Lady Indians advance with sweep over Lady Rams

SHARPSBURG-The East Coweta Lady Indians overcame a sluggish start Wednesday evening with a pair of dominating wins as they swept the Newton Lady Rams in their opening series of the AAAAAA state softball playoffs.
In the opener, the Lady Rams took an early lead but the Lady Indians scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning that led to a 10-2 five-inning victory while 11 runs in the first two innings of the nightcap led to a 12-0 four-inning victory.
The Lady Indians improved to 29-3-1 with the series sweep as they await the winner of the series between South Cobb and Colquitt County which will have a third game today after a split last night.
The opener did not start well for the Lady Indians as Bre Weaver reached on a one out walk and after recording a strikeout, Lady Indians starter Megan Chocallo surrendered a two-run home run over the left field fence to Marie Diaz that gave the Lady Rams a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Indians cut into the lead in the bottom of the second inning as Reba Jones led off with a single, courtesy runner Jenny Matherne stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield error.
In the bottom of the third inning, East Coweta batted around as they sent 10 batters went to the plate in the six-run frame.
After Katelyn Bedrosian hit a flyball to right field, Kia Smith reached on a bunt single, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice by Mekhia Freeman before coming home with the tying run on a single by Shemiah Sanchez.
With Jones at the plate, Sanchez stole second and came around to score the lead run as Jones hit a ball that was mishandled by the Lady Rams' shortstop.
Matherne ran for Jones again and Sarah Colwell followed a single and a stolen base before each came home on a double by Katey Lynch who would give the Lady Indians a 6-2 lead after scoring on a single by Maggie Morrow.
Morrow advanced to second on a error by the Lady Rams center fielder and later scored on an RBI single by Lauren Liebe for the final tally of the inning and the home team had a 7-2 cushion.
The Lady Indians added to their run total with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Sanchez had an RBI single while the other two scored after a pair of wild pitches.
Chocallo rebounded after the first inning as one batter reached of the remaining 10 she encountered in the game before Kayla Turner finished the contest in the top of the fifth.
In the nightcap, Chocallo had another dominating performance as she retired the first 11 batters of the game before Letice Albert reached on a bunt single in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Chocallo had a 4-0 lead to start the game as Jones and Colwell had single RBIs and Lynch followed with a two-run home run.
The Lady Indians added  seven runs in the top of the second inning to take an 11-0 lead as Sanchez had an RBI single, Colwell had a sacrifice fly for an RBI and Lynch struck again with a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch.
The Lady Indians scored their final run of the night when Matherne doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on an infield error.

Carter, Chocallo lead East Coweta to win over Heard County in high school softball

East Coweta’s Megan Chocallo recorded eight strikeouts in 4-3 win over Heard County.

Story and photo by Stuart Crosby

SHARPSBURG-Madison Carter scored on a force play with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday while Megan Chocallo retired two batters on strikeouts with the tying run in scoring position to give the East Coweta Lady Indians a 4-3 win over the Heard County Lady Braves.

The victory, held at home on Senior Night, improved the Lady Indians’ overall record to 23-3-1 for the season as they prepare for the regular season finale when they face the Northside Lady Patriots on the road Thursday night in Columbus.

The Lady Indians will be the top seed and host for the Region 3-AAAAAA tournament next week.

After Sarah Colwell led off the frame with a groundout, Katey Lynch reached on a walk, Casey Lambert reached on an infield error and Lauren Liebe reached on an infield single to load the bases.

Katelyn  Bedrosian hit a flyball to shallow center field that dropped allowing pinch runner Carter to come home with the go ahead run but Liebe was forced at second base on the play.

The Lady Indians attempted to score on a double steal as Bedrosian took second, but pinch runner Gracelynn Newman was tagged out at the plate on the play.

In the top of the seventh recorded a strikeout to begin the frame, but surrendered a single to Cali Harrod of the Lady Braves who would steal second to get into scoring position.

However, a pair of strikeouts by Chocallo sandwiched a walk to end the game.

In one of her final games for EC, Chocallo recorded eight strikeouts as she added to her win total as the all time winner for the Lady Indians’ program.

The Lady Braves took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Carter led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a flyball to right before coming home on a double by Anna Shelnutt.

After Lady Braves starting pitcher Jordan Watson reached on an error and after a courtesy runner eventually stole second, Chocallo avoided further trouble in the inning with a strikeout and a flyball to Bedrosian in right field.

In the bottom of the inning Kia Smith reached on a bunt single for the Lady Indians, stole second and advanced to third when Mekhia Freeman reached on an infield error and came home with the tying run on a groundout by Reba Jones.

Freeman eventually came home to give EC a 2-1 lead as she came home when Colwell grounded out.

Heard County tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the second inning when Alexis Raines led off with a single and came home when Harrod doubled to left center field.

East Coweta regained the lead in the bottom of the inning when Casey Lambert reached on a leadoff single and later scored on a two-out single by Freeman, but the Lady Braves tied the game with one out in the top of the fourth inning when Raines hit a solo home run over the left center field fence.

The Lady Braves threatened to take the lead with one out in the top of the fifth inning with two runners on base, but Chocallo recovered and induced an infield fly and a line drive to shortstop Shemiah Sanchez to end  the frame.

I get a little whimsical on the weekend for my teams

   

My teams came through once again

As the title of this post indicates, I get a little whimsical on the weekend for my teams.

I will explain why in a moment but let me set this up as to why good weekends are important for yours truly.

I am a devout Atlanta Braves fan since the 1970s when they couldn't beat anybody or it looked they should have been given a playoff share from the Cincinnati Reds.

Of course that has changed over the last 22 seasons with the Braves chopping their way to 20 winning campaigns including this one and I can't be happier.

While my devotion is not as strong, I have been a big fan of the Atlanta Falcons win, lose or lose big.

My fanaticism for the Falcons is strong enough to enter into a bet with a former employer while I was living in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The bossman was a season ticket holder for the New Orleans Saints and one week his club ventured to the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for a game and the bet was a day off if the Falcons won or my services were free for the day if they lost.

I yelled and screamed and was so involved with the proceedings that I spent part of that day off on the couch as I was extremely exhausted.

I am not a betting man and that event kept me from becoming on for a long time.

By the way, the Saints are part of this story.

As for the Georgia Bulldogs, the loyalty started with my father who became a fan through a gentleman named W.C. "Buck" Bazemore who was a co-worker of his.

Watching a Georgia game on the television in our living room was not safe as plastic helmet banks and other items could be hurled toward the television set.

Remember the 1980 Georgia-Florida game? My father was quite excited that day and a boyhood acquaintance of mine named Mike Gillespie came over and egged the old man into going crazy.

Mike wanted Georgia to win and was not a Florida fan but he enjoyed getting under people's skin including my father's which that day was probably not safe since I thought the old man might shove his head through the ceiling of our living room.

Fortunately, Georgia won and Mike barely survived bodily harm.

Now that I have set this up, time to return to 2012 and get to the point.

Since the beginning of the football season, I have need the Braves, Falcons and Bulldogs to emerge victorious over the weekend and I wanted the Saints to lose.

For two weekends, the Braves swept the opposition, the Falcons won their games and Georgia has had a good start after a third of the campaign while the Saints who I detest with my last breath lost and are now 0-3.

This past weekend, I didn't get my sweep but the Braves did take two out of three from the Phillies and should qualify for postseason by Thursday while Georgia not defeated Vanderbilt but dominated them while the Falcons went to the West Coast and dominated the San Diego Chargers 27-3.

I did get my fourth desire as the Saints blew a 24-6 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs at the Superdome and wound up with a 27-24 overtime loss.

So far, three teams are answering the "who dat" question to the Saints as the prepare to face the Green Bay Packers next weekend.

I need to look at the positive in life and I need this scenario to happen this coming weekend just for the heck of it.

I am a fan and I am partially subdued but now and then I do get a little whimsical about my teams.

Etowah dominates young Centennial squad

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The saying "don't make it pretty make it work" was never as profound as it was Friday night in Roswell as the Etowah Eagles defeated the Centennial Knights 34-0 to give head coach Dave Svehla his first win at the school.
The Eagles of Region 5-AAAAAA managed to score 34 points despite being hit with 12 penalties for 145 yards while  a number of miscues plagued the Knights of Region 6-AAAAAA from interceptions to blocked field goals to being denied scoring chances.
Svelah, who is in his first season at Etowah after head coaching stints in the Midwest, was pleased with the win no matter how it looked.
"I was excited for our kids to win the game," he told reporters after the game. "The kids played well. We were sloppy at times but we stayed with the task at hand. We were able to vary our offense and our defense did some good things tonight."
Etowah (1-1) recorded their first score of the evening when Stanlee Logue powered into the endzone behind the left side of his offensive line on a 13-yard run with 5:02 remaining in the first quarter.
The Eagles took a 14-0 lead with 2:05 remaining as Maveric Rechsteiner intercepted a Chase Rosenburg pass and returned the ball 76 yards for a touchdown.
Rechsteiner, whose father was a professional wrestler, also had a sack on defense.
Etowah went to the air for their third touchdown of the evening as Reeves Johnson connected with Bryce Coroi on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 3:56 remaining in the first and the score was 21-0 after the extra point by Ryan Hopper.
The Eagles took a 24-0 lead to the locker room as Hopper connected on a 48-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer.
Hopper added a field goal from 26 yards with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter and Rashaid Devezin ran to his right and hit paydirt on a seven-yard run with 7:25 remaining in the game.
Brandon Engle led the Eagles on offense with 102 yards on 15 carries while the Knights' Rosenburg was 10-for-32 passing for 155 yards.

A form of transportation in Newnan

I couldn't help publishing this photo but I was looking for a cooperative subject as I am looking to improve my photography skills and this fine specimen cooperated.
Somebody placed a number of horses around the court square in Newnan in late spring and they have become a part of many photos by visitors to the City of Homes.
I am unsure if this animal is ready to challenge for the Kentucky Derby, but I think it is time to giddyup!

Close wins at the "Battle of the Big Chicken"

POWDER SPRINGS-Fans who attended the “Battle of the Big Chicken” high school football doubleheader at McEachern High’s Cantrell Stadium Friday night definitely got their money’s worth and a whole lot more.

In the opening contest, the Lassiter Trojans took advantage of a variety of miscues by the Hillgrove Hawks in the first half to take a 37-0 lead but had to hold off a rally by the latter to escape with a 37-29 victory.

“I was disappointed with our second half especially the special teams. Hillgrove has a good team,” Trojans head coach Jep Irwin said in an interview. “Our hats are off to them. There are lessons to be learned about tonight but I am happy with the win.”

As for the nightcap that ended at 1:00 in the morning, Tyren Jones rushed for a school record 332 yards and scored four touchdowns, but it was a 43-yard field by Anthony Price with 25.2 seconds remaining in regulation that gave the Walton Raiders a 37-35 victory over the host Indians.

In the opener, the Trojans wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as Robert Dowling intercepted a Troy Thompson pass and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of the game.

Lassiter added to the lead with approximately nine minutes remaining when Lane Jackman took a reverse handoff and raced 20 yards to paydirt and the lead was 14-0 after the extra point.

The Trojans didn’t need to go far as a bad snap occurred while the Hawks were in punt format and the ball was downed at their eight yard line.

Two plays later Josh Danforth scored on a one yard run with 2:12 remaining in the first period.

The game didn’t get any better in the second period for Hillgrove as Lassiter quarter Eddie Printz connected with Willie Police on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 10:28 remaining in the period.

The Trojans took a 34-0 lead with 7:39 remaining as Blake Wilson scored on a 13 yard run that ended a drive that featured a 36-yard pass from Printz to Ryan Jenkins.

Luke Hardin converted a 30-yard field goal with 3:55 remaining in the half and that would bring an end to the scoring for the Trojans.

The second half belonged to the Hawks as they scored for the first time with 7:11 remaining in the third period as Aaron Bailey scored on a two-yard run and cut the margin to 37-14 after a one-yard run by Thompson with 44 seconds left in the stanza.

An 83-yard run by Korbin Sanders with 4:56 left in the game cut the margin to 37-21 and after an onside kick, the score was 37-29 after an 18-yard run by Richardre  Bagley and subsequent two-point conversion with 4:00 remaining in the game.

The Hawks were unable to get any closer as the Trojans’ defense regained some of the swagger that aided them in the first half.

In the finale, McEachern had a 13-7 lead at the end of the first period and took a 20-13 lead to the locker room at the half.

Walton controlled the bulk of the third period and tied the game at 20-20 on a one-yard run and took a 27-20 lead with 9:09 left in the game on a 16-yard run by the future Alabama player.

The Indians eventually took a 35-34 lead with 2:15 remaining before the Raiders took possession and eventually converted the winning field goal. 

My problem with sports talk radio

When I was in college I took a course in sports writing and one of the first lines I remember said that a sports writer starts as a fan.

 I have been a fan for over 30 years and have rooted primarily for the Atlanta Braves, Falcons and Hawks as well as the Georgia Bulldogs during that time.

During this time of my life I have found that rooting for teams in Atlanta can be a considered a challenge and at times has caused me to remember the old slogan used by the Navy in their recruiting ads "it's not a job, it's an adventure".

For example, the Hawks have made the NBA playoffs five years in a row but if they have one bad game it is a good bet that one of the two sports radio stations and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution will spew venom that might be used to discuss politics or other issues.

This has been something that has had an effect on my being a sports fan.

During most of the recently concluded season, the morning hosts at 790 the Zone heavily criticized leading scorer Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Jeff Teague, head coach Larry Drew, the Atlanta Spirit which owns the team and anybody else who played the sport of basketball.

They had theories of dismantling the team completely, moving the club to somewhere else or the contraction of the club completely.

In other words, they weren't the most complimentary gentlemen.

Here we are in the month of July and once again, the radio guys are off and running as the Braves have been up and down this season and have incurred their wrath.

They have decided to fire manager Fredi Gonzalez, general manager Frank Wren and team president Terry McGuirk as well as implore Liberty Media to sell the team to anybody.

While it is fine to have an opinion (everybody has one), there comes a point where they need to turn it down a notch or two.

I get mad at the Braves but I have tried to realize that it isn’t the end of the world if they lose a game and/or fail to make the playoffs.

In other words, there are other things to worry about and these guys need to keep it a little more positive at times but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Boy does my role in sports as a fan become a challenge.