Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
Local
Sports
SSAA meeting
Sharon Springs Athletic
Association will be conduct¬
ing its Annual General
Membership Meeting on May
18 at 6:30 p.m. at Life Point
Christian Church, located at
5000 McGinnis Ferry Road in
Alpharetta, Ga. One needs to
be a member in good standing
with SSAA or have at least
one child playing in any of
the softball or baseball
leagues within SSAA in order
to attend. Information about
the meeting can also be found
at www.ssaa-kids.com.
Norman’s
Landing
Charity Golf
Please join the United
Way of Forsyth County and
Norman’s Landing
Restaurant for the 12th
Annual Norman’s Landing
Charity Golf Classic on
May 19 at Polo Golf and
Country Club.
The competition
includes prizes for longest
drive, closest to the pin and
best putt, and Billy Howell
has donated a car for the
hole-in-one prize. There
will also be prizes for first,
second and third low gross
and low net.
Refreshments will be
offered on the course.
Lunch, catered by Bill
Norman, will be served
from 10:30 a.m. -11:45 a.m.
Dinner buffet and cocktails
will be served immediately
following the tournament.
Corporate sponsor:
$ 1 , 200 . Includes four
golfers, a sign at one tee
and one alternate green,
golf shirts, lunch/dinner
buffet and corporate recog¬
nition in the program. Hole
sponsor only: $300.
Includes a sign at one
tee and one alternate green.
Individual golfers: $225.
Includes lunch/dinner buffet
and a golf shirt.
For more information
call (770) 781-41 10, send
an e-mail to lindsay@unit
edwayforsyth.com or visit
online at www.unitedway
forsyth.com.
Johns Creek
football
conditioning
Prepare for your upcom¬
ing football season with this
special program geared
towards football players 9-16
years old. This program pro¬
vides monthly sessions May
August. For optimal condi¬
tioning, train all summer.
With 3-4 months of commit¬
ted conditioning, you will
receive optimal results.
Brandon Richey coaches this
program.
He is a certified Strength
and Conditioning Specialist
with a BS in Health and
Education. He was the for¬
mer strength and conditioning
coach at the University of
Georgia and also appeared in
the movie We are Marshall.
Choose from Tuesdays or
Fridays beginning May 6,
5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. Cost is
$75.00/month. Sessions help
at the Johns Creek Baptist
Church gym and field.
Contact Tracy Morris,
Activities Director, at tmor
ris@jcbc.org or at (678) 474-
4442.
Johns Creek
men’s basketball
Johns Creek Baptist
Church is now enrolling for a
Men's Basketball League.
Register by team. Choose
competitive or recreational
options. Games will be held
on Friday night or Saturday
morning in the gym at Johns
Creek Baptist Church. For
more information, please
contact Tracy Morris at tmor
ris@jcbc.org.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Wednesday, May 21, 2008
ASHWAY from IB
fewest hits of any staff in the league.
They’re better than their 22-2 I
record.
And the Braves make most of the
plays, too. Their 26 errors are the
fourth fewest in the league. Their .984
fielding percentage ranks fifth. Only in
total chances do the Braves trail the
majority, with the fourth fewest. But
that stat hasn’t hurt, since the Braves
have allowed the fewest hits.
How can those two stats occur
simultaneously? Madness.
The Braves hitters are a puzzle
unto themselves. They rank in the top
three in batting average, on base per¬
centage and hits. They’re fifth in slug¬
ging percentage and on base plus slug¬
ging percentage.
Of course, that translates into ninth
in runs scored. As reader Scott
Meriwether asked by email on Sunday,
VARSITY from IB
not JV ball now.”
Hepler said he thinks that
the prospect of a real region
slate this fall will serve as a
good motivator for his team.
“You always want to have
a goal to shoot for. ... Last
year we were just playing to
get the games under our
belt,” the coach said.
West will kick off the sea¬
son Aug. 29 in Coal
Mountain, taking on North
Forsyth before coming home
the following week to take
on Class AA Adairsville.
Hepler tried to play down
expectations of a big up-and
coming rivalry with the Class
AAAAA Raiders, noting that
the Wolverines are still the
new team in town.
“I think North will be a
big game,” Hepler said. “We
are going into that game like
any other, just trying to
improve and find out what
we have. Their kids have
been together longer and
have good chemistry and I
think they will have a good
team. We will do the best we
can that first week out.”
Moving into region play,
the Wolverines have home
dates with Class AAA new¬
comer Creekview, as well as
Gainesville, Johnson and
West Hall. West Forsyth will
be on the road against region
opponents Pickens, East
Hall, Flowery Branch and
Chestatee.
“For us, all the teams in
7-AAA will be tough,”
Hepler said. "I think each
game will be tough in the
region, again due to our
youth and lack of experience
with these teams.”
Hepler said he has been
scouting out region wrestling
baseball matches, track meets and
and basketball
games during the offseason
to get a look at some of the
athletes that will be lining up
opposite his team on the
gridiron.
The continuity that comes
from not graduating any sen¬
iors off last year’s team —
Big Brown arrives at Belmont
By Ed Mcnamara
(MCT)
ELMONT, N.Y. — The circus is in town,
and his name is Big Brown.
At 2:27 p.m. Monday, as dozens of still and
video cameras recorded the moment, groom
Herasmo Gonzales led America’s new cult
hero off a van on Belmont Park’s backstretch.
Besides the media, the colt’s entourage includ¬
ed jockey Kent Desormeaux, trainer Rick
Dutrow, exercise rider Michelle Nevin and co¬
owner Michael lavarone of Holbrook.
The Kentucky Derby / Preakness winner
made a fashionably late entrance on a cool,
rainy afternoon; his ETA was 2 o’clock after he
left Pimlico at 10 a.m. But there are three cer¬
tainties of life in New York: death, taxes and
delays on the Cross Bronx Expressway, where
Big Brown encountered far worse traffic prob¬
lems than he’ll ever have in a race. There were
also holdups on the George Washington Bridge.
“Mike Sellitto dropped the ball with the
police escort,” a smiling lavarone said, laying
the blame on Desormeaux’s agent, a former
New York City police officer.
As Big Brown cooled his heels on the
world’s ugliest highway, workmen applied a
badly needed coat of green paint and replaced
rotting wood at the front of trainer Bobby
Frankel’s Barn 2. Dutrow is based at nearby
Aqueduct, but he figured it made more sense to
keep Big Brown at the track where he’ll go for
the Triple Crown. So Frankel will play host
and Nevin will remain the colt’s constant com¬
panion. He’ll reside in the former stall of
Empire Maker, winner of the 2003 Belmont
\
“Wonder how come? Any ideas?”
Try the little things. Like situation¬
al hitting. This has been anathema to
the Braves for the last few years.
If a hitter strokes a lead-off double,
he might as well just sit down on the
base and relax, because odds are he's
not going anywhere. The Braves are
atrocious at moving runners over.
On Friday night, Tom Glavine
'failed to get a bunt down, which
wound up making for an exciting fin¬
ish. Meanwhile, A’s pitcher Dave
Eveland executed a perfect sacrifice in
the second inning, helping the A’s
score two runs. And Eveland hadn’t
even had a bat in his hands all season.
The worst offender remains Jeff
Francoeur. 1 know you don’t want to
curb his aggressiveness at the plate,
but you've got to infuse some thought
process into the equation.
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Photo/Jared Putnam
West Forsyth coach Frank Hepler, right, applauds the efforts of his players during a spring practice drill.
since the school didn’t have
any enrolled combined
with the familiarity of a year
playing together meant there
were few questions about
responsibilities when the
team came together for
spring practice this year.
“We still were not where
we need to be for the fall, but
... we’re probably in a better
situation than most, because
Stakes.
A day after he let strangers pet him in
Pimlico’s stakes barn, Big Brown showed no
edginess after the 4-hour trip. “He loves the
attention, he loves the clicking of the cameras,”
Dutrow said. “He loves people.”
lavarone marveled at the colt’s easygoing
demeanor. “I have never seen a horse like Big
Brown,” he said. “By the time I got back to the
barn after the Preakness, he was already at his
hay rack and playing with his red ball. He
knows how to take care of himself. He not only
outruns his opponents, he out-thinks them, too.”
Only Seattle Slew (1977) swept the 3-year
old classics while undefeated, but Big Brown
will be heavily favored to join him June 7 in
the Belmont. lavarone, a son of New York City
natives who was born and raised in Bethpage,
can’t wait.
“It’s what we thought about after the
Derby, to bring it back to Long Island with a
chance for the Triple Crown,” he said. “It’s
going to be an exciting three weeks.”
Correction
South Forsyth pitcher Chris
Rowley was not correctly identified as
a member of the 2008 7-AAAAA All
Region baseball first team in an article
on page 2C of the May 18 edition of
the Forsyth County News. It is the pol¬
icy of the Forsyth County News to cor¬
rect errors of fact.
Tuesday night provided a perfect
Francoeur moment. He strode to the
plate in the ninth inning in
Philadelphia with two on, two out and
the Braves trailing, 5-4.
Phillies closer Brad Lidge had" just
walked Greg Norton on four pitches.
Just as he had walked Mark Kotsay
earlier in the inning.
So, what does Golden Boy do? He
swings at the first two pitches, both of
which were so far outside that he
couldn’t have reached them with a
broomstick. Even if he lunges across
the plate to swing, he hits a weak
grounder to second.
Dug into an 0-2 hole, Francoeur
wound up lofting a weak pop to short
rightfield. Ball game.
The Braves also have a knack for
not making a key play in the field.
Until he became disabled, this was the
all our starters are back,”
Hepler said.
“Last year, the first five
or six days [of practice] was
just trying to learn names
and know who was who.
This year we were able to
come right in and start work¬
ing on offense and defense.”
One area Hepler has con
sistently pointed is the
team’s need to bulk up in the
KINARD from IB
to the Super Bowl under the
legendary coach and position
coach Bill Belichick.
“We have been really
blessed to have some great
coaches here,” athletic director
Chris Walls said. “Last year we
hired Jeff Vidd ... to direct our
girls varsity team.
“We've seen him do won¬
ders with our girls program in
a short amount of time even
taking them to the state tourna¬
ment last year. This year, we’re
extremely blessed again to
have such a talent available to
us for our football program.
We know Terry will provide
the direction and the founda-
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role of Martin Prado.
Recently, Kelly Johnson’s stepped
up as the prime offender. Not only is
Johnson the worst fielding second
baseman in the league, he generally
makes an egregious misplay at a cru¬
cial moment.
Saturday, Johnson had a chance to
hand Tim Hudson a two out, none on
situation in the second inning. Instead,
Johnson missed the tag on the
baserunner, and threw late to first.
Suitably unnerved, Hudson then
dished up a three-run home run to
Ryan Sweeney. The Braves lost, 5-4.
And that’s how little things become
losses that offset positive stats and
muddle the big picture.
When not practicing his avoca¬
tion, Denton Ashway practices his
vocation with the law firm of Ashway
and Haldi in Cumnting.
weightroom and hone physi¬
cal skills in general before
taking on other varsity
teams. He said that playing
other sports since last foot¬
ball season, like track and
field, has helped some play¬
ers develop strength and
speed.
With spring practice
behind them and no more on
field sessions permitted until
tion that we're looking for.”
As the school enters its
fifth year in August, the pro¬
gram will open as members of
the Independent Christian
Schools of Georgia &
Alabama (ICSGA), a confer¬
ence in which the school has
won region titles in both vol¬
leyball and basketball.
“We're all excited,” Walls
said. “We know there's a lot of
work ahead of us, but, as 1 said
before, more than anything,
we're all just excited that we'll
be cheering on Friday nights
this fall, and thrilled that Terry
will be leading this effort for
our kids.”
August, the Wolverines will
now spend the next few
months focused on bulking
up and hoping the effort pays
off in September.
“I think [the players are]
ready to go into the summer
and start lifting weights and
getting faster and stronger,”
Hepler said.
E-mail BJ Corbitt at
bjcorbitt@forsythnews.com.