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4B ♦ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2007 Lowndes GHSA CLASS AAAAA SOFTBALL State Finals, October 25-27, 2007 Thu, Noon 1) Columbus Softball Complex Thu, 4 pm 5) Thu, Noon 2) Fri, 5 pm 11) ' Mill Creek Thu, Noon 3) E Coweta Thu, 4 pm 6) Warner Robins Sat, 11:15 am 14) Thu, Noon 4) Pchtree Ridge Loser 6 Loser 11 ; Loser 1 Fri, Ipm 9) Sat, 1:15 pm 15): Sat, 9:15 am 13) ■ Fri, 9 am i ‘ 7) j Fri, spm 12) Loser 2 Loser 14 (If first loss) Loser 5 Loser 3 Fri, 1 pm 10) Fri, 9 am 8) - GaSports.com Georgia High School Sports Network ELITE From page jB and Kristen Graham hit two home runs. It wasn’t quite so easy later on Friday as Warner Robins was paired with No. 4 Union Grove. The game was tied 1-1 through seven, and thus came an extra inning. Union Grove was the visit ing team and scored on an error in the top of the eighth to lead 2-1. It was two of those seniors, Love The 'mystery guy', Georgia needs a few more miracles Can anybody tell me what happened to that mystery guy, the one who always is sup- posed to tell you about how things are going to turn out ahead of time, things that go completely against your expec tations? He’s the Matthew Brown Journal Sports Writer star of every, ‘lf someone had told me this was going to happen before it happened I wouldn’t have believed it.’ Well, he was supposed to tell me prior to the cur rent football season that the University of Georgia was going to kick a last-second game-winning field goal, in Tennessee, and it would spark such a jubilant cel ebration that it would have the head coach apologiz ing to the host school. And that would lead me to think, ‘Oh goody, we’re going to beat those UT Vols again in Knoxville.’ But as it happens with everyone else, I completely misread the prognostication. First, I see the Bulldogs fail to put up even the slightest resistance against Tennessee in the first trip up north. ‘You mean we needed a field goal at the buzzer to beat Vanderbilt? And our players were going to react as if they had just pulled off the upset of the century?’ One year ago in Athens, Georgia loses to Vanderbilt on a late field goal. This and Lauren Graham, who executed when needed to both tie the game and win it in the home eighth. Love did her job with a bunt, and Graham doubled to left with two outs and the score tied. “I, put a bunt down, and the catcher got kind of cocky,” said Love. “She threw it to third, so I was safe. I made it around to third, and I was the winning run. It felt so good. I was so glad we won, and I’m so ready to get to (Columbus). It’s my senior year and I want to year in Nashville, the Commodores stay on the same field with the Bulldogs all the way until the last three seconds. At least it’s not Florida State and its back-to-back gridiron losses to Wake Forest. Has anyone ever seen Mark Richt that upset as he was when some of his play ers danced on the logo in the middle of the field? Right away he says on the televi sion interview, “That’s not what we do.” Apparently a handful of Bulldogs weren’t aware of that fact. The coach also made ref erence on the radio about Vanderbilt being a “great team.” Coaches, I’ve learned, don’t view their schedule and opponents the way most fans and writers do. Not many of us stand ing on the outside looking in would have an easy time thinking of Vanderbilt as a “great” football team. Am I to believe that any starter for the Commodores could right now supplant his counterpart on the Bulldogs? Ideally, it’s not supposed to be that way, not when comparing UGA to VU or when putting FSU side-by-side with those WF Demon Deacons. The results, though, don’t he. Does Georgia, top to bot tom, have better athletes than Vanderbilt, but when measuring actual football players do things come out equal? What must Steve Spurrier think on the sub ject, as if anyone really cares? If Vandy is a “great” team, what must be the opinion in win state.” “It was the first pitch and I was just ready,” said Graham. “(The pitcher) had been throwing outside a lot, but that one happened to be in the middle of the plate. She had been working the outside comer the whole game.” It wasn’t her first game-winning hit ever in softball, but her first for the 2007 season and by far her most satisfying moment. “Definitely, for a game like that,” she said. “It was a really good hit. Athens regarding Kentucky football this year? Is any one forgetting that Florida is the defending champi onship team of both the Southeastern Conference and this new-fangled FBS thing? That’s right; Georgia- Florida is just a few days away. The last four games of this series (one of which Georgia actually won!) have been decided by seven points or less. This time, a game winning kick would be rea son to celebrate. Or maybe another overtime miracle as \ fni *wum.tihi^^wcom SPORTS the one in Alabama. That brings me to a point of debate. Matthew Stafford to Mikey Henderson in Alabama was a great game winning play. But, was it the greatest game-winning catch of this Mark Richt era? While some people tend to relate “greatest” with “most recent,” a little thinking and research would suggest that this year’s entry wasn’t as big a miracle as you might believe. Being that it was over time, and Alabama had just taken a lead with a field Did we rapture your photo? Click on the big blue button on our website at www.hhjnews to see. If we did, you can order prints, key chains, t-shirts and more right from your computerl EFFORT From page j B a lot more,to the story than just the final score. The Lady Eagles went out front 1- in the fourth. Becky Studstill doubled. Heather Langston then singled to put runners on first and third before Purvis grounded to shortstop for a fielder’s choice to score Studstill. Both of the Lady Knights’ runs came in the bottom of the sev enth. “Sarah struck out 17 batters,” said Northside Head Fast-pitch Coach Mitch Horton, “but we walked two in the seventh and they got a timely base hit to plate the winning run with two outs.” That dropped the Lady Eagles into the losers bracket where they faced the all-too-familiar Jones County squad. Jones County lost its opener 3-2 to Whitewater but then rebounded to blast Americus- Sumter 11-1. The two had some pretty amaz ing games during the regular sea son and region tournament and “amazing” was the description Horton placed on this one. It went 10 innings with Northside winning 1-0 with the go-ahead run being pushed across in the top of the seventh. It unfolded much as the Starr’s Mill game with Studstill reaching and making it to second where Langston this time bunted her over to third. Purvis against sacrificed her home and again with a grounder to third. “Sarah got us out of a lot of jams,” Horton said. “She struck out 17 in one of the best games I have ever been a part of. “That was the fifth time we had played them this season and we beat them all five times. It was dif ficult (this time, however) because the loser of this game was elimi nated and we hated to put out one of our region teams.” Next, Northside beat Mclntosh 2- this time with both of its runs coming in the seventh. The Lady Chiefs scored their only one in the first. After that, Horton said, Purvis “set them down the rest of the game.” She ended up striking out I was happy that we won and our team could go on.” The Demonettes completed the sweep by edging East Coweta 2-1. Kristen Graham was the winning pitcher, and Kylie Barrett and Kim Burgess drove in the runs. The winner between Warner Robins and Peachtree Ridge meets No. 2 Mill Creek or East Coweta at 4 p.m. Thursday. The loser doesn’t play again until Friday morning. • Houston County High, 1- AAAAA champions, went 2-2 in goal in its first possession, Georgia had several chances to either force a second over time or win outright. It just so happens that Stafford and Henderson connected right off the bat. Even if that play didn’t work, the Bulldogs still had three plays from the 25 to get a first down, which would have meant four more downs to reach the end zone or get yet another first down. So in terms of the situation, Georgia wasn’t quite as des perate as it was in a couple of other games from the * fi 9k ■ ~ Ji Mr JPj • 24 Hour Access • Personal Training • 110 Contracts ■m ,00052724 HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL "To try and sum It up: four of the live games were decided in the last at bat. But, it was a wonderful tournament. Unfortunately we Just came up a little short." - Northside Head Fast-pitch Coach Mitch Horton eight while giving up two hits. Meanwhile, Mary Evans had two of the Lady Eagles’ three hits. One of those came in the bottom of the seventh to get the rally started. Kristen Smith also had a hit in the inning and with the bases loaded and one out, Langston hit a single between shortstop and third to score the winning run and keep the season alive. That put Northside in a match up against Lee County. The winner would qualify for the Sectionals, the loser would go home. The Lady Trojans entered the game not having lost until its fourth game of the day. That came against Whitewater, 15-0. The difference, in a 1-0 Lee County win, turned out to be an error - two bunt base hits and a single to left. ’’Sarah pitched great striking out eight,” Horton said. “We had two innings of runners on second and third and less than two outs and just could not get the hit to score a run. ”To try and sum it up: four of the five games were decided in the last at bat. But, it was a wonder ful tournament. Unfortunately we just came up a little short.” Northside ended its year 30-8 with Langston being the leading hitter for the tourney with a .360 batting average. “I don’t think I can even sum up what Sarah did for us during the tournament,” Horton added. “As she gave us every opportunity to win and was just awesome. I am so proud of this team and what they accomplished this season.” the south sectionals. On Friday, the Bears beat No. 9 Luella 5-3, but on Saturday two fellow region clubs ended the Houston season by similar 3-2 scores. Lowndes beat Houston on a walk off home run in the seventh after the Bears defeated the Vikettes by the mercy rule in the 1-AAAAA tourhament the week before in Valdosta. Tift County won the deciding game eight innings to earn a bid in Columbus, for the first time. recent past. Maybe it was the game and play that received a lot of attention when the Bulldogs were heading up to Knoxville this year. Back in Richt’s rookie year, 2001, David Greene hit Verron Haynes on a six-yard touch down with five seconds to go to beat then No. 6 ranked Tennessee 26-24. It was Georgia’s first win in Rocky Top land in 21 years. The scoring drive took 39 seconds, and though I don’t know for sure, since the See BROWN , page ifC ITS TIME TO SHAPE UPI Join for the months of October & November and get DECEMBER FREEr ’New members only. • Free Weights • Treadmills • Family Plan Available • Online Personal Training 1030 Ball Str66t (Downtown Perry) 987-8516