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I I mm, sm m mmm ■AASK&TBAL.L ’’ f% mjk jgf" I I HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL Demonettes softball team earns Bite 8 berth By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer For the second year in a row, Warner Robins High’s girls advanced to the Elite 8 of the GHSA Class AAAAA softball championships. The Demonettes, one of three schools represent ing Region 1-AAAAA in Columbus, are set to take on No. 8 Peachtree Ridge at high noon Thursday at the Columbus Softball Complex. Senior Amy Hutcheson is cer tainly looking forward to her first time playing in Columbus. She missed out on the 2006 playoffs with a broken nose. A broken fin ger took some of her playing time this year away. iH| mg \wßsCPm \-f r ' f ll ' II SK fit as Bg .2. wamaim ■ wem/mms. m ■■ .;7ar. mmom —-—i —— * .r.-ZXZ...,: — —M wauumammmaaunmnseuaa —■twruiwiim Journal Don Moncrief Westfield’s Mason Moreland slides in safely at second in the Lady Hornets GISA AAA state tournament opener against First Presbyterian Day Saturday in LaGrange. Westfield denied title repeat By DON MONCRIEF Journal Managing Editor One hit. One key, clutch hit. That’s all that stood between Westfield and the GISA AAA finals of the state tour nam e n t Saturday in LaGrange. A hit against George Walton in the bottom of the sev enth in the third game of the day and the Lady Hornets’ bid for back-to back titles WESTFIELD mimrnrn GISA State Tournament 0 First Presbyterian Day 2, Westfield 1 • Westfield 2, Stratford 1 0 George Walton 3, Westfield 2 would remain alive. A hit would have undoubtedly brought Sydney Smith home from third, tied the game at 2 and at least sent it into extra innings. It probably would have scored Mason Moreland on second with the game winner and given Westfield a rematch against First Presbyterian Day. Ah, FPD. “It” is where the: “One hit. One key, clutch hit,” actually began. If the Lady Hornets could have just gotten: “One hit. One key, clutch hit,” against the Lady Vikings in the tour nament opener that morn- “I got hit in the face and broke my nose right before state (last year),” she said. “I broke my finger halfway through (this) sea son. I was out for three weeks. “I’m feeling good now. No more bro ken nose or broken finger.” Hutcheson split time at first base with senior Kittery Maine last year. She waited until after the state tournament to have sur- iii v , * Journal/Don Moncrief Hanna Jones gets a big hug after her slow roller to second proved to be the game win ner against Stratford. ing, they probably wouldn’t have had their backs so far against the wall versus the Lady Bulldogs in the latter part of the day. As it stood, Westfield out hit FPD 6-3, while losing 2- 1. The problem was none of those were of the aforemen tioned “key, clutch hit” vari ety. The Lady Hornets left two runners on in the first inning - one of those being leadoff hitter Moreland, which every team had a hard gery. This year that position was all hers until her second mishap. “It was real disappointing. I had a starting position,” she said. “But I’m glad I’m back before state. I’m glad it happened when it happened, before the end of the season.” A lot of other Demonettes would like to forget how last year’s Columbus experience turned out. They lost to No. 1 Woodstock 5-3 with Woodstock scoring runs on two hit batters in the first inning and rallying for three in the sev enth before Warner Robins could finally get on the board. The Demonettes would beat Houston County High next, but lose to Collins Hill. WARNER ROBINS DEMONETTES GHSA South Sectionals # Warner Robins 10, Groves 0 # Warner Robins 3, Union Grove 2 # Warner Robins 2, East Coweta 1 time keeping off the bases. Then, Westfield stranded a runner in each of the sec ond through fourth innings - two of those in scoring position. Meanwhile, Kelsey Gilliam, who worked all three games on the day - she struck out nine Lady Vikings - was busy keeping FPD in check on the mound. She gave up only three hits to Lady Vikings but a throw ing error enabled both of its The atmosphere now among the Warner Robins softball players could be described as relaxed and focused. “Last year, I think we were a little overwhelmed by never being before and seeing all the other teams there,” said senior center fielder Lauren Graham (no relation to ace pitcher Kristen Graham). “We were kind of intimidated. “This year we know more what it’s like. We know we can do it. We’re not going to be scared to be up there. We can hang with any body.” “We had a good team last year, but now since we’ve been togeth er for such a long time, all the runs crossed in the third. That inning started with back-to-back singles. A sac rifice moved the runners over but also provided an out. The next batter hit a grounder to Moreland at second. She fired home where Audrey Clearman had the plate blocked for out number two. The next hitter punched a grounder to Christine Campbell at third. It was fielded cleanly See DENIED, page 8B WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2007 ♦ HoCo volleyball squad finishes third in Area Advances to state; Warner Robins earns fourth, also headed to Roswell Special to the Journal The Lady Bears volley ball team headed to Luella this past Saturday with hopes of an Area champi onship and a trip to the state playoffs. They came home with the third seed in the AAAAA state playoffs. The Lady Bears were the regular season champions having defeated all 10 of the other Area teams and earning them a first round bye. The squad started the tournament by playing M.L. King High School in the second round and defeating it two games to zero with scores of 25-14 and 25-13. They then had to play Warner Robins. This was their sixth meet ing this year, it coming in the third round. The Lady Bears defeated the Demonettes two games to zero, this time with game scores of 25-16 and 25-11. This left two teams unde feated and set up the semi Despite their effort, Lady Eagl es unable to advance From staff reports How Northside’s fast pitch softball team isn’t today preparing for Thursday’s Sectionals opener in Columbus is a mystery - or as a minimum a major credit to its com petition. The Lady Eagles entered the state tournament in Lovejoy Saturday Region 4-AAAA champions and a No. 1 seed. They look every bit of it too to open, beating Starr’s Mill 4-0 - three more runs than they needed (two of Northside’s RBIs came via the bat of Kim Dominy) considering Sarah Purvis NS volleyballers fifth at Area From staff reports Northside’s volleyball team entered the region tournament this past week end in Dutchtown as the No. 6 seed but quickly sent notice it was underrated. The Lady Eagles did so by upsetting No. 3 seed Lee County two games to one. Northside won the first 25- 15, lost the second 25-17 but took the third 25-16. That was on Thursday. seniors, we’re all relaxed and we’re going out there to have fun,” said senior right fielder Sierra Love. “We take it seriously, but it’s more to have fun.” “We feel pretty confident in our team and our ability to perform,” said Graham. “We just have to execute everything good and play like we know we can.” To get to Columbus, Warner Robins went a perfect 3-0 in last weekend’s south sectional tour nament held at Lovejoy Park in Hampton. The Demonettes began things Friday with an easy 10- 0 win against Groves High as Jensen Barrett pitched the shutout See ELITE, page 4B final in the winner’s brack et with Union Grove High School. The Lady Bears won the first game 25-23 before dropping the next two - 25-18 and 25-13. This set up the semifinal on the one loss side of the bracket between Houston County and Morrow, which the Lady Mustangs won two games to one. Morrow won the first and third games with the score being 25-17 in the first and 25-10 in the third. Houston County won the second 25- After this match, the All- Area awards were handed out. These awards were voted on by the area coach es. Morgan Hollars was named to the All-Area First Team and Devon Preston was named to the All-Area Second Team. Lady Bear Head Coach Tony Jones was voted the Area Coach of the Year. “We played very well early in the day,” Jones See AREA, page i$C tossed a no hitter. She also struck out 14 in the process. In the game, the Lady Eagles, who had four hits against the Lady Panthers, scored one in the sec ond and the other three in the third. Next, Northside played Evans and lost 2-1, with See EFFORT, page 4B Following things got a bit rougher as the Lady Eagles played and fell to No. 2 seed Dutchtown 25-15, 25-14. Saturday they took Mount Zion about as far as they could go but fell 25-23, 25-23, finishing the tourna ment fifth out of 10 teams. “We finished the season with an 18-19 record,” said Northside Head Volleyball Coach Jessica White, in her first year. See FIFTH, page ifC 3B NORTHSIDE LADY EAGLES GHSA South Sectionals 0 Northside 4, Starr's Mill 0 0 Evans 2, Northside 1 0 Northside 1, Jones County 0 0 Northside 2, Mclntosh 1 0 Lee County 1, Northside 0