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Baseball In
October
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How Sweet!
Baseball in October?
In Atlanta?
It all seems like a dream, but the
Atlanta Braves have captured the Na
tional League’s West Division title,
edging out the hated Los Angeles Dodg
ers by the slimmest one-game margin
Usually, by this time of year, Atlanta
fans have forgotten about baseball,hav
ing turned their attention to the Falcons
and, looking eastward to Athens, the
Georgia Bulldogs.. In the past, the end
of Atlanta’s interest in baseball has
coincided with the Fourth of July cele
bration with the Braves solidly en
trenched in the division’s lower tier of
also-rans.
But this has been like no other season
and Braves fans rode an emotional
rollercoaster for all 162 games. Ameri
ca’s Team, so-dubbed by the Braves’
irrepressible owner Ted Turner,
opened the season with a record-setting
13-game winning streak. Through July,
the Braves were the proud owners of
the best record in baseball, and by
August had opened a 10% game lead on
the Dodgers.
A four-game series against LA in
Atlanta was to spell the doom for the
Dodgers, and Braves fans were ready
to drive the final nail into the World
Champions’ coffin. But the Braves were
swept, and began a reeling slide that
saw Atlanta drop 19 of its next 21
games, including 11 straight.
Meanwhile, LA was busy winning 16
of 21, to assume the lead in the West.
But September brought the end of
Atlanta’s slump and the Braves
bounced back to take a slim lead over
the Dodgers, which they managed to
hold during the month’s first half. But
then the Houston Astros cast a strange
spell upon the Braves. Atlanta fell
victim to the Texans six times in nine
days and dropped three games behind
the Dodgers with only 10 games re
maining in the season.
Most fans wrote Atlanta off, assum
ing the Dodgers’ experience would pre
vail in the season’s final two weeks
while the Braves would surrender with
the familiar cry of “Wait ‘til next
year.” The season-ending battle, some
said, would be for second-place with the
surprising San Francisco Giants.
But once out of Houston, the Braves
regained consciousness, taking two of
three from San Diego, while Frisco was
sweeping three from the Dodgers.
Going into the final week, the three
teams were bunched together, with LA
holding a single game lead over the
other contenders.
Things were still grim for Atlanta,
however, as the Braves faced the unen
viable task of closing the season with a
seven-game West Coast swing.
Georgians got little sleep over the next
few days, staying up until the wee hours
of the morning to witness, and cherish,
the West Coast games. _
Atlanta swept two from the Giants
and then, in one of the most exciting
(and most important) games in Braves
history, took a 4-3, 12-inning win from
the Dodgers to assume command of the
division race with a two-game lead.
The race was still undecided, how
ever, going into the season’s final day.
The Braves could clinch the title with a
win over the Padres, while the Dodgers
could force a one-game playoff by fin
ishing a three-game sweep of the Gi
ants, IF the Braves lost.
The South turned its collective eyes
westward. Many fans, including yours
truly, hopeful of the first division
championship since 1969, set two TVs
Side-by-side, watching the Braves on
Ted’s Superstation and keeping up with
tjie LA-SF battle on ABC.
A tremendous groan rose from
Georgia when the Padres turned a 1-0
Graves lead into a 5-1 deficit in the fifth,
and again when the Braves loaded the
bases in the seventh with no one out, but
bailed to score.
By the ninth inning, a Braves loss
was seemingly assured and fans were
forced to turn their attention to the
OTHER game, praying for a giant
Giant win.
Joe Morgan came through for the
Graves, smacking a three-run homer in
Sie seventh to give Frisco the win and
Atlanta the pennant, while the Dodgers
were sent home to face an LA lynch
hiob for blowing the three-game lead.
Indeed, these are the Miracle Braves,
capping an unbelievable up-and-down
season with a division championship.
The Braves won’t return home until
after the first two games of their
championship series with the Cardinals
ih St. Louis on Wednesday and Thurs
day. But they’re sure to receive the
royal treatment when they roll back
into Atlanta Friday for the final game
(or games) of the series.
. And with a little luck, Braves fans
foay have a couple more celebrations in
store, if the Braves can complete the
fantasy with a championship series
victory and a World Series triumph.
Bulldog Offense Held In Check
By Newton Co. In 21-0 Shutout
By GREG LITTLE
Sports Writer
One yard usually is not considered a
great distance. After all, one yard is
only three feet one average step to
the normal person.
But the length of one yard on a key
third-quarter play must have seemed
like a mile to Forsyth County quar
terback Gary Cox and the rest of his
Bulldog teammates, who eventually
lost a 21-0 decision to the Newton
County Rams in Covington on Friday
night.
The Bulldogs trailed 6-0, but were
threatening to score after Gary Poss’
recovery of a Rams’ fumbled punt
return on the Newton 35.
Three offensive plays netted only five
yards and the Bulldogs faced a fourth
down situation needing five more yards
to maintain control of the ball.
On the decisive play, Cox dropped
back to pass, looking for an'open re
ceiver. Forced to scramble from the
pocket when the Rams closed in, Cox
managed to break outside and turn
upfield, his sights set on the first down
marker at the 25-yard line. Diving for
the needed yardage, Cox was met by a
Ram defender and knocked out of
bounds one yard shy of the 25.
The drive ended and fans could al
most hear the momentum shift back
toward Newton County.
On the sidelines, players and coaches
shook their heads in frustration over
the seemingly jinxed offense, which,
after averaging 20 points a game in its
first four outings, could managed only
four first downs and 95 total yards
against the Rams.
Each time the Bulldogs mounted a
scoring threat, a penalty, a sack or a
broken play kept the team out of the
end zone.
The defense played an outstanding
first half of football, but, apparently
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JEFF SWANGER (45), JAY MAHNKE (43) AND CLAY CHALFANT (12) CORRAL BALL CARRIER
...defense kept Forsyth County close through 2V2 quarters in the Bulldogs eventual 21-0 loss to Newton
Local Girls Win Three,
End Season At 16-3-1
By GREG LITTLE
Sports Writer
The Forsyth County Lady Bulldogs
won three and lost one in the regular
season’s final week to finish with a
region record of 8-2 (16-3-1 overall),
good enough for a first-place tie in
Region 8-AAAA with Parkview.
The Lady Bulldogs split a two-game
series with South Gwinnett, a team that
had handed Parkview its second loss of
the season the week before, and swept a
doubleheader from Cedar Shoals.
On Tuesday, Forsyth took the first
game from South Gwinnett by a score
of 8-1.
After falling behind by a 1-0 margin in
the first inning, the Lady Bulldogs took
the lead in the third by scoring three
runs. Staked to a lead, pitcher Fonda
Gravitt held South Gwinnett scoreless
the rest of the game, while the Lady
Bulldogs managed to scored five more
runs two in the fourth and three more
in the fifth.
Jennifer Tallant led the Lady Bull
dog batters, recording three hits one
a triple! in four at-bats and driving in
two. She also scored one of the eight
runs. Missy Freeman also went three
for-four for the game, scoring twice and
singling across another.
Nancy Beaver and Dawn Smallwood
each had two hits in the game, driving
in two and one runs, respectively.
In the second game of the afternoon,
disheartened by the offense’s inability
to put points on the scoreboard, allowed
the Rams to score 15 points after the
failed fourth down conversion.
The Bulldogs held the Rams’ offen
sive attack on the series following the
conversion attempt, forcing a punt
which gave the offense the ball on its
own 21. But Cox was sacked for a 19-
yard loss back to the two-yard line and
Kevin Fowler was forced to punt from
his own end zone.
The Rams took the ball on the For
syth 40 and moved in for its second
touchdown, scoring on a 12-yard run by
quarterback Chuck Allen with 2:32 left
in the quarter. A two-point conversion
attempt failed and the Rams assumed a
12-0 lead.
On its next possession, Newton
moved the ball 53 yards for another
touchdown, this one coming on a 45-
yard run by running back Tim Lewis.
The point-after kick was wide and the
Ram lead was 18-0 with 11:41 remaining
in the game.
At the 3:28 mark, Robert Collins
ended the game’s scoring with a 27-
yard field goal.
The Bulldogs mounted one last offen
sive drive to avoid being shutout and
apparently had moved the ball to the
Newton six on a pass from Cox to senior
receiver Clay Chalfant. But, in line with
the night’s script, officials flagged Cox
for being past the line of scrimmage
when he released the ball and the play
was called back, effectively ending the
threat.
Newton opened the game by taking
the kickoff and driving 57 yards to the
Forsyth 11. But lineback Jeff Swanger
tackled Lewis for a five-yard loss and
the Rams were forced to attempt a 25-
yard goal. The Bulldogs dodged an
early bullet as Collins’ kick was wide
right.
On their next offensive series.
the two teams exchanged runs in the
first inning and, after a scoreless sec
ond, the Lady Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in
the third.
But in the fifth inning, South Gwinnett
scored twice to go up by a 3-2 margin.
The Lady Bulldogs’ opponents in
creased the lead to 6-2 in the sixth
inning.
The Lady Bulldogs closed the margin
to 6-4 in the sixth inning, but could not
come any closer than that and Johnny
Tallant’s team fell back into a first
place tie with its second region loss.
Offensively, the Lady Bulldogs were
led by Stacy Bennett and Karen Wal
droop. Bennett had two singles and a
home run in four plate appearances,
scoring two runs and driving in an
other. Waldroop singled in each of four
at-bats, totaling one RBI and one run
scored.
Gravitt pitched in with a double in
three appearances, good for two RBIs,
and Freeman had another good game,
tallying three singles in four at-bats.
On Thursday, Cedar Shoals provided
little competition for the Lady Bulldogs
and went down in defeat twice, by
scores of 18-2 and 9-2.
The Lady Bulldogs scored in every
inning in the first game, running up the
required lead to end the game after five
innings.
After jumping on top by five runs in
the first inning, the Lady Bulldogs
however, the Rams scored on a 27-yard
run by Allen. Collins’ kick was wide left
and, with 3:07 remaining in the first
quarter, the Rams led 6-0.
At that point, the Bulldog defense
stiffened, limiting the Rams to 65 total
yards the rest of the half.
A single pass play late in the second
quarter accounted for 37 of those yards
yards and gave the Rams first-and-goal
at the eight. But, after three plays, the
Rams found themselves still needing
two yards for the touchdown. The Bull
dogs ended a tremendous goal line
stand when they stopped a fourth
down play at the one-yard line.
Stymied once again, the offense was
forced to punt out of the end zone,
giving the Rams one more chance to
score as they took over the ball on the
Forsyth 30. But Chalfant’s interception
saved the Bulldogs and sent the teams
to the locker room with the Rams
hanging on to their 6-0 lead.
“I felt that defensively, we played a
pretty good ball game. But we didn't
play well at all offensively,” said Bull
dog head coach Jim Cooper. “We just
couldn’t get anything going when we
needed to we had dropped passes,
untimely penalties and other break
downs that killed us.
“Against Cedar Shoals, we had a
pretty decent offense, but our defense
had a bad night. And against Newton,
our defense came through with a good
game, but our offense couldn’t do any
thing.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to put the
two together this week and get a win,”
the coach concluded.
After four consecutive games on the
road, the Bulldogs will return home to
the friendly confines of Forsyth County
Stadium this Friday with a 2-2-1 record.
Kickoff time for the game with the
South Gwinnett Comets (1-4) will be 8
p.m.
scored a single run in the second, five
runs in the third, three rims in the
fourth and four runs in the fifth. Cedar
Shoals was able to score only two runs
in the game, those coming in the fourth
inning after the game was already
decided.
A number of players wore heroes’
colors in the offensive assault, includ
ing Waldroop (two-for-four with four
RBIs), Bennett (two-for-four with three
RBIs and one run), Sheila Teems
(three-for-four with two RBIs and two
runs) and Beaver (two-for-three with
one RBI and three runs).
In addition, Smallwood had a hit in
one at-bat to drive in three runs.
In the second game, Tallant gave his
younger players a chance to play, giv
ing many of his starters a rest. Forsyth
fell behind 2-1 in the second inning, but
bounced back to score runs in the last
four innings on its way to the 9-2 vic
tory.
The Lady Bulldogs took the lead for
good in the fourth, when two runs gave
the home team a 3-2 lead. Forsyth
scored a single run in the fifth, three
runs in the sixth and two runs in the
seventh in route to the final score.
Sherrie Hicks led the Lady Bulldogs,
going three-for-four with one double
while driving in two and scoring one.
Kelli Payne and Valerie Martin also
had good games as each scored one run
and drove in another while going three
for-four and two-for-four, respectively.
THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1982-
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FULLBACK ANDY FOWLER RUNS THE BALL FOR THE BULLDOGS
...senior was named offensive back of the week for his efforts
Lady Bulldogs Seeded
2nd In Region Tourney
After compiling an overall record of
16-3-1, the Forsyth County Lady Bull
dogs head into the Region 8-AAAA
softball tournament as the second seed,
despite the fact that the local girls’
region record of 8-2 matched that of
Parkview.
Parkview earned the number one
seeding by winning a coin toss on Sun
day, thereby pushing the Lady Bulldogs
into the number two slot.
The Lady Bulldogs were set to open
play in the double-elimination tourna
ment on Tuesday, at 3:30 p.m. against
Cedar Shoals, a team they handily
defeated twice just last week. With a
win in that game, the Lady Bulldogs
would play the winner of the South
Gwinnett and Johnson game at 5:30
p.m.
South Gwinnett goes into the tourna
ment as the third seed, the only team to
defeat both Parkview and Forsyth dur
ing regular season play.
A win in their second game would
mean the local girls would advance to
the tournament semi-finals on Wednes
day at 4:30 p.m. A loss in that second
game would send the Lady Bulldogs
into the losers bracket, meaning an
other game for the team on Tuesday.
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NANCY BEAVER ROUNDS THIRD AND HEADS TOWARD HOME
...Beaver leads the Lady Bulldogs in runs scored with 20
When asked what it would take to win
the tournament, Forsyth coach Johnny
Tallant said, “Two wins over Park
view. That’s all.”
The coach grinned for a moment at
his oversimplification of the matter,
then said, “If we don’t make a lot of
mistakes defensively, I think we can
win the tournament. We’re playing well
right now, and I think we can take it.
“We’ve just got to want it more than
Parkview. But we can’t just set our
sights on Parkview we have to be
ready and play a good game against
Cedar Shoals and then against South
Gwinnett before we get to them.
“But if we play the way we can, I
think it’s going to come down between
us and them.”
The winner of the tournament will
advance to a sectional playoff series
with the champion of Region 6-AAAA.
The best two-of-three series will be
played next week. The winner of that
series will proceed to the state tourna
ment to be held at A 1 Bishop Park in
Marietta beginning Oct. 21.
Last year, the Lady Bulldogs breezed
through the regular season undefeated,
but fell to Parkview in the tournament,
Continued on Page 3B
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