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PAGE 3B — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MARCH 26. 2009 Baseball continued from page IB 17-1 romp over Monroe Area March 18, followed by a 15-5 shelling of Franklin County Friday. The carnage continued Monday as the Raiders routed Habersham Central 13-0, extending their win ning streak to seven games. "A lot of it has to do with the mental aspect," Griffeth said. "If you get a few guys hitting, you know, guys think I can hit this guy, too ... It's contagious.” But the coach wants to guard against complacency. Griffeth remembers one year in particular when his Raiders run- ruled every opponent during the second half of the region schedule. But the easy wins didn’t help Madison County in the postseason. "Then we got to the playoffs and we lose two in a row because we didn’t know how to play a tight game," Griffeth said. So Madison County continues to simulate close games in practice, even if they're not happening that way on the field. "We had a good practice Sunday, trying to put some pressure in situations, so that you stay sharp so you are ready,” Griffeth said. "Because there’s going to be a game soon that we’re going to have to fight and claw and win 3-2." Madison County’s Monday victory over Habersham Central appeared to be heading in that direction. The Raiders led only 2-0 head ing into the fifth inning before unloading 11 runs to end the game early. A succession of Habersham Central errors opened up the flood gates for Madison County. "It should have been 2-0 game after that inning," Griffeth noted. Seth Fleming, went l-for-2, hitting a grand slam in the fifth inning. Matt Kennison went 2-for- 3, and Bo Dalton and Ian Drake each drove home two mns in Madison County’s fifth region win. Winning pitcher Jack May threw four and two-thirds innings, allow ing just one hit, hitting one batter and striking out three. Matthew Robinson threw one-third of an inning, striking out one. Madison County steamrolled Franklin County 15-5 three days earlier. The Raiders pushed six mns across the board in the first inning — all with two outs — and six more in the second en route to another run-rule shortened victory this year. Dalton drove home five mns to lead the Raiders offen sively. Bracken Turner and Ethan Seagraves collected two RBIs each. Ben Morris started, working three shutout innings for the vic tory. Dustin Roberts pitched a perfect fourth inning, but the Lion bats broke the shutout against Matt Kennison in the fifth inning. “It was good to get those guys work," Griffeth said of his pitching staff. Prior to that win, Madison County enjoyed an afternoon of homemn derby in its 17-1 plaster ing of Monroe Area March 18. Roberts went 3-for-4 and hom- ered twice while Robison, Drake, Fleming, Dean, Seagraves all went deep as well. Griffeth was hard-pressed to recall that many round-trippers in a single game by one of his teams. “I don’t know. It would have to be "92 or ’93 if we ever did at all," Griffeth said. Up 2-0, Madison county scored four times in the third inning and seven in the fourth to turn the game into a rout. Seagraves started and worked four shutout innings for the win, surrendering one hit and striking out five. Robinson pitched the fifth inning, allowing a hit, a walk and an unearned mn. Girls’ tennis .... continued from page IB decisively against the Lady Gladiators Tuesday as it shutout another Region 8A-AAAA team. “Our girls put the pressure on early and took all the matches in straight sets," Strickland said. The Lady Raiders came into the match following a non-region loss a day earlier. Madison County won at both doubles positions, but fell in singles play in a 3-2 loss to North Oconee Monday. “We had some really good play from our doubles teams,” Strickland said. "We knew going into this match that they would be a very tough team to beat." Sarah Powers and Sam LaZear won 6-3,6-3 at no. 1 doubles, while Alexia Supakomdej and Kaitlyn Hale prevailed in two tie-breakers to win their match in straight sets at no. 2 doubles. Supakomdej and Hale have not lost a set in the last seven matches. Prior to that, Madison County blanked Cedar Shoals 5-0 March 19 to move to 4-0 in the subregion. The Lady Raiders won in straight sets at four of five positions as they dominated another 8A-AAAA foe. ‘ ‘The girls know the key is to make the opponent remember the last time you played them,” Strickland said. "Winning the first match-up is very important to establishing your self as a player and a team. No. 1 and 2 singles players Molly Smith and Jeannie Bowen both won in straight sets, while Audra Minish’s match went to three sets. "Our singles ladies go on the court and know what their roles are," Strickland said. Both doubles teams won con vincingly. "Sarah Powers and Sam LaZear have really gelled as a team,” Strickland said. “They get bet ter with every outing. Alexia Supakomdej and Kaitlyn Hale round out the depth that we have on the girls' team.” CORRECTION: It was incor rectly reported last week that the girls’ team was seeking its sec ond-straight region title. Madison County finished as runners-up to Dacula last year. Winners from recent action: MCHS 5, Clarke Central 0 (March 24) •No. 1 S Smith, W, 6-0, 6-0 •No. 2 S Bowen, W, 6-1, 6-1 •No. 3 S Minish, W, 6-4, 7-5 •No. 1 D Powers/LaZear, W, 6-0, 6-1 •No. 2 D Supakomdei/Hale, W, 6-0, 6-0 No. Oconee 3, MCHS 2 (March 23) •No. 2 D Powers/LaZear, W, 6-3, 6- 3 •No. 3 D Supakomdei/Hale, W, 7- 6, 7-6 MCHS 5, Cedar Shoals 0 (March 19) •No. 1 S Smith, W, 6-0, 6-0 •No. 2 S Bowen, W, 6-2, 6-1 •No. 3 S Minish, W, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 •No. 1 D Powers/LaZear, W, 6-2, 6-0 •No. 2 D Supakomdei/Hale, W, 6-1, 6-0 — Sports roundup Lady Raider outburst breaks shutout streak Madison Co. downs Elbert 7-2 The Madison County girls" soccer team (2-8- 2) scored over twice as many goals in one after noon as it had all season in laying the wood to Elbert County Friday. The Lady Raiders won 7-2, snapping a three- game losing skid. "It was certainly nice to win for once," coach Susanna Hawley said. The onslaught of goals was a welcomed sight for the Lady Raiders. The victory came on the heels of three shutout losses by an aggregate 16-0 score. Madison County had scored just three goals all season going into the game. However, Jessie Cunningham helped change that, scoring three goals followed by Abby Atkinson, Renee Ellisor, Danielle Kindley and Jenna Jansen who each added one. With the game in hand, Madison County put goalie Morgan Pierce in the field for the final 15 minutes, “which she enjoyed as a change of pace from previous games of being constantly under fire with shots,” Hawley said. Madison County hoped for a second-straight win when it faced Jefferson Tuesday, but the Lady Raiders again tied the Lady Dragons. A flat start led to an early 1-0 deficit, but Madison County rebounded to tie the game off a direct kick just outside their box, served in by Maria DesJardines and put in the net by Jenna Jansen. Little takes second at Lavonia Comer’s Jimmy Little finished second in the Stock Four Cylinder class on opening night at Lavonia Speedway. The Stock Four race would prove the most dramatic of the night with Justin Lord powering past Little and Kevin Kelley to win the event on the last lap. Raider golf team wins, Wilmont is low medalist Jake Wilmont earned low medalist honors as Madison County got back into the win col umn with a 186-212 victory over Clarke Central Tuesday at Athens Country Club. Wilmont carded a 43, followed by Matt Papp (47), Jacob Fleming (48), Brody Dudley (48) and Colton Phillips (48). In junior varsity action, Nathan Bray shot a 48 and Daniel Townsend finished with a 49. "Seven of the nine kids I took out there broke 50, so that was a good thing,” said coach Chris Smith. Smith noted that the teams played the north course, which features a tighter, more difficult layout. Madison County has a match scheduled for today (Thursday) with Elbert County before host ing the annual event. Last week, Madison County lost to Franklin County 187-193 March 18 at Sunrise Golf Course. Madison County’s Brianna Dills is pic tured here in recent action. The Lady Raiders drilled Elbert County 7-2 Friday. Ben Munro/staff Jake Wilmont and Jacob Fleming shot 44, but Matt Papp (48) was the only other Raider to break 50. Colton Phillips shot a 47 in JV action. MCHS golfers to host tourney — weather permitting Nineteen teams are lined up to tee off in the annual Madison County Invitational this week end if Mother Nature sees fit. The tournament is scheduled for Saturday morning at 8 a.m. at Double Oaks Golf Course if the course isn’t drenched with precipitation by then. "If it rains the next three days and we get any kind of rain on Saturday morning, I don’t know that we'll get it in,” Raider coach Chris Smith said Tuesday. With the other teams’ tournament schedules pretty much set, he’s not sure the event could be rescheduled. "I'm not saying we won’t," Smith said. “We could possibly reschedule.” Defending champion Athens Academy is among the field of teams, as is Peachtree Ridge, which shot a collective four-under-par at the Apple Mountain Invitational earlier this year. "They're pretty strong,” Smith said. Three region teams are also part of the lineup — Clarke Central, Heritage and Habersham Central, likely the top team in Region 8-AAAA, according to Smith. Madison County has a match scheduled for today (Thursday) with Elbert County before hosting the annual event. PUBLIC NOTICE The City of Ila will be having a curbside limb removal on April 4, 2009, for those residents who had limbs to fall due to the snow. Limbs must be on roadside to be picked up. Family Car Care ^ |iv, Ihn 7± tanl. 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