Newspaper Page Text
Houston .©atly
Perry wins 1 -of-2 to force Game 3
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Leave it to senior Evan
Jones to give Perry High’s
baseball
Panthers the
pitching, hit
ting and field
ing they would
need to extend
a GHSA sec
ond-round
playoff series
Wednesday at
Troup High
School in
LaGrange.
Jones
pitched a com
plete game in
pSBSL* 1,
HhSSU
AAA state
tournament
Game 1:
Troup 16,
Perry 4; Game
2: Perry 4,
troup 3
the nightcap of the double
header and gave himself the
game-winning solo home
run in the fifth inning. Perry
defeated Troup 4-3 in that
game after the home Tigers
needed only five innings to
crush the Panthers 16-4 in
the series opener.
The third and decid
ing game of the Class AAA
series took place Thursday
on the Troup campus. The
winner advanced to the
quarterfinals against either
Dunwoody or Cass May 22-
23.
Another senior, Sullivan
deYampert, continued his
hot hitting from the open
ing-round sweep of Crisp
County High.
He hit two home runs,
including the tying long ball
of Game 2, and drove in six
MlHlWili
msk*,-y
, j
Robby Taylor waits for the throw on a play at third.
WR, HoCo 1-2 as region’s best
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Sports Editor
Warner Robins and Houston County are pretty
good at giving the old one-two punch to oppo
nents. On second thought, make that very good.
Case in fact: The Demops and Bears .finished
first and second, respectively in the standings
for the Region 1-AAAAA All-Sports Award.
The All-Sports Award is similar to the Georgia
Athletic Director’s Cup in that it is a measure of
all of the school’s athletic programs.
The traveling trophy - and quite a nice tro
phy it is, said Warner Robins athletic director
Bryan Way - was presented to the Demons,
who unseated Lowndes’ four-year reign, at the
region’s regular meeting Wednesday.
Warner Robins finished the year with 131
points. Houston County, which athletic director
Doug Johnson said was leading Warner Robins
by three points heading into the spring, finished
with 121. Tift County and Colquitt County were
tied for third with 107.
“They just had a real good spring,” Johnson
said of his cross-town rivals, “and overtook us.”
FRIDAY,
MAY 18, 2007
- . - - ... - - . . ■ \ ■ ... i-V ” ' • ■ •
Perry’s Jimi Wilson puts the tag on a Troup player during the two teams’ AAA state playoff opener Wednesday in LaGrange.
of the eight runs Perry pro
duced.
Troup coaches must have
felt there was a flaw in
the Perry game, that flaw
being the bunt defense. The
Panthers did commit two
errors fielding bunts during
the doubleheader.
So the Tigers, playing as
the “visiting” team in the
second game and needing
one run to tie Perry in the
top of the seventh, used the
sacrifice to get that run after
Scott Phillips led off with
a double in the gap. Perry
made the play on the first
bunt, but the Troup tying
run was on third base.
Next came a suicide
squeeze, only it didn’t work
too well for Troup. Jones
charged off the mound to
catch the popped-up base
ball, and Phillips was easily
doubled up at third to end
it.
Jones only gave up six
hits in seven innings. Half
of the hits were doubles. He
issued only one walk and
had two strikeouts, both in
the fourth.
The pitcher was also try
ing mightily to get a pick-off
out at first base. He had
the leadoff runner (his lone
base on balls) caught off
first, but this Tiger was able
to get up and make it to
second without a throw. The
run scored as the Panthers
botched a sacrifice bunt.
Shortstop Matt Phillips
was able to keep another
run from scoring as, with
one out and a runner on
third, he fielded a grounder
and got it to catcher Jeff
Stewart for the tag away
from the plate.
In the top of the third,
Troup wore out left field
with three straight hits -
two of which were doubles
- for two runs and a 3-0
ENI/Gary Harmon
The way the standings work, Way explained,
was teams received 10 points for being region
champion, eight for being runner up, six for
third, and then five, four, three and two, for
fourth through seventh, respectively.
Teams, Johnson added, also received one point
for participating - for cases such as swimming
and volleyball in which there was no region
champion (they go by Area assignments). They
also received two more if those teams qualified
for state, Johnson said.
As far as Warner Robins, in among its other
points awarded, were region championships in
boys cross country, boys basketball, co-ed cheer
leading, boys track, boys and girls golf, girls
tennis and girls soccer.
Houston County won the region in boys ten
nis, softball, cheerleading - of the regular sort,
Johnson said - and boys soccer.
The Bears also came away with the Region
1-AAAAA scholarship - a measure of academ
ics as well as sports contributions - winner in
Cameron Tufts, who played baseball and swam.
The girls scholarship went to Tift County stu
dent/athlete Monica Horne.
Sports
edge.
For the rest of the game,
Perry would find all the scor
ing success, and all of it was
with two outs and no one on
base. The Panthers did it by
finding a shaky spot in the
Tiger defense, second base.
With two outs and the
bags empty, Phillip Vance
reached on an infield hit.
Sam Kinnas was next and
grounded to the second base
r- V ; Sl* dt US ' '' - V
, fljjML \ A InA \
Sullivan de Yampert and Jeff Stewart converge on a foul ball.
“We’re real happy (overall),” said Johnson,
whose program has finished runner-up for the
third-straight year. He also joked that they
finally got past Lowndes only to have Warner
Robins beat them. “It went down to the wire.
Warner Robins just got us in the end.
“But, I think it says a lot for our school and
Warner Robins for being well-rounded. It says a
lot about our coaches and our athletes and our
fans ... Our fans are good, too.”
He added it also speaks volumes to the success
of the county itself.
“This region is probably the best I’ve seen
in 16 years. For us to finish one-two,” he said,
“says a lot. Right now all of our programs (in
the county) are real good.”
Way echoed Johnson’s sentiments regarding
the Demons and Demonettes programs adding
it was a result of both the coaching staff as well
as the athletes.
One of the goals he said he outlined when
first finding out about the trophy during the
summer both he and Johnson said they
thought Region 1-AAAAA might be the only one
See BEST, page 12A
man. It was both a fielding
error for him to reach and a
throwing error for Vance to
take third base.
Robby Taylor walked to
load the bases, and deYam
pert put Perry on the board
taking four straight balls.
Jones finally got his pick
off out in the top of the fifth,
and it happened to be the
last out of the frame. That
sparked Perry on to the go
PAGE 9A
ENI/Gary Harmon
ahead rally in the bottom
half, with Taylor reaching
on E-4 with two outs.
On the heels of his two
run home run in Game 1,
deYampert crushed a second
two-run shot tying the score
3-3. When Jones stepped in
next and put his bat on the
ball, the Tiger outfielders
didn’t take more than two
steps back knowing where
See PERRY, page 12A
ii-
ENI/Gary Harmon
Local to compete in
Mid-Am tournament
Special to the Journal
Bobby Chaney of Warner
Robins is among the field of 144
listed to compete in the 26th
Annual Georgia Mid-Amateur
Championship to be held today
through Sunday at the Country
Club of Columbus.
Contenders, according to a
release, will play 18 holes of
stroke play each day. The field
of 144 will be cut to the low 40
and ties after 36 holes.
Entries were open to male
amateur golfers age 25 or older
as of May 18, 2007, who belong
to a GSGA member club and
are residents of Georgia. A
total of 379 players entered
this year’s championship - 31
exempt and 348 non-exempt.
Non-exempt players competed
in one of six statewide qualifi
ers held in April for the remain
ing 113 spots in the field.