Newspaper Page Text
2B
♦ FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2003
WRALL
From page 1B
in the first, as he was the first to
benefit from the West’s errors.
Aguilar walked in the second
inning and utilized shifty base
running to add the East’s fifth
run. The East capped the scor
ing with their sixth run in the
bottom of the sixth.
“We just need to come togeth
er, play as a team and minimize
our errors,” Fortenberry
explained. We need to keep hit
ting the ball the way we’re hit
ting. We’re making good contact
and that’s what it’s going to
take to win (at state).”
'We're making good
contact and that's
what it's going to
take to win.'
- Warner Robins American Little
League East Junior baseball head
coach Billy Fortenberry
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Members of the Perry 8-year-old USSSA state champion Paedatoa am: Front row, from left,
Brandon Bailey, Tal Lineberger, David Shiplett, Luke Lihoberqejr. and Hunter Uneberger.
Middle, left: James Beeland, Mitchell Faircloth, Evan Williams, Reid Hudson, Gunnar Scarano,
Colburn Spears and Seth Moss. Back: Coaches Kerry Lineberger, Jimmy Beeland, Jimmy
Faircloth and Dale Williams.
PREDATORS
From page 1B
run. Brandon Bailey then pro
vided the game-winner with a
deep driver over the left field
er’s head that scored Hudson
and gave the Predators the win.
ALL-STARS
From page 1B
“It’s hard to compare, but he’s sort of like
Greg Maddux in the pros. You sit there and go ‘I
could hit that,’ but when you get up there you
really can’t. His breaking ball was unbelievable.
He throws a knuckleball that just moves every
where, too.”
Perry opened up their lead in the middle
innings with exceptional hitting in their first
game together. Houston County’s Casey Stuart
finished 1-2 with two walks and a two-RBI dou
ble down the right field line in the fourth
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Warner Robins pitcher Justin Phelps swings
the stick for the Perry All-Stars in
Wednesday’s first round match up in the
Senior Georgia Parks and Recreation State
Baseball Tournament. Though Phelps strug
gled at the plate, he more than made up for it
on the mound, displaying an overpowering
fastball and bite on his breaking ball. He
pitched the top of the sixth inning, recording
a put out and striking out two other batters.
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West All-Stars' Brandon Loy returns to first, as first baseman
Billy Fortenberry waits for the throw. Fortenberry's team
defeated Loy's 6-3 in the championship "if" game to grasp
the District V title and proceed to the state tournament.
Hudson was later named the
tournament’s Most Valuable
Player while Mitchell Faircloth
was selected its Outstanding
Offensive Performer.
After starting the season 0-4,
inning, breaking the game open for Perry’s All-
Star’s.
“The third and the fourth innings is where we
finally put it together,” Smith said. “I guess
that’s when we got through the order the first
time, and the second time through they it them
(Effingham) a
little better.”
Perry
opened the
game up after
that, winning
by 10 runs
and exhibiting
team chem
istry usually
seen in teams
that have
been playing
together
longer than
one game.
Smith has an
explanation.
“I think
most of that is owed to the fact that most of
those kids played Little League ball together,”
Smith said. “Even though they may be at differ
ent high schools, they’ve known each other pret
ty much their whole lives. They’ve played
against each other and played on the same
teams at times.”
The Perry All-Stars are comprised of some of
the finest high school baseball talent in the
county.
All four public schools and Westfield are rep
resented on what could be deemed Houston
County’s ‘Dream Team’ of high school talent.
“We want to bring some recognition to the city
of Perry,” said recreation director Ricky Kilgore.
“Those who want to come and sharpen their
skills in the off-season are welcome to do that.”
“It turns out this is most of them,” Smith said
of his ‘Dream Team’ comprising most of the big
names from baseball in the county.
“All these kids are the kind of guys where
when you say you need something done they go
and do it, and there’s not a whole lot of those
kids out there.”
the Predators have gone on to
post a 29-9 record to date.
1 Alofng the way, they have
played teams from four states
as well as teams from all over
Georgia.
‘All these kids are
the kind of guys
where when you say
you need something
done they go and do
it, and there's not a
whole lot of those
kids out there.'
- Perry Recreation Director
Ricky Kilgore
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WRNL prepares for World Series
By Josh Gordon
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS Some
of Warner Robins’ finest young
baseball players are making
their way to Johnson City,
Tennessee this weekend for the
USSSA National Tournament.
Warner Robins National
League 11-12 boys coach Brian
Chuba is loading up the bus
Saturday morning at 7 a.m.,
embarking on his team’s first
run at a national title.
“I am excited and so are the
boys,” Chuba said. “I gave them
a week off after they won the
state tournament and started
practice again Monday at 6
(p.m.) and have been working
them pretty hard.”
The team will practice and
hold various meetings before
they play their first actual game
on July 14. For some, not know
ing a first round opponent could
be intimidating, but not for
Chuba.
“All I know is that the last I
heard from the chamber in
Johnson City is that there are
two teams out of N drift ’
Carolina, two out of Alabama,
and us,” Chuba said. “There
are supposed to be 15 to 16
teams, but as it gets closer
toward tournament we’ll have
more understanding how many
teams are in it. We’re kind of
going up there blind.
“No I’m not intimidated at
all, we don’t feel intimidated,”
Chuba said. “We know there
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Members of the Warner Robins National League USSSA state
baseball championship team celebrate their state title win June
29 at Simpson Park. The team will play in the USSSA World
Series Monday in Johnson City, Tenn.
CAMP
From page 1B
by Brian Williamson who is the
head volleyball coach at Villa Rica
High School and ran from 9 a.m !
to 3 p.m. each day.
In addition to high school play
ers, there were also those from
Feagin Mill and Warner Robins
Middle schools. Thirty-three in all
took part, 24 of which represented
Houston County.
The Lady Bears also have eight
players returning, two of which
are seniors.
Tryouts for the team are slated
for July 28 with the season begin
ning, according to Andorfer who
said she was on the verge of sub
mitting her schedule to Houston
County athletic director Doug
Johnson for approval, approxi
mately Aug. 12.
An added bonus for fans: “We
will have more play dates this
year,” said Andorfer.
Cleats
will be good teams up there but
we feel like we have a very good
team.
Assistant coach Ken Horn
said that in all the years he’s
been coaching (10) this is the
best all-star team he’s ever seen
coming out of WRNL.”
There arduous preparation is
behind them now, but Chuba
believes the extensive hard
work will pay off for his club.
He explains his team’s method
of preparation.
“We’re doing a lot more fun
damental drills than we did two
weeks prior to state,” Chuba
said of his team that earned a
berth in the national competi
tion by winning the state tour
nament.
“Outfield and infield skills,
the 35 minute drill where you
work the outfield and infield on
how to record a fly ball out, how
to track ground balls down, and
how to hit the cut off man, and
then the cut off man hit the
next throw.
In the infield we worked the
shortstop and catcher, working
" "dfi tHdlr transitions for double
plays, and also first and third
throwing to (each other). We
worked the gap drill where the
coaches throw a ball in the gap
and the players communicate
on how to get the ball in (to the
infield).”
Though the team worked
myriad defensive drills, it’s the
offensive expertise that was
drilled hardest.
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HHJ Don Moncrief
Houston County volleyball head coach Andrea Andorfer, far
left, and other player hopefuls look on during a volleyball
camp held at the school Monday through Wednesday.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
“We worked a lot with the hit
ting too, that’s a major thing
with us.
“We had stations where we
worked on bat speed by hitting
wiffle balls with a heavier bat
than they usually use. We had
them hit golf balls with a broom
handle with one arm, and of
course batting cages, bunting
drills, and regular batting prac
tice.
“We worked on the pitchers
and catchers communication,
and better pitching mechanics,
teaching them another type of
pitch to throw though the
change and fastball fits with the
development of their arms.
“We had a small scrimmage
where we divide the team up
and put them in and work
defensive drills, and had a dou
ble-header drill with a AAA
USSSA team from Macon.”
Chuba had a difficult time
picking out one standout player,
making the 2003 representative
from Warner Robins National
League difficult to match up
against.
“All 14 are the big players for
us,” Chuba said. “If one player
comes out and another one goes
in we feel confident they’ll step
in and fill the role. This is a mix
of kids from all teams in the
league, so there’s not one stand
out player. I don’t put the label
on one (player) I put in all
because they’ve all worked hard
and all contributed one way or
another.”
Chuba is eager to get to
Tennessee and begin the tour
nament, showing the nation
how Warner Robins plays base
ball.
“This is a good group of kids,”
Chuba said.
“They did very well in the
state tournament, and they
probably exceeded some of the
things I had expected.
“All these boys complement
each other well, they’re all very
good ball players and they work
hard.”
USSSA girls softball to begin
their tourney in Perry
The USSSA 12 and under
girls and 15 and under girls will
begin their tourney road in
Perry Saturday at Ochlahatchee
Park in Perry.
The first will play at 9:30
a.m., while the second will start
at 11:30 a.m.
