an 11-0 lead after two innings. All 11 of those runs scored on two out hits, Clarke herself getting things started with a three-run first-inning home run that hit the flag pole in dead center field. Eight Perry batters reached base with two outs in the home second. Laura Thompson, the starting catcher, and Wright were on base with hits when the second out was recorded. Erica Smith tripled both runners home on a ball hit over a too-shallow-playing right fielder. See LEAD, page SB pretty good pull power to left field. Since the baseball stadium was fairly close to the football stadium, some times his homers would reach - or at least it looked like they reached - the football bleachers. So, I think, why. npt call him “Bleacher jpHr Sounded like soiflefhing out of one of those oldie songs. In Americus, we had a football receiver at Americus High whom some of the scouting gurus rated as the No. 1 prospect in the entire country. Since the uniforms were blue and white, and this player could make some heroic plays, I decided to deem him “Captain Americus.” You have to be a life-long fan of comic-book charac ters to understand that one. This player actually went on to play for a Mississippi junior college team that had blue as its main color and nicknamed the Rangers. So I couldn’t help See BROWN, page SB first round of the event being held at Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club in Haines City, Fla., Thursday-Friday (results in Tuesday’s Houston Daily Journal for Friday). Georgia will need to tally 19 of a possible 36 points in Friday’s singles matches to come from behind and claim victory. The opening round consisted of six four-ball matches in a Nassau for mat, which awards one point to the winner of See BA TTLE, page 2B Toombs, Ward and the field will be contending over 18 holes and for eight spots and two alternate positions in the champion ship. The championship the 52nd USGA Senior Amateur Championship will be held at See QUALIFIER, page 8B