Newspaper Page Text
/ rWw v Mmxvttm tttmw *
U%lmtrrotl
ON TAP
Professional baseball
Today
■ Pittsburgh at Atlanta, 7:05
p.m., FSS
Thursday
■ Pittsburgh at Atlanta, 1:05
p.m., TBS
Friday
■ Atlanta at New York, 7:10 p.m.,
TS
Make-up dates lor
physicals scheduled
Student athletes must have an
annual sports physical on file to be
eligible to play school sports. Make
up physicals, according to the
Houston County Board of
Education, have been scheduled
for those who were unable to par
ticipate in the spring physicals. The
exams will be conducted Thursday
at 6:30 p.m. in the Houston County
High School gymnasium.
The cost is $lO, which goes
toward the purchase of first aid
supplies for the individual schools.
WR rec sets sign ups
for fan softbad league
The Warner Robins Recreation
Department will begin team regis
tration for the Fall softball league
Aug. 9-10 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at
the center.
The first 28 co-ed and first 21
men’s teams only will be signed
up. Participants must be 16 or
older by Sept. 1 to play. For more
information, call 929-1914 or 1916.
PJL seeking aid lor
World Series trip
The Perry Junior League 9-10-
year-old All-Stars are currently
seeking help from the community
in raising money for its World
Series trip July 31.
Anyone wishing to contribute
should contact assistant coach
Terry Hammerle at 987-3849 or
Jane Klusman at 987-2204 or 955-
3192 (cell phone).
VofeybaH registration
to start in August
The Warner Robins Recreation
Department will begin registration
for volleyball beginning Aug. 16.
Players must be between the ages
of 13 and 18 to participate.
Applications for coaches are also
being accepted. Call the depart
ment at 929-1916 for more informa
tion.
CGSAto hold open
registration Saturday
The Central Georgia Soccer
Association will hold its open regis
tration Saturday and July 31 at the
Galleria Mall between 1 and 5 p.m.
High school plans
cross country races
Warner Robins High School will
host the final leg (5,000 meters) of
the fourth annual Middle Georgia
Cross Country Series at Pearl
Stephens Elementary School
Thursday, at 7:30 p.m.
TRIVIAL TRIVIAL
Quick quz...
In what year was admission first
charged to attend a professional
baseball game?
On this date...
1968 - Julius Boros, at 48,
became the oldest Professional
Golfers’ Association champion,
winning the annual PGA tourna
ment.
Born 0n...
1930, Gene Littler - After over
coming cancer in his 40s, Littler
was asked if he was surprised to
find himself playing so well. “I’m
surprised to be playing at all,” he
said. Nickname: “Gene the
Machine.”
He said it...
“Officiating is the only occupa
tion in the world where the highest
accolade is silence.”
- Earl Strom
Answer: 1859. It cost .50.
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 21, 2004
73
& I :M ppillßißP MWHBj
: iww. 188
HHJ Don Moncrief
Elko resident and former Westfield Schools student and athlete Walt Brannen sits in
a Dodge owned by Brack Maggard, formerly of Perry. The car, which Brannen drives
in the ARCA RE/MAX series, was once driven by Bill Elliott.
A lees of daring
ARCA proves a perfect fit for Brannen,
but NEXTEL Cup may be more his size
By Don Moncrief
HHJ Sports Editor
ELKO-
Whlt Brannen is
putting his best
“feet” forward.
One he’s using to press the
gas pedal en route to Victory
Lane.
The other is currently
lodged like an anvil in the
door to the Nextel Cup
Series.
His right foot went into
action seven years ago. The
left has been busy as a
result.
At age 13, the Elko resi
dent - within two weeks to
have his address changed
to Charlotte, N.C., as he
moves his belongings and
shop closer to the heart of
NASCAR - began racing
Legends cars. He typically
raced three nights a week
at Atlanta.
After compiling more
than 50 wins - and a slew
of accolades - and upon
graduation in 2002 from
First Baptist advances the hard way
By Joe Sersey
HHJ Sports Writer
PERRY - In the Perry
Recreation Department’s
church men’s single elimi
nation tournament at
Creekwood Monday night,
St. Patrick and iLithleen
advanced when their oppo
nents were unable to field
teams.
They were to face each
Sports
the Westfield Schools,
where he was also a stand
out football player for the
Hornets, he took a year off.
He said he needed the
break mainly because it was
just that - a breather from
the sport and he said he
needed to regroup because,
“At the time, I wasn’t sure I
wanted to do this for a liv
mg.
He also said he wanted to
focus on college work. His
goal is to obtain a degree in
mechanical engineering. He
currently attends Georgia
Southern but said he is going
to transfer to the University
of North Carolina at
Charlotte after the move.
At some point during that
sabbatical, he attended a Cup
race. That brought a stark
realization.
“I was watching them and
I realized this was what I
wanted to do. Once you start
doing it, if you love it, you
never really get it out of your
system.”
■I
w
Perry Recreation
Department
softball
tournament
■ First Baptist 20,
Grace 14
■ St. Patrick -
win by forfeit
■ Kathleen - win
by forfeit
■ New Life - win by forfeit
other Tuesday.
Also, advancing without
His father Tommy, who
along with Clint Brannen
Motor Company as a sponsor,
has always been in the pic
ture in terms of support (the
Georgia Peanut Commission
has most recently come on
board), and that year the
senior bought the son a late
model car.
He began racing in the
Southern All-Stars league.
He ran six races last year.
He’s run three so far this and
is currently fourth in points.
He’s also begun turning
some very influential heads.
For starters, he’s caught
the eye of Brack Maggard,
even though the relationship
was somewhat plutonic ini
tially.
The founder and CEO of
Southern Pan Services, a
global provider of forms
construction for the indus
try, used to hail from Perry
- he currently lives in
Eatonton, but the family
farm is still in the area.
See BRANNEN, page 3B
batting a ball or fielding a
fly, was New Life. It, too,
won by forfeit. They were
slated to play Methodist
Tuesday.
First Baptist, on the
other hand, had to get to
the second round the hard
way by defeating Grace
Church 20-14 Monday at
Creekwood.
See FIRST, page 2B
Softball sensations
Major, Junior
teams remain
undefeated
From staff reports
After a pair of losses
this weekend, the Warner
Robins American Little
League
boys base
ball Major
League
East All-
Stars won
its first
game in
the state
tourna
ment
Monday
with a 14-
4 win over
Walton
County.
“ W e
came out
with a dif
ferent atti
tude,” said
East head
coach
Thomas
A
M '
Wifflif hafems
little league
Georgia state
tournament
■ Warner Robins
American Little
League Major
East baseball All-
Stars 14, Walton
County 4
■ WRALL Major
softball All-Stars
11, Rockmart6
■ WRALL
Junior softball All-
Stars 1-0 win
ners
McDaniel. And, as a
result, scored seven runs
in the first inning alone.
McDaniel said he also
used a different pitcher in
each inning of the game
that was called after four
innings because of the 10-
run rule.
Sheldon Drake hit a
bases-loaded double in the
first and batted 3-fbr-3 to
lead the team. Teammate
Jordan Morgan also hit a
double in the first that
scored two runs.
The team was to face
If ■ & mmmf
.jK.y
I
I" - ,
HH»J/Joe Sersey
Ron Baggett putts as teammate Stanley Wright
looks on from the left, as the two compete in the
Steve Byrd Memorial Golf Outing at Houston Lake
Country Club Tuesday.
Swinford, company
win in a tie-breaker
By Joe Sersey
HHJ Sports Writer
PERRY - The team of
Bill Swinford, Mike
Davis, Ricky Cleghorn
and Vic Correll had a
gross score of 57 in the
Steve Byrd Memorial
Golf Outing at Houston
Lake Country Club
Tuesday.
That tied them with
the team of Charlie
O’Malley, Stanley Wright,
Marlene Wright and Ron
Baggett and resulted in a
tie-breaker, which was a
regression on the score
cards to the par-5 No. 4.
Swinford’s team eagled
SECTION
B
Master City out of
Augusta Tuesday at 8
p.m.
Major softball
The Warner Robins
American Little League
Major girls softball All-
Stars improved its record
in pool play to 3-0 with an
11-6 win over Rockmart.
Things didn’t look good
early, however. The team
was trading 4-2 and head
coach Amy Kratz had
already used two pitchers
by the second inning
before she turned the
reigns over to Katie
Kratz.
She came in with the
bases loaded and no outs
and got out of the inning
without letting a run
score. She finished the
game and got the victory.
Kourtney Thomas put
the Majors ahead for good
with a stand-up triple and
Erica Vasquez’s success
fully sacrifice bunt for an
RBI extended the lead.
They are the No. 1 seed
in their pool and were
scheduled to face the No.
2 seed, Habersham, of the
opposite pool Tuesday.
Junior softball
The Warner Robins
American Little League
Junior girls softball All-
Stars are also undefeated
in pool play.
They won 1-0. (No other
details were readily avail
able.)
the hole while O’Malley’s
team made birdie.
Cleghorn also won clos
est to the pin at third hole.
The net score leading
team was Mike Leathers,
Hoyt Dunn, Bob Davis
and Bill Hendrey with a
post-handicap score of
52.3.
Again, it was decided
on a tie-breaker, this time
the second hole on the
scorecards. The Leathers
team birdied the hole
while the team of Jason
Tomlinson, Joe
Shuttlesworth,
See SWINFORD, page 3B