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ON DECK
Today
Major League Baseball
■ Atlanta at Florida, 7:05 p.m.,
Turner South
BRAVES CORNER
Astros 14, Braves 4
HOUSTON (AP) - Jason Lane
knew that his
hitting slump
had to end Wumfil fAk
sometime,
and he was
ecstatic that it
ended in such grand fashion.
Lane, who had just 12 hits in
May and entered Sunday's game
with only a pair in June, had three
hits, including a three-run homer
and a career-high five RBIs to
lead the Houston Astros to a 14-4
win over the Atlanta Braves.
Eric Munson added two hom
ers as the Astros got hits from 11
different players en route to scor
ing their most runs of the season.
The Astros jumped on Horacio
Ramirez (2-2) almost immediately,
tagging him for three hits and four
runs in the first inning. Houston
was ahead 1-0 when Lane hit a
two-out homer just into the lower
deck stands in right field. It was
his 10th of the season and first
since May 21.
Ramirez (2-2) left the game in
the second after being knocked
to the ground when he was hit in
the forehead by a hit by Berkman.
Ramirez fell flat on his back and
then rolled over to his stomach
where he remained motionless for
a few seconds before moving.
He got up on his own power
and was escorted to the bullpen
as a trainer pressed a towel to his
forehead.
A throwing error by right field
er Jeff Francoeur on the play
allowed both Biggio and Chris
Burke to score.
Braves manager Bobby Cox
said Ramirez should be fine and
that he expects him to make his
next start.
Wandy Rodriguez (8-3) allowed
seven hits and four runs, including
three homers, and struck out five
in six innings. He wasn't nearly as
sharp as he was in his last start
when he pitched seven shutout
innings in a 4-1 win over the
Chicago Cubs.
Edgar Renteria hit his second
home run of the series to left
center field in the fifth that made it
9-4. Chris Reitsma lasted just 2-3
innings after allowing seven hits
and five runs in the sixth inning.
The loss drops the Braves to
3-11 in the last 14 games.
IN BRIEF
Cross country series dates set
Warner Robins High School
head cross country coach David
Erpelding is preparing to host
the Sixth
Annual
= #
Country
Summer
Series at Pearl Stephens
Elementary School in Warner
Robins. The races are open to
everyone and the following races
are planned:
■ Thursday: 3000 meters
■ July 6:4000 meters
■ July 20: 5000 Meters
Each race is slated to start at
7:30 p.m. on the Thursdays listed
above.
Awards will be given for the
top five in each age group male
and female. 14-and-under, 15-19
and 20 and over. The entry fee is
$5. Runners register on race day.
Contact Erpelding at 328-3208 or
via e-mail at Erpelding@bellsouth.
net for more information.
YMCA to hold golf tourney
The Houston County YMCA
will hold the YMCA Camp Can
Do Golf Tournament Friday at
Waterford Goff Course.
The tournament is slated to
begin at 11:15 a.m. with lunch
served by Outback Steak House.
The format is four-man team
scramble with a shotgun start at
12:30 p.m. Individual entry is SSO
per person, which includes a mul
ligan. There will also be door, skills
prizes and team prizes awarded.
Complimentary gift bags will also
be provided. Hole sponsorships
are available at the $250, SSOO,
and SI,OOO levels. Money raised
will benefit “Camp Can Do.’
To sign up or for questions
concerning sponsorship, contact
Natasha Gibbons at 922-2566 or
e-mail programs@hocoymca.org.
TUESDAY,
JUNE 13, 2006
Region 1 -AAAAA website makes its debut
By DON MONCRIEF
HHJ Sports Editor
He’s back, although he never
actually went anywhere. He, Wade
Moore, just scaled down operations.
Just a few short years back, he was
web master for the old 2-AAAAA.com
- during the years Houston County,
Warner Robins and Northside were
all a part of that region.
In that capacity, he created a site
praised far and wide - by members
of the news media to fans to coaches.
It contained every stat a fan could
hope for, from teams to individuals.
It had up-to-date rushing statis
tics for every team in the region - 10
at the time. It had passing stats,
defensive stats, special team stats
and the list went on and on; with
schools and players ranked from
f 7 (• c. ( I
ENI (Jary Harmon
A Houston County runner slides into third as a Warner Robins defender applies the tag. The two were taking part in
their teams’ Crossroads Invitational game Saturday at Warner Robins.
NS excels in summer play
Knock off Demons, Bombsquad
By MATTHEW BROWN
HHJ Sports Writer
Even though it’s June,
it’s still a good time for a
good cross-
INSIDE town rivalry
showdown
Perry struggles in Warner
to pick up win D „
in Crossroads R ° blns ‘ .
Invitational
See 3B Warner
Robins
High Red
Demons and the Northside
Eagles squared off on the
baseball diamond Saturday
during the Crossroads
Invitational hosted by Perry
High School.
Playing at the Demon
Diamond, Northside contin
ued to sizzle in the sum
mer heat with a 10-3 vic
tory, which represented the
Eagles’ fourth win over two
days in the tournament.
A horse is a horse of course of course ...
In a yawn worthy
Belmont Stakes, Jazil
won.
The third in the horse rac
ing triumvirate was missing
Barbaro and Preakness win
ner Bemardini.
All I know about horse
racing is that Arabs have too
much money. If sheiks can
spend millions for horses,
they can certainly lower the
price a few dollars for a bar
rel of oil.
But why am I complain
ing? I live in a free enterprise
society. In a capitalist soci
ety, people are encouraged
Sports
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J.C. Cook was the winning
pitcher going five innings.
He struck out six, walked
four and gave up all three
Warner Robins Red runs in
the bottom of the fifth. Chris
Barnard pitched the final
two innings giving up no
runs and just one hit to Britt
Sutton.
When Warner Robins Red
scored three runs in the
fifth, it cut the Northside
lead of 6-0 in half. All the
baserunners reached with
two outs showing on the
scoreboard. Then a walk
and hits by Blake Lee and
Matt Hvizdzak ended the
shutout.
Jordan Beatty’s infield hit
and a passed ball shaved the
Eagle lead down to 6-3.
The Northside offense got
those runs back plus one
more in the top of the sixth.
Joe Sersey
HHJ Correspondent
to make
as much
money as
possible.
I ’ m
bitter
because
unless I
hit the
lottery,
it’s not
possible
for me to
rake the
cash.
Educators and journalists
don’t earn much, not even
when they do both at the
Kevin Gifford led off with
a double, Cook walked and
Darius McGee singled to
load the bases.
Kyle McArthur’s hit drove
in Gifford, then Cook scored
when Warner Robins Red
turned a 6-4-3 double play.
The big blow came from
Taylor Ham’s bat. His drive
went to the wall, and he
raced around the bases for
a triple.
The relay throw went
into the home dugout, so
he was awarded home to
give Northside the final 10-3
margin. Lee did the Warner
Robins Red pitching for four
innings.
The starting shortstop on
last season’s Demon varsity
team started a 1-5-3 double
play from the mound in the
top of the first. Cook, the
Northside pitching coun
terpart, struck out the side
in the bottom of the first
same time.
But that’s not what this
column is about.
I was surprised at the
entire hullabaloo about
Barbaro.
For those who ignored the
Triple Crown races, Barbaro
won the Kentucky Derby by
severed lengths and looked
good for the second leg at
Preakness, but the horse
pulled up lame shortly after
leaving the gate.
The vets discovered the
horse’s right rear leg bone
was splintered.
Evidently, conventional
around a double by Jacob
Vargas.
Jacob Gore also hit a dou
ble for the home team to lead
off the second. That inning
ended, though, as Northside
turned a bunt into a double
play.
The Eagle offense, which
tallied double-digit runs in
its previous two Crossroads
games, broke the shutout in
Saturday’s nightcap in the
top of the third.
Andrew Holliday followed
a Tyler Kinsler double
and leadoff walk with an
RBI single. With two outs,
Barnard’s flare fell fair in
the outfield for an RBI, then
an error gave Northside a
third run.
The lead doubled to 6-0 in
the top of the fourth. Cook
led off with a home run.
McGee doubled and scored
on a McArthur hit.
See EXCEL, page 3B
wisdom called for putting
the horse down, which made
patrons of several restau
rants in France salivate.
When I saw the owners
tear up at a press conference
praising the work of the vets
in saving the horse’s life, I
was confused.
I resented the sls I had to
spend to put my cat to sleep.
The notion of spending what
will probably be millions of
dollars to keep a horse that
can’t race alive was totally
foreign to me.
Then I learned that
See HORSE, page 2B
top to bottom.
Now, Moore, who has been the
statistician for the Demons for the
past 21 years and continued to keep
their site up to date, is bringing that
type of record keeping to Region 1-
AAAAA for 2006-07.
“During the last few weeks I have
been contacted by the head football
coaches of Region 1-AAAAA,” he
said. “They have asked me to per
form the same type service for this
region that I have done in the past.
“All seven coaches seem to be very
anxious for this to happen.”
The site itself is already up and
running (lAAAAA.com). (Note:
The most interesting thing on it
right now - other than schedules
- is the opportunity for fans to vote
See DEBUT, page 6B
Eagles get a
scare; Tigers
edge Cards
From staff reports
The Eagles finished up
weekend action in the
Middle Georgia Baseball
League still in first place
in the standings (pending
how the Nationals fared
against the last-place
Angels Sunday - a game
not reported - they are
either tied or a game in
front) but they sure had
a scare.
The Eagles (11-3) just
managed to get past
the Astros (3-12) 17-
16 Sunday at the Bibb
County Sports Complex.
No stats were report
ed by the Eagles but the
Astros managed 17 hits
against them.
Randy Ray, Drew
Clyburn, Jeremy
Thompson, D.J. Decker
and Bradley Large each
had two hits, while Steve
Willis picked up three and
Sean Pritchard led them
all with a 4-5 day. He
also scored five times and
drove in two.
Willis, Thompson and
Pritchard each collected
2 RBI.
Those two teams weren’t
the only ones to break out
the bats and then finish
in a barn-burner.
The Tigers (11-4) edged
the Cardinals (5-9) 12-11,
also Sunday but at Peach
County High School.
No stats were reported
by the Cards, but in regard
to the Tigers, they were
led by the four-hit perfor
mance of Michah Smith,
who had a doulbe and also
scored three times and
collected a RBI.
Andrew Meredith,
Jason Varnadoe and
David Chapman also
had two hits apiece for
See SCARE, page 2B
Locals contend
at sectional
Special to the HHJ
Chris Edenfield and
Alexander Lanier, both
from Warner Robins
and Luke Hendon and
Robert Lee, each from
Bonaire, began compet
ing Monday in a section
al qualifier for the 2006
U.S. Amateur Public
Links Championship at
River Pines Golf Course
in Alpharetta.
The qualifier, sponsored
by the Georgia State Golf
Association, was slated to
run through today.
After 18 holes of play
on Monday, the field of
97 was to be cut to the
lowest 30 scores and ties,
and all players within
See LOCALS, page 2B
SECTION
B