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♦ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2007 2B '*” ■ * • ENI/Gary Harmon Warner Robins senior Kristin Graham signs a softball scholarship with Virginia Tech as her mother Toni looks on. Also looking on is Coach Daryl Fox, Demonette Head Coach Brenda Arnett, her father Monty Graham and Coach Mark Gisseman. GRAHAM From page iB Texas, all the states around Georgia. I learned to play in front of college coaches, to play under pressure. There was never a point this year when I felt really nervous out there. I just went out there and played my game. Playing all these years taught me how to deal with different situations.” Graham’s high school coach noted that she knew she had a special talent from Day 1 and also knew the part of her game that needed the most help. “I never really thought of her as a 9th grader,” said Demonette coach Brenda Arnett while addressing Graham’s family, class mates and other supporters Wednesday at the school. “It was hard for me to remem ber that she was just a kid ... not as mentally as tough as I wanted her to be. In the last three to four years we worked on mental tough ness.” Arnett said she and her fellow coaches like the way Graham turned out, well enough to lead the pro gram to its first two fast pitch appearances (2006 and 2007) in the GHSA Elite 8 postseason tournament. Graham’s growth in “men Wfk>dmVr jHmff fl''M I'^ll(&'TifpPfT iJm* ff 11fl|pyL. •%. ...J-Jr' M: Jig |S® 111 ENI/Gary Harmon Warner Robins senior Tiandra Billings signs a basketball scholarship with Georgia Southwestern Wednesday as her mother Tina looks on. Also looking on is Demonette Head Coach Tom Mobley, Coach Tracy Fendley, Akira and Durand Cainion. BILLINGS From page iB Cherie White. Still, she didn’t relish the idea of leav ing behind friends already made at Perry High. “That was real tough,” said Billings. “When I first found out that I was com Etomatei Warn Goodwill! When you donate your car to Goodwill, you’ll get a tax deduction, and your car will become part of Goodwill’s Automotive Training Program. Goodwill’s trainees will learn valuable job skills in automotive technology so they can get good jobs in our community. Call 1-866-Let-lt-Go or visit www.goodwillworks.org Building lives, families, and communities ONE JOB AT A TIME. tal toughness” led her to realize several things: that players will make errors and pitchers will hang pitches and give up home runs. “The team’s there to back you up,” she said. “You can never get mad at your team mates. They also pick you up.” In her assortment of pitch es, Graham uses the drop ball to get grounders along with a rise ball, a change-up, a curve ball, a screwball and the fastball. She said this past summer her heater was clocked at 69 mph. What else is there to learn? She said at Virginia Tech she expects to find a whole new cast of situations she’s never dealt with before. “You can’t just go up there and pitch every pitch,” said Graham. “You really have to think about what needs to be thrown and make sure you have the right spin every time. College coaches aren’t going to break down the pitch for you. You already have to know what you’re doing.” To keep her pitching mechanics sharp between now and the 2009 spring sea son, which will be her fresh man year at VT, Graham is getting coaching from Stacy Dixon of Pitcher’s Mound based in Atlanta. In high school games, Graham also displayed some ing to Warner Robins I was devastated. I didn’t want to leave all my friends whom I grew up with. But now I really love it here. “I looked up to Cherie a lot. I’ve known her since I was real little.” Now, Billings will not only hone her game for Georgia Southwestern, but also fine hitting skills. She said she will get to bat at Virginia Tech and that the coaches there will eventually train her for a regular position to stay in the lineup for games she does not pitch. Graham may have given up basketball after her 9th grade year, but last spring, as a junior, she took up another sport: soccer. She was goal keeper on Warner Robins High’s first region champi onship team. Graham said she played soccer in middle school as a way to stay in shape during off time from softball. It was Phil Daly who talk ed Graham into joining the Demonette soccer team. She said she enjoys the chance to play with her softball team mates again. “It’ll be the last time I get to be with all of them,” said Graham about the upcoming spring season. As for the future, Graham has one plan set that will bring her back home to Warner Robins. She wants to major in business at Virginia Tech, and then return to open a softball pitching school. And then there are those other aforementioned goals. “I want to be an All- American,” said Graham. “I want to make All-ACC. And I would really like to go to the World Series.” take over White’s role as a senior veteran leader for a Demonette team looking to get back into the Class AAAAA state tournament. “We have good ball play ers this year as long as we stay together as a team,” she said. “I’m a senior so I need to make sure I be a leader, be vocal, lead by example.” ■flflHHt SPORTS Bears begin focusing on *OB By MATTHEW BROWN Journal Sports Writer Houston County High football for 2007 is over at 1-9. It didn’t end, though, before the Bears had one last long-shot chance to knock off a playoff bound team in Region 1-AAAAA on that team’s home turf. It was Nov. 9 at Coffee County High in Douglas when the Trojans kicked a field goal with between two and three seconds left in regulation. That broke a 21-21 tie. Bears head coach George Collins told the team the only way to win would be to break a run on the ensuing kickoff. “With two seconds left there’s not a whole lot you can do,” he said. “We started lateraling the ball and it got knocked in the . .J r IK* . BRk 1 - Wr .1W ENI/Gary Harmon Houston County senior Tonia Williams signs a basketball scholarship with the University of South Carolina Thursday as her father Vem Williams and her mother Janice look on. Also looking on are Coach Maria Huelsman and Lady Bears Head Coach Sid Baxley. WILLIAMS From page iB school’s official website that she signed three other players from Georgia in the fall early period and should have one of the top recruit ing classes in the nation. “When she first stepped on the court I said she’s the best player we’ve ever had ¥ - ■* cold's letter, to the'address provided, and ■ '• Entries will be printed in the order of receipt. •Space is limited; Entry is FREE. Child’s Name: Age: City: (Non-printed material) Parent’s Name: Daytime Contact No.: Ca114#8;98,70823 for more information y goodwill 155030 end zone. Coffee recovered, and thus the 30-21 (final) score. “I think it’s a reflection of the coaching staff the job they’ve done and also the job of leadership and the attitude and charac ter of the football team. We were 1-8 and down 14 points at halftime and fought our way back in it. We had a chance to go over time where a lot of things can happen. “Obviously, to finish 1-9 is not by any stretch of the imagination any goal we had. We had close ball games and got better every week. I’m excited about the pros pects for next year and the players we have coming back.” Houston County certainly got better See BEARS, page jB here,” said Houston County High girls coach Sid Baxley, who has had players sign Division I from the Bears program. “She’s proved that many times, over and over. Hopefully this year’s going to be her best evpr, and then she can go on to college and have a great col lege career.” The coach added this was the kind of moment that Letters may be brought in, or mailed to: The Houston Home Journal ATTN: LETTERS JO SANTA P.O. BOX 1910, Perrv GA31069 HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL could inspire other mem bers of the team. “We have two other seniors, and if they do well maybe they’ll get an opportu nity to play someplace,” said Baxley. “We have juniors, sophomores and freshmen who were in here watching (Williams) sign and hopeful ly getting those aspirations that, ‘We want to do that in the future, too.’” Kids, send in your Letter to , Santa and we will publish as many t as possible on i Saturday, | December 15th in the paper.