Newspaper Page Text
<B |
FROM 1B
South: Takes 2nd
look over the program in
1 w Ihe W ar l ogics fin¬
ished fifth last season.
three spots behind state
runner-up Johns Creek
and four behind state
s' h a m p i o n G1 y n n
Academy South lias
never fmislx-d worse than
sixth under Loveless.
"Just like last season,
we've really started to
play well over our last
three tournaments or so,"
Loveless said. "We keep
getting better and better.
FROM 1B
West: Hires two
Viera, Fla., where he started the program In just three
seasons hi- led the team to a state playoff berth, and in
his last two seasons at Viera the team went 20-8 and
20-5. Prior to Viera. Cook was the head coach for four
years at Satellite High School in Satellite, Fla He won
district coach of the year awards at both stops — 2005
at Satellite and 2010 at Viera.
May has been at Liberty Union High School in
Baltimore, Ohio, near Columbus, since 2003, w hen In¬
stalled as tlx- head girls golf coach and junior varsity
boys basketball coach. He became the varsity boys
basketball coach three seasons later and then took over
the girls program in 2008 Last season. Liberty
Union’s girls won their first league championship
since 1999 as May guided them to a 20-3 record, en
route to w inning league and county coach of the year
* honors
Phipps said West was "blown away" by the resumes
of both C'txik and May, and was even more impressed
after meeting them.
“We opened up our search because we really want¬
ed to attract high-quality candidates,” Phipps said,
“We had a lot of applications and were really
impressed [by Cook’s and May’s). We were excited
* about their and then when interviewed
resumes we
them, they were both even more impressive. We think
they are a gixxJ fit for West Forsyth and for Forsyth
County.”
Both Cook and May said that moving their fami¬
lies to Forsyth County was definitely something that
made the jobs attractive to them May and his wife
have a daughter in eighth grade and a son in seventh,
while Cook and his wife have two sons, ages 9 and
. 7. Both families are looking to establish roots in the
community
"We built a really good program (at Liberty Union],
hot my wife and l had always thought about moving
south to a better climate." said May. a lifelong Ohio
resident "When we researched the school and the
community, it seemed like it would be a special
opportunity for us. Then wc came down and spent a
long weekend, and more and more we felt like West
Forsy th and Forsy th County had every thing we were
looking for. It all just came together "
In fact. May said be plans to find a home as close to
the school as possible.
To me. basketball is year-round, and I spend a lot
of time at school." said May, a name of Columbus,
Ohio who played college basketball on the NAIA
level at the University ol Rio Grande, located about 70
miles southeast of Columbus "I don’t want to have to
. thrive 20 or 30 minutes. I want to be five or 10 minutes
from school ”
away
Cook also was just as attracted to moving to
Forsyth County as he was to building the West
Forsyth program
“l do like the challenge of taking a program and
helping it move to the next level, and so that was defi
* nitely something (hat interested me,” said Cook, who
£* was born and raised in baskcthall-hotbcd Indiana
* "And we were also looking for a place to raise a fami
! ly. Forsyth County offers a great education for our
* - kids, und ue feel fortunate to have this opportunity to
* not only build a successful program but to also be in a
great place to raise a family."
Both coaches will be on hand at a meet-and-grect
* session, scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p m at the
B*school They will chat with players, parents and com¬
munity members and lay out their plans for their
respective programs — plans that will begin to be
implemented in June
May plans to base the West offense around motion
*%, and the defense around a man-to-man philosophy,
m* “We’ll teach motion and get those principles down,
* but then we ll fixus on what our personnel says wc do
best," May said "Defensively our base will he man
to man, hut then we ll sec what type of athletes we
j have and go from there.”
*2 Cook also is not locked in on any particular sets
* * "Offenses and defenses come and go, different
** schemes come and go." Cook said "What people
*Z will sec from us is a hard-working basketball team
* that is fundamentally sound, is hard nosed and that
* plays as a team Our kids will definitely be playing
* for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on
* the back."
J * Both coaches plan to move ahead of their families
*1 over the summer so that they can start implementing
* ~ (heir systems in June
J* 'The summer is so important for us, especially with
JI us running." just getting May said. started "I So wanted we have to somewhere hit the ground and
to get
* build a program. I believe in stability I was where I
* was for 11 years, and I don’t think it has been fair to
02 these seniors (at West Forsyth| to now- he starting up
J* •X with their fourth coach in four years It’s hard to he
successful that way.
0 * "We re going to start with tlx- youth programs here
f and really get involved in the community," May said
■P Fhat’s how you build a successful program at the
high sdxxil level,"
* Cook also plans to establish a solid foundation with
1 the local youth programs, as his sons will be deeply
2 involved.
"Wc wanted our next move to be long term, in a
1 community where our kids could grow up and where
2 we could establish a program that’s successful and
* well respected over the years," Cook said. "Wc want
- to build the type of program where the players want to
' back to games and to watch practice long after
come
' they've graduated. We think we can do that here "
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
Wo're peaking at tlx- right
time."
Loveless said Johns
Creek is the team to heat,
with Glynn Academy,
Columbia and Greenbriar
all in the mix as well But
he thinks his team has a
shot, Ux>
"On am given day, we
can win a state champt
onship," Loveless said
"These seniors really
wanted to make it hack
and I’m excited for
them”
forsythnews mm
FROM IB
Horns: Alvord ignites comeback
scoring on a wild pitch
from Brock Maxwell
Chattahoochee (5-19,
5-13 Region 7-AAAA)
j threatened Maxwell struck for more, Ryan but
out
Jones looking with the
bases loaded to keep
Lambert close.
Maxwell struck out 12
batters, including five
straight during one
stretch of Ins six-inning
performance.
"A kid like Brock know s
no fear, and in a must-win
situation, you give him the
ball," Lambert coach Jamie
Corr said.
Clinging to a one-run
FROM 1B
Bound: McCrum delivers three hits
there at first base who really stepped
up in Zach Baus and played one heck
of a defensive game To step up and
play error-free baseball in a position
he doesn't normally play was huge
for us "
Both teams played primarily
strong defense in spite of swirling
w inds that made for few routine fly
balls. But a rate mistake by the
Bulldogs allowed South to take a I -0
lead in the first
Devin Gearhart drew a one-out
walk and advanced to second on a
two-out single by McCrum (3-for A
2 2B. 2 RBI). Andrew Cooley then
popped up to shallow left field, hut
j confusion between three Central
players converging on the ball
allowed it to full in few a hit. scoring
Gearhart.
The War Fugles ltxrcased the lead
to 2-0 in the second inning, after
Jesse Gonzalez singled, advanced to
third with die help of a bunt and wild
pitch, and scored on an RBI ground
out by Nate Smith
Centra) cut the lead back to a run
in the bottom of the frame thanks to a
leadoff double by Mxhucl Branigan
and a one-out RBI single by Transuc
(3-for-4, 2B. RBh The Bulldogs
later had runners at second and third
with only one out thanks to a double
by Daniel Bermudez but were not
able to capitalize
Central branded eight baserunners
in the game, including six in scoring
poMlion.
"I’ve looked at charts «>n that team,
and they’re the kind of team that cap¬
italizes on inisiakcs and base-hits you
FROM 1B
Ashway: Team suffers three falls off beam
most consistent teams in the
nation all year ll was the
one thing wc had ”
Then Clark made an even
more revealing comment
‘We were never going to
out-skill people, and consis¬
tency w as our bread iuxI
butter, and ii betrayed us
tonight"
Thiit. in one single
remark, shows the differ¬
ence between the Georgia
gy mnastics program under
Clark, and the program that
became a colossus under
Suzanne Yoculan.
The GymDogs under
Yoculan went into meets
w ith the confidence bred
from knowing that if tlx*y
hit their routines, they ’d
w in Simple as that Didn’t
nutter if it was a dual meet
against Kentucky, or the
NCAA Super Six Finals
The GymDogs performed
the most difficult routines in
the country.
In fact, if tlx-re was eriti
asm of Yoculan. it was that
the routines were too difli
cult to hit under pressure
But how can you criticize
10 national championships '
Now. when you can’t
out skill the competition, it
means that you have no
margin for enor Now.
that’s pressure Ami that’s
] w hat did in the GymDogs
For the second year in a
row
They began the meet on
the parallel bars, and nght
off ihe hat. Christa Tanella
fell Twice But tlx -
GymDogs rallied, hit five
straight routines, and tallied
their season-high score.
When they played with
fire on the balance beam,
they got burned Noel
Couc h led off and fell on
her front toss, scoring a
9 25 That had to shixk her
icanimates Couch is one of
the most reliable
lead, Chattahoochee coach
Tim Lemons sent starter
Mitch King back to the
mound in the seventh.
King retired the first two
batters he faced, before
Alvord ripped a fastball to
center field to keep the
inning alive.
The next four batters
reached, beginning with
Brian Watson’s infield sin¬
gle and followed by three
straight walks to Jake
Lucas (3-for-3, 2 R),
Maxwell and Reichling
"I’ve been struggling a
lot at the plate this year,
missing a lot of stuff," said
Alvord. "But it feels good
to death," McCrum said “I was just
try ing to ... keep runners where they
were, focus on tlx- hitters and get my
off-speed [pitches) across."
South also stranded eight runners,
and the score remained 2-1 until
McCrum stepped to the plate in the
seventh and took advantage of his
first at-bat with runners in scoring
position.
After C.J. Kream drew a leadoff
walk, Gearhart singled to left with
one out, and Smith followed with a
w alk to load tlx- bases.
McCrum then ripped a double
inside the third base line and out of
the reach of Central third baseman
David Bermudez to score Kream and
Gearhart
"1 was just kHiking for a ball to ele¬
vate. and unfortunately |Transuc) got
me out on my front foot." McCrum
s»»d. "Thankfully they were playing
in and it squeaked by [Bermudez,.)"
McCrum may have been due a
break after missing a third-inning
home run by mere inches when his
fly ball to deep center landed on the
top of the outfield fence and caromed
hack into the field of play for his first
double.
“I've never seen that happen in a
game [at any other field).’’ McCrum
said, "and it’s happened twice here in
my three |varsity] years
“You know. I’ve just got to hit the
weight room, [do) a couple more
pushups." he said jokingly
David Bermudez relieved Transuc
on the mound following McCrum’s
extra-base hit, but he couldn’t pre¬
vent the War Eagles from tacking on
GymDogs. and has been
counted <*i to post a solid
leadoff score on beam
Laura MofTatt came
through w ith a 9 9. and
Kat Ding scored a solid
9 85 But Kay Ian Earls
and Sarah Pcrsinger, com¬
peting in their first NCAA
championship, both fell,
scoring 9.35 and 9 175.
respectively.
And that w as that
"It changed the dynam¬
ic," Clark told the Red and
Black's Elizabeth Gnmsley.
referring to Couch's fall "If
you think about the next
two. it was their first go
round this year. They didn’t
push through They weren’t
finishing their skills. For a
team that had not counted a
single fall all year long —
13 straight weeks everv
thing pointed in the right
direction, hut it just wasn't
there."
Moffat! agreed "It s so
hard, especially «tn that
exent after a fall for your
first up." six - told Clarkson.
“Usually wc can cover that,
but tonight we weren’t able
to get hack into that mind¬
set w hen we needed to, and
it got "
us
(»ivc tlx - GymDogs credit
for a strong finish Ihcy
had the - third highest semifi¬
nal wore on fl<xir exercise,
and tlx - best score on vault
“I’m proud of the way
they fought the final two
events," C lark told geor
giadogs.com "They fought
w ith a tremendous amount
of pruk - ami executed those
two events They under
st<H*l what ( ieorgia is sup¬
posed to he aixl they w ant
to carry that mantle so bad
I think they arc hurting right
now. and I think wc arc just
all disappointed.”
But Clark saw a silver
lining "Regardless of how
today turned out." he told
WEDNESDAY. APRIL 2*.
to come through tonight. I
can’t remember the last
time 1 had a hit.”
Even with Alvord’s
struggles, Corr didn't hesi¬
tate to call him on in the
seventh
"If I didn’t have confi¬
dence in him, he wouldn’t
have been in there," Corr
said. "Chase is a good hit¬
ter and has hit the ball hard
all year. Stuff just hasn't
fallen for him."
A gusty wind rattled the
chain-link fence at
Cougars Field, had fans
bundled in blankets and
played havoc with fly balls
in the early going. Each
two more runs. t
(kartiart scored on a squeeze
that left Cooley safe at first 1
David Bermudez couldn't field
ball cleanly. Bermudez then stf
out Sam Walker for the second (
but the ball skipped to the bacfcl
and allowed Smith to score Soft'
sixth run.
”1 thought both (starting) pRriHf
did a pretty good job of fi gh tin g Ml
competing throughout McCoBtili the |Mft|
Centra] coach Kevin Mil
“We just ran into a little troubteMti)
end. We had our opportunities, Mil
didn't capitalize on our (ippotMMflM oft]
Transuc doubled with two
the bottom of the inning to fMlft
ners at second and third. If
McCrum struck out Oft®
Bermudez, looking on a 3-2 pMj
end the game.
in About Johns Creek, the same lambert time on (16-8, Maftj IW
secured its spot in the playoff Mi
an 8-7 comeback victory agaifll
C'hattalxxxhee.
Lambert sits just one gam MRi|
South and Central with two Mf||
and though all three team* 4
anteed spots in the postseasoM,
could still finish in any order — H
three, four — in the region stMftf
Central was set to play at Cad
Tuesday before closing the m0 li|
schedule at Lambert today.
faces an even tougher task to
to hold onto the No. 2 seed, r
No. 5-ranked Johns Creek t
War Eagle Field and finishn
season at Woodland (13-12,
on Friday.
Grimsky, "the program and
what we're doing is an
improvement We'll he
hack next year."
The improvement is diffi¬
cult to see One year ago.
Georgia was bounced in the
semifinals after three mis
cucs on the door resulted in
scores of 9.425,9.55, and
9.325. They don't appear
any closer to reaching the
Sujxt Six finals, which they
made every year under
Yoculan. from the introduc
Uoo of the Super Six format
in 1993. until her final year
in 2009
And. like last year’s
team, this year’s squad
opened and closed the sea¬
son with similar scores In
their first meet, tlx
GymDogs scored a
jRl Ex t iet I
s j
- J igjMf :IiW
• II I
\ if
Ricky No4et Agent Pill nuto and home together ,
: , | ft , J
tor hundreds in saving*.
When you have a Slate Fa tUM
• r ,io< ,i ) arm home,®
or• ..round With H
>'• Fare-eft
(if F TMABFTTfRSTftft
"ft ft
±}State Fa,
»'trmtk'4 lure# 'tare
team saw what umNr
ma! conditions w<*dM
routine pop-ups fall
ground, and hasc-rtft|l
errors played key rolMK
Lambert could MN
lacked on insurance (Mil
the seventh, but pi n ch m
ner Chandler KegisMT 1
caught in a run 411
between home and ft
for the final out o#M
inning. ft
One run was piracy ft
Maxwell, though, MS
struck out Jones to
the seventh and mftH
two harmless fly balk 1
right field to ca4
game.
196.525 Friday 196.5.1ft mgitkfl
closed with a
also scored a 196.575 ME
SEC championships OB
March 24. As we wrMft
a year ago, shouldn't iM
improve as the season fft
grosses?
Also like last year’*
team, they couldd't gal * !
past Alabama or HaMfts
They lost to both in dft?
meets, finished third 4
behind both at the SGOl
and finished hchmd M
Friday night The leaMft
won live straight nattoft
championships before aft j®
Clark look over now
as the third hest team Mil
conference.
Hus might he comM* v
tenev. but it sure isn't Jft
impmvcment