The Dugout Club Strikers 17u Showcase Team made it to the title game of the Perfect Game BCS 17u National Championships in Ft Myers, Fla. Teams from around the nation competed at the Boston Red Sox spring training complex from July 17-22, with two Georgia teams making it all the way to the finals.

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are widely considered three of the greatest golfers of all time. As for miniature golf, not one names stands out.

Things are definitely looking up for former Peachtree City resident Reed Sorenson. The young driver became the youngest pole winner in the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday and then turned the top starting position into a fifth place finish in the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.

Thirteen swimmers from Coweta County qualified earlier this month for the GRPA State Meet, which was held July 20-21 in Augusta.

Peachtree City’s Southern Crescent Aquatic Team will be competing at the 2007 Georgia Senior State Long Course State Championships held July 26-28 at the University of Georgia Aquatic Center.

• Fayetteville’s Brian Covington placed third in the 18-Hole Club Boys 13-14 division of an Atlanta Junior Golf event at the Griffin Country Club. Covington shot an 88. In the 18-Hole Club Boys 15-18 division, Peachtree City’s Patrick Steck placed second with an 81.

The Forest Park Lady Fury Basketball team finished in first place in the YBOA National Basketball Tournament held in Orlando, Fla., July 15-21. Gabrielle Seiler, from Peachtree City, participated on the team. There were 19 teams that participated in this tournament. The Lady Fury opened up pool play and went 4-0. During the championship bracket, the Lady Fury beat the Virginia Lady Shock , Team Sol DC, Pittsburgh Heat and the Southwest Dekalb Lady Eagles.

The Southern Crescent Aquatic Team attended the 2007 Georgia 14 & Under State Championships held July 12-15 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.

In what has been a team tradition since they were presented with the 2002 Georgia Games Team Sportsmanship Award, the SouthSide Pioneers Track & Field Club (Fayetteville, GA) participated in the 2007 Georgia Games and came away with 18 gold, eight silver and six bronze medals. The medalists competed along with teammates Alexandra Henry, (7th in the Bantam Girls 100M), Dominic Henry and Samantha Smith, who competed in the 100m and 200m, Kel Okekpe, who competed in the 400m event, and Najee Pace, who competed in the Triple Jump and Long Jump. Medalists were as follows:

Attention all golf fans: Former PGA golfer and critically acclaimed author Steve Eubanks will be the featured speaker at the Peachtree City Library’s Literary Festival Sunday, July 29 at 2 p.m.

Peachtree City native Reed Sorenson won his third Busch Series race ever on Saturday at the Busch Gateway 250 at Gateway International Speedway. Sorenson started the race in second place, led for 95 of 200 laps and won by two seconds over Scott Wimmer.

The Peachtree City 11-12 all-star team lost its opening game in the state Little League tournament in Brooks Saturday afternoon.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be signing memorabilia at Sports Cards and Collectibles in Fayetteville from 12-1 p.m. on Saturday, July 21.

Two members of Team Reality, a rock climbing team from Tyrone, Ga., were invited to and attended the USA Sport Climbing Series National Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich., July 6-8. The Rock Climbing national championship, the largest roped competition in the world, happens once per year and brings together the best climbers in the nation who range in age from 7-18. In order to attend this competition, Hannah Montondo and Alexander Amalfitano first had to qualify as some of the best in their region and division. Climbers who rank in the top 6 of their age group divisionally receive an invitiation to the prestigious national championship.

Natalie Pluskota started her summer by winning a national doubles title with partner Christy Core. Pluskota played singles in three tournaments during the month of June. She finished in fifth place at the state qualifier, which had a draw of 128, was the champion of the Southern Closed tournament in Little Rock, Ark., which was also a draw of 128, and finished in third place in the National Open, a draw of 64. Her match record in singles for June was 18-2.

Only a couple months after the high school baseball season ended, Starr’s Mill assistant baseball coach Lee Phelps finds himself back on the baseball field, directing the Little T-Ball Camp for the Fayette County Parks and Recreation Department at Kiwanis Field in Fayetteville.

The start of the 2007 football season is a little over a month away, and perhaps no team is working harder in preparation for the upcoming season than the Sandy Creek Patriots.

A question newlywed couples often hear is, what do they do together in their free time?

For Whitt and Jamie Jones, who got married in March, that answer is simple — softball.

Last year, Whitt and Jamie joined Jamie’s sister, Shannon Vining, a former Starr’s Mill softball player, on a slow-pitch softball team called the Cheese Puffs in a co-ed recreational league in Peachtree City. Whitt wanted to receive more playing time — the Cheese Puffs were loaded with players — so he and Jamie came up with what they thought would be an exciting idea: starting a team of their own this year.

Brandon Collins, a rising freshman at Whitewater High School, joined the SouthSide Pioneers late in this summer season. When he went to the track to practice, Jordan Scales, one of Collins' teammates from WhiteWater Middle School Championship Track Team, who told Collins about the Pioneers, asked Coach Mathis what she thought of Collins.

Jordan Scales and Brandon Collins, teammates from the 2007 Whitewater Middle School track & field championship team, are headed to the 2007 National Junior Olympics to represent the SouthSide Pioneers Track & Field Club. Collins recently broke the Youth Boys record in the 100-meter dash with an 11.22-second time at the 2007 AAU National Club Championship meet held recently at the World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Collins also took fourth in the Youth Boys 200-meter dash and has advanced to compete in the 2007 AAU National Track & Field Junior Olympics later this month at the University of Tennessee.

Bonnie Bynum, a Fayette County high School graduate and pitcher for Tennessee Tech, once again was a co-recipient of the Female Athlete of the Year Award at the school.

Eight pastors, eight feature races that resembled heavyweight boxing matches, a nun and a marriage proposal all combined to make one unforgettable night of racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway's Thursday Thunder racing series last week.

The Southern Crescent Aquatic Team is sending 11 swimmers to the 14 & Under Georgia Age Group State Championships held 7/12 – 7/15 at the Georgia Tech Olympic Pool.

The top 11- to 12-year-old Little League teams in Georgia are facing off in Brooks starting Saturday morning in the annual state tournament.

Arena football isn’t real football; it was simply created to satisfy football fans’ fix during the NFL and college football offseason.

The Starr’s Mill Panthers have been busy preparing for the upcoming football season, taking part in a passing league every Tuesday since June.

The 11-12 Fayette Mets are 27-0 and are playing in the USSSA All-Star American World Series this week in Rock Hill, S.C.

McIntosh’s Hughston Taylor, a member of the SouthSide Pioneers, placed first in the 100-meter dash, young men’s division at the 2007 AAU National Club Championships in Orlando, Fla., with a time of 11.00.