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Lady Bulldogs Win 7, Lose 2 in Busy Week
Parkview Hands
Girls First Loss
By GREG LITTLE
Sports Writer
The Forsyth County Lady Bulldogs
pushed their regular season record to 7-
1 by splitting a doubleheader with 1981
region champ Parkview on Tuesday,
Sept. 14, and sweeping a pair from
Johnson-Gainesville on Thursday.
Forsyth’s Jennifer Tallant was the
hero of the first game against Park
view, slugging a pinch-hit, two-run
homer in the top of the seventh to give
the Lady Bulldogs a 2-1 come-from
behind victory.
Parkview had broken a scoreless tie
ill the bottom of the fourth by scoring a
run on a double and an error. Despite
an offensive attack that tallied 12 hits
for the game, the Lady Bulldogs could
not put the hits together for any runs
until Tallant’s heroics in the seventh.
Fonda Gravitt slapped a one-out pitch
for a single and was on first when
Tallant stepped in to bat for Brenda
Nix. She powered the ball over the
fence to provide the slim margin of
victory, thereby handing Parkview its
first defeat of the year.
In the second game, the Lady Bull
dogs were not quite as fortunate as
Parkview avenged the opening game
loss with a 7-4 victory.
Parkview jumped to a 2-0 lead in the
first inning, but Forsyth bounced back
to tie the score in the second on a single
by Missy Freeman and doubles by
Nancy Beaver and Gravitt.
Parkview scored twice more in the
bottom of the second, taking a lead that
it never relinquished. Page Cash sin
gled to lead off the third for the Lady
Bulldogs and came around to score on
Falcons Go On Strike Two Days Early ,
Suffer Embarrassing Loss To Raiders
I had the great misfortune to be
offered a ticket to the Atlanta Falcons
game against the newly-dubbed Los
Angeles Raiders last Sunday, and like
the sucker I am, I accepted and was
witness to one of the poorest excuses
ever for a professional performance by
an Atlanta sports team.
While the rest of the league had
scheduled Tuesday for its player walk
out, the Falcons obviously decided to
get a jump on everybody else and begin
their own strike Sunday afternoon. The
way they played, they may as well have
been on strike.
The only twoJiighlights of the muggy,
hot afternoon were the appearance of
Falcon cheerleaders prior to the
game’s kickoff, and the disappearance
of the Falcons into the locker room
after the fiasco was over.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say that
Raider owner A 1 Davis had kidnapped
the real Falcons and had substituted
some of his own players for Sunday’s
game. That would explain the fact the
the Raiders’ MVP’s for the game all
wore Red and White jerseys. Unfortu
nately, those were the real Falcons out
there on the field.
In Region Opener
Bulldogs Face Cedar Shoals
By GREG LITTLE
Sports Writer
After an open date last week, the
Forsyth County Bulldogs will return to
action this Friday when they travel to
Athens to face seventh-ranked Cedar
Shoals in the region opener for both
teams.
The Bulldogs begin their seven-game
region schedule after posting lopsided
wins over Lumpkin County and North
Hall, and tying Cherokee, a team that
shut out highly-regarded Marietta last
Friday.
Cedar Shoals will bring a 2-1 record
into the game* having posted victories
over formerly top-ranked Warner Ro
bins and Jonesboro after a season-open
ing upset loss to Forest Park.
“I’m real eAited about heading into
our region schedule,” said Bulldog
head coach Jim Cooper last week. “I’m
looking foward to it. This is where we’ll
find out how good we really are.
“We’ll be facing bigger and better
people in the region than we’ve faced up
‘til now, and, despite the rankings, I
think we’ll be facing the region’s best
team on Friday. I rate them ahead of
Clarke Central, and so does the Warner
Robins coach, who’s lost to both of
them,” Cooper said. Clarke Central is
currently the state’s number two
ranked team in AAAA.
Cooper said that both the players and
the coaches will have to be at their best
on Friday night for the Bulldogs to
defeat the Jaguars. “If we can stay
close early, I think we’ll give them their
money’s worth. The important thing is
for our players not to psych themselves
(Hit about playing a ranked team.”
In their three non-region games, the
Bulldogs have averaged almost 250
yards of total offense while scoring an
singles by Stacy Bennett and Teresa
Keys to close the deficit to one. But
while Parkview scored a single run in
the third and two more in the fourth,
Forsyth could manage only one more
run in the sixth to make the final 7-4.
Freeman went two-for-three with two
runs scored in the second game, while
Gravitt also hit safely twice in three at
bats.
On Thursday, the Lady Bulldogs de
molished Johnson, outscoring the Gai
nesville-based team 34-7 in the two
games.
Keys powered the Lady Bulldogs past
Johnson in the first game by slamming
two home runs and driving in seven
runs in route to a 16-6 victory. Her first
homer highlighted a four-run first inn
ing by the Lady Bulldogs.
Johnson closed the margin to 4-3 in
the bottom of the inning, but the Lady
Bulldogs sent nine batters to the plate
in the second and scored five more runs
to take a 9-3 lead.
Keys’ second home run capped an
other five-run explosion in the fourth
that saw the Lady Bulldogs open a 14-3
lead. Johnson outscored Forsyth 3-2
from that point on to account for the
final score.
Aside from Keys’ heroics, Bennett
went four-for-four in the game, scoring
three runs and driving in two more.
Karen Waldroop went one-for-four, but
drove in two and scored two, while Cash
went two-for-three, scoring twice and
driving in one. Lisa Bennett scored
once and knocked in two while going
one-for-three.
The Lady Bulldogs scored quickly
and often in the second game to record
u
It seems that officials need to require
all Atlanta opponents to wear lead-lined
shoes. That way, the Falcon secondary
might have a fighting chance of staying
up with the enemy receivers and backs.
Quarterback Jim Plunkett passed for
more than 230 yards and would have
had even more if his arm had not given
out from completing so many long
passes deep into Atlanta territory.
But maybe the defense wasn’t all to
blame. They were probably just tired
from being on the field all afternoon
long, the result of a record-setting per
formance by the offense. Surely, the
Falcons set a new mark for finding
average of 23 points. Junior quar
terback Gary Cox has completed 57.5
percent of his passes for 377 yards and
five touchdowns in guiding the Bulldog
offense. .
Senior running back Chuck Tate is
leading the team in combined rushing
and receiving yardage, averaging al
most 94 yards per game. Sophomore
running back Alex Holbrook is the
team’s rushing leader, grinding out
more than seven yards every time he
carries the ball.
Meanwhile, the Bulldog defense has
held its opponents to an average of only
150 yards a game and has allowed each
of its opponents only one score. The
Bulldogs have forced 11 turnovers in
the first three games, consistently give
ing the offense good field position to
work from.
“I’m real happy the non-region
games have gone the way they have'
These games have given us a chance to
evaluate what we considered to be our
question marks going into the season,”
Cooper said, naming the offensive line
and the offense’s scoring potential as
the two major areas of concern.
“Overall, I’d say we’re ahead of
where I expected us to be at this stage
of the season. I’m pleased with the way
we’ve improved in the three games. If
we can continue to improve in future
games, I think we’ll be a team to
contend with in the region.”
Cooper went on to say that the de
fense has played well, as expected. “I
said earlier that I felt the defense would
be our strong suit and it certainly has so
far. They’ve forced a lot of turnovers
and our offense has been able to capital
ize on the good field position the defense
has given them.”
Asked if his team has a shot at one of
9
MISSY FREEMAN DRIVES A PITCH INTO LEFT FOR A HIT
...senior led team with seven RBIs in Butler tournament
an 18-1 victory. Forsyth hit Johnson
with two runs in the first, ten runs in the
second and six runs in the fourth, while
shutting out Johnson until the fifth
inning, after the Lady Bulldogs already
had the game well in hand.
Nix led the way for the Lady Bull
dogs, pushing four runs in going three
for-three with a double and a triple. The
second baseman also scored two runs.
more ways than ever thought possible
to turn the ball over to the opponent.
Fumbles (one returned for a touch
down). Interceptions (one with the Fal
cons only a foot away from paydirt).
Failed fourth down conversions (two).
Roughing the punter (twice).
And when the offense didn’t turn the
ball over, S’sky (I can’t even pronounce
it, so I won’t even try to spell it)
managed to shank a punt to give the
Raiders good field position.
Bart did indeed set several passing
records for the Birds. His 34 comple
tions and 56 attempts were both new
marks, and he probably would have
increased those totals if lie had lined up
behind the center instead of the guard
more often.
On the other hand, maybe he wouldn’t
have. The way the offensive line was
pass blocking, Bart might have been
better off taking the snap from the
guard. Maybe it would have taken the
Raiders a little bit longer to find him
once they made it into Atlanta’s back
field, which they were doing with great
regularity.
the four region playoff berths, Cooper
said, “Sure, I think we’ve got a shot at
it. I’m like any coach if I didn’t think
we could win, then I wouldn’t bother to
play the games.
“But this team does feel it can win
and I have confidence that it can. If we
can keep our good attitude and stay
away from injuries, I think we can
finish as one of the region’s top four
teams and grab a playoff spot.”
That test for the Bulldogs will begin
Friday night in Athens against Cedar
Shoals. Coach Cooper is hoping for a
large Forsyth County turnout for the
game, which will be played at Clarke
Central’s Death Valley Stadium. (Di
rections to the game can be found under
Scoreboard on Page 28.)
Advance tickets for the game can be
purchased in the main office of Forsyth
County High School and cost $4 for
adults and $3 for students. Persons
planning on attending the game should
go ahead and purchase tickets to avoid
standing in expected long lines the
night of the game, according to Rick
Case, the high school athletic director.
Bennett Park Hosts
Softball Tourney
Bennett Park officials have an
nounced that Bennett Park will the site
of a men’s softball tournament set for
Oct. 1-3.
First, second and third-place team
trophies will be awarded along with
first-place individual trophies and a
most valuable player trophy.
An entry fee of $65 will be charged to
each team.
For more information, contact Vicky
Wiggins at 887-5701.
Waldroop had two hits in two at-bats,
scoring two and driving in one. Free
man and Tallant had identical stats,
both going two-for-three at the plate
and driving in two and scoring three.
The Lady Bulldogs will attempt to
raise their record to 8-1 against Berk
mar on Thursday. The doubleheader
will be played at Cumming City Park
and will begin at 4 p.m.
The Falcon players weren’t the only
ones to come away from the stadium
red-faced. So did some 54,000 poor souls
who paid good money to sit in the July
like weather to watch the debacle.
Some left red-faced because of the
three-hour exposure to the sun
and heat. Others left red-faced simply
because they were embarrassed to
have believe that this year’s edition of
the Falcons was truly a Super Bowl
contender.
For the most part, the fans were
quiet. The silence was broken occasion
ally by a smattering of boos and cat
calls, or the sound of hundreds of feet
shuffling from their seats and out of the
stadium.
At one point, however, the fans did
find the energy to rise as one and
express their sentiments about their
beloved Falcons. The cheer was a re
sounding, “Go on strike! Go on strike!
Go on strike!”
The message was loud and clear.
Unfortunately, the players had already
taken the fans up on their suggestion.
The Falcons’ strike began sometime
before the game’s kickoff.
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PHILIP ROBERTS (66) PUTS CLAMPS ON BACK AS MIKE SLATON RUSHES TO ASSIST
...Bulldog defense has limited opponents to an average of 150 yards per game
THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1982-
Team Places 2nd
In Butler Tourney
By GREG LITTLE
Sports Writer
The Forsyth County Lady Bulldogs
were rained out of a chance to win the
championship of the prestigious Butler
High Invitational Softball Tournament
in Augusta this past weekend and had to
settle for the tourney’s second-place
trophy.
The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the
championship round of the tournament
by winning the losers brackett of the
eight-team tournament. In the final
round, the Lady Bulldogs were slated to
face Butler the defending state AAAA
champions and the team that had
handed Forsyth its only loss of the
double-elimination tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs led Butler through
four ’ 1-0. But rain halted play of
the tournament at that point and pre
vented the game from being finished.
Under tournament rules, rain forced
officials to change from a double-elimi
nation format to a single-elimination
format.
Since the Lady Bulldogs already had
one loss in the tournament at that point,
Butler was crowned champions while
Forsyth received the second-place tro
phy.
“We knew the rules going into the
tournament, so we’re not really mad
about what happened. We are disap
pointed though, because we really felt
that we could take two games from
Butler and take the title. The rain just
didn’t let that happen, though,” said
Johnny Tallant, Lady Bulldog coach.
In route to making the
championship round, Forsyth defeated
powerhouses such as Evans, the only
team to defeat Butler last year, and
Northeast Macon, the AAAA state run
ner-up in 1981.
Forsyth opened the tournament by
soundly defeating Evans 7-1 on Satur
day morning. First-inning triples by
Lisa Bennett, Stacy Bennett and Karen
Waldroop, and a single by Teresa Keys,
accounted for three runs.
Another triple by S. Bennett in the
third, followed by a sacrifice fly by
Missy Freeman, pushed the Lady Bull
dog lead to 4-0. Evans broke through for
its only run in the fifth inning to close
the margin to 4-1.
But a leadoff double by Keys led to a
single run in the sixth for Forsyth and
singles by L. Bennett and Page Cash
were followed by a Freeman triple in
the seventh, ending the scoring with
two more runs.
Forsyth took a 2-0 lead over defend
ing state champ Butler in the first
inning on hits by Cash, S. Bennett and
Keys.
But Butler tallied five hits of its own
in the sixth to score five runs, and
scored two more in the seventh while
holding Forsyth scoreless the rest of the
way.
The loss forced the Lady Bulldogs
into the tournament’s losers brackett,
where they faced the unenviable task of
having to win three consecutive games
to make the championship round.
The Lady Bulldogs began their quest
with a shutout ot Hepzibah. Nancy
Beaver scored the game’s first run in
the fifth inning. After singling, Beaver
came around to score on singles by
pinch-hitter Jennifer Tallant and L.
Bennett, breaking the scoreless dead
lock.
The Lady Bulldogs put together a
four-hit seventh inning on singles by
Nix, Tallant, Cash, and S. Bennett to
score three more runs to make the final
score 4-0. Hepzibah was limited to only
two hits in the game as Gravitt re
corded her ninth win of the season.
Forsyth unleashed a 17-hit attack in
the next game and scored all 15 of its
runs in the first two innings to bury
Josey early.
Five consecutive hits by Brenda Nix,
Dawn Smallwood (triple), L. Bennett,
Cash and S. Bennett (triple) accounted
for five runs and allowed the Lady
Bulldogs to overcome a 6-2 deficit in the
fifth and take a 7-6 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs sent 15 batters to
the plate in the first inning on its way to
an early 10-0 lead. At one point, 11
consecutive batters recorded against
the Josey pitcher.
Forsyth continued its onslaught in the
second inning, sending another nine
batters to the plate and scoring five
more runs on seven hits. Josey man
aged a run in the second inning, but
could manage no more than that and
forfeited the game after its bat in the
third inning.
The Lady Bulldogs’ opponent in their
third afternoon game was Northeast
Macon, 1981’s state runner-up. But the
Forsyth players were anything but
awed by their opponents’ accomplish
ments and continued its vicious hitting
attack by romping to a 12-2 win, a
victory that earned the Lady Bulldogs a
spot in the championship against But
ler.
Northeast Macon scored the game’s
first run in the first, quickly taking a 1-0
lead. But the Lady Bulldogs batted
around in the second and scored seven
runs to take a lead they would not
relinquish.
Keys led the inning off with a single
and walks to Waldroop and Gravitt
loaded the bases. A third walk to Bea
ver force in Keys to tie the game and
Nix doubled to clear the bases. L.
Bennett singled in Nix and then scored
on Cash’s two-run homer that ended the
inning’s scoring.
The Lady Bulldogs scored four more
in the third on hits by Valerie Martin,
Gravitt, Beaver, Smallwood, L. Ben
nett and Cash. Freeman singled and
scored in the fourth to account for the
last of Forsyth’s 12 runs. Northeast
Macon managed only a single run in the
seventh the rest of the way in going
down in defeat.
L. Bennett led the Lady Bulldogs
offensively in the tournament, batting
a torrid .550, scoring in seven runs and
driving in five.
Beaver finished with a .600 batting
average, driving in six runs and scoring
five. Freeman led the team in runs
batted in with seven and scored eight
while batting .471.
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