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PAGE 3B — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MARCH 19. 2009
Madison County shortstop Matthew “Raybo” Robinson awaits a throw to second base
Tuesday as a Loganville runner attempts to dive back safely. Ben Munro/Staff
Baseball...
Golf
Lady Raiders win on wet course
two-run single down the right field line and Drake
put the Raiders ahead 4-2 by ripping a double off the
centerfield wall.
Ben Morris then provided two insurance scores
with a two-out, two-run single.
“It was big to come back and put a six-spot up,”
Griffeth said.
The hit parade continued in the fourth with
Kennison driving home two more runs with a two-
out double to centerfield to up the Raider lead to 7-2.
Drake followed with another double to bring home
another run.
Madison County plated its final four runs off
Loganville miscues.
A dropped fly ball allowed two more runs to score
in the bottom of the fifth, and the Raiders scored
twice more in the sixth via passed balls, bringing the
10-run mercy rule into effect.
“The game’s out of hand and we still score off two
passed balls in the last inning," Griffeth said. “So the
kids are hungry to succeed, or excel. That’s probably
the better word.”
Raiders notch two come
from behind wins
Madison County’s victories over Heritage and
Salem came in much different fashion than the team’s
thumping of Loganville.
With the Heritage game tied 3-3, Bracken Turner
doubled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the
sixth inning, and Seth Fleming supplied an insurance
score with an RBI double as the Raiders won their
region opener.
Reliever Dustin Roberts earned the win, working
one and one-third innings, allowing two hits and no
walks.
In the victory over Salem, Madison County scored
continued from page IB
four runs in the top of the sixth to overtake the
Seminoles in Conyers.
Matt Kennison singled home the tying run that
inning and then went for second on the throw to the
plate, drawing an errant throw from Salem's catcher.
That allowed the Raider go-ahead run to score as
well.
Matthew Robinson worked two and one-third
innings in relief to earn the win, allowing one hit and
striking out two.
Madison County’s glovework and bullpen were
essential to both victories, Griffeth said.
“We’ve just come up big with relief pitching and
team defense," Raider coach Charlie Griffeth said.
The coach noted that Madison County recorded no
strikeouts in its error-free win against Heritage, which
means the defense had to make its share of plays.
“We played great defense,” Griffeth said. ‘To have
21 outs recorded and no strikeouts, they put it in play
21 times and we didn’t make an error.’
Griffeth pointed to similar defensive excellence in
the victory over Salem. Roberts ran down a ball hit
to right centerfield that “that just had double on it the
whole way,” the coach said. Griffeth also pointed to a
“great play" from Bo Dalton on a ground ball to first.
Raider starters Jack May and Ethan Seagraves
received no-decisions in the Heritage and Salem
games, respectively.
May worked five and two-thirds, allowing three
runs (all earned) and four hits.
Seagraves pitched four and two-thirds innings
against Salem, surrendering five runs (all earned),
eight hits and one walk while striking out four batters.
Offensively, Kennison led Madison County against
Heritage with two singles and Ian Drake drove home
a run with a sac fly. In addition to his RBI double,
Fleming also had a single.
Kennison had two singles and two RBIs against
Salem.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
P laying on a Chateau Elan course
soaked with four days worth of rain, the
Madison County girls’ golf team man
aged a water-logged 113-125 win over Loganville
Tuesday.
Winder-Barrow also competed, but had just one
player, so it didn’t record a team score.
“The course was still just soaking wet still,”
coach Doug Kesler said.
Taylor Morgan led the team with a 55. Kelsey
Hochsteder and Cortney Boggs both carded rounds
of 58.
Megan Kesler (60) and Emmily Mann (63) also
played, but their scores didn’t count.
“It’s a tough course,” Kesler said of Chateau
Elan. “There’s a lot of trouble on that course.”
And soggy fairways didn’t help matters.
“You couldn’t hit behind the ball, you had to
pretty much pick it clean," Kesler said.
Chateau Elan is the site of this year’s region tour
nament, so the round was beneficial even though
the wet conditions were less than ideal.
“It’s good to go up there and play a round,”
Kesler said. “Hopefully, we'll get to play there a
couple more times.”
Madison County was slated to take on Class
AAA defending champion Franklin County
Wednesday (March 18) at home. Results of that
match weren't available at press time.
The girls face North Oconee on Tuesday.
Conditions aren’t
kind to Raider golfers
Inexperience paired with tough conditions made
for a long afternoon Tuesday for the Madison
County boys’ golf team.
The Raiders shot a 190, finishing last in a three-
team meet at a Chateau Elan Course still drying out
from four days of rainfall. “It was very, very wet,”
coach Chris Smith said. “You couldn’t get in behind
the ball. You pretty much had to pick it clean.”
Winder-Barrow finished first with a 180, followed
by Loganville, which shot a collective 185.
Madison County’s Jake Wilmont fired a 44, two
strokes off the lead. Jacob Fleming carded a 47, the
only other varsity Raider to shoot lower than 50.
However, in exhibition play, Nathan Bray shot
a 44.
Madison County took on Franklin County
Wednesday (results weren’t available at press time)
and has a tentatively scheduled match with North
Oconee Monday and another with Clarke Central
Tuesday as a young team tries to overcome its
inexperience. “Maybe by the end of the season we
might be able to get things going a little better,”
Smith said.
Girls’ tennis
continued from page IB
“Sarah Powers and Sam LaZear
are getting better with every
match,” he said. “They played
a great third set to continue the
strong play we’ve come to expect
from our doubles teams. Alexia
Supakomdej and Kailtlyn Hale
have great chemistry and are
learning to close their matches
out quickly.”
Madison County blanked new
region member Apalachee 5-0
on March 12 to move to 2-0 in
region play.
Strickland praised his team
for maintaining focus against an
unknown foe and winning all
matches in straight sets.
“The Apalachee players were a
little less experienced and some
times its easy to get pulled down
by that lack of experience, but the
girls played their game and took
care of business,” he said.
In fact, the Lady Raiders lost
just 10 games the entire evening.
A day earlier, Madison County
beat Rockdale County 4-1 with
the no. 1 and no. 2 singles players
and both doubles teams winning
in straight sets.
Madison Co. 4, Winder-Barrow
1 (March 17)
Winners:
•No. 1 S Molly Smith, W, 6-2,
6-0
•No. 2 S Jeannie Bowen, W,
6-1, 6-1
•No. 1 D LaZear/Powers, W,
6-4, 4-6, 6-2
•No. 2 D Hale/Supakomdei, W,
6-4, 6-1
Madison Co. 5, Apalachee 0
(March 12)
Winners:
•No. 1 S Molly Smith, W, 6-0,
6-2
•No. 2 S Jeannie Bowen, W,
6-0, 6-0
•No. 3 S Audra Minish, W, 6-3,
6-3
•No. 1 D Powers/LaZear, W,
6-1, 6-0
•No. 2 D Supakomdej, W, 6-1,
6-0
Madison Co. 4, Rockdale Co. 1
(March 11)
Winners:
•No. 1 S Molly Smith, W, 6-0,6-
0
•No. 2 S Bowen, W, 6-0, 6-2
•No. 1 D Powers/LaZear, W,
6-3, 6-2
•NO. 2 D Hale/Supakomdej,
W, 6-0, 6-1
Boys’ tennis ... continued from page IB
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Soccer
with a pair of quick scores at the
start of the second half.
Habersham then added two
more goals to go up 5-1, before
Crew Mayne chested a ball off of a
comer kick to beat the keeper.
“It’s one of the more unorthodox
goals I’ve seen scored as a coach,”
Mangan said.
Though Madison County lost,
Mangan noted that it wasn’t a
15-goal loss this time.
“Overall, I was pleased with how
the team played; it was a dramatic
improvement from the Habersham
. continued from
game last year," he said.
The Raiders entered the
Habersham game coming off a
3-2 loss to North Oconee.
Down 2-0, Madison County
scored its first goal when Jason
Bales played a punt up to Ian
Webster, who headed a perfect ball
in behind the defense. Ben Ortman
caught up with the ball and put in
the back of the net.
Madison County then tied the
game when Jake Sapp used some
“brilliant creative play,” according
to Mangan, to touch the ball back
page IB
to Austin Mize, who buried his
first career goal as a varsity player.
But North Oconee pulled ahead
again, scoring off a shot that car
omed off the post to go up 3-2.
Madison County couldn’t over
come the deficit in the last 10
minutes.
“The team was disappointed not
to come home with a win against
North Oconee; we felt we should
have gotten a better result than
that,” Mangan said.
match in three sets.
“Like the singles players,
the no. 1 doubles team of Jake
Scarborough and Chris Dove have
proven to be fighters," Strickland
said. "They’ve won the last two
matches in three sets and have
gained a ton of confidence.”
Madison County dropped its
only point of the day at no. 2
doubles.
“Were still working hard at no. 2
doubles,” Strickland said. "We’ve
lost some really close ones.”
The Raiders pulled off three
three-set victories to beat
Apalachee 3-2 March 12.
It marked the team’s first region
win.
The Madison County netters
lost the first set at every posi
tion, but Bowen, Branson and
the doubles team of Scarborough
and Dove each rallied to win their
matches.
The Raiders fell to Rockdale
County 3-2 one day earlier.
Madison County picked up both
its points in doubles play with the
teams of Dove and Scarborough
and Josh Dooley and Connor
Hancock prevailing.
Madison Co. 4, Winder-Barrow
1 (March 17)
•No. 1 S Bowen, W, 4-6, 6-4,
6-3
•No. 2 S Branson, W, 2-6, 6-3,
6-3
•No. 3 S Boleman, W, 6-2, 6-1
•No. 1 D Scarborough/Dove, W,
6-4, 3-6, 7-6
Madison Co. 3, Apalachee 2
(March 12)
Winners:
•No. 1 S Bowen, W, 1-6, 6-3,
6-2
•No. 2 S Branson, W, 4-6, 6-1,
6-0
•No. 1 D Dove/Scarborough, W,
5-7, 7-6, 6-2
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