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Sports More Than The Home Of The Braves The Atlanta Braves are winding up Spring training, preparing to go to Atlanta and make another run at a division title. That being so, I decided to de vote the majority of this column to something real important, the fate of Westfield and Perry High base ball teams. It is unfortunate that Westfield has gotten off to a 2-6 record for the first half of the year. They really are much better than that. One thing that points to their being a better team than their over all record is the fact that both of their wins have come in region games. When the games really mat ter, and region games really matter, the Hornets have managed to settle down and come out with wins. A second thing that points out to their being better than their record is the fact that they have played seven innings in every game. Bad teams don’t play seven innings. They hang around for five innings before the umpire merci fully ends the game with one team 10 points or more ahead. There have been very few games the Hornets have been out from the start this year. Earlier this year, Westfield had a bad habit of coming the game and, seemingly, leaving in the fifth or sixth innings. Unfortunately, as I have earlier noted, the game lasted seven in nings. However, and fortunately for Bert Brown, coach of the Hornets, Westfield has stopped that practice of late. The Hornets could very well be above .500, if they had not fallen apart late in several games. The Hornets have a chance to be a very good team. While their pitching is not exceptional, i.e., they do not have a pitcher or two capable of going out and overpow ering any team in the nation, in cluding those in the pros, it is very solid. Defense also seems to be solid. The pattern of Hornet errors seem to suggest lack of concentration rather than lack of leather in the field. But, as pointed out earlier, the Hornets are doing better of late keeping their heads in games, espe cially late in the game. The Hornets do, as many teams from schools their size do, have a problem with hitting in the bottom of the order. That could cause prob lems against teams like Tattnall, Windsor and Stratford later on. For that reason I don’t really see the Hornets threatening for a state championship. That being said, baseball is truly a game of defense and pitching. The Hornets defense and pitching are solid enough to keep them close in most games. Teams have been known to rise and fall on the arm of one or two pitchers. The Hornets are a very solid 2-6 team. If they can put it together at the right time and if the baseball “gods” smile down on them, well anything is possible. The same can also be said of the Perry Panthers. Coach Bob Jones has a young group of players play ing in the pit. In a year or two, don’t be too surprised if the Panthers make a strong run at a state championship, they should have the talent to go all the way. Youth and inexperience, how ever, pose a great challenge to the 94 Panther team. Although Jones can look to three seniors on the roster, he knows that day in and day out he will count on only Dallas Waldrip to be in the starting nine. Inexperience results in mental mistakes at the wrong time. Youth results in 14-year-old batters not having the physical maturation to get around on 18-year-old flame throwers. The only cure for inexpe rience is playing time. The only cure for youth is growing time. While generally solid throughout the order batting, the Panthers do lack some important numbers on the mound. Most teams would love to have the starting trio that mount the hill for the Panthers. Waldrip and Jason Brett are very solid, win producing pitchers. Troy Davis, a sophomore, has shown a great arm, allowing See Roley, page 7 A Panthers Remain In Region Race Beats Wayne County By VETO F. ROLEY Sun WrlUr Jason Brett and Wendall Spradley engaged in a pitching war Saturday afternoon, with Brett silencing Wayne County’s bats and Spradley silencing Perry’s bats. However, when the smoke had cleared away, Brett and the Panthers had won the war 4-1. Perry would score three runs in the first two innings of play to give Brett the cushion he needed to work with for the remainder of the game. For the first six innings of play, Brett would allow only one Yellow Jacket runner to get into scoring position, Matt Bennett with two outs in the third. Brett, who pitched the complete game, gave up only five hits and one walk. “I was very pleased with the way he threw,” said Perry coach Bob Jones, who noted Brett only threw 87 pitches in the game. “He stayed ahead of the hitters and had good control. He let the kids back him up. jL A ' ' ' - - Jfc. BM .*6 ■■ ' . *SSfc-s3 Troy Davis prepares to come home as a Jones County runner Inches off third. Golfers Compete In Weekend Matches By VETO F. ROLEY Staff Writer The Perry High School Panther golf team met the Innsburk Golf Course in White County, with the golf course coming out ahead. Competing in the White County Invitational, the Panthers came in sixth of 21 teams, finishing the 36 hole tournament with a 683, 35 strokes behind the leader. Stan Gann was the leader for the Perry duffers, finishing as low medalist for the Panthers with a two day total of 160, 16 strokes ahead of Andrew Willard, who fin ished the weekend event with a 176. Westfield Maintains Region Lead With 8-7 Win By Phil Clark Spoctal to the HTJ Bert Brown's Westfield Hornets have won just two games going into the spring break, but fortunately both have come in region 2AAA. Friday at Morgan Field in Macon, Thad Hawk was the hitting star as the Hornets beat the Mount de Sales Cavaliers 8-7 to improve to 2-0 in the region, taking the early lead over Tattnall, losers Friday to Athens Christian. Tattnall is 1-1. ] Westfield returns from the break with a game Thursday at John Milledge, then will meet Tattnall at home Friday afternoon in a region game. Westfield jumped out to an early lead in the Mount de Sales game. Clay Smith reached on an error but was forced by Sheldon Shelton. But Hawk came through with the first of three run-scoring doubles, driving in Shelton with the first run of the game. Westfield added two more in the inning as Hawk came around to score on a Billy Kitchens single. Matt Shepley forced Kitchens, but Brian Staines came through with the Hornets second double of the inning to score Shepley and give the Hornets a 3-0 lead. After Lon Talton retired the Cavaliers in the second on a “He was in command, even though he is not overpowering,” Jones said of Brett, who struck out only three batters on the day. “That is the key to Jason (Bren) having success. Don’t walk anybody and make them hit it.” With one out in the first, Terry Yawn got the Perry offense going with a single to right. Brett fol lowed with a single to center to put runners on first and second. Dallas Waldrip put the first two Perry runs across the plate with a double to left-center. Perry scored its run in the second without the help of a hit. Jamal Reynolds led the inning off with a walk, moving to second on Jamie Walker’s slow grounder to second. Nathan Long tapped a grounder to third. The Yellow Jacket third baseman flipped the ball across the diamond. However, the Wayne County firstbaseman dropped the ball, putting runners on the comers. Reynolds would score on a wild pitch to give the Panthers a 3-0 See Win, page 7A Woody Sundquist shot a 179, Jim Birdsong a 182 and Paul Smith a 191 to round out the Panther team. “We shot well the first day,” said coach Johnny Barton. After 18 holes, the Panthers were fourth on the leader board with a 333. However, Perry shot 17 shots worse the second day to move out of contention and into sixth place. “The course was extremely tough,” said Barton, who added that it showed no mercy to bad shots. “It was a very hilly course with nar row fairways. If you hit a ball out of the fairways, it was disaster.” harmless single, Westfield went back to work at the plate. Troy Nuss was hit by a pitch to open the inning and after a Talton single moved him into scoring position, Nuss scored on a Clay Smith fielders choice. Later in the inning, Hawk delivered his second double of the game plating Shelton, who had also reached on a fielders choice. Smith also scored in the inning, making it 6-0 Westfield after two and a half innings. The Cavaliers used three singles and a walk to produce a run in their half of the third, but Westfield promptly got it back in the top of the fourth without the benefit of a hit. A hit batsman, two walks and an RBI grounder by Clay Smith got the run in as Westfield regained the six-run lead. But the wheels came off defensively for Westfield in the Cavaliers fourth as two errors, a misplayed pop fly and a muffed run-down play between third and home help Mount de Sales to five runs in the inning to cut the lead to a single run at 7-6. Kevin DeMichiel led off with a single, followed by a single by Cobb, a double by Hale and a wa;lk to Keen. The walk chased Talton in favor of freshman Staines, who got 1 A Wayne County runner dives back ahead of Jason Brett’s throw Jamal Reynolds. Barton said course management was the key to success on the Innsburk course. “The course pays a premium for people who keep the golf ball in the fairways,” he said. “Course management is critical, ex tremely important. In high school play, it is probably one of the last things young players learn.” On Monday, it was Willard, in stead of Gann, who set the pace for the Panthers in the Tift Blue Devil Invitational. Willard finished with a 75, taking home sixth place honors in a 105 golfer event. Willard fin ished four shots behind low medal- See Golf, page /A a fly ball out before a Keith Hatcher single and an infield error. By now, three runs were in with JBBftaP * % Wm -’■jk *7 . JNI >$ Brian Staines gets a Mt. de Sales batter to swing at a pitch In Macon. Houston Hmes-Joumot Page 6A But Loses To Jones By VETO F. ROLEY Staff Writer Perhaps they shouldn’t have can celled Hawkinsville to make up with Jones County. The Panthers were scheduled to face the Greyhounds from Jones County on Thursday, but rain mov ing through the area caused the game to be postponed. For Friday, Perry had scheduled a short bus ride down 341 to take on Hawkinsville. However, Hawkinsville was a non-region game, and Jones County was a region foe. The one day delay had little effect on the Greyhounds, who are expected to compete with Ware County for the region title, with Jones County taking Perry 6- 1. Greyhound pitcher Rico Washington had his way with the Panther batters, who managed just one run and three hits against the hard throwing lefty. Washington sent 15 batters back to the Panther dug out with a third strike, eight after looking at the third strike and Pirates Hijack Panther Netters By VETO F. ROLEY Staff Writer It’s been a long season for the Perry Panther men’s team, who have lost all six of their 1994 matches. Saturday, the season got longer as the Appling County Pirates took the Panthers 5-0 in a region match. The women’s team also lost to the Pirates 5-0, moving the Lady Panthers to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the region. Even though his men’s team is 0-6, tennis coach Luke Smith said there has been improvement over the year. “If you gauge success by winning, then we are not doing well,” he said. “But, if you gauge it (success) by improvement, then we are doing well. See Tennis, page 7A two runners still on base. Herndon’s single plated another and the fifth run of the inning scored on another Wednesday, March 30,1994 "Houston Times-Journal seven swinging. “He (Washington) did a great job,” said Bob Jones, who added that Washington could also throw his breaking ball for strikes. “He was extremely tough. He did throw it by some of us.” Some of Washington’s strike outs came because the 17-year-old senior was pitching against 14-year old freshmen who had a difficult time getting the bat around. “We didn’t have the bat speed to get around on the pitches,” said Jones. “A iot of bat speed is strength. That’s just maturation.” Jones County was able to take advantage of several Panther mis cues, including three errors and a bunt hit that was not covered by the pitcher, in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. The Greyhounds would add a single ran in the fifth and two in the sixth to take a commanding 6-0 lead before the Panthers would be able to mount a serious threat. See Loss, page 7A infield error. DeMichiel ended the inning, tapping back to the pitcher See Westfield, page 7A