Newspaper Page Text
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THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 26, 2006
The Home Journal's
SANDLOT
TtffIWUNWV
ON DECK
High school
Cross country
Today
■ Houston County
Championship, 5 p.m., field
behind Pearl Stephens
Elementary School.
High school
Softball
Today
■ GHSA Elite Eight at Columbus
(softball complex): Warner
Robins versus Woodstock, 4
p.m.; Houston County versus
Peachtree Ridge. 4 p.m.
Friday/Saturday
■ GHSA Final Four at Columbus
(softball complex): Warner
Robins and Houston County, to
be determined
High school
Football
Friday
■ Warner Robins at Tift County,
7:30 p.m.
■ Pinewood at Westfield, 8 p.m.
■ Southwest at Perry, 7:30 p.m.
High school
Volleyball
Saturday
■ Houston County at state tour
nament at Berkmar (versus to be
determined), 9 a.m.
IN BRIEF
HoCo swim team to hold
car wash fund-raiser
The Houston County High
School swim team is having a
Car Wash Sunday at the Wal
mart on Watson Blvd. (in the
Garden Department) from 1-6
p.m. Ail proceeds benefit the
swim team members.
Also, the Houston County
High School swim team is
sponsoring a Coke sale - S2O
per case of 24. Drinks include
carbonated beverages. Dasani
Water, Powerade. Minute Maid
bottled drinks, Hi-C juice boxes.
Orders must be placed by
Nov. 3 with delivery before
Thanksgiving. To place an order
call 478- 954-6833.
WR Rec to begin
basketball registration
The Warner Robins Recreation
Department has begun basket
ball registration.
Registration will continue at
their office on Watson Blvd.
- until all ages ages/teams are
filled - during regular business
hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-
Friday. Participants must be at
least 5 by Dec. 31 in order to
participate in the basketball pro
gram. Fees are as follows: $25
for city residents, SSO for county
residents and SBS for out of
county residents.
In addition, coaches are also
needed. Call 929-1916 for more
information.
Habitat to hold softball
tourney fund-raiser
The Houston County Habitat
for Humanity will hold a softball
tournament Nov. 6, proceeds
of which are to go toward the
Houston County Habitat for
Humanity.
The cost is S3OO per team
- teams must have at least nine
people with a maximum of 15.
Trophies will be awarded and
the first pitch is slated to be
thrown at 9 a.m.
Call 218-5545 or e-mail
kcripe@flintemc.com for more
information.
Waterford to hold Junior
Golf Clinic
Waterford Golf Course will
hold a Junior Golf Clinic Nov.
20-21. Times are: 10-11:15 for
ages 5-10; 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. for
those ages 11 and up. The cost
is SSO which includes lunch for
both day, prizes and more. Visit
the course to sign up.
Landings offers Junior
Super Saturdays
The Landings Golf Learning
Center is currently offering
Junior Super Saturdays: October
Group Lessons. The cost is $lO
per visit with no signup nec
essary. Contact Bill Goggin at
923-5222 Ext. 4 for more.
HoCo, WR prepare for Elite Eight
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
What a reward for a 3-
O performance in the south
sectional softball tourna
ment. Warner Robins High
now gets to open the GHSA
Class AAAAA Elite Eight
tournament against the
team ranked No. 1 in the
In Mutate
PHHWktT .. |> if ■
f V T
.Journal Matthew Brown
Bears senior Bethany Crenshaw coasts into second,
Saturday in Dublin.
—— _ —~—'—'—-—' ~ ——
ENI/Gary Harmon
Runners take off at the start of the GISA state meet Saturday in Macon. For more, see 28.
Pulling the plug on champions; softball no surprise
Will we ever/have we ever had a
“true” champion?
In baseball we have Detroit and
St. Louis currently battling for the
World Series title but are they the
best to come out of Major League
Baseball?
In the NFL some teams rise to the
top, some head to the bottom. But is
the one that ends up with the Super
Bowl trophy typically the best at the
end?
NASCAR is all over its own band
wagon right now, tooting its horn
worse than a road-rage Californian
stuck in traffic. But are the 10 in the
Chase the best?
If you were/are a Westfield fan and
had seen the Hornets in their opener
against John Milledge, with Austin
Madruga in the backfield and a slew
of others healthy you would be think
ing: ‘’’This’ is the year!”
But look at them today - 1-5-1
overall, 0-3 in the region and fighting
for their playoff lives.
The answer then: It’s all a debate.
Sports
last coaches poll of the regu
lar season.
Houston County High,
the Region 1-AAAAA cham
pions, would have had a
hard time avoiding a ranked
club itself at the start of
the Elite Eight. After going
3-0 in elimination games of
the south sectional Saturday
It’s the stuff of lob
byists. It’s one of the
things that makes
sports great. No
matter how great
your team there’s
always somebody
with a story.
“Yeah well,” Tony
Stewart fans say,
“If it hadn’t been
for that ‘one’ race
When it’s over with Jeff Burton or
Jimmie Johnson or Junior or Kasey
Kahne fans may be saying: “Yeah
well. If it hadn’t been for that ‘one’
race ...”
And then there’s Brave fans: “Well,
the Mets beat us but if we had made
the pitching changes we made late in
the year earlier in the year ...”
And on an on it goes. Even when
it appears we have a clear-cut cham
pion, such as in the case of Lance
Armstrong, there’s always somebody
waiting in the wings with an answer
to qualify for a trip to
Columbus, the Bears drew
No. 7 Peachtree Ridge for its
first game Thursday.
In that final poll, all of the
top 10 teams came from three
regions (5, 6 and 7), which
were a part of the north sec
tional. There was only room
for four teams from each of
the two sectionals for the
Elite Eight, and 1-AAAAA
schools grabbed three of the
spots from the south sec
tional.
Lowndes, which finished
fourth in the Houston-
Warner Robins league,
staged three straight upsets
in Dublin Saturday. That
included back-to-back wins
against the powers of Region
2-AAAAA, Union Grove and
Luella.
WARNER RORINS
Don’t tell Brenda Arnett,
Demonettes head coach since
1984, about Woodstock’s No.
1 ranking. After all, she said
a poll is simply based on
somebody’s opinion and not
necessarily on who truly is
the best team in the state.
She is looking at the Elite
Eight as middle Georgia’s
chance to shine against
Atlanta and its northern
suburbs. Woodstock High is
in Cherokee County and had
to play an extra game in the
north sectional to qualify for
Columbus.
“I think we’re capable of
beating anybody we come up
against,” said Arnett. “We’re
playing good ball. We’re not
even looking at it like that.
Off and running
on why they’re not.
Will we ever have a true cham
pion, an inarguable hands-down, no
chance of a rebuttal in-your-face king
of the hill? You talk to a 2004 Demon
fan and your answer is: “We already
have.”
You talk to a Bear fan from that
circa and the answer is: “Not so fast
there ...”
So the question remains: Will
we ever/have we ever had a “true”
champion?
... A word on softball in Houston
County if you will. Westfield’s state
title win and the Lady Bears and
Demonettes’ success in the playoffs
has come as a surprise to some.
But it shouldn’t. This - and “this”
can be in reference to health of the
“overall” programs in general - has
been coming for some time.
At least since 2002. Did you know
that some of the names on Houston
County’s and Warner Robins’ roster
(Amber Conlon, Amy Hutchinson,
Don Moncrief
Journal Sports Editor
r *i
The Demonettes’
Amber Conlon heads
to second, Saturday
in Dublin.
'fournaMVlatthpw Brown
We’re just playing the team
that we’ve been chosen to
play.”
She has more than a few
players who are no strangers
to a big tournament atmo
sphere, be it at the state
or the national level in the
summer traveling season. In
fact, starters Amber Conlon,
Lauren Graham and Jensen
Barrett were a part of the
Warner Robins American
Little League team that
played in a World Series in
Oregon.
If Arnett can get the kind
of pitching she got at the
south sectional in Dublin, it
could lead to the first Warner
Robins fastpitch state cham
pionship to go with the two
Arnett won in the slow-pitch
days.
_v =
“It’ll probably come down
to pitching and some small
game stuff,” she said. “It’s
going to be some tough
games. I don’t want any of
them to be a blowout.”
Kristen Graham, a junior,
threw a seven-inning shut
out against Union Grove
in Dublin Friday, then on
Saturday went the distance
for the clinching win, 3-2,
over Newnan. She too has
pitched in big games in trav
el ball events, but said none
was bigger than that last
game in the sectional.
“At first I was nervous,
then once I threw that
first pitch it all left,” said
Graham. “This has more of
a local thing than travel ball
does.”
See ELITE, page iB
Lauren Graham and Jensen Barrett
for the Demonettes and Kaitlyn
Carriker for the Lady Bears; and
some others graduated last year)
were on the roster for the Warner
Robins American Little League that
played in the Little League World
Series that year?
And even for those that didn’t
or weren’t a part of that time, just
about every name is recognizable in
regard to being on travel teams.
And not just being on travel teams,
these are travel teams that have won
(first on more than one occasion)
- at the highest level (that experience
should bode well in the playoffs).
So for softball to be at its apex in
Houston County (even though the
Lady Eagles had an off year, they set
a school record in wins last year and
some of their players also pldyed in
the USSSA World Series as part of
the Warner Robins National League)
is no surprise.
The only thing for us as fans to do
is: Sit back, relax and watch!
SECTION
B