Wednesday, March 10, 2004
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Wednesday, March 10, 2004 |
| Teams getting busy before region play starts
By MONROE ROARK Baseball teams in the county are already busy, getting in as much competition as possible before the region schedules start in about two weeks. Nearly all local teams are participating in the same preseason tournament, which means several intracounty games have already taken place. The Fayette County Tigers are 4-1, starting with wins over Our Lady of Mercy (4-2), Creekside (11-1) and Windsor Forest (17-0). That last matchup lasted only three innings, with Justin White pitching a perfect game. The Tigers also played in the Baseball at the Beach event in Brunswick, losing 4-3 to Benedictine and winning 10-6 over Wayne County. Drew Ward was 3-for-3 against Wayne County with 6 RBI, while Phillip Robinson pitched five innings and gave up two hits. The Starr’s Mill Panthers have started the year with a 3-0 record, winning over Lithia Springs (9-2), Northgate (9-8) and Our Lady of Mercy (15-0). Nick Perry has pitched well in relief twice, getting the win against Northgate. Senior Andy Kragor, at designated hitter, is hitting close to .600 in the early going, according to coach Brent Moseley. “Some of our big guns haven’t started hitting yet,” said Moseley, adding that in light of the team’s winning record, “I guess that’s a good sign.” The Bobcats from Our Lady of Mercy are 0-3 on the season, with a 9-5 loss to Banneker in addition to the Fayette County and Starr’s Mill games. Coach Lee McDermott is pleased with his team’s effort thus far against deeper squads from larger schools. “I got into the Fayette tournament to throw us into the fire and prepare us for the region,” he said. Garrod Boccella has pitched well, appearing in every game so far, while first baseman Todd Benson and catcher Ralph Woolfolk have played exceptionally well offensively and defensively. After a 14-4 loss to Northgate to open the season, the Landmark War Eagles have picked up wins over Luella (3-2) and Lithia Springs (7-3) to improve to 2-1. Freshman Trey Strickland went 3-for-3 against Lithia Springs, batting fifth, and started a rally against Luella, whom Landmark trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh. Tyler Chapman and Blaine Gable also reached base and scored in that inning. A couple of starters from last season’s team, which reached the final eight in Class A, have transferred to McIntosh and East Coweta, according to coach Kevin Nix, while pitcher Tim Perkins is coming back slowly from surgery. The Sandy Creek Patriots lost 10-0 to East Coweta, then bounced back with an 8-4 win over Griffin and a 12-8 victory over McIntosh. Centerfielder Calvin Johnson, who homered twice in the McIntosh game, and leadoff hitter Carlos Vazquez have gotten off to good starts offensively. Third baseman Jermaine Jones broke his hand diving back into third in the Griffin game, and he will be out about four weeks, said coach Eddy Householder, who is still juggling the lineup a bit in preparation for the region schedule. Phillip Sims filled Jones’ spot in the order against McIntosh and did well, he said, as did senior Kyle Perry. After reaching the second round of the state playoffs in 2003, the team is retooling a squad that lost four pitchers to graduation. The McIntosh Chiefs are at 2-2 on the season, winning over Luella (9-6) and Heritage (4-1) before losing to Sandy Creek and Northgate (1-0). The team reached the round of 16 in last season’s state playoffs. Ryan Schwartz, Trevor Pippin and Brendan Hall have had solid outings on the mound, according to coach Toby Black, who is also mixing up his lineup regularly. “We’re looking at some positions, some backup opportunities, and how the batting order may fall,” he said. Back to the Top of the Page
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