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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday, January 14,1999
PAGE 18C
Three state team titles for Forsyth preps!!
It’s “One more time”
for Lady Raiders, Orr
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
As if to finally shuck any com
parisons between themselves and
their Class A state champ prede
cessors, the North Forsyth softball
team lost the first game of the AA
state finals Friday afternoon.
No disrespect towards last year’s
super squad; it’s just that now
these Lady Raiders were ready to
write their special chapter of his
tory and when Saturday dawned a
deadly fire - tempered with the
patience required for a six-game
marathon - burned within and the
1998 Lady Raiders entered a zone
all their own.
By dusk, head coach Byron
Orr’s team had vanquished four
opponents and only two games
with unbeaten (30-0) Appling
County stood between them and
the title. With momentum that had
snowballed into an avalanche,
they were not about to be denied.
About three hours later, the Lady
Raiders and their vociferous fans
were creating a pile-on that would
have made the ‘95 Atlanta Braves
proud. Having blistered Appling
4-3 and 12-4, they had made their
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Photo/Stephen Underwood
We did it!
South’s Lauren Hodges (left) gets a congratulatory hug after the
Lady Eagles’ championship.
North, Orr get redemption in baseball
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
When the ball rang off the bat of
.Cliff Young into deep right field,
and Bo Counts screamed around
third base and slid across home
plate, the North Forsyth baseball
team had experienced the most
special kind of redemption
Thursday evening at Bowdon
High School.
They had done in just under
seven hours this year what they
couldn’t quite accomplish over
three long days last year in Ocilla.
With two more trademark come
from-behind victories, the Raiders
had won the Class A state base
ball championship.
Counts’ glorious run with two
outs in the bottom of the ninth
inning of game two had broken
his team's deadlock with the Red
Devils, giving them a 7-6 triumph
- and inspiring the biggest cele
bration pileup since the Atlanta
Braves took it all in ‘95.
North had already outlasted
Bowdon in game one, 11-9,
beginning what became a sweep
of the best-of-three series.
“When Cliff hit the ball, I
though it was going to be close (at
home plate),” said head coach
Byron Orr, who has now accom
plished the extremely rare feat of
delivering two state championship
teams in one year. “But when the
own unique mark in the softball
annuls of their school and county
- while also completing a come
back of nearly unprecedented pro
portions.
“We told them to just take it one
game at a time,” said assistant
coach Mike Martin. “And they did
exactly what we asked them to do,
each game.”
Having survived brief losing
blips on their victorious radar
screen in both the region and state
tourneys (leading to extra games),
the Lady Raiders wound up tying
the school win mark with 28 (28-5
record) and now have an incredi
ble two-year record of 56-7.
But this season, even Saturday
itself, stood on its own. While the
offense was solid by this team’s
lofty standards - between 11-15
runs in three of the games, but six
or less in the others - the defense
and pitching were simply spectac
ular.
North gave up four or less runs
in their final five games, combin
ing Cortney Edwards’ hurling
with an amazing array of plays in
the field that had fans cheering
wildly - when they weren’t shak
ing their heads in disbelief.
outfielder threw to the cutoff, I
knew we had it.”
“You always dream of chances
to win a game, especially in the
ninth inning,” said Young, who
got the game one victory on the
mound. “Coach Orr has made us
believe these last two years.”
But Young and Counts were but
two of many heroes for the
Raiders, who got incredible con
tributions from literally everyone.
At the plate, it was the home runs
from Nathan Peck and Kevin
Phillips, the clutch RBI hits from
Jimmy Graham and Matt Schelter,
and the amazing day-long clutch
performance of Andy Coleman -
who reached base seven of eight
at-bats - among others.
“This is the best feeling in the
world,” said the senior second
baseman.
On the mound, it was starters
Young and sophomore Michael
Long, as well as the gritty relief
work by Dustin Hammond that
sustained the Raiders. They gave
up a combined five home runs
over the Red Devils’ short fences,
but never a back-breaking rally.
And don’t forget sophomore
Kyle Counts, the backstop who
caught those hurlers all day and
made it look like the team will
have plenty of leadership in the
future.
“This was a total team win,” said
his brother 80, whose emotion
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Photo/Stephen Underwood
Number One!
The fingers go up in the air after the Lady Raiders come out of the championship pile-on.
“We wanted to prove this team
was just as good,” said junior
Lauren Gaines, whose modest
size and demeanor belie her enor
mous stature in the outfield. “Like
everyone else, I just gave every
thing I had today.”
“Last night, we really didn’t play
ball,” said hard-hitting Crystal
Carlyle. “But we saw the other
teams and we thought we were as
good as anybody. Today, we just
Lady Eagle cheerleaders repeat in Class AA
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
The capturing of a state champi
onship couldn’t have come in a
more stunning fashion than it did
in the Class AA cheerleading
competition in Macon Saturday.
For the 2nd straight year, South
Forsyth soared to the top of the
16-team field. But in ‘97, the
Lady Eagles had bounded off the
floor after their 2-1/2-minute
show with strong confidence ...
And those who differed with the
result were few, if any.
As the results were being com
piled this time, nearly everyone in
the Convention Center seemed to
be thinking that a pyramid stunt
that didn’t take by South had
opened the door to usher in a new
champ. The defending titlists
themselves had been full of sor
row in the time since their perfor
mance ...
But the fifth-to-first countdown
that proceeded rocked the center.
Championship suitors Johnson
(3rd) and Dacula (2nd) ... found
themselves in unexpected posi
tions. With only first-place left to
be announced, the Lady Eagles
and the Lady Bulldogs of Forsyth
spoke for everyone. “The team
this year has been more than any
one expected.”
Game two
After the two teams pounded
each other in game one, the night
cap settled down to a pitcher’s
duel at first, with Long holding
Bowdon to just one controversial
run (a runner at third scoring sup
posedly before a runner coming
from second was forced for the
third out) in the first three frames.
But Evan Hochstetler was shut
ting out the Raiders and had a 2-0
lead into the bottom of the fourth.
It was the last time Bowdon
would really have control of the
game. Hammond worked the Red
Devil junior for one walk and, two
outs later, Phillips worked him for
another. Then Graham produced
his clutch RBI single to put North
on the board.
Peck followed by drawing
another pass, then Coleman shift
ed all the momentum by smacking
the Raiders to a 3-2 edge with a
two-run single.
The hosts did manage to retake
the lead in the top of the fifth,
with big pitcher Mark Huggins
slamming his second two-run
homer of the afternoon, but the
fact that they were hanging on
their last thread of hope was man
ifest the next inning. After Bo
drew a walk to start the North
played it one game at a time.”
North 12, Appling 4
After a tight battle in their open
er vs. Appling, North left little
doubt how the finale would go.
The tidal wave of positive energy
the team had generated all but
ensured they would do whatever it
took to win - and with leads of 6-
1 in the third inning and 10-2 in
the fourth, it quickly became
Central each held their breath to
find out which one (if either)
would be champ and which one
(if not both) would be left out.
The announcement came and the
Lady Eagles leapt from their cir
cle in shocked ecstasy. The cele
bration began - and the constema
tion and the examination by
Central and the others began.
“I’m just shocked!” said South
head coach Stacey McDaniel,
who was indeed clearly thrilled
and shaken to her core. “The diffi
culty paid off ... we were the
strongest squad!”
Much of the revelation about
how the Lady Eagles did it came
when McDaniel ... had a chance
to see the score sheets - and how
they scored 439 points.
Firstly, the scoring for pyramids
under the fundamentals category
constitutes just five points out of
the 100 ... Since the mishap was
not severe enough to be a deduc
tion per se, the loss in points was
just 2-4 per sheet.
Secondly, the Lady Eagles came
through big-time in nearly every
other area - especially those they
had been weak in. “The last two
weeks, we’ve been working on
really smiling and showing spirit,”
fifth, Bowdon sent Huggins - who
had throw 143 pitches in game
one - back to the mound.
A critical error at short on a
Hammond bouncer put two on
and Young sacrificed them each
up a base. Kyle Counts then tied it
up with a single and Phillips gave
the visitors a 5-4 lead with a sac
fly.
Hammond came on for his sec
ond relief stint of the day and
things almost got scary with three
straight walks. But the big senior
got it together and got out with
just a single run allowed.
Peck then sent everyone into
delirium with his first career
homer to start the bottom of the
sixth to make it 6-5, leaping into
the arms of his teammates when
he hit home. But Bowdon refused
to die...
North couldn’t score in their sev
enth - thanks in part to a diving
foul-fly snag by Bowdon right
fielder Jason Phillips - and an
already very long day of baseball
went into extra innings.
In both the eighth and ninth,
Bowdon got runners into scoring
position - but the Raiders held
them off...
Then Hochstetler made second
after his infield hit and a one-out
walk to Knowles. Hammond,
however, turned a nice force play
at third and got Cody Walker to
bounce to first to close that rally.
apparent that they would.
The Lady Raiders pounced on
the Lady Pirates for three runs in
the top of the first, as Jessica
Bagley, Carlyle and Lauren
Gaines opened the game with
consecutive singles. An out later,
hits by Sarah Riley and Lori
Gravitt made it 3-0.
After a solo homer got Appling
on the board. North began the sec
ond inning the same way they had
said McDaniel. “We kept getting
3s and 4s, but this time we got 5s
in showmanship and spirit.”
And speaking of spirit, what a
difference in the “before and
after” category for the 16 Lady
Eagles. They had gone from the
lowest of lows, minutes earlier, to
the highest of highs ...
“We all kind of cried; for all the
emotions of the day, the week and
the year,” said South senior Sarah
Hash of the aftermath of the rou
tine. “We were just hoping and
praying.”
Sitting in the circle, she added,
the thought was there that they
were below the top two. “We
thought we were out, that Central
and someone else would beat us.”
Indeed. McDaniel and her team
was almost inconsolable after
their routine - though in the opin
ion of many, it was an otherwise
spectacular performance.
Shortly before the results were
announced, the coach spoke of
why the pyramid didn’t go up.
and the combination of inexperi
ence of her relatively young team
and the high difficulty ... “We
walked in here expecting to do the
same (as they had in their other
wins), but the state championship
(Xi i I HTri
Photo/submittOd
Brothers and champs
Bo (Class A Player of the Year) and Kyle Counts celebrate.
Phillips singled to start the
North eighth, then moved up on a
great sac bunt by Jason Silvers
and a wild pitch. Coleman’s
screaming liner to right, though,
was hauled in by Phillips.
Finally, with one down in the
ninth, Bo began the final rally by
drawing his fourth walk of the
day. With two outs, he made sec
ond on a wild pitch as teammate
Young battled at the plate.
Then a couple pitches later, it
was all over.
the first. This time it was Latten
Honea, Teeka Pass and Cassi
Bennett who had the string of hits
from the bottom of the order: ‘ -
Bagley soon hit a sac fly sfnd
Carlyle another single to increase
the gap to 5-1. In the third, the
margin grew another run'when
Riley singled and Honea later hit
another sac fly. ' '•
Meanwhile, the Lady Ra-i’der
defense was showing its stu’ff.
Bagley hauled down a lortg'fly
and the Pass sisters and Gravitt
teamed up on a double play tb arid
the inning. The middle of the
infield combined on two fi-ne
fielder’s choice plays in the sec
ond. ; ‘
Later, in the fifth, Gaines iyould
have one of several spectacular
catches she would make on the
day.
But it was the fourth that basi
cally started the victory party,.-'-
Bennett doubled and made third
on an error, then scored bn
Courtney Edwards’ single. Bagley
got another hit, then Carlyle
reached on a critical error. ■_’?
Gaines then slammed a two-run
single that increased North’s’lead
to eight runs. , -
North’s final two runs score'd’on
a sac fly by Cassi Bennett to spore
Lauren Honea in the fifth,;and a
single by Gravitt to plate Carlyle
in the sixth.
Excerpted from story published
October 21, 1998 •
puts nerves on you that sorti£<df
these girls have never had before>”
“Everything else was great; *we
recovered well,” she added'."'.‘For
trying to take it back up we’it~get
credit, but for not having -got it
back up, we’ll lose points. . • • •
“They have nothing tb he
ashamed of.” ’V'L
Minutes later, they learned’they
were champions. And they began
to realize those 150 seconds’ifn
the floor must have had a lot more
good than bad. •
“It’s unbelievable,” said senior
Lauren Hodges. The difference,
she noted, was that the team “fust
didn’t give up” and that she-'also
had a belief that they would -Still
come through. “I honestly did?’ .
Monday, as the celebration 1 Os
the back-to-back titles continued,
McDaniel (said) ... that perhaps
the judges’ positive evaluation
had also to do with the fact Jhat
her team “attempted to retake the
stunt ... then hit another and
nailedit.”
The Lady Eagles nailed it all
right. They nailed a second start*
championship. .
Excerpted from story published
March 4,1998 < ;•
If Counts has been limited* in hijs
extra-base boomers, he’s found a
way to get on base - seven timejs
in nine at-bats Thursday. “When
they're not throwing to
work with the pitches they give
you,” he said. "But it helps the
team.”
So that’s what 80, and everyone
else, did. And a state title wjjs the
result. ' .
* * - *•
Excerpted from story published
May 24,1998 '
t