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Fishing is a family affair—BA
Sports
PhiT
jSgW Clark
Clark looks at
the weekend's
games
We did a little better in week
two of our predictions, hitting nine
our of ten.
The only miss was Tift County
and Coffee. Our pick was Coffee,
but Tift rebounded from an
opening night loss to Worth
County and beat Coffee 21-17.
Before we get into this week's
picks, there are a couple of things
to point out. First, the four defend
ing GHSA champions are having a
rough time early in the year.
In Quad-A, Dunwoody is now C
-2; in AAA, Thomas County
Central is 0-2; in AA, Greene-
Taliaferro lost their opener Friday
night to Houston County, and in
Class A, Lincoln County is 1-1,
bouncing back to beat McCormick,
S.C. after a season opening loss to
Washington-Wilkes.
So all four defending champions
lost their openers, and are a com
bined 1-6 this year.
The other things, with region re
classification, many area regions
have more teams. Consequently,
all games played from here on out
by the four GHSA schools in
Houston County will be region
games.
Now, let's get down to the busi -
ness of picking this week's games.
In the GISA, Stratford thakes a
3-0 record to Sandersville to play a
2-0 Brentwood team that's highly
regarded. Region 4AAA doesn't do
well against Region 3AAA. This
will be no exception. Stratford is
the defending GISA AAA cham
pion, and is making a strong bid to
repeat. Phil's pick, Stratford.
Westfield will host John
Milledge, another Region lAAA-
Region 4AAA matchup. Ronnie
Jones will turn has wing-T loose
on the Trojans, and we could see
backup quarterback Ben Hulbert
take a few snaps late in the game.
Westfield is 2-0, coming off an
open date. Milledge is 2-1. Phil's
pick, Westfield.
Baldwin at Warner Robins, a
Region 2AAAA matchup that's
usually close when it's played in
Milledgeville, but no so in Warner
Robins. The game is at
McConnell-Talbert Stadium. Nuff
said. Phil's pick, Warner Robins.
Northside and Southeast Macon.
Southeast won their opener a cou
ple of weeks ago, and matched
their total number of wins of a year
ago.
It will be another long season for
Jimmy Hammond at Southeast, be
cause the region schedule has be
gun. It will be just the second game
of the year for the Eagles after a
season opening victory over
Griffin. The Eagles make it 2-0
under Conrad Nix. Phil's pick,
Northside.
Forest Park at Upson-Lee. This
is a matchup of unbeaten teams
from opposite sub-regions of
4AAAA. Though Forest Park is
unbeaten, they are unranked in the
GHSA top 10, at least at this writ
ing.
However, they beat number
seven Parkview Friday night.
There's a world of difference in
number seven Parkview and num -
ber one Upson-Lee, as Forest Park
will find out. Phil's pick, Upson-
Lee.
East Hall at Macon County. It
will be the third straight Class AA
opponent for the thrid ranked class
A Bulldogs. They have beaten Tri
County and Sumter County by a
combined 101-0 in the first two
games, and feature a quick,
swarming defense.
East Hall is 1-1, and the trip
home from Montezuma to
Gainsville Friday night will be a
long one. Phil's pick is Macon
County, now sole owners of the
GHSA's longest regular season
winning streak, 25, and the best
winning percentage in the GHSA
in the decade of the 90s (.976) with
a regular season record of 41-1
over that period.
Phil's other picks include
Thomas County at Coffee County.
Ed Pilcher at Thomas has won two
straight state titles, and was a fron -
Please see Clark, page 9A
Kelly Stevens first at PCC
By VETO F. ROLEY
Sports Editor
Kelly Stevens became the first
junior champion at Perry Country
Club to win a major championship
at the club, taking home the Ladies
Club Championship Sept. 10-11.
And, it wasn't even close.
At the close of play Saturday,
Stevens had a commanding lead of
six strokes over her nearest com
petitor, Terri Dicks, in overall play.
She was also third in the battle for
the President's Cup (lowest net
score), trailing Nita Bridges by four
strokes and and Margie Franklin by
two.
On Sunday, Stevens completed
the 18 holes at the course 10
Hornets split with Southland
By VETO F. ROLEY
Sports Editor
After playing doormat to the two
top teams in the G.I.S.A. Region
lAAA, Westfield struck back early
Thursday, beating Southland in a
region tiff 8-0.
The scuttling of the Raiders
broke a four game losing streak by
the Lady Hornets. However, the
Hornets were not so fortunate in the
night-cap of the double header, los
ing 8-5, despite a late rally.
The first game saw the two
teams deadlocked through the first
two innings of play, until the
Hornets stung the Raiders with two
in the third and fourth and four in
the fifth.
Ashlee McCord started the
Hornet third with a walk. Bristol
Sullivan singled. However, it took
a two-out double by Mary
Katherine Walker to get the two
runs across the plate.
In the fourth, Jennifer Smith
reached on an error by the shortstop
and Stephanie Barr singled to put
runners on first and second. Posey
followed with a double to make the
score 4-0 in favor of the Hornets.
The fifth inning saw the biggest
Hornet explosion of the day.
Windy Biggers started the inning
with a walk. A single by Walker
put runners a first and second. Julie
Fryer doubled to put runners at sec
ond and third.
One out later, Barr doubled to
center to raise the score to 7-0 in
favor of Westfield. Laura Posey fol
lowed with a single to put runners
on the comers. Jennifer Stewart fol
lowed with a single to plate the
eighth run of the game.
McCord pitched the game for
Hornets, getting the shutout on six
hits and an error.
The second game started well for
the Hornets. Claire Hart singled to
left and Biggers walked to put run
ners on first and second. A grounder
by Walker moved the runners up to
second and third, where Hart scored
on Fryer's grounder to second.
Unfortunately for the Hornets,
that would be the last offensive dis
play for the Hornets until the fifth
inning.
The Raiders used the quiet time
Peach County runs Perry out of Fort Valley with strong defense
By VETO F. ROLEY
Sports Editor
Peach County head coach Donald
Walker broke the wishbone Friday
night and got what he wanted, a re
sounding 27-7 thumping of Perry.
The final outcome could have
even been worse, but Walker called
off his shock troops, choosing not
to rub in the Panther defeat late in
the game.
"They were a lot better football
team than I gave them credit for,"
said Perry head coach John
Stephens. "They did a good job.
They were more aggressive as a
team than they were last year."
One of the problems faced by the
Panthers was that they did not play
with intensity, said Stephens.
"We had people on defense that
were a little tentative," said
Stephens. "We did not play with
the intensity that we did against
Jordan.
"It was almost like we were
playing to keep from losing instead
of playing to win. We didn't have
the abandon, the intensity, it takes
to win."
Other than the opening drive, the
Panther offense was kept in check
all night long by the Trojans. The
Panthers were also hurt by poor
tackling, although Stephens said
that was caused in part by good
strokes faster than any other player
to take the women's championship
over Terri Dicks by 16 holes.
Stevens completed the sweep of
the championship trophies, taking
home the President's Cup by finish
ing with a net score of 134, two
strokes better than Bridges and 12
strokes better than Franklin.
"It was fun," said Stevens of her
win. She said that she took each
round of the tournament one hole at
a time.
Stevens won the junior champi
onship at the club in 1982, holding
championship status for five years.
She later went to the University of
Alabama at Birmingham, where she
played for the Blazers.
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Stephanie Barr (shortstop) watches as Laura Posey
attempts to turn the double play at Southland.
at the plate to gain some revenge.
In the bottom of the first, the
Raiders struck Westfield hard. After
Kristy Ward slapped a double down
the first base line, Southland was
up on the Hornets 3-0.
Southland would ad two in the
third and three in the fifth. The fifth
run rally was highlighted by Susan
Newberry's double and Kerri
South's triple.
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■ 11 m ■ <-
Emily Mathis prepares to pull a fly ball in at the Lee
County Tournament Saturday as Kristen Shipes backs
the play up.
Trojan runningbacks.
"The main thing was that the of
fense couldn't get anything going to
keep the defense off the field," said
Stephens.
"I don’t know why we didn't lock
up (on tackling)," said Stephens,
who said the Panthers had worked
on tackling throughout the week
leading to the Peach County game.
The Panthers started the game on
fire, with Dexter Kendrick bringing
the opening kick back to the
Panther 39. Five plays later
Kendrick broke through from 10
yards out for the only Perry score of
the night.
Jarvis Stripling (20 yards) and
Kiwaukee Thomas (12 yards) would
also rip through the Peach County
defense. Kendrick would add a run
of 14 yards in the drive.
Jason Brett nailed the PAT to
give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
Brett would almost get the ensu
ing kickoff into the endzone.
However, Capus Bryant faded back
to his one yard line and caught the
ball and headed up field. Before he
was caught, the Trojan back made
inside the Perry 20.
Five plays later, Melvin Oates
powered in from inches away, and
the rout was on.
Stephens said afterwards dial the
Wednesday
Sept 14,1994 ■ «
the first day of the tournament, ana
a 72 (65 net on the second day of
the tournament).
In the championship flight,
Jackie Beeland was the net winner,
shooting a two day total of 143
(169 gross), three shots better than
Dicks (146 net, 164 gross). Alice
Ray (180 gross, 150 net) was third
in net scoring.
In the first flight Sarah Hawkins
was die leading finisher, coming
into the clubhouse with a gross
score of 182 (148 net) after 36
holes. Betty Lewis (193), Myrt
Donaldson (195) and Franklin (196)
fought for third place in the first
flight.
Please see Golf, page 9A
After scoring once in the top of
the fifth, the Hornets would make a
run in the sixth and seventh in
nings.
With one out, Fryer would reach
on an infield error. A single by
Smith and a double to left bv Barr
would put one run across, leaving
two runners in scoring position.
One out later, Stewart would
Please see Hornets, page 9A
return by Bryant stunned the
Panthers, calling it the key play of
the game. "We never did regroup
after that.”
The Trojans scored their second
''' ’ tr ' ' >•'. •
Quincy Kendrick brings down Peach County quarterback Jacques Rumph du .g
Friday night's loss to the Trojans.
Wednesday, September 14,1994, Houston Times -Journal
HLCC named a top course—9A
jgi|. .
Kelly Stevens easily won both the President's Cup and
Ladies' Championship at Perry Country Club.
Panthers play nine
By VETO F. ROLEY
Sports Editor
The Panthers played for many
teams what would be a season last
week, playing four regular season
games and five games in the Lee
County Invitational.
The Panthers started their week
winning a slugfest with Peach
County 17-13, and ended the week
with a come from behind region
win over Bleckly County 8-7 in ex
tra innings.
In between the two games, the
Panthers stopped West Laurens in
region play and lost to Jordan in
Columbus. In the Lee County
tournament in Tifton, the Panthers
won three of five games, coming
up from the "losers" bracket after
being beaten by Albany in their
first game. Cook County would
short circuit the Panthers champi
onship hopes with an 11-1 win.
The Panthers would go home
from Tifton holding the fourth
place trophy. The week leaves the
Panthers with all-6.
Against Peach County, the
Panthers exchanged big innings
early with the Trojans. The
Panthers scored six runs in the bot
tom of the first only to see the
Trojans storm back with 10 runs in
the third to take a 12-10 lead.
The Panther defense would setde
down and give up only one more
touchdown just before the first quar
ter expired, with Jacques Rumph
hitting Edward Mathis on a 16 yard
pass play for six.
Houston Times-Journal
run in the game, that in the seventh
inning.
Perry would score four in the
fifth to take the game offensively,
highlighted by Shanetia Gilbert's
two run single with two out. In the
sixth inning, Perry would cement
their win with three runs on only
one hit, taking advantage of three
Trojan errors.
On Thursday, the Panthers
would even their region record with
a squeaker over West Laurens.
After falling behind 4-2 late in
the game, the Panthers would stage
a sixth inning rally to beat West
Laurens. Once again, the Panthers
would take advantage of opponent's
mistakes. Katie McClintic drove a
sacrifice fly to right to score April
Fendley, and Kristen Shipes singled
to drive in Katherine Blount who
reached on a single.
Gilbert got the third run across,
singling in Smith.
However, West Laurens mounted
a seventh inning comeback high
lighted by Lashonna Wright's triple
to lead the inning off. Although
Wright would come around to
store, the Panthers were able to get
out with the win.
Although the Panthers were able
to come home with the fourth place
finish in Tifton, they were almost
two games and out
Please see Panthers, page 9A
Rumph would also run for a 15
yard score late in the first half, and
a two yard score late in the third pe
riod.
Page 7A
