Seven-run third gives Northgate win

     

The Northgate Lady Vikings scored seven runs in the bottom of the third inning and had to hold off a seventh inning rally Monday to defeat the Newnan Lady Cougars 8-3 in a non-region matchup at the Northgate field.
Northgate improves to 4-2 while Newnan fell to 1-3.
The Lady Cougars had a chance to grab an early lead with one out in the top of the first inning against Lady Vikings starter McKenzie Peace as Maysen Willard and Chaycie Goggins reachedd on consecutive walks and Arden Jobe followed with a single.
However, Peace managed to recover as she induced a flyball to center by Lindsey Stewart and a groundout to shortstop by Lesley Davis.
The Lady Vikings also had a chance to score in the bottom of the first inning against Tori Loveless as Brenna Skalski reached on a bunt single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Carly Alderman and Jenna Pealor followed by reaching on a walk.
However, Loveless also found a way to escape trouble as she retired the next two batters on groundouts to end the threat.
Peace and Loveless also proved tough in the top of the second inning as both faced the minimum with Peace walking a batter but getting a caught stealing as catcher Brittany Futral threw a strike to Lady Vikings shortstop Casey Kent.
The top of the second inning also featured a little entertainment as play was stopped for a moment for a report of a lightning strike nearby.
However, it was determined that was not the guess and play resumed with only few drops during the game which made those in attendance happy after having several tournament games cancelled over the weekend.
After two scoreless frames and a weather delay, the Lady Cougars took the lead with one out in the top of the third as Willard lined a single off the glove of third baseman Alderman and Goggins reached on a walk.
The Northgate Lady Vikings scored seven runs in the bottom of the third inning and had to hold off a seventh inning rally Monday to defeat the Newnan Lady Cougars 8-3 in a non-region matchup at the Northgate field.
Northgate improves to 4-2 while Newnan fell to 1-3.
The Lady Cougars had a chance to grab an early lead with one out in the top of the first inning against Lady Vikings starter McKenzie Peace as Maysen Willard and Chaycie Goggins reachedd on consecutive walks and Arden Jobe followed with a single.
However, Peace managed to recover as she induced a flyball to center by Lindsey Stewart and a groundout to shortstop by Lauren.
The Lady Vikings also had a chance to score in the bottom of the first inning against Tori Loveless as Brenna Skalski reached on a bunt single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Carly Alderman and Jenna Pealor followed by reaching on a walk.
However, Loveless also found a way to escape trouble as she retired the next two batters on groundouts to end the threat.
Peace and Loveless also proved tough in the top of the second inning as both faced the minimum with Peace walking a batter but getting a caught stealing as catcher Brittany Futral threw a strike to Lady Vikings shortstop Casey Kent.
The top of the second inning also featured a little entertainment as play was stopped for a moment for a report of a lightning strike nearby.
However, it was determined that was not the case and play resumed with only few drops during the game which made those in attendance happy after having several tournament games cancelledd over the weekend.
After two scoreless frames and a weather delay, the Lady Cougars took the lead with one out in the top of the third as Willard lined a single off the glove of third baseman Alderman and Goggins reached on a walk.
A groundout to second by Jobe moved the duo into scoring position and Stewart followed with a single to left that brought with the first run of the game.
Newnan took a 2-0 lead as Stewart stole second and Goggins was able to to score on a steal of home plate.
The lead didn't last as Northgate sent 12 batters to the plate with seven coming home to give them the lead.
Futral led off with a walk and Skalski reached on an infield error then courtesy runner Jessica Houk and Skalski both moved a base after Alderman was retired on a sacrifice bunt.
A single by Jenna Pealor scored Houk then Peace helped her own cause with a double that scored Skalski and Pealor to give the Lady Vikings a 3-2 lead.
Singles by Ebonee Echols and Casey Kent scored courtesy runner Jordan Hamilton then a pair of stolen bases and a throwing error led to another run for the Lady Vikings.
Another error in the field allowed Kent to score then with one out, Futral and Skalski had RBI singles to give the Lady Vikings a 7-2 lead.
The lead was enough for Peace to get through the next two innings allowing only a single before giving way to Brittany Trammell.
Through the first five innings, Peace allowed four hits and four walks while recording a single strikeout.
Trammell pitched a quality inning in the top of the sixth as she allowed only a single to Loveless who recovered in the third inning to get through the fourth and fifth innings before allowing a run in the bottom of the sixth on a single to Kyra Long.
Loveless allowed
In the top of the seventh inning, Trammell retired Lauren Ferguson on a groundout but got into trouble as Shania Colton and Willard reached on walks then Goggins loaded the bases on a single prompting head coach Lisa Skelton to leave the dugout.
Skelton made a pitching change as she removed and returned Peace to the game and the rally by the Lady Cougars was stalled as a groundout by Jobe scored Colton and Stewart became the final out of the game as she hit a grounder to second base.

JUNIOR VARSITY: Northgate 4, Newnan 2
The evening was a sweep for Northgate as Kaitlin Bailey and Caroline Cook combined to allow six hits over as many innings.
The Lady Vikings scored two runs in the bottom of the first and added two more in the bottom of the second to account for their scoring while the Lady Cougars scored twice in the top of the fourth.
Morgan Runyans had two hits and Caitlyn Cain had one hit for Northgate with each scoring a run while Frances Arnall had an RBI single and KT Heggood had an RBI triple.

Mistakes hurt Indians in loss to Wildcats in football scrimmage

SHARPSBURG-The dress rehearsal Thursday night at Garland Shoemake Stadium was not what East Coweta head coach Clint Wade had in mind as a number of miscues led to the Whitewater Wildcats taking an early lead on the way to a 34-19 win over the Indians.
Fortunately for the Indians, the game does not count in the standings and they will have two weeks to clean up the errors before hosting the Henry County Warhawks on August 30.
The same can’t said for the Wildcats who open next Friday on the road in Douglas to face the Coffee County Trojans of Region 1-AAAAAA.
As for the scrimmage, the Indians were held on their initial possession,and the Wildcats went to work at the EC 43 after a 28-yard punt return by Josh Alexander.
The Wildcats struck quickly as quarterback Jay Ashley connected with Cooper Fisher for a 28-yard pass and Christian Wafford was able to complete a the “drive” as he raced 15-yards for a touchdown with 10:04 remaining in the first quarter.
After both teams were held on their next possessions, the Indians took over at their 20-yard line and trouble hit the offense as a bad snap went over the head of EC quarterback Bryce Gemmel and bounced around before Amon Crumpton fell on the ball in the end zone for the second Whitewater touchdown.
The Wildcats' extra point failed and with 4:54 had a 12-0 lead that carried into the second quarter where they ended a nine-play drive with a nine-yard touchdown run by Wafford who also coverted a two-point conversion attempt that gave the visitors a 20-0 lead with 9:13 remaining.
Most of the quarter saw stalled series until the Indians caught a break as a fumbled punt return was recovered at the Wildcats' one yard line by McKenzie Martin with 4:16 remaining.
Two plays later, the Indians finally got on the board as Gemmel powered his way through the middle of the Wildcats' defense on a quarterback keeper with 3:29 remaining to cut the margin to 20-6 after the missed extra point.
Whitewater answered as they began the ensuing possession at their 35 and after a pair of runs, Ashley connected with Kyle Dugger for a 43-yard pass play that moved the ball to EC 5 with 1:21 remaining.
Colton Clemons completed the six-play drive with a one-yard hurdle over the Indians defense with 29.2 seconds remaining and after the extra point, the Wildcats took a 27-6 lead to the locker room at the half.
The Wildcats added their final score of the game at the beginning of the third quarter as a 14-yard pass from Ashley to Luke Allen and a 19-yard run by Wafford highlighted a eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a six-yard run by Ashley.
Gemmel was the name of the ensuing drive for the Indians as the signal caller connected with brother Jeremiah for a 17-yard pass and two plays later went on a 54-yard run that cut the score to 34-13 after the extra point by Cole Antley with 7:23 remaining.
The Indians had a chance to cut the margin to a pair of touchdowns as they took possession two minutes later at midfield moved the ball behind the running of Gemmel and Malik Robinson.
Unfortunately, Robinson fumbled the ball on a first-and-goal at the Wildcats' seven and the latter recovered to stall the drive.
In the fourth quarter, the two teams used primarily backups and junior varsity players to finish the evening and the Indians were able to close the scoring in the game as Carlos Ford scored on a five-yard run with 5:42 remaining.

Lady Indians gain split with Lady Mustangs

SHARPSBURG-The doubleheader Wednesday between the East Coweta Lady Indians and the Ola Lady Mustangs allowed head coach Franklin Deloach to get a look at his trio of sophomore pitchers in their first varsity game.
In the opening game, Morgan Goree struggled at the beginning of her debut but settled down to pitch a solid outing in the Lady Indians 3-1 but her fellow sophomores Kayla Vincent and Kaylin Wall had problems in a 9-8 loss in the nightcap.
The two games were part of the Georgia Dugout Club Tournament being held in various parts of the Atlanta area.
"We went through growing pains tonight," Deloach commented. "We won the first game and fought back in the second. It was a good experience against a great team."
In the opening game, the Lady Mustangs wre the home team and the surroundings served them well in the bottom of the first inning as Jordan Doggett reached on a walk and Morgan Bradford followed with a single.
Starting pitcher Savannah McHellon was retired on strikes but a throwing error allowed Doggett and Bradford to advance a base before Jurie Joyner followed with an RBI single.
After Doggett scored, Bradford and a courtesy runner remained stranded as Goree induced a popfly and a groundout to end the frame.
The Lady Mustangs threatened to add to their lead in the bottom of the second inning as they loaded the bases, but Goree recorded three strikeouts as Ola was getting on base.
The Lady Indians had an opportunity to get on the board in the top of the third inning as Gracelynn Newman, Kia Smith and Mekhia Freeman reached on one out infield singles but McHellon was able to keep EC from getting on the board as Shemiah Sanchez was retired on a foul pop and Katey Lynch ended the inning on a groundout.
The Lady Mustangs threatened to add to the lead in the bottom of the third after two were out as they reached on a pair of Lady Indian errors and a single loaded the bases but a ball hit back to Goree resulted in the third out as her throw to catcher Reba Jones at the plate ended the frame.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Lady Mustangs defense let them down and the Lady Indians took advantage after two outs as Smith and Freeman scored when a ball hit by Sanchez was mishandled by the Ola second baseman.
The lead gave Goree a chance to get through the game as she retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings and Maggie Morrow gave her an extra run in the top ofthe sixth as she lined a one out shot over the center field fence for a solo home run.
The Lady Mustangs threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh as the first two batters reached, but Goree managed to get through the frame with a force play, a strikeout and a groundout.
In seven innings, Goree allowed six hits, recorde three walks and had eight strikeouts.
"Morgan did a nice job," Delaoch said. "She was nervous at the beginning but she came back strong and finished the game."
In the nightcap, the first inning started well for the Lady Indians as starting pitcher Kaylin Wall retired the Lady Mustangs in order in the top of the inning while Smith and Sanchez reached base in the bottom of the frame.
However, the game went awry at that point for EC as the next three batters were retired and in the top of the second inning Ola scored three runs to take the lead.
The Lady Indians threatened to score after one out in the bottom of the third as they loaded the bases after a single by Smith, an infield error and a single by Lynch but a force play and a flyball would negate the scoring opportunity.
The Lady Mustangs were able to take advantage of their scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth inning after the first batter was retired as four straight batters reached base with two runs coming home and a pitching change during the frame as Vincent replaced Wall.
Trailing 5-0, the Lady Indians rallied in the bottom of the fourth inning as Newman and Bailey Schmieder led off with singles and with one out, an error and a two-run double by Freeman cut the margin to 5-3.
The Lady Mustangs responded with four runs in the top of the fifth inning toi take a 9-3 lead and the Henry County club felt good despite surrendering a run in the bottom of the sixth inning as Smith singled and eventually came home on a two-out single by Lynch.
However, the Indians had a two out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning and batted around in the frame to give the fans an exciting finish.
Bailey Schmieder reached on a walk then Gabby Freed, Smith and Freeman followed with singles that brought two runs home and after a pair of errors, Freed and Smith came home to cut the deficit to a run with the tying and winning runs on base.
However, the rally was cut short as Ola starter Raya Moncus was able to record a strikeout to end the game.
The Lady Indians wre expected to continue play in the tournament Friday afternoon against Eagles Landing Christian Academy and Saturday against Forsyth Central at home and on the road at Whitewater.

Lady Indians look for successor to Chocallo

Over the last four softball seasons, East Coweta head coach Franklin Deloach usually had an automatic choice as to who his pitcher would be and rarely had to stray from that choice.
Megan Chocallo accounted for 85 of the 115 victories turned in by the Lady Indians including a 24-4 mark last year and set a number of other team records along the way.
When the Lady Indians take the field Monday evening against the Starr’s Mill Lady Panthers in a scrimmage and two days later host the Ola Lady Mustangs in a doubleheader, Deloach will be looking for someone to emerge as the next ace hurler as Chocallo will be leaving soon to pitch at Towson State University in Maryland.
“Losing her brings about a huge challenge for us on the mound,” Deloach said about the loss of his ace. “We will be tested this year on the mound with three sophomore pitchers that we will go with.”
The trio who will get the opportunity to succeed Chocallo will be Morgan Goree, Kaylin Wall, and Kayla Vincent.
“All three only pitched junior varsity last year,” Deloach explained. “We are hoping that at least one or two of them will step up this season.”
The trio will get their first opportunity Monday afternoon when the Lady Indians travel to Peachtree City for a scrimmage against the Starr’s Mill Lady Panthers beginning at 5:00.
The first regular season test for the trio will be Wednesday when they host the Ola Lady Mustangs in a doubleheader that will part of the Georgia Dugout Club Tournament.
While replacing Chocallo is a big concern for his club, Deloach will not have to worry about the rest of his team that finished last season with 33-5-1 record and their eighth straight trip to the Elite Eight state tournament.
Shemiah Sanchez, who was the Lady Indians Most Valuable Player a season ago and spent her summer playing internationally, helps gives EC a strength in the number three spot in the order after hitting .464 and led the team in rbis with 35.
Benefitting from Sanchez' batting skills will be second baseman and leadoff hitter Kia Smith and centerfielder Mekhia Freeman who gives the Lady Indians speed in the first two slots of the batting order.
Behind Sanchez in the batting order will be an experienced team including sophomore first baseman Maggie Morrow who could challenge the county home run record this year, senior catcher Reba Jones, junior outfielder Katey Lynch, junior infielder Lauren Liebe.
The Lady Indians will also be looking for production from senior outfielder Bailey Schmieder, junior catcher/infielder Hailey Baswell, sophomore outfielder Madison Carter, junior Gabby Freed, sophomore Jamie Vitale and junior Gracelynn Newmon.

Former Viking Pluskota, partner win two matches to reach second straight Vancouver Open final

The rain did not have an effect on former Northgate tennis star Natalie Pluskota and her partner Jacqueline Cako Friday as they won both of their matches in the Vancouver Open and advanced to the finals for the second straight year.
Pluskota and Cako defeated Naomi Broady and Emily Webley-Smith of Great Britain 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinal round of the $100,000 event played in British Columbia.
The match, delayed after a postponement due to rain on Thursday in the Candian province, allowed the American duo to advance to the semifinal round of the event where they faced Stephanie Dubois of Canada and Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France.
No problem for Pluskota and Cako as they won in straight sets by scores of 6-3 and 7-5 to advance to the finals.
They will face in the final round to be played on Saturday where they will face Sharon Fichman of Canada and Maryna Zanevska of the Ukraine who defeated Shu-Ying and Su-Wei Hsieh of Taipai 7-5, 6-2.
The two Hseih sisters were the top-seeded duo in the tournament.
The final match will be heard online at vanopen.com with a time yet to be determined.
In the opener, Pluskota and Cako were in control with a match that took less than an hour as they had the only ace while Broady and Webley-Smith had both double faults.
Pluskota and Cako led on almost every statistical category in the match including breaks (5), consecutive points won (8) and consecutive games won (9).
The semifinal match was another story as tthey won the first set with little difficult but Fichman and Zanevska came back from a 5-3 deficit to tie the macth at 5-5 before Pluskota and Cako took the last two games.

It is that time of year again!

COMMENTARY

I know I could have something about the punishment Major League Baseball gave to Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, but that topic is being slapped, punched and kicked around
Do you realize that we are not that far away from the start of several events in our society that affect the under-21 crowd?
We are 13 days from the first day of school in Coweta County and several of the surrounding counties? In South Georgia they don’t start until the end of the month but they get out later.
I digress a little bit but while there is still time for most of us to make that last trip to Florida and get in a little sun, there is less time to vacation for a certain group of young people and adults.
Beginning Thursday August 1, the following sports can OFFICIALLY begin their preparations for the 2013 season according to the Georgia High School Association rules.

• Football in pads
• Softball
• Volleyball
• Cross Country
• Cheerleading
• Riflery
• One Act Plays.

Finally, literary teams can also begin preparations.
Before anybody gives me the “Literary is not a sport”, I can’t argue this because it is recognized by the GHSA which does govern athletics for the majority of schools in Georgia.
Anyway, you get the idea that in a couple of weeks, coaches and players will be out on the field ready to do what they do best.
Actually, some have already been working out or holding specialized games such as 7-on-7 passing tournaments (football) and summer league games (the school’s names are on the schedule but they are not in uniform and the rules differ some).
Besides a date open the calendar, there are other signs that the start of certain sports are in the area.
Monday morning, football coaches of Region 3-AAAAAA met with the media that will be covering them in a breakfast meeting.
I attended those meetings for years but we usually had lunch because anyone who has ever written a sports story knows that we are creatures of the night and getting up early is something we are not capable of handling.
Maybe that’s what the coaches had in mind when the time for this get together was set.
Take it from this veteran concerning the meeting, the coaches are at least more entertaining than a politician telling you what he will do if elected.
My favorite coach at “story time” was Lovejoy Wildcats head coach Al Hughes who brought vigor to poor mouthing his club.
For a number of years, the Wildcats dominated what was a formidable Region 4-AAAAA with East Coweta, Newnan and a few other teams that were pretty decent.
Anyway, the Wildcats would be stacked with a strong quarterback, quality receivers and a good running back in their spread offense but Hughes never agreed.
He would tell you that his quarterback couldn’t throw, the receivers couldn’t catch and the running back was slower than molasses.
At the end of the meeting when media and coaches selected the order of finish for the teams, it was a solid bet that he was going to pick his team to finish dead last with an 0-10 record.
That year, the Wildcats would finish 10-2 or something like that and would end the season in the second round of the playoffs.
However, one year Hughes picked his team to finish last like clockwork and he nearly became a prophet.
The Wildcats had a lot of problems keeping players healthy especially at quarterback and finished the season at 3-7 or 4-6.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats were moved to another region the next year in one of the realignment plans the GHSA has and they would struggle for awhile.
They did return to prominence a couple of years ago and last year came within one quarter of winning the AAAAAA state title at the Georgia Dome.
Maybe he went back to picking his team to finish last in whatever region they have been in (in 2012 they were Region 2) because it seems he becomes a sly fox while his players make him look like a crazy uncle.
Who knows, but that is what makes this time of year fun and something to look forward to witnessing.

　

Could there be a man without a team?

COMMENTARY

It was a pleasant Friday evening and I was sitting in the café at Barnes & Noble in Ashley Park when IT happened.

For the first time in nearly forty years I found myself not watching, listening or rooting for the Atlanta Braves.

I know they lost 2-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers (same score as Saturday’s game) but I didn’t pay attention to the game and didn’t care if they won, lost, folded or moved to another city.

This move didn’t come from advice from a relative, but a belief that when something ceases to be fun it is time to stop.

At 8:00 Sunday evening, I can’t say that I care if the Braves won Sunday(they did 7-4 or not.

Before anyone who knows is wonder if I have lost my mind, my response would be how do you lose what you don’t have or something like that.

After years of watching players strikeout against people who have two games of major league experience, it becomes frustrating to a point where you hope there aren’t sharp objects.

For years, the late Ernie Johnson used to say that baseball has its own spy system since  someone has seen somebody somewhere and would know what to do, but James Bond is still employed by Great Britain and not the Braves.

Now to get away from rambling and more into why I am considering getting away. 

When the Braves became relevant in 1991, it was amazing to see how many people jumped onto the bandwagon buying everything from foam tomahawks to caps to furniture.

What bothered me was these same people thought the Braves became a team in 1991 when that is not the case as advertised by a sign at Turner Field that says they are the longest continuous professional sports franchise.

Most of these people don’t realize the Braves played in Boston where they were known as the Red Stockings, the Doves, Beaneaters and the Bees before going to Milwaukee where a minor league team once called the Brewers called home.

That last paragraph comes into my mind as I have a Boston Braves t-shirt and a cap which throws people off.

This isn’t the only provocation as I hear the same thing over and over and over…and over about this team.

Fire Fredi, get rid of Uggla, BJ, Heyward, Homer the Brave, Frank Wren, the manager of the Chop House and play Ernie and Bert, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.

I also hear the same contention that these guys are too concerned about making money instead of playing.

The money argument died in my mind years ago and took less tread after the news that if Charlie Sheen finished the run of Anger Management that he could net anywhere from $75-200 million.

Sheen has some baseball experience having acted in Eight Men Out and two editions of Major League but I don’t think of him as a baseball player.

In other words, lots of people in different worlds make a lot of money and I don’t begrudge anyone who can get the coin.

I think what makes it tough is I hear the same arguments from some people I consider very good friends and that is frustrating and brings me down.

I would never desire to prohibit anyone from using their first amendment rights but the same argument over the Braves is wearing thin when I hear it in person or see it in Facebook.

I offer this example of my personal moratorium.

There was a story called Man Without a Country written in 1863 and set in the early 1800s about Army Lt. Phillip Nolan who so angry during his trial for treason that he renounced his US citizenship.

The judge granted his wish and declared that no mention about the US in any shape was to made to Nolan while onboard the prison ship.

This plan worked for awhile but eventually the man without a country caved in on the day he died and showed he was a patriot.

What the renouncement of a country and a major league baseball team have in common have is no longer being loyal to an entity and the possibility of regretting that decision.

Nolan regretted disassociating himself from his country and I think I would if I no longer cheered for a team in a sport that I have watched and enjoyed for almost 40 years.

I just wish the rhetoric that goes with the passion was toned down since there are a lot of other things in life to concentrate on.

I haven’t worked in a couple of years while my family was burying my grandmother five weeks ago, a Newnan family suddenly lost their son in a traffic accident.

In my mind, a baseball game should be a release from the actually problems, etc. of the day.

However, now it has become one of the problems and that shouldn’t happen.

When the Braves play Tuesday in Kansas City against the Royals, I may catch the game or I may not.

I don’t plan on becoming a Phillip Nolan  because I love sports and it is how I made my living for a number of years.

I simply want to enjoy the game and team I love and move on.

Check back with me Tuesday or Wednesday and maybe my attitude will change.