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Hlmirttal WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2006 The Home Journal’s SANDLOT ON DECK High school Softball Today ■ Northside at region tourna ment in Lovejoy, matchups and times to be determined ■ Baldwin at Perry, 6:30 p.m. Thursday ■ Northside at region tourna ment in Lovejoy, matchups and times to be determined ■ Coffee at Houston County, 5:30 p.m. Friday ■ Northside at region tourna ment in Lovejoy, matchups and times to be determined Saturday ■ Northside at region tourna ment in Lovejoy, matchups and times to be determined ■ Warner Robins at Lowndes and Valdosta, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively ■ Westfield at state tourney at Southern Pines Complex in Dublin and versus Stratford to start, time to be determined High school Cross country Today ■ Northside at Stockbridge, 5 p.m. Thursday ■ Perry at Northeast Invitational, 4:30 p.m. Saturday ■ Warner Robins and Northside at Westover Invitational, time to be determined High school Volleyball Thursday ■ Morrow and Warner Robins at Houston County, 5 p.m. High school Football Friday ■ Stratford at Westfield, 8 p.m. Central at Perry, 7:30 p.m. ■ Stockbridge at Northside, 7:30 p.m. ■ Houston County at Lowndes, 7:30 p.m. IN BRIEF WR Rec to begin basketball registration The Warner Robins Recreation Department will begin basketball registration Oct. 21. It will be held from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at the department’s office off Watson Blvd. Fees are as follows: $25 for city residents, SSO for county residents and SBS for out of county residents. Participants must be at least 5 by Dec. 31 in order to partici pate in the basketball program. Registration will continue until filled, during regular business hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday- Friday. In addition, coaches are also needed. Call 929-1916 for more information. Registration begins for Upward Basketball Registration has begun for the 2006-2007 Upward Basketball season. The cost per child is $75. Where you sign up and reg ister is where you practice and play the games. You may register at the follow ing locations in Warner Robins: Second Baptist at 2504 Moody Rd (923-7101), Friendship Baptist at 1322 Feagin Mill Rd. (953-9509) or Shirley Hills Baptist at 615 Corder Rd. (923- 5571). THIS WEEK 10 years ago ... The Perry Panthers football team fell 21 -17 to Jackson in the closing moments of their game, while across town Westfield was busy beating Deerfield-Windsor on the road 43-7. The Warner Robins Recreation Department began its year on the volleyball court Monday with the Spikers versus No Touch and Attack taking on Straight Down to get things started. Play was to continue Tuesday. -s j, 1 I 1 i" H \ : ’ Wni ioPv mm —nr >.. |Hgi HP Brntebjam xT m JjKMkJNP |HK 8K :: W tMBMHttj "188 W Lady Panthers roll v* : .. k y i • v p as Xh ™ f'irtfhr mr v p?* >■<%» y ■ > ■ ‘ - ' - - ~ • ' . •••• ■ ' ••• ■" ■ .•' ■ ' -Mr. . .... : '- •v* '' LZ Zj& : :.v. A - * < —_—.— i ENI/Gary Harmon Perry’s Laura Thompson beats the throw to second in the Lady Panthers’ win at home over Central Monday. Shut out Central on Senior Night By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer Perry High’s softball Panthers, continuing their efforts to £ BBx Central High PANTHERS Chargers of Macon Perry 10, Monday 10- Centra! 0 o in five innings. Almost a month ago - Sept. 7 to be exact - this game’s original date was rained out in Perry. The win put the Panthers at 6-3 in the Region 4-AAA south sub-region. It was also a day to honor the softball senior class, and coach Jeff Sans had all five seniors in the starting lineup. Erica Smith was the win ning pitcher with seven strikeouts in five innings. She allowed three hits,'but only one of those left the infield. That was a leadoff single in the top of the fifth, but Smith would strike out the side to end the game. Sports ' lifrri 111 - ' ■ -• ENI/Gary Harmon Shortstop Marla Patterson prepares to throw to first after forcing a Central player out at second. Perry had a 2-0 lead after two innings. The run in the second inning was all in the hands of the senior class. Jessica Wright and Laura Thompson drew consecutive walks, and Tasha Harris A new beginning bunted them over one base each. Bailey Clay, starting the game in right field, also put down a bunt. Wright scored on the throw to give Clay a safety squeeze RBI. See SENIOR, page 6A f ■i f J , m ENI/Gary Harmon LEFT: Members of the Attack prepare to return the volley back to the Straight Down. ABOVE: Jay D. Gene, of the Straight Down, shows off his backward move after returning the ball. Playoff format changes We can call it “The Statesboro High Rule.” Every year, before a new high school football season begins, it’s become a bit of a habit to get a sneak-peek at the Georgia High School Association state football f, , brackets. flfix \ What I'm look ing for are which regions ml* are paired up in the first round Matthew Brown w^ere Journal Sports Writer the home field des ignations are for the quar terfinals and the champi onship games. With the first-round pair ings, it’s important to look for the regions of my inter est - which have the teams I am covering - and whom I might be seeing come play off time. With the home-field des ignations for the late-round games, what the GHSA has done in the years since expanding the field to 32 teams (four from each of the eight regions) is place the symbol (H) on one of the blanks. This means that, if two teams with a similar seed - i.e. two region cham pions - are paired, then the team lucky enough to fall on that (H) line is the host. You have to read the fine print, though, because this rule would not apply if, for example, a region cham pion and another region’s runner-up advanced to the state championship game. The region champion would be the host regardless of where the (H) lies. So if I’m covering a program like Northside, Warner Robins, or even Americus High in the old days, I would look at where my particular team would go as region champions in the first round, then see if it is on the side that has the Perry Olympians win state Special to the Journal A team of seniors repre senting Perry won the state championship this past weekend in the 70 year and over age bracket. The Perry team faced an Atlanta team in the finals of the Georgia Golden Olympics. Perry squeaked by Atlanta in the first game, 34-33, and then routed the 5A (H) for the final round. Then, if that (H) is on the other side, I look at what regions are on that side; check out what are the strong football schools from that region and figure out where I might be having to travel come December. Dear readers, you might want to read over and maybe even save those last few paragraphs, because it may be the only place you ever see that symbol. (H), again. I saw the state brackets for the 2006 sea son and thought somebody had goofed up on the print ing. The symbols are gone! I must find the answer, and there was only one place to go. It is a place where those who just want a simple explanation never dare enter. I am going to have to consult ... the GHSA By-laws. Yes, I found the answer. Allow me to present it to you now: A. All rounds of games after the end of the regular season are considered part of the state playoff struc ture. 1. In the First and Second Rounds, the higher seeded team will host. 2. In all rounds except the Semifinals, game date and time will be set by mutual agreement. If that agree ment is not possible, the GHSA Executive Director will finalize the arrange ments. If an administrator does not attend the meet ing at which the playoff contract is negotiated, the coach shall be authorized by the Principal to negoti ate and sign a binding con tract. 3. For Quarterfinal and Final Round games: (a) The higher seeded team will be the host team. If they do not have a sta dium that meets GHSA minimum standards, they may secure a suitable site. (b) If both teams have the same seeding, the fol lowing procedure will be used: (1) If both sites meet See CHANGES, page 6A Atlantians in the second 49-25. Members of the Perry team were: Jaudon Thompson, James Collins, Jim Walker, A 1 LaDue, Lucas Dawson, and Billy Powell. By virtue of winning the state title, the Perry team has been invited to advance to the national finals to be played in Louisville, Kentucky in June 2007.