Newspaper Page Text
2D Midweek Edition-April 3-4, 2024
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
FRIDAY’S HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
North Hall wrapped
up sweep at Chestatee
Bill Murphy The Times
North Hall’s Luke Sanders throws against Chestatee on Friday
in Gainesville.
SUNDAY’S PGA GOLF
Michael Wyke Associated Press
Jim Crane, left, owner of the Houston Astros baseball team, and
Stephan Jaeger pose for photos with the trophy during ceremonies
after Jaeger’s win at the Houston Open.
Jaeger holds off
Scheffler for the
win in Houston
Associated Press
BY DAVID FRIEDLANDER
dfriedlander@gainesvilletimes.com
Things are setting up nicely for
third-ranked North Hall to make
a run at a region championship in
2024.
However, the schedule has one
more major hurdle before the
Trojans can start making postsea
son plays and thinking about tak
ing the No. 1 seed into state.
On Friday, North Hall put
four runs on the board in the first
inning and right-handed senior
Luke Sanders threw four strong
innings en route to a 10-4 win
against Chestatee to close a three-
game sweep this week.
But before the Trojans can add
another region championship to
their league titles in 2021 and
2022, first they have a three-game
series against No. 2 Cherokee
Bluff (16-4,4-2 subregion play).
And Cherokee Bluff has the
full respect and attention of North
Hall's players and coaches, even
though the Bears slipped up with
back-to-back subregion losses
to East Forsyth to close out the
week.
“It's going to be a big series,''
Trojans coach Trevor Flow said.
“Bluff has a great team with tre
mendous talent."
To wrap up the week, North
Hall's win started with a big first
inning.
Lead-off hitter Ajay Jones
reached on an infield single, stole
second base and scored on a dou
ble by Sanders.
Also in the first inning, Mills
Lothridge slapped a two-run dou
ble, then Korbyn Sosebee hit a fly
ball deep enough to the outfield
that brought home another run
BY DAVID FRIEDLANDER
dfriedlander@gainesvilletimes.com
Cherokee Bluff coach Jeremy
Kemp had a succinct assessment
of the rubber game of its Region
8-4A North series with East
Forsyth.
It was just that simple as the
sixth-ranked Broncos posted
an 8-3 victory over the second-
ranked Bears on Friday at Bluff
Ballpark to take two of the three
games in the week-long series
despite a 9-3 win by Cherokee
Bluff in Monday's opener.
Cherokee Bluff (16-4 overall,
7-3 in full region, 4-2 in subre
gion) managed just three hits and
couldn't seem to take advantage
of any of any of its scoring oppor
tunities at the plate, including
wasting lead-off walks in each of
the final three innings.
Meanwhile, seven different
Bears pitchers combined to walk
eight hitters, while the Broncos
(15-7,8-2,5-4) cashed in on their
chances with eight hits.
The first of those hits was a big
one, as Matthew Lyons cashed in
after back-to-back walks to start
the game with a three-run home
run for a quick 3-0 East Forsyth
lead in the top of the first.
Cherokee Bluff answered with
a run in the bottom of the inning
on Ty Corbin's lead-off double,
a sacrifice bunt by K.T. Thomp
son and an error on the play, plus
Caleb Miele's RBI ground out to
pull to within 3-1.
However, East Forsyth made
after the catch.
Chestatee (11-11, 4-5 subre
gion play) tried to get something
going in the bottom of the first
inning when Dylan Thompson
reached on a first-pitch single and
moved to third base on a single
from senior center fielder Colton
Wilbanks.
However, with runners on the
corners, Sanders got a grounder
for the second out and strikeout
for the last out to get out of the
jam. Then in the fourth inning,
the Trojans added some cushion
to its lead with three runs against
Wilbanks, who came in to pitch.
For North Hall, Ty Kemp and
Sanders drew walks to get on
the hole even deeper at 5-1 with
an RBI single by Will Moffit
and an RBI double by Bradlee
Hamby in the third.
The Bears had a chance for a
big inning when Jacob Vokal lead
off the bottom of the fourth with
a single, followed by a walk to
Ethan England and another sin
gle by Landon Kemp to load the
bases with nobody out.
Two runs did come in on a balk
and a passed ball to pull Chero
kee Bluff to within 5-3, but it
would get no closer.
East Forsyth then had its own
chance with the bases loaded and
nobody out when Lyons drew a
lead-off walk, Hamby was hit by
a pitch and Zach Aschoff reached
base. Jon Jon Read capped the
three-run inning with a run-scor
ing single.
In the seventh inning, freshman
Cole Cable came in with an RBI
single for the Trojans after Kian
Allen's leadoff double.
For North Hall, Lothridge
entered the game to pitch with
two outs in the sixth inning and
the bases loaded for the War
Eagles.
After surrendering a two-run
double to Chestatee's Thomas
Martens, Lothridge got the final
out of the inning without further
damage, then retired all three bat
ters in the bottom of the seventh
inning.
on bunt single in the top of the
seventh.
And the Broncos capitalized on
a throwing error to the plate on a
tapper back to the mound to bring
home a run, and Chace Hall's
two-run single down the right-
field line put the game away.
As disappointing as the series
went for Cherokee Bluff, Jeremy
Kemp knows his Bears can't let
the memory linger very long,
with another big subregion series
next week against No. 3 North
Hall beginning Monday at 6 p.m.
at Cottrell Field.
“We've just got to bounce back
and get after it against North
Hall,” Kemp said. “We're still
confident.”
Stephan Jaeger couldn't have
dreamed up a better scenario for his
first PGA Tour victory. He played
the final 36 holes with the best
player in the world, and he won the
Houston Open on Sunday to earn
his first trip to the Masters.
“It feels amazing,” Jaeger said.
Scottie Scheffler couldn't imag
ine a tougher way for his March
winning streak to end — a clutch
shot to 5 feet on the final hole, and
a birdie putt he thought was good
until he looked up and realized it
wasn't.
“I hit two or three really good
shots into 18 to give myself a
chance and I feel like I made the
putt and I looked up and it was
breaking off,” Scheffler said. “So
a bit disappointing, but Stephan
played great this week and he's a
deserving champion.”
Jaeger closed with nine straight
pars, and that was just enough for
a 3-under 67 to finally win in his
135th attempt on the PGA Tour.
Jaeger was preparing for a play
off after narrowly missing a 20-foot
birdie putt that would have assured
the victory. But then Scheffler, who
gave himself three good looks down
the stretch, saw his putt bum the left
edge of the cup.
“I expected him to make it, and
I'm not mad at him for missing it,”
Jaeger said.
Scheffler was trying to become
the first player in seven years to
win three straight starts on the PGA
Tour, and he was right there with a
chance. Two shots behind, he had a
20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th
and settled for birdie. He missed
from 12 feet for birdie on the
17th, and stayed alive when Jaeger
missed from 7 feet on the reachable
par-4 17th.
His last chance was from 5 feet.
“It would be one thing if I pulled
it or something like that,” Schef-
Hall of Fame defensive lineman
Warren Sapp is headed back to the
classroom in order to be more of a
hands-on coach for the Colorado
Buffaloes. Deion Sanders added
the 51-year-old Sapp to the staff as
a graduate assistant, which paves
the way for him to work on the field
with the team. Sapp, who's tak
ing classes, introduced himself to
the Buffaloes as the senior quality
control analyst — a mouth-full, he
added — but that role would limit
his involvement on the field.
“We're building mansions here,”
Sapp said to the team when he was
fler said. “I just misread it. I don't
know why I misread it, it's part of
the game. Maybe I could have hit it
with some more speed, I felt like I
hit a nice putt kind of how I wanted
to, just didn't go.”
Jaeger, a 34-year-old German
who came to high school in Tennes
see when he was 16, earned his first
trip to the Masters with the victory.
He also is in the remaining four $20
million signature events this season.
Alejandro Tosti had a chance to
become the fourth PGA Tour rookie
to win this early in the year. He was
tied for the lead until chipping too
strong on the 18th and missing the
18-foot par putt for a 68.
There was a five-way tie for the
lead at the start — the largest on
tour since 2009 — and eight play
ers had at least a share of the lead at
some point during the round.
Jaeger was always in the mix,
taking the lead with an 8-foot
birdie putt on the par-3 ninth hole
at Memorial Park. That was his last
birdie of the day, and no one could
beat him.
“I was just tried to stay within
myself,” Jaeger said. “Birdies
eluded me on the back nine. But
this golf course plays difficult, espe
cially when you're around the lead.
I'm just super happy.”
Thomas Detry, David Skinns and
Taylor Moore all made mistakes
down the stretch.
Scheffler was one shot behind
when he missed the green on the
par-3 15th and failed to save par
on an 8-foot putt, falling two shots
behind with three to play. He got
one back with his birdie on the
downwind 16th, where Jaeger had
to lay up and settle for par.
Scheffler and Jaeger both missed
good birdie chances on the 17th,
and Scheffler had one last chance
on the 18th.
Jaeger finished at 12-under 268
and cracks the top 50 in the world
ranking for the first time.
introduced by Sanders to the group
in a video posted on YouTube.
The University of Miami stand
out spent 13 seasons in the NFL
with Tampa Bay and the Oakland
Raiders. Sapp was the 1999 AP
defensive player of the year and
won a Super Bowl title with the
Buccaneers following the 2002 sea
son. Sapp, who finished his career
with 96 1/2 sacks, is looking for
ward to working alongside Sanders
and the rest of the staff.
“Eve been a Deion Sanders fan
since I was 12 years old,” Sapp said
in the video posted through “ Well
Off Media,” which is run by Deion
Sanders Jr.
Cherokee Bluff drops
Game 3 to E. Forsyth
David Friedlander The Times
Cherokee Bluff’s Beau Bruns throws against East Forsyth on
Friday in Flowery Branch.
Hall of Famer Warren Sapp joins Colorado
as a graduate assistant football coach
Associated Press
FROM ID
Bluff
FROM ID
Soccer
Vazquez said. “We're
really starting to step up
after a bad start.”
Johnson has now won
nine-straight contests
since its only loss to Dal
ton on Feb. 23. More
importantly, the Knights
have secured the region
title for the 10th-straight
season.
“We're starting to click
and gain some momentum
at the right time,” Zamora
said.
Johnson's margin of
victory would have been
much bigger against Bay
lor, had it not been for
a stellar effort from its
nimble senior goalkeeper
Flynn Watson-Brown,
who turned away a pair of
Vazquez's shots on goal
where he was in the right
position for the score and
got all of his foot into the
ball. Johnson started to
pull away with Vazquez's
good touch on the ball in
the 55th minute with only
one defender standing in
his way of the net.
Just two minutes later,
Vazquez would bury the
shot to put the Knights
ahead 3-0.
Finally, Evan Rohde
scored in the 76th min
ute for Johnson to put the
game away. Even though
Johnson won handily, it
was a tight match early.
In the first half, the
Knights had the only goal
from Junior Castillo with
an assist on the throw-in
from Vazquez.
Baylor nearly tied it
early in the second half
when Antonio Basan's
bicycle kick went just
wide of the net.
After that, Johnson
started to find some
rhythm as David Arteaga
missed by a hair on a shot
in the 51st minute.
enough for the Trojans, espe
cially after Sexton escaped a
two-out, two-on situation in
the top of the fifth.
But after getting the first
out in the sixth, the sopho
more began to tire, and
Cherokee Bluff began to
chip away, starting with K.T.
Thompson's bunt single, fol
lowed by back-to-back hits
by Miele and Vokal to load
the bases.
Ethan England then was
hit by a pitch to bring in a run
and pull the Bears to with 2-1,
which spelled the end of the
night for Sexton.
Landon Kemp greeted new
pitcher Luke Sanders with an
RBI single that tied the game
at 2-all, but the senior right
hander settled down and
retired the next two hitters to
get out of the jam.
But an inning later in the
seventh, Thompson drew
a two-out walk to give a
chance to Miele, who sent a
liner down the right field line
that just eluded the glove of
a diving Charlie Wright for
the triple that gave Cherokee
Bluff its first lead of the game
at 3-2.
“I definitely had an
approach to go to right field
because last week, all (East
Forsyth) did was throw me
outside, and I saw the trend
(Monday), too,” Miele said.
“So, I just tried to go the other
way and stay on the ball.”
But the Bears weren't out
of the woods yet, with the
Trojans putting a pair of run
ners on with a one-out single
by Jimerson and a two-out
single by Ajay Jones.
That brought Vokal to the
mound to face Sanders, who
sent a deep fly ball to right,
but Tanaka Mukono was able
to run it down on the warning
track for the final out, giv
ing the save to Vokal and the
win to Holton and Cherokee
Bluff.
