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i fi {nuston Hinuc d OUR SANPLOT ON DECK Today Major League Baseball ■ Cincinnati at Atlanta, 7:05 p.m., TBS BRAVES CORNER Braves 14, Cardinals 4 ATLANTA (AP) - Chuck James says he isn't a student of baseball history, so he hadn’t heard of Rick Behenna before Wednesday night. And the more James heard about Behenna. the less he want ed to know. James won his third straight start, the first Braves' rookie to do that since Behenna 26 years ago, and Atlanta matched its season high for runs in beating St. Louis 14- on Wednesday night. James, a left-hander who joined the rotation on June 25, wasn’t too excited to hear that 1983 was Behenna's only season in Atlanta, and that he finished with a 3-10 career record, including two win less years with Cleveland. James (3-0) gave up four runs and eight hits, including home runs to Scott Rolen and Hector Luna, in six innings. The Braves scored 10 runs off Jeff Suppan, knocking him out of the game in the fourth inning, to win for the second time in the three-game series. The Braves are 4-2 in a 10- game homestand as they try to recover from a 6-21 June, the worst month in franchise history. Third baseman Chipper Jones returned to the Atlanta lineup after missing three starts with a sore foot. He drove in three runs with two hits, including a twcnun double in the fifth inning. Suppan (6-5) gave up a career-high 10 runs, nine earned, nine hits and two walks in 3 1-3 innings. Suppan's ERA rose from 5.17 to 5.93. Atlanta rookie Scott Thorman hit his first major league homer, as a pinch hitter off Josh Hancock in the sixth.. IN BRIEF Youth center sets registration The Robins Air Force Base Youth Center’s sports registration will be held July 15. Parents may resister from 1-6 p.m. on that day and from 3-6 p.m. the following Monday-Friday. Youth may register for cheer leading ages 5-12, NFL flag foot ball ages 5-10, tackle football ages 11-12 and fall soccer ages 5-16. Registration will continue until teams are full. Also, the center is currently accepting applications for volunteer cheerleading/foot ball/soccer coaches. No experience is required. Training will be provided though the youth center. Apply in person at Robins Youth Center or call Ron Hayes at 926-2110. Cross country series dates set Warner Robins High School head cross country coach David Erpelding is hosting the Sixth Annual Middle Georgia Cross Country Summer Senes at Pearl Stephens Elementary School in Warner Robins. The races - two have already been held - are open to everyone and the following race is left: July 20: 5000 Meters. The 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- and 20 and over. Runners register on race day. Contact Erpelding at 328-3208 or via e-mail at Erpe!ding@bellsouth. net for more information. The entry fee is $5. HLCC to host clinic, more Houston Lake Country Club will be holding a Junior Golf Clinic Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30-11 a.m. all three days. Each clinic is lim ited to the first 50 golfers to sign up. The cost is SIOO for members and $l2O for nonmentbers. The dub will also have a Junior Club Championship July 27. Call the Pro Shop at 218-5252 to sign up or for more informa tion. In addition, the 25th Annual Ron Stafford Invitational Two-man Best Ban tournament sponsored by Coca-Cola will be held July 22 and 23 at the course. Sign up is in the pro shop. FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2006 A different set of Dawgs Georgia Military to (Editor’s note: The following is the fourth of four stories gathered from interviews conducted at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame’s Peach State Pigskin media day on June 28 to appear in the Houston Home Journal.) By MATTHEW BROWN HHJ Sports Writer To find a football program that aims at getting its players on “the right track,” and does so by build ing and maintaining a winning tra dition, look no further than the Georgia Military College Bulldogs in Milledgeville. In the 21st Century alone, Georgia Military has finished either first or second in the final NJCAA poll of junior college football three times. In the 15 years of the current team, 20 players from Georgia Military Whitaker plays key role in Red Sox win By MATTHEW BROWN HHJ Sports Writer After giving up six runs in five innings, Ty Whitaker went to the plate in the top Red Sox 10, White Sox 7 to beat the White Sox 10-7 in a back-and-forth Middle Georgia Baseball League affair at the Bibb County Sports Complex Wednesday. The league’s regular sea son is in its final week with postseason play set to begin July 12, according to league president Chris Dunn. Tommy Joyce had four runs batted in for the Red Sox. The left-handed batter crushed a three-run home run to right field in the top of the seventh to give his team a little bit of insurance - a 10-6 lead - with three outs left to get. Whitaker’s tie-break ing single in the top of the sixth made him the winning pitcher of record. Andrew Brooks pitched the last two innings for the save despite getting touched up for one run and three hits in the last of the seventh. He struck out two after giving up the three safeties. Whitaker struck out seven in his five innings and walked five, three of which came in his last inning. The White Sox got six runs off the starter despite recording three hits in his five frames. For Braves, the time to go is ‘now’ Who hasn’t played this little head game with their friends? You’re about to start some sport ing contest and you say: “OK, now don’t start Don Moncrief HHJ Sports Editor “NOW!!!” “No, I mean it. You have a chance to get that second - at least - head start. But you must go NOW!!!” Up until the past couple of weeks, I didn’t believe Atlanta had a prayer - and I do mean a prayer (“given up” is a better term to describe it). Neither did most Braves fans, which See NOW, page 6B m ■ *& H Mr \v :of' Jst : .l K jHUB s 'm. ... i ' ™ ■ '“" ■» , fcjß 1 * Hr - - ' , ■ ‘“fe^.v;,. V•. -w>4 k-,. '■% wJK , . •-. »- ... - • . v ■ ' of the sixth and delivered an opposite field two-out single to break a 6-6 tie. Whitaker and the Red Sox went on mmmmmmmm m 111 '"BUIO^Irown Chris Wilson, second baseman sot the Red Sox, catches Derrick Lester’s (1) pop-up in foul territory at the Bibb County Sports Complex Wednesday. Each team scored twice in the second inning. The visiting Red Sox got a lead off double from Jay Phillips down the left-field line and a White Sox error at first base. With both runners in scoring position and one out, Jonathan Jones singled the two runs home. Keith Reagan, the White Sox starting pitcher, gave his team some inspiration until I say, ‘Now.’” “Wait for it ... wait for it ... Now!” You balk. He or she stut ter steps ... “No ... wait, I was just kidding ... Now!” And on and on it goes until you believe you’ve gained the psychological edge and/or at least a second head start (it also works with “ready, set, ... wait a minute ... go” as I’m sure you know). What’s this till about? Well, speaking directly to the Braves team it’s about: Sports feature a pair of Nortliside grads made it to the pro fessional level and 286 transferred to play at NCAA pro grams. In the upcoming 2006 season, there are a few players from the winning high school tradi tions in Warner Robins looking to both keep Georgia Military’s winning % Pigskin Preview 4 of 4 ways alive and improve their own stock for the next level. Head coach Bert Williams is happy to have two new additions to his offense and one to his defense who call Warner Robins home and who helped carry their high school teams all the way to the last possible game of their senior seasons. ■Fyi-ty IN' PPI * uHHJ \\ 1 m zL ... ,- ■ ■. ,• Jr- A' l - ■ 4 ‘One of the things we take into account when we go recruiting is the program they come from. What can you say about Northskie? It's one of the best hi the state, it not the country in how they are pre pared by coach (Conrad) Nix. When they come to our program, it's like a continuation. They're used to being coached hard.' - Georgia Military College head coach Bert Williams Running back Byron Hunter and defensive back Brian Holder were key starters on the 2005 Northside High Eagles that lost the Class AAAA state finals to Statesboro High. Alton Sanders, a record-setting running back on the 2004 state champion heading into the bottom of the second. He ran from the mound to slide and catch a foul ball in the direction of the first-base dugout. Twice in the game Whitaker was plagued by strikeouts where the third strike got away from the catcher and the batter reached base. He had the side struck out with a runner on in the sec ond, but a passed ball kept the White Sox alive. Reagan was up next and ripped a double to plate the game tying runs. Derrick Lester, leadoff hit ter in the White Sox order, made the Red Sox pay for another mistake - a fielding error - with one out in the home third. Lester sent a pitch to straightaway cen terfield and over the‘fence for a home run. Warner Robins High Demons, found his way to Milledgeville during the off-season after originally joining Middle Tennessee State after high school. Williams said Hunter and See PAIR, page 2B It was the White Sox’s only lead, and it didn’t last past the top of the fourth. The Red Sox took their turn in catching a few breaks as leadoff hitter Jeremy Waldrep was hit by a pitch. He was on third base with one out when back-to back walks loaded the bases. Joyce singled for his first RBI. See KEY, page 6B SECTION B Adam’s apple Adam Rodriguez practices his driving during a golf clinic held at International City Golf Course this past week. For more, see Saturday’s Houston Home Journal. ENI/Gaiy Harmon