The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, November 28, 2018, Image 10

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The times., November 28, 2018, Image 10

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Newspaper Page Text2B Wednesday, November 28, 2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS BRAVES ■ Continued from 1B of Pensacola, Florida who played his college baseball at Auburn — about a two- hour drive from SunTrust Park. “I was a huge Braves fan coming up,” he said. “My very first favorite player was Ron Gant. It’s a very full circle from com ing to my very first Braves game, my first major league baseball game, when I was about 12 years old to now being 32 years old (next week), being able to wear this jersey and wear it with pride.” By only com mitting to Donald son for a year, the NL East-winning Braves addressed their top priority while leaving them selves with plenty of financial flexibility beyond 2019. They have some of the most talented young play ers in the game, led by NL Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna Jr., and didn’t want to make a move that impeded their long-term progress. “I think it’s a win-win across the board,” Antho- poulos said. “We love Josh. We’re thrilled to have him. But it’s a one-year deal. Beyond one year, we don’t know what’s going to hap pen, other than we hope we’re pouring champagne over each other’s heads and he’s had an MVP year again. It would be a good problem to have.” Donaldson was AL MVP in 2015 after hitting 41 hom ers and leading the league with 123 RBIs in his first year with the Blue Jays. He was acquired from Oakland in a blockbuster deal engi neered by Anthopoulos, who was then Toronto’s general manager. While Donaldson followed up with two more 30-plus- homer seasons, a hip injury in 2016 and a strained right calf in 2017 cut into his pro duction. This past season, Donaldson was limited to 52 games by shoulder inflam mation and more calf issues, hitting .246 with just eight homers and 23 RBIs. He was dealt to Cleveland on Aug. 31 and played 16 games with the Indians, enough to per suade the Braves that he’s fully recovered from myr iad health issues. “The sample size was small, but he looked fantastic,” Anthopoulos said. “He looked like the Josh we’ve always known, one of the best players in the game.” After taking over at the Braves’ GM, Anthopoulos brought along much of the training staff that worked for him in Toronto. That was another factor in Donaldson’s deci sion to sign with the Braves. “They know how to keep me on the field,” he said. Donaldson is not look ing beyond 2019, but he doesn’t consider himself a rent-a-player. “I’m not somebody who wants to bounce around,” he said. “I would hope that this could be the last place that I play. That being said, that’s not what I focus on. I’ve never really focused on free agency and any stuff like that. I’ve focused on going out there and helping my team win ballgames and helping my team become better.” What about Johan Camargo, who had 19 hom ers and 76 RBIs in his first full season as the Braves’ third baseman? Anthopoulos wants to turn Camargo into a super sub who plays all four infield positions, serves as the top pinch-hitter and maybe even gets some time in the out field. The bench was a major shortcoming for Braves in 2018, which was especially apparent in the postseason when light-hitting Ryan Fla herty was included on the 25-man roster. “We’re going to give guys more days off,” said Anthopoulos, who described Camargo as “a big part of our lineup. He’s going to con tinue to play.” Even though the Braves will continue to pursue addi tional pitching for both the rotation and the bullpen, Anthopoulos was most con cerned about bolstering an offense that ranked ninth in the NL with 175 homers and tailed off significantly in the second half. The Braves averaged just over 5 runs per game through the first half, but that dipped to 4.35 over the final 81 games. The offen sive woes were especially apparent in the NL division series, when Atlanta was shut out twice and scored just eight runs in a four- game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. “It’s not something we wanted to announce, because we can still improve in the bullpen and in the rotation,” Anthopoulos said. “But the offense, more than anything else, we wanted to protect.” Anthopoulos SCORE ■ Continued from 1B with 31 points on Tuesday in Jefferson. Johnson visits Chestatee on Friday at 8:30 p.m. RIVERSIDE MILITARY ACADEMY 58, WEST HALL 48: Isaac Teasley led the Eagles with 17 points. Shad Dabney added 11 points, while Michael Poteat scored 10 for the Eagles (4-1). For the Spartans, Sawyer Passmore scored 16 and Noah Edmondson chipped in 11. On Friday, Riverside Military visits Chero kee Bluff in Flowery Branch. BUFORD GIRLS 62 MORGAN COUNTY 36: Tate Walters scored 14 points for the Wolves (4-0). Also for Buford, Preston Reid scored 10 points. Buford faces Parkview at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Wesleyan Showcase in Norcross. COMMERCE GIRLS 59. SOCIAL CIR CLE 37: Bryanna Sanders scored 15 points for the Lady Tigers, while Autumn Mathis had 12 points. Commerce hosts Providence Christian on Friday Compiled by Diana Lewis High school scores can be reported by 10:30 p.m. each night by calling 770-718-3415 or email sports@gainesvilletimes.com. SCOREBOARD Football/college 2018 College Football Playoff Rankings Record 1. Alabama 12-0 2. Clemson 12-0 3. Notre Dame 12-0 4. Georgia 11-1 5. Oklahoma 11-1 6. Ohio St. 11-1 7. Michigan 10-2 8. UCF 11-0 9. Florida 9-3 10. LSU 9-3 11. Washington 9-3 12. Penn St. 9-3 13. Washington St. 10-2 14. Texas 9-3 15. Kentucky 9-3 16. West Virginia 8-3 17. Utah 9-3 18. Mississippi St. 8-4 19. Texas A&M 8-4 20. Syracuse 9-3 21. Northwestern 8-4 22. Boise St. 10-2 23. Iowa St. 7-4 24. Missouri 8-4 25. Fresno St. 10-2 The playoff semifinals match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The semifinals will be hosted at the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl on Dec. 29. The championship game will be played on Jan. 7, 2019 at Santa Clara, Calif. Transactions BASEBALL American League LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Released RHP Alex Meyer. TAMPA BAY RAYS — Assigned LHP Hoby Milner outright to Durham (IL). Signed C Anthony Bemboom and LHP Ryan Sherriff to minor league contracts. TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Designated RHP Mark Leiter Jr. for assignment. Claimed RHP Oliver Drake off waivers from Tampa Bay. National League PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Designated RHP Alex McRae for assignment. Agreed to terms with OF Lonnie Chisenhall on a one-year con tract. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Assigned RHP Derian Gonzalez outright to Memphis (PCL). Promoted Randy Flores to assistant general manager/director of scouting, Ernie Moore to director of team travel and Mark Walsh to clubhouse manager. SAN DIEGO PADRES — Assigned SS Allen Cordoba outright to El Paso (PCL). American Association CHICAGO DOGS — Sold the contract of RHP Taylor Grover to the Cincinnati Reds. GARY S0UTHSH0RE RAILCATS — Signed UT Gavin Blodgett and RHP/OF Sean Watkins. LINCOLN SALTD0GS — Signed RHP Shairon Martis. SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS — Sold the contract of LHP Ian McKinney to the Seattle Mariners. WINNIPEG GOLDEYES — Released INF Matt McCann. Frontier League EVANSVILLE OTTERS — Exercised options on RHPs Mitchell Aker, Tyler Beardsley, Tanner Cable, Taylore Cherry, Garrett Harris, Ty Hensley, Tyler Vail and Randy Wynne; LHPs Kyano Cummings, Jake Davis and Austin Nicely; INFs David Cronin and J.J. Gould; 1B Austin Bush; 1B/C Carlos Castro; OFs Hunter Cullen, Zach Welz and Jeff Gardner; 0F/3B Travis Harrison and Ryan Long; 3B Taylor Hillson, UT Taylor Lane and C Michael Rizzitello. FLORENCE FREEDOM — Signed RHP Ryan Colegate and 2B Caleb Lopez to contract exten sions. Signed OF Brandon Pugh. JOLIET SLAMMERS — Sent RHP Taylor Goshen to Schaumburg to complete an earlier trade. RIVER CITY RASCALS — Signed RHP Jason Zgardowski to a contract extension. Exercised options on Cs Jake Henson and Mike Jurgella, INF Stephen Kerr, LHPs Dan Ludwig and Jonny Ortiz and OF Kevin Suarez. WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS — Signed RHPs Eddie Avila and Jake Welch, OF David Oppenheim and 1B/3B Tyler Straub to con tract extensions. Released LHP Colton Follett, C Ronnie Healy and OF Will Krug. FOOTBALL National Football League NFL — Placed Washington Redskins’ LB Reuben Foster on the commissioner exempt list. ARIZONA CARDINALS — Released CB Chris Jones. Released DGT Vincent Valentine from the practice squad. Signed CBs Dontae Johnson and Quinten Rollins. Signed WR Jalen Tolliver to the practice squad. BUFFALO BILLS — Released P Colton Schmidt. Signed P Matt Darr. CHICAGO BEARS — Signed WR Cyril Grayson to the practice squad. DENVER BRONCOS — Placed TE Jeff Heuerman on injured reserve. Designagted 0T Andreas Knappe practice squad/reserve injured. Signed TE Temarrick Hemingway from the practice squad and DL Caushaud Lyons, TE Tim Semisch and 0L Dan Skipper to the practice squad. GREEN BAY PACKERS — Signed 0T Gerhard de Beer to the practice squad. MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Placed S Andrew Sendejo on injured reserve. Waived DE Jonathan Wynn from practice squad/injured. Signed CB Craig James. Signed CB Jalen Myrick to the practice squad. OAKLAND RAIDERS — Placed DE Jacquies Smith on injured reserve. Signed G Chaz Green and TE Darren Waller. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Placed DB Jimmie Ward on injured reserve. Claimed CB Godwin Igwebuike off waivers from Tampa Bay. Signed LB James Onwualu from the practice squad and LB Tyrell Adams and WR Max McCaffrey to the practice squad. WASHINGTON REDSKINS — Claimed LB Reuben Foster off waivers from San Francisco. HOCKEY National Hockey League ARIZONA COYOTES — Recalled G Hunter Miska from Tucson (AHL). LOS ANGELES KINGS — Assigned G Peter Budaj and F Gabriel Vilardi to Ontario (AHL). Placed F Trevor Lewis on injured reserve, ret roactive to Nov. 16. Activated G Jonathan Quick from injured reserve. OTTAWA SENATORS — Assigned G Marcus Hogberg from Belleville (AHL) to Brampton (ECHL). TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING — Assigned F Mitch Hults from Syracuse (AHL) to Orlando (ECHL). American Hockey League STOCKTON HEAT — Returned G Ryan Faragher to Idaho (ECHL). UTICA COMETS — Returned F Alex Kile to Maine (ECHL). SOCCER Major League Soccer CHICAGO FIRE — Exercised options on M Brandt Bronico, F Diego Campos, G Stefan Cleveland, D Jorge Corrales, M/D Raheem Edwards and D/M Nicolas Hasler. FC CINCINNATI — Signed M Emmanuel Ledesma. LOS ANGELES FC — Exercised options on G Tyler Miller, F Shaft Brewer Jr. and Ms Mark- Anthony Kaye, Lee Nguyen and Josh Perez. MINNESOTA UNITED — Exercised options on G Bobby Shuttlesworth, Ms Collin Martin and Rasmus Schuller and Ds Michael Boxall, Carter Manley and Wyatt Omsberg. Returned M Maximiano to Fluminense (Serie A-Brazil) and F Alexi Gomez to Universitario de Deportes (Torneo Descentralizado-Peru). MONTREAL IMPACT — Exercised options for D Victor Cabrera; Gs Jason Beaulieu, Maxime Crepeau and James Pantemis; and Ms Micheal Azira, Ken Krolicki and Jeisson Vargas. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION — Signed M Nicolas Firmino. ORLANDO CITY SC — Fired general manager of soccer operations Niki Budalic. PHILADELPHIA UNION — Named David Pettican youth general manager. TORONTO FC — Declined options on G Clint Irwin and F Tosaint Ricketts. Agreed to termi nate the contract of M Ager Aketxe. TODAY ON TV Hockey ■ St. Louis Blues at Detroit Red Wings, 7 p.m., NBCSN Basketball ■ Miami (Ohio) at Xavier, 6:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 ■ Syracuse at Ohio State, 7:15 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Rutgers at Miami, 7:15 p.m., ESPNU ■ Virginia at Maryland, 7:30 p.m., ESPN ■ Montana at Creighton, 8:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 ■ Purdue at Florida State, 9:15 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Georgia Tech at Northwestern, 9:15 p.m., ESPNU ■ North Carolina at Michigan, 9:30 p.m., ESPN ■ NBA: Hawks at Hornets, 7 p.m., Fox Sports Southeast Other ■ UEFA Champions League: Atletico Madrid vs. Monaco, 12:55 p.m., TNT ■ UEFA Champions League: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool, 2:50 p.m., UNI ■ UEFA Champions League: Tottenham vs. Inter Milan, 3 p.m., TNT ■ Australian PGA Championship, 9:30 p.m., Golf Channel COLLEGE FOOTBALL I ACC Championship BOB LEVERONE I Associated Press Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, center, links arms with players as they march on the field before the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference championship game against Miami in Charlotte, N.C. The second-ranked Tigers will face Pittsburgh for the ACC title on Saturday night. Familiar territory No. 2 Clemson settles into same ACC title game routine BY PETE IAC0BELLI Associated Press CLEMSON, S.C. — Clem son safety Denzel Johnson is very familiar with the routine leading up to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. Like most of his Tiger team mates, he’s been through it before. No. 2 Clemson (12-0, CFP No. 2) is seeking its fourth consecutive ACC crown and the Atlantic Division champ has a big edge in experi ence over first-time Coastal Division winner Pittsburgh (7-5) on Saturday night. Johnson, a redshirt junior, said players know exactly the effort needed at drills and meetings this week to be primed to play for another ACC title. There’s a difference, Johnson said, between well- prepared and comfortable. “As far as comfort, not at all, we’re never satisfied,” Johnson said. “We’re just treating this like any other game, just the next game.” A game in which the Tigers have feasted on first time opponents. The Panthers are the fourth different Coastal team Clemson has faced since its ACC title streak began in 2015. The Tigers topped North Carolina that year, Virginia Tech in 2016 and Miami a year ago. Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott often doesn’t have to tell players what’s next as the week progresses. “They know what to expect out of each other,” he said. The consistency in rou tine is something Clem son coach Dabo Swinney has built into his program since he got the fulltime job after the 2008 season. Players can’t perform at their best each game if they think some games are big ger than others, Swinney believes. So he’s kept the focus on the Tigers and not on opponent, the start time or how high the stakes might be. All of that, though, is magnified for Clemson in this one. A victory over Pitt would make Clemson the ACC’s first ever with four consec utive championship game victories. It would also pro pel them back into the Col lege Football Playoff for a fourth straight year and give them a chance at their second national title since 2016. “I think experience is definitely the best teacher than you can have for sure,” Swinney said. “We have a very veteran team. We got a lot of great lead ers. We got a lot of guys, a bunch of guys on this team that have won three confer ence championships. That certainly doesn’t hurt.” Elliott thinks players appreciate knowing how the week’s preparation is going to unfold. He’s also confident that if adversity arises during the title game, Clemson’s veterans can call on how the team has han dled it in past games. “I think the guys have confidence in the routine,” Elliott said. “Obviously, they’ve got to go out and execute four quarters and play at a high level. But I think they understand what our week’s going to look like.” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi may be one of the few in his program to have been through a conference championship game expe rience. He was Michigan State’s defensive coordi nator when the Spartans played and won the Big Ten title in 2011 and 2013. He accepts the Panthers can’t match Clemson’s past ACC experiences. “Clemson has obviously been there before. This will be nothing new to them,” Narduzzi said. “I think it’s going to be impor tant for our football team to obviously stay focused and locked into why we’re there, what our job is.” A big part of that job is slowing down Clemson’s surging offense. The Tigers gained 744 yards in a 56-35 win over South Carolina this past Saturday, the sev enth straight game where they’ve won by 20 or more points. The ACC honored left tackle Mitch Hyatt with the Jacobs Blocking Trophy given to the top offensive lineman. Three Tigers were honored in the league’s weekly awards, receiver Tee Higgins, cen ter Justin Falcinelli and rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Clemson running back Adam Choice is a fifth-year player who was part of the team in 2014 before its run of ACC championship suc cess. He’ll spend part of this week reminding younger teammates not to take play ing for an ACC crown for granted. “We know what it’s like not to be in the ACC cham pionship game,” he said. “It’s definitely not some thing to be taken lightly.” NBA Hawks snap 7-game road skid in win over Miami Taurean Prince scored 18 points, Trae Young fin ished with 17 points and 10 assists and the Atlanta Hawks held off the Miami Heat 115-113 on Tuesday night to snap a seven-game road slide. John Collins scored 16 points, Omari Spellman had 14 and Kent Bazemore finished with 12 for the Hawks, who are 2-0 against Miami this season and 3-16 against everyone else. Josh Richardson led Miami with 22 points, but his potential winning 3-pointer with 3 seconds left — a wide-open look — bounced off the rim. Dwyane Wade scored 18 and Wayne Elling ton added 15 for the Heat, who have lost six straight at home. It’s only the 10th time in the 31 years of Heat bas ketball that Miami has lost so many consecutive games at home. Bam Adebayo scored 12 for Miami, which got 11 apiece from Justise Win slow and Hassan Whiteside. Atlanta led by 19 early in the second half and was still up by 13 with 8:50 left, before Miami went on its best run of the night. The Heat needed less than four minutes to go on a 14-0 run. Richardson scored seven of those points, including the last basket of the spurt with 5:04 remain ing, to go up 109-108 — their first lead since early in the second quarter. And then it was Atlanta’s turn for a run, this one a 7-0 spurt for a six-point lead as the Heat missed six con secutive shots. Back came Miami, with a 3-pointer by Olynyk and a follow shot by Richardson to get the Heat within one. Prince made the second of two free throws with 14 seconds left, giving Atlanta a 115-113 lead. Miami took its final timeout, and Richardson’s last shot bounced away as time expired. Miami scored a season-high 38 points in the first quarter, and followed that up with its lowest-scor ing quarter of the season — a 14-point clunkfest in the second, as the Hawks took control. COLLEGE BASKETBALL Georgia dominates Kennesaw State in 84-51 home win Sophomore Nicolas Clax- ton scored 16 points and claimed a career-high 15 rebounds in Georgia’s 84-51 win over in-state foe Ken nesaw State Tuesday night. Rayshaun Hammonds added 14 points for Georgia (4-3). Jordan Harris came off the bench to score 10. Kennesaw State (1-7) got 12 points from Ugo Obineke, 11 from Tyler Hooker and 10 from Bryson Lockley. The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle, 53-35, and limited the Owls to an abysmal 28 percent shooting. The Owls were able to stay close the first seven minutes, trailing 11-10 at 13:02 after a short jumper by Lockley. But the Bull dogs went on a 13-1 run over the next 4:51, stretching the lead to 24-11 after two Tur tle Jackson free throws. Georgia had another 15-0 run near the end of the half, featuring a pair of 3-point- ers by Tyree Crump. If it seemed like time was standing still for the strug gling Owls, it was. Crump’s second 3-pointer came with 2:18 showing on the clock. Moments later Hammonds scored on a layup, and the clock still showed 2:18. Offi cials had to stop the game to reset the clock to 1:39, based on the electronic scorebook kept at courtside. Another 19-2 run by the Bulldogs in the middle second half settled the out come. It also stirred the Georgia crowd after a quiet first half. The attendance was announced at 5,947, the smallest yet during Tom Crean’s first season as the Bulldogs’ head coach. Associated Press Prince