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o o The Madison County Journal INSIDE THIS WEEK IB MCYA signups ahead MCYA football and cheerleading registra tion dates and times have been __p__ announced KO Si Thursday, April 16, 2009 www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS. com Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567 Ian Drake throws over to first Friday dur ing Madison County’s 10-0 loss to Loganville. The setback dropped the Raiders to 11-2 in region play. The team was still tied for first in 8-AAAAat press time. Ben Munro/ MainStreet Newspapers Baseball Raiders look to recover from rout By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Loganville unloaded on Madison County Friday before the rain had a chance to. The Red Devils beat the Red Raiders 10-0 in five innings in Loganville. ending the game just before serious thunderstorms drenched north Georgia. Madison County (15-4. 11-2) hasn’t returned to the field since. The Raiders' Monday contest with Monroe Area was canceled 8-AAAA Standings Madison Co. 11-2 Heritage 11-2 Loganville 9-3 Winder-Barrow 9-4 Salem 8-5 Clarke Central 6-6 Rockdale Co. 6-7 Apalachee 5-8 Hab. Central 3-10 Cedar Shoals 1-11 Monroe Area 1-12 twice due to rain. The two teams will play today (Thursday) in Danielsville at 5:30 p.m. Madison County moves on to face Habersham Central at home Friday at 6:20 p.m. At press time, Madison County and Heritage were tied atop the Region 8-AAAA standings. The beating at the hands of Loganville was a reverse of the 12-2 stomping the Raiders administered to the Red Devils on March 17. “It was kind of like, different team, but the same thing that happened when we played them first" Griffeth said. — See ‘Baseball’ on 2B Ceremony ‘92 Raider team to be honored Fri. By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com The 1992 Madison County baseball team had just three seniors, a largely unproven pitching staff and a litany of early-season injuries. Yet the Raiders nearly won it all 17 years ago in LOOKING BACK... •Madison County’s 1992 state runner- up team will be honored Friday at 5:30 p.m. before the Raider baseball game with Habersham Central. Class AAA. “They were just out there playing ... There weren’t any expecta tions," said Charlie Griffeth, who’s coached Madison County for the past 22 seasons. “They were just playing and having fun.” Those Raiders ended up having plenty of fun, post ing a 26-7 record and appearing in the state finals that year against Columbus. The Madison County baseball pro gram will honor that accomplishment Friday at 5:30 p.m. before the Raiders’ matchup against Habersham Central. Griffeth said Friday’s ceremony hon oring the 1992 team would be similar to last year’s recognition of the 1998 squad. After a modest 13-10 campaign in 1991, Madison County could have been easily decimated by injuries in 1992. Starting catcher and offensive cata lyst Joe Alewine went down in an early season game, and third base- man Chris Smith and shortstop Jason Autry were both lost for the season. But Alewine eventually returned. Jason Pierce stepped up to fill the void at third. And sophomore Kevin Fowler wowed coaches as Autry's replacement at shortstop, hr fact, Griffeth said Fowler's performance “was probably as good a shortstop play that we’ve ever had since I've been here." While Raider pitching "was up in the air,” in the preseason according to Griffeth, the team soon found a solid nucleus in Casey Bates, who pitched as a freshman in 1991; Chris Adams, who "stepped up and had a great year," Ben Hemphill, who turned out a “great year," as well; and Joey Cheek, one of the team's three seniors (Alewine and Clay Strickland were the other two). Though the 1992 Raiders had fun playing the game, the group also took it very seriously. Griffeth — See‘1992’on2B High school tennis Ready for region Audra Minish competes at no. 3 singles for the Lady Raiders in their Thursday victory over Winder-Barrow. The Madison County girls’ tennis team has earned a no. 1 seed for the region tournament. Ben Munro/MainStreet Newspapers •Coming Up: Region 8-AAAA Tennis Tournament: April 16-17 @ Madison Co. High School Lady Raiders finish off perfect subregion run By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com The Madison County girls' tennis team hopes the region tournament goes much like the regular season did. The Lady Raiders (12-2, 10-0) finished with an unblem ished mark in 8A-AAAA play, beating Habersham Central 4-1 Tuesday. Madison County now carries a no. 1 seed into the region tournament, which starts today at Madison County High School. “The girls wrapped up a great subregion going 10-0,” coach Keith Strickland said. Before beating Habersham Central, Madison County routed both Winder-Barrow and Clarke Central. Madison County proved more dominant in its rematch with Winder-Barrow April 9 than in the initial meeting. Winder-Barrow altered its lineup, but it mattered little as the Lady Raiders coasted to a 5-0 win. The Lady Bulldoggs moved their no. 2 singles player to bolster its no. 2 doubles team, but Alexia Supakomdej and Kaitlyn Hale responded with a 6-4, 7-5 win. At no. 3 singles, Audra Minish won in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to avenge a loss to Crystal Powell earlier this season. — See ‘Girls’ tennis’ on 2B Rejuvenated Raiders netter cap regular season with big win By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Madison County (9-5, 8-2) kept itself in contention for a coveted no. 1 seed in the region tournament, toppling Habersham Central 3-2 Tuesday. The Raiders finished 8-2 in the subregion, but their positioning in the region tournament wasn’t determined at press time. Madison County hosts the region tournament which starts today (Thursday). "The boys played a tough oppo nent very well coming out on top this time,” coach Keith Strickland said of Tuesday’s win. Strickland noted Marcus Bowen's marathon three-set win at no. 1 singles (7-5, 6-7, 7-5), while both doubles teams finished out three- set matches with dominating per formances in the final sets. Prior to beating Habersham Central, the Raiders lost a close subregion battle to Winder-Barrow, April 9, with the visiting Bulldoggs taking the top two singles and no. 1 doubles matches to edge Madison County. Two of the three Raider loses came in three-set affairs, including a lively match at no. 1 doubles. Strickland called that encounter “the most dramatic match of the day." After dropping the first set 7-5, the tandem of Jake Scarborough and Chris Dove won a tie-breaker to take the second set. However, Scarborough suffered leg cramps in the final set and the team could not hold on. Madison County picked up wins from Blaise Boleman at no. 3 sin gles and Connor Hancock and Josh Dooley at no. 2 doubles. Boleman won his match in three — See ‘Tennis’ on 2B Boggs, May named Athletes of Week Madison County High School golfer Cortney Boggs and pitcher Jack May have been named Athletes of the Week by the school's athletic department. Boggs was hon ored for earning team low medalist honors in two matches last week. She shot 49 against Elbert County April 6 and 45 against Banks County and Rabun County April 8. May was recognized for hurling a two-hit, complete-game shut out against Salem in Madison County’s 10-0 win over the Seminoles April 8. He struck out five batters and walked MAY Boys’ Soccer Valient effort falls short Raiders lose on penalty kicks Despite one of its most inspired perfor mances of the season, Madison County's bid for a .500 season ended with a heart-wrenching loss to Winder-Barrow Monday. Madison County fell to the Bulldoggs 2-1, losing 5-4 on penalty kicks to drop to 6-9 with just one game remaining. "It was a heartbreak ing loss," coach Trevor Mangan said. “The team played extremely hard and I could not have been more proud of their efforts. Both the Winder coach and I agreed it was a bad way to settle such a great game,” — See ‘soccer’ on 2B Senior Spencer Baird throws the ball in during recent action. Ben Munro/MainStreet Newspapers Priscilla Pruett strikes the ball dur ing recent Lady Raider soccer action. The Madison County girls’ soccer team finished its season Monday with a loss to Winder- Barrow, end ing the year at 3-11-2. Ben Munro/ staff Girls Soccer Lady Raiders fall in finale MCHS finishes three-win season With its offense unable to convert scoring opportunities, the Madison County girls' soccer team lost to Winder- Barrow 4-0 Monday, finishing the season at 3-11-2. “We had some very good chances, but we could not capi talize on any of them,” interim coach Trent Wilkes said. “It’s a tough loss for the final game of the season, especially for our seniors, but we have some tal ented players returning and are looking forward to next year.” Wilkes took over for Susanna Hawley during the final stretch of the season. Hawley is on maternity leave. "I was very proud of the way the girls played while I had the opportunity to coach them,” Wilkes said. The seniors at least won their final home game three days earlier, beating winless Cedar Shoals 3-1 in Danielsville — See ‘girls soccer’ on 2B Track Raiders finish fifth at Jefferson Madison County finished fifth out of 12 teams in the large school division at the Jefferson Relays Saturday, though it could have placed much higher. Three disqualifications kept the Raider track team from a top-three finish. “The kids and I know we should have done better ... Saturday is behind us as we are focused on region coming up," Coach Marty Tate said. The Region 8-AAAA boys’ meet is April 22 and 24 at Monroe Area High School. T.J. McGuire had the most prolific day for the Raiders, finishing third in the high jump and third in the 110-meter hurdles. He — See ‘track’ on 2B KendrickButlercompetesduring Saturday’s meet at Jefferson. Justin Poole/MainStreet Newspapers