Score Vol 12 Issue 13

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 13 | Apr. 6 - Apr. 12, 2016 | YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

Time to look great!

READY OR NOTScore Atlanta debuts the first football rankings for the 2016 season. | Pg. 7

Taking Care of Business | Pg. 4

Which baseball teams are continuing their upward trend as playoffs loom.

Destination Unknown | Pg. 9

How will Georgia High School Football influence the 2016 NFL Draft?

With more than 150 training specialties, the U.S. Army has more ways than ever to advance your career and add strength to your life. You can choose to serve full-time or part-time. You can attend college first, or earn a degree as you serve. And if you have what it takes, you can pursue a leadership role as a U.S. Army officer. There’s strong. Then there’s Army Strong. Learn more at goarmy.com.

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3Vol. 12 Iss. 13 | Apr. 6 - Apr. 12, 2016

PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rhonda Rawls

MANAGING EDITOR Craig Sager II

ASST. MANAGING EDITOR Kyle Sandy

MARKETING/ Lauren Goldstein PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

BEAT WRITERS: Ricky Dimon (Braves) Dan Mathews (UGA) Craig Sager II (Falcons, Ken nesaw) Colin Hubbard (GA Tech) Kyle Sandy (GSU, GHSA, Hawks) STAFF WRITERS Tyler Andrews Ned Kaish

TO ADVERTISE IN SCORE ATLANTA:404.256.1572

Copyright 2016 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is digitally published every week on ScoreAtl.com. Views ex-pressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta respon-sible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publi-cation. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

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COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF CECIL COPELAND, AJC.COM AND GEORGE BENNET PHOTOGRAPHY

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4 SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

While this is supposed to be a media blog, I thought I would start this week’s column

with my relationship with then Braves general manager John Schuerholz when I covered the team from 1991-96 for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Schuerholz stepped away Thursday as the team’s president and will continue on in a new vice chairman role but for the most part he is retiring from day-to-day duties. At 75 and after more than 50 years in baseball, I know John wants to travel more with his wife Karen and I imagine play a little more golf. When Schuerholz arrived in the winter of 1990, I was just about to be named the pa-per’s beat writer, replacing Joe Strauss who just recently passed away at the age of 54

due to leukemia. I was 27 and coming off working on an in-vestigative team after two years of being the Georgia Tech beat writer. I remember my first meeting with John in his office at Atlanta Ful-ton County Stadium and I realized quickly that a lot was going to change for the organization. Because I was coming in new and had not been associated with the bad baseball the club had played for almost all of the 1980’s, my feel-ings about the team were more optimistic than most of the beat writers around the league. I also realized how difficult it would be for this rookie baseball beat writer as I knew Schuerholz was going to be a very tough nut to crack when it came to getting information to break stories. Actually, for quite some time it

was almost impossible to get John to give me anything of consequence. But that was the way Schuerholz worked, close to the vest with a very small inner circle. I remember two specific examples of being very frustrated with him and another where I just made a poor choice of judgment. The first came right after the 1992 season when the Braves had fallen to Toronto in the World Series. It was evident something was missing for the team after two straight Series losses and Schuerholz wanted to put a big bat in the middle of his lineup. He had money to make one big move and it was for Barry Bonds. Schuerholz would go on to write the details about the deal in book “Built to Win’’ but I must have called John 10 times about the rumor and he wouldn’t say anything. I never could get confirmation on the fact that a trade for Bonds had been done but Pirates manager Jim Ley-land refused to let Bonds go and that is why the Braves turned and signed Greg Maddux. My editors lit me up for not getting the story. Maddux is the second example of my big-gest mistakes while on the beat. Schuerholz always used to tell me be very careful of what agents say. Schuerholz said he may not give me the info but would never lie to me while agents made a habit of it. At the winter meetings in

1992, I knew the Braves were close to signing Maddux but I didn’t know the contract number. The Yankees were battling the Braves for the right-hander and I went up the Braves suite at the Louisville hotel and tried to pin John and Stan Kasten down on the number. Right before I walked in their room, Scott Boras, who rep-resented Maddux, called me and gave me a number the Braves had just offered. I tried to confirm it with John and Stan and both said the number was ridiculous. I went with it anyway and when Maddux signed, my number was $2 million more than the actual contract. Another closed-door meeting with editors. Then there was the one and only time that I really struggled with Schuerholz when I was on the beat and it came when they traded Deion Sanders in 1994. It won’t be long before Schuerholz gets into Cooperstown and joins Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Bobby Cox. It would be fitting to put him in the same year (2018) Chipper Jones is eligible to go into the Hall of Fame. And I surely will be there down in front writing about it. Photo courtesy of the AJC

Outside of the top two in Class AAAAAA, everybody in the Top Ten suffered a loss.

Milton lost thrice and is now out of the polls at 11-7. Replacing them is former national power No. 8 Lambert, who is looking to recapture the magic from two years ago. No. 6 Parkview is still struggling to find its footing and will need to string together some wins to remain in the top ten. Grayson was the latest team to edge the Panthers, 7-6 in nine innings. Region 8 is turning into a log jam with the top three as Parkview holds onto first at 7-1 while Grayson (13-4, 6-1) and Brookwood (10-8, 6-2) are close behind. Mountain View remains No. 3 in the state. The Bears dropped to No. 5 Norcross 4-3, but rebounded with a 6-3 win over No. 4 Collins

Hill. North Cobb falls to No. 10 after a 2-1 loss to Kennesaw Mountain and an 11-1 defeat against Harrison. Class AAAAA’s No. 4 Greenbrier was tripped up by AAA No. 10 Westside-Augusta 5-0. The Patriots are new to the Top Ten in Class AAA. No. 8 Jones County losing ground, falling two spots after a loss to Houston Coun-ty 4-1. The Bears are starting to make some noise as they lead the region. No. 10 Hardaway holds onto its spot after a 6-0 loss to No. 6 Co-lumbus.

RED ELEPHANTS… Gainesville holds onto the No. 1 ranking in AAAAA after splitting with No. 4 Loganville last week. No. 4 Allatoona has been mighty im-

pressive this year and went 3-1 at the National High School Invitational. Kyle Jacobsen has 22 RBIs through 16 games while Skylar McPhee has driven in 17 runs. No. 8 Starr’s Mill debuts in the poll for the first time this year. The Fay-ette County powerhouse has outscored oppo-nents 132-20 this year. No. 9 Thomson and No. 10 Spalding de-but in the AAAA rankings after Whitewater and Troup exit. Last week, No. 3 Marist swept No. 5 St. Pius in Class AAAA, 7-0 and 5-1. The Golden Lions bounced back in a big way by no-hitting Cross Keys in a 20-0 rout. John Alvarez got the win in the 3-inning shortened game. No. 4 Thomas County Central drilled Americus-Sumter 12-0. Both Kaleb Carter and Brandon Slocumb drove in two runs. Stone Stephenson hurled five innings of one-hit ball while striking out seven. The most dominant team in the state right now is AAA No. 1 Blessed Trinity. The Titans are a perfect 16-0 and have allowed only eight runs all year. No. 2 Franklin County is 19-0, but it doesn’t look like Blessed Trinity will be chal-lenged for their top spot any time soon. Region 6-AA is the epicenter of good ath-letics. This time, its baseball on display. No. 1

Wesleyan can thank No. 2 GAC for regaining the top spot after the Spartans took two of three from No. 3 Holy Innocents’. GAC handled the Golden Bears 2-1 and 6-2 with an 8-4 loss sandwiched in between. Bryan County and Fitzgerald both lose their place in the rankings while No. 9 Union County and No. 10 Bleckley County look to see how long they can stay on the bull. Last week, Region 6-AA saw No. 2 Wesleyan take two of three from No. 4 GAC. The Wolves won 5-3 and 2-0 while sandwich-ing a 17-0 loss in between. No. 3 Bowdon is un-defeated at 13-0 and is no longer flying under the radar. Darlington falls out of the poll and is now 8-6 overall. No. 10 Fitzgerald enters with a 10-5 mark. Class A saw No. 4 Tattnall Square Acad-emy drop a spot after two losses to Florida programs Mosley High School and Bay High School. Baconton Charter didn’t last long in the spotlight. They lost 12-1 to No. 3 Schley and were shutout at Irwin County 11-0. No. 10 George Walton Academy makes its debut. De-spite the loss, Taber Raley has been the ace of the staff for Baconton Charter, overpowering hitters with 55 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched. Photo courtesy of George Bennett

SANDY’S SPIEL

BY KYLE SANDY | [email protected]

BASEBALL SEASON ENTERS PIVOTAL STRETCH

IJ’S MEDIA BLOG

BY IJ ROSENBERG | [email protected]

SCHUERHOLTZ WAS A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK

5Vol. 12 Iss. 13 | Apr. 6 - Apr. 12, 2016

Know a young athlete who overcame a serious injury or illness? Nominate them for Comeback Athlete of the Month at choa.org/comeback.

This comeback athlete had a long road back. Today it’s 8.5 miles.

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OUR TWO CENTSOur email newsletter is something we take a lot of pride in at Score. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a high school sports-heavy publication that we produce each day to fill in our readers on the latest happenings in Georgia prep sports. We send it out Monday through Friday throughout the year and Monday through Saturday during the fall.

Not only do we cover popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, we also cover every other varsity sport the GHSA fields. If you like Georgia high school sports at all, sign up for our email newsletter by visiting www.tinyurl.com/scorenewsletter and enter your email address(es) that you’d like added to the distribution list.

WH

O’S

HOT

WH

O’S

NOT

Villanova CheatersBlessed Trinity HawksMLB Umpires

From perennial choke art-ists to national champs, the Wildcats stunned North Car-olina on a Kris Jenkins three at the buzzer to capture the title 77-74. Coach Jay Wright had his team peak at exactly the right time as they ran roughshod through the com-petition with some surpris-ing wins along the way.

Syracuse and North Caro-lina got what was coming. The Orange fell to the Tar Heels and then North Caro-lina had its heartbroken by Villanova. Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams both run crooked programs with academics coming dead last in the line of priorities. Good to see both men come home with nothing to show for their seasons.

At 17-0, AAA’s No. 1 ranked Titans have been dominant in baseball. The best pitching staff in the state has allowed just 14 runs this season while the offense his pounded out 192 runs. Blessed Trinity is far and away the favorite to win the state championship with no legitimate contenders yet to emerge.

To be the best, you have to beat the best. That is something Atlanta didn’t do as they lost to the Eastern Conference’s top two teams, Cleveland and Toronto. After a great stretch of ball, Atlan-ta now holds just a half game lead over Miami and Char-lotte. If they slip behind both, home court advantage will vanish as the sixth-seed.

Opening Day officially kicked off the 2016 MLB Season. America’s pastime is back, even though the weather tried to hinder the start of some teams’ seasons. It will be another long and treach-erous season for players, coaches and fans alike. Hopefully you’re in it for the long haul.

It’s great that the MLB sea-son is back, but that means horrid umpiring is back as well. A full on “Ump Show” was on display on Sunday Night Baseball. The big stage overwhelmed home plate Gerry Davis who had no clue what was a ball and a strike all night, caus-ing pitchers and hitters to question each at-bat.

SCORE LISTBy Craig Sager II

NUMBERSBy Kyle Sandy

SUPER NOVAWhat an ending to the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament! Late Monday night, the Wildcats sent the sports world into a celebration of emotion as Kris Jenkins drilled the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer 77-74. Confetti poured onto the court as finish for the ages capped off a wild 2016 season. It had been 31 years since Villanova’s last national title, in 1985.

The Atlanta Braves were one out away from winning their final opening day game at Turner Field, but instead fumbled away the game for a 4-3 loss to the visiting Nationals. the Nationals scored the tying run in the ninth when catcher A.J. Pierznski dropped a throw to the plate on Michael Taylor’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly to shallow center field, preventing a would-be game-ending double play.

FALLING FLAT

PRACTICE PERFECTIONThe NBA playoffs are in less than three weeks and the Atlanta Hawks are surging in the right direction. This current trend projects a top 3 seed. The NBA finals are a lengthy nine-plus weeks away, so let us hope for a long and steady climb from the home team as they look to conquer the Eastern Conference.

CALLING ALL DAWGSThe Bulldogs are planning to step up their game for the annual spring football intrasquad scrimmage ever since new head coach Kirby Smart grabbed the microphone at halftime of the Texas A&M basketball game. Smart’s challenge is to pack Sanford Stadium with 93,000 fans. Three factors could bring enough buzz. It’s Smart’s debut, it’s top prospect Jacob Eason’s debut and there is no conflict with the Masters this year.

MASTERS SEASONSpeaking of the Masters, Jordan Spieth will begin his title defense with a 9:48 a.m. tee time on Thursday. Spieth is set to play alongside Bryson DeChabeau and Paul Casey. The 80th Masters begins with honorary starters Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hitting ceremonial tee shots at 8:05 a.m. Top-ranked Jason Day will be matched with Matt Kuchar and Ernie Els at 1:06 p.m.

MARK THE CALENDARThe Falcons 2016 OTA dates have been set for May 23-24, May 26, May 31, June 1, June 3, June 6-9. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or “OTAs”. No live contact will be permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted. Mandatory minicamp gets underway June 14-16. Also, each club may hold a rookie football development program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2016 may begin on May 9.

? “

ANSWER ON PAGE 14 - UGA Athletics Director Greg McGarity

TRIVIA QUESTION

SANITY AT LAST

HOW MANY OF THE 256 2015 NFL DRAFT PICKS PLAYED HIGH SCHOOL

FOOTBALL IN GEORGIA?

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on 100,000 showing up [to

G-Day]….We don’t have

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challenge that we’ve never

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Phil Booth scored in the National Championship after averaging seven points

Threes UNC hit in the National Championship

Errors that helped cost the Braves their season opening game

Homers hit between Freddie Freeman and Adonis Garcia

Hit for the Texas Rangers in their 3-2 win over the Mariners

Game lead the Hawks have over both Charlotte and Miami in the Southeast division

Career wins for Agnus Berenato, Kennesaw State’s new women’s coach

Paul Millsap points against Cleveland.

7Vol. 12 Iss. 13 | Apr. 6 - Apr. 12, 2016

The newly-reclassified high school land-scape has brought a new hierarchy

across each classification. Here is our first attempt to sort out the top 10 in each class and preview what is sure to be a wild season across the state. In Class AAAAAAA, Colquitt County and its 30-straight victories earn the Packers the top spot, with Mill Creek settling in at No. 2. Grayson and new head coach Jeff Herron crack the top 3 and defending state runner-up Roswell returns enough talent to land a spot at No. 4. Quarterback Tobias Oliver and the deep-ly-talented Northside-Warner Robins Eagles lead a packed Class AAAAAA filled with state title contenders and reigning Class AAAAA champion Allatoona, which sits at No. 6. Buford leads Class AAAAA with Ware County at No. 2 and Bainbridge earns a spot at No. 3 after a breakout 13-1 season a year

ago. Cartersville solidifies No. 1 in Class AAAA after clinching its title last year and will pace the field with standout quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Woodward Academy’s Ryan Glover quarterbacks a War Eagle team with enough returning talent to debut at No. 2. Jefferson and touchdown-machine Colby Wood round out the top 3. Defending Class AA state champion Pace Academy claims the top spot in Class AAA and ultra-talented Cedar Grove opens at No. 2. Greater Atlanta Christian, Calhoun and reigning champion Westminster round out the top 5. Fitzgerald leads Class AA with Benedic-tine at No. 2. Rabun County rides the momen-tum from last year’s 11-2 finish to open at No. 3 in the poll and perennial power Brooks County takes No. 4. Defending champion Eagle’s Landing Christian leads Class A-Private and Darling-

ton takes over No. 2 after dropping down from Class AA last year. Aquinas comes in at No. 3 and Wesleyan takes No. 4 after a 9-3 finish in Class AA last year. Defending Class A-Public champion Clinch County remains No. 1, while Macon County and Manchester strengthen the top 10 after earning playoff berths in Class AA last year.

2016 FOOTBALL RANKINGS

CLASS AAAAAAA1. Colquitt County2. Mill Creek3. Grayson4. Roswell5. McEachern6. Westlake7. Collins Hill8. Archer9. Camden County10. Peachtree Ridge

CLASS AAAAAA1. Northside-Warner Robins2. Houston County3. Glynn Academy4. Coffee5. Stephenson6. Allatoona7. Hughes8. Creekside9. Mays10. Tucker

CLASS AAAAA1. Buford2. Ware County3. Bainbridge4. Thomas County Central5. Jones County6. Kell7. East Paulding8. Carrollton9. Starr’s Mill10. Loganville

GHSA FOOTBALL


2016 PRELIMINARY FOOTBALL RANKINGS

CLASS AAAA1. Cartersville2. Woodward Academy3. Jefferson4. Sandy Creek5. St. Pius6. Marist7. Mary Persons8. Spalding9. Blessed Trinity10. Cairo

CLASS AAA1. Pace Academy2. Cedar Grove3. Greater Atlanta Christian4. Calhoun5. Westminster6. Lovett7. Peach County8. Westside-Macon9. Cook10. Monroe

CLASS AA1. Fitzgerald2. Benedictine3. Rabun County4. Brooks County5. Callaway6. Heard County7. Screven County8. Jefferson County9. Model10. Vidalia

CLASS A-PRIVATE1. Eagle’s Landing Christian2. Darlington3. Aquinas4. Wesleyan5. Mt. Paran6. Prince Avenue Christian7. Stratford Academy8. Landmark Christian9. Calvary Day10. Christian Heritage Photos courtesy of Cecil Copeland and Fred Assaf

ON THE COVER

From the morning announcements to volleyball and football and everything else in between, the NFHS Network brings you LIVE high school sports and events so you never have to miss a moment.

No matter where you are, High School Happens Here.

Visit NFHSnetwork.com to join for FREE.

HIGH SCHOOL STATE RD. 1 RD. 2 RD. 3 RD. 4 RD. 5 RD. 6 RD. 7 TOTALFlorida 7 1 8 6 2 8 7 39Georgia 4 1 4 5 5 5 6 30Texas 2 3 4 2 5 7 4 27California 3 3 2 5 3 5 5 26Alabama 1 3 1 4 2 3 14Ohio 3 1 3 1 1 1 10North Carolina 3 2 2 1 1 9Pennsylvania 2 2 2 1 1 8Maryland 1 3 1 2 1 8New Jersey 1 1 2 2 1 7Illinois 1 1 1 2 1 6Louisiana 1 1 1 3 6Michigan 2 1 1 1 1 6Mississippi 3 1 2 6Kansas 1 1 1 1 1 5Arizona 1 2 1 4Iowa 1 1 1 1 4Missouri 2 1 1 4South Carolina 1 1 2 4Tennessee 1 2 1 4Washington 1 2 1 4Hawaii 1 1 2Kentucky 1 1 2Oregon 1 1 2Virginia 2 2Wisconsin 2 2Arkansas 1 1Colorado 1 1Connecticut 1 1D.C. 1 1Delaware 1 1Indiana 1 1Minnesota 1 1Nebraska 1 1Nevada 1 1New York 1 1Oklahoma 1 1Utah 1 1*Other 1 2 3Totals 32 32 35 37 40 41 39 256

WHERE THE 2015 NFL DRAFT PLAYED HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Other = American Samoa, Germany and Canada

The 256 players taken in last year’s NFL Draft came as far away as Germany

and American Samoa, but the state that impressed most in terms of producing NFL talent was our own, Georgia. Florida, double the population of Georgia, led with 39 former high school players and Georgia finished second with an incredible 30 draft-ees. Georgia produced more draft picks than football hotbeds Texas (27) and Cali-fornia (26). In the first round, DE Vic Beasley, OC Cameron Erving, DE Bud Dupree and WR Breshad Perrimen were taken. Beas-ley (Adairsville) went to the Falcons with the No. 8 overall pick and Erving (Colquitt County) went to Cleveland at No. 19. Three picks later, Dupree (Wilkinson County) was selected by Pittsburgh, and NFC North ri-

val Baltimore picked up Perriman (Arabia Mountain) at No. 26. Georgia added Ste-phenson alum Preston Smith in the second round and then the final five rounds each averaged five Peach State products. This year, however, could see a dif-ferent trend as projections leave Georgia shorthanded in the early round. Accord-ing to the latest 2016 NFL Mock Draft Central, Georgia has a ceiling a four first round picks. Between the four experts that have released a first round mock draft for NFL.com, there are 41 total players repre-sented in their four separate 32-pick mock first rounds. Out of those 41 projected first rounders, eight come from Texas and seven hail from Florida. Georgia’s four players to make the list were Leonard Floyd (Dodge County), Sheldon Rankins (Eastside), Rob-

SPRING SPORTS

GEORGIA’S DRAFT DAY INFLUENCEBY CRAIG SAGER II | [email protected]

ert Nkemdiche (Grayson) and Vonn Bell (Ridgeland). The NFL Draft begins April 28 at 8 PM and scoreatl.com will have a full breakdown of where each pick played their high school ball after each of the rounds. Stay tuned to see which states influence this year’s crop of NFL draftees. Photo courtesy of AJC.com

11Vol. 12 Iss. 13 | Apr. 6 - Apr. 12, 2016

The Georgia football team scrimmaged for two hours on Saturday afternoon in Sanford

Stadium under cloudless skies and with tem-peratures in the mid 60s. This marked the team’s first scrimmage of the spring. During the Bulldogs’ ninth session of the spring, the team suited up in full pads as the offense battled the defense in a variety of different situations and the special teams got some work. “We are a long way away from where we need to be but it was good to see the guys have their first opportunity to tackle and really get after it,” said Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart. “We asked for three things today, efficiency, toughness and competitiveness. I thought the guys put out a good effort overall.” Smart mentioned the first team offense squared off against the second team defense and vice versa during the scrimmage. He also said the first team offense and defense had the opportunity to line up against each other dur-

In what was a high scoring three-game series, Georgia State (14-14, 3-6) pulled out an 8-7

win over UT Arlington (16-13, 4-5) on Sunday in the series finale at the GSU Baseball Com-plex. The Panthers had dropped a double-header the day before, 9-5 and 18-16 in a wild 10-inning affair. It looked like a sweep of the Panthers was in store as Arlington jumped on starter Bryan White for four runs in the first in-ning but White would settle in and the Panther offense slowly began to chip away at the lead with single runs coming in the second and third inning. White finished his day going six innings allowing three hits and seven walks; not giving up a hit over his final five innings. Georgia State hung four runs of their own in the sixth inning to move ahead 6-4 after Jaylen Woullard cranked a three-run shot off Mavericks starter Brad Vassar. UT Arlington quickly plated two runs in the top of the sev-enth to bring the game back deadlocked. The

Georgia Tech entered this week riding a nine-game road winning streak in the state

of Georgia. Tech has already defeated Georgia Southern and Kennesaw State in 2016. Wade Bailey and Connor Justus have led a brilliant defensive effort and have combined to turn 25 of Georgia Tech’s 42 double plays. Even more impressive, either Bailey or Connor has been involved in 39 of Tech’s 42 double plays. Georgia Tech sits at a comfortable 20-7 and is 18-0 when allowing 5 or fewer runs this season. Offensively, the Jackets are 15-2 when scoring five or more runs in a game. Junior catcher Arden Pabst has thrown out 42 base runners in three seasons behind the plate, throwing out runners 43 percent of the time. Justus leads the Yellow Jackets with a .404 batting average and has recorded a team-leading 15 multi-hit games. Sophomore right fielder Kel Johnson is currently on a career-best 22-game hitting streak. Johnson has ex-tended his hit streak with a home run in four of

Kennesaw State pitcher Chris Erwin contin-ues to prove his two-way player value for

head coach Mike Sansing. Erwin was named Atlantic Sun Co-Pitcher of the Week, the first A-Sun Pitcher of the Week award of his career. Erwin threw a career-high 8.1 innings in a 2-1 win in the conference opener against North Florida and worked four 1-2-3 frames while al-lowing just four total hits. His one unearned run to the Ospreys lowered his season ERA to 5.36, while upping his strikeout total to 34. The lefty ace has made a difference at the plate offensively as well, ranking 13th in the ASUN and third on the roster with a .326 batting average. Erwin also ranks third on the team with 29 hits in 22 games. Finally, Erwin recently became the first Owl to hit two home runs in a single game since Andy Chriscaden on March 28, 2012. KSU ranks second in the league in bat-ting average, .286, behind North Florida’s .305. Kennesaw State is third in the league in runs

ing the third down, “red area” and two-minute situational drills.

DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS Defensively, Smart singled out two Bull-dogs following the scrimmage. “Natrez Patrick and Reggie Carter did well today, and I was excited to see them out there,” Smart said. “We always tell the guys you can run hard to the ball and that’s the one thing that doesn’t take any talent. And those guys were running hard.” On offense, Smart said quarterbacks Brice Ramsey and Greyson Lambert shared snaps with the first team while early enrollee Jacob Eason took snaps with the second and third team offenses. “We are working with Brice to manage the huddle better and I think he is working on it,” Smart said. “Greyson did a good job execut-ing, but has to be more mobile. As Jacob pro-gressed, I thought he calmed down. We have got to improve our quarterback situation and I thought we made progress today.” The Bulldogs’ 15 practices will culmi-nate with the annual G-Day intrasquad game on Saturday, April 16 at 4 p.m. The stadium will open at 1 p.m. for G-Day and the Football Alumni Flag Football game will begin at 1:15. The Dawg Walk will be at 2:45 p.m. and the team will begin warmups at 3 p.m. G-Day is free for the public and Smart has stated that he is hoping to see a crowd of 93,000 in at-tendance for his coaching debut.

Panthers knocked in a run in the bottom of the inning before Arlington scored again in the eighth to tie it at 7. Joey Roach hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Justin Jones for the go-ahead run. Bryce Conley shut the door in his second inning of work and picked up the win to move to 5-2 on the season.

SENIORS LEAD STATE OVER CHARLOTTE No. 47 Georgia State women’s tennis im-proved to 10-5 and has now won three straight matches and five of their last six following a 6-1 win against Charlotte. In the final home stand of the year, Linn Timmermann and Niri Rasol-omalala picked up wins in their last matches in Atlanta. Youth was also served as Chiara Volejnicek and Daniela Ramirez picked up wins as a pair of talented freshmen.

ALABAMA BLUES The softball team saw its record drop to 19-18 overall and 4-5 in Sun Belt play as the Panthers lost to South Alabama 5-0 on Sunday in the series finale. The Panthers had a hard time picking up timely hits as they stranded five runners on base. Georgia State collected just four hits on the day with Ivie Drake claiming two of them. Morgan Brown was able to extend her on-base streak to six games. The Panthers visit Georgia Tech on Wednesday at 6 PM. GSU won its first meet-ing 3-2 in 12 innings.

the last five games. INSTATE TALENT Head coach Danny Hall has made a habit of building a wall around the Peach State and keeping the best prep talent close to home. There are 32 of this year’s 35-member opening weekend roster (91%) that hail from the state of Georgia, which is home to some of the best high school baseball talent in the nation. Every freshman in this year’s class hails from Georgia and due to this dominance, since 1999, the Yel-low Jackets own a 150-53 record against their in-state foes. In 23 years under Hall, Tech is 194-70 against teams from Georgia, including 12-2 in its last 14 games against in-state rivals. THE LINKS Vincent Whaley shot a 71 Sunday to close out his second career collegiate victory, while Georgia Tech finished in a tie for second place at the Clemson Invitational, which was con-tested at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls. Whaley, a junior from McKinney, Texas, who began the day with a two-shot advantage, maintained the lead throughout, opening with birdies on two of his first three holes and playing the back nine in 1-under-par. Sophomore James Clark (Columbus, Ga.) went 4-under-par on the back nine and also shot 71 for the Jackets to earn the second top-10 finish of his career (T7).

scored (173), second in the league in total hits (289), second in home runs (24) behind North Florida’s 26, third in triples (6) and seventh in doubles (42). ON THE HILL… The Owls softball team prepares for a Volunteer State showdown with Tennessee, Belmont and Tennessee State on the slate. The Owls are in the midst of a two-week break from A-Sun Conference play. They will be in Knoxville on Tuesday to take on nationally-ranked Tennessee at Sherri Parker Stadium before traveling to Nashville to face Belmont on Wednesday and concluding the trip with a doubleheader at Tennessee State on Thursday. Kennesaw State enters the week 21-15 overall record and 5-3 in A-Sun Conference play. The Owls suffered their first conference series loss of the season over the weekend as they dropped two of three games to North Florida at Bailey Park. The Volunteers are 27-10 overall, 7-5 in Southeastern Conference play and ranked No. 16/17 in the most recent ESPN.Com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA Division I polls. Tennessee is coming off a series loss at Mis-souri over the weekend and enters Tuesday’s contest against the Owls with a 13-0 home re-cord. The Vols are batting .325 as a team and have eight players hitting .300 or better.

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

GEORGIA STATE

GEORGIA TECH

KENNESAW STATE

BY DAN MATHEWS | [email protected]


BY COLIN HUBBARD | [email protected]


DAWGS PREP FOR ANNUAL G-DAY CELEBRATION

SERIES FINALES DON’T GO PANTHERS’ WAY

BASEBALL LOOKS TO CONTINUE INSTATE DOMINANCE

ERWIN PROVES TWO-WAY VALUE AS LEFTY ACE


The Hawks beat up on the Eastern Confer-ence to build a head of steam as they drive

towards the playoffs, but that momentum has been stunted as Atlanta ran into the top two teams in the conference, the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers. Toronto dispatched of the Hawks north of the boarder 105-97 and the Cavs handed Atlanta a 110-108 loss at Phil-ips Arena. DeMar DeRozan poured in 26 points to lead the Raptors. 18 turnovers haunted the Hawks. Atlanta saw only Jeff Teague (18) score in double figures among the starting five. Tim Hardaway Jr. (15), Dennis Schroder (13) and Mike Scott (12) picked up the slack. Coach Mike Budenholzer elected to keep the minutes down for his starters with nobody playing more than 25. With the by-committee approach, Atlanta failed to score 100 points for the first time since March 12 against the Griz-zlies, a span covering 10 games. The Raptors picked up their 50th win for the first time in franchise history. “For us, it’s another great accomplish-

Jeff Francoeur is back. The Atlanta native and former Parkview High School star will offi-

cially embark on a second stint with the Braves when the 2016 regular season begins next Monday. Francoeur was locked in battle for one of the final roster spots throughout spring training and the team confirmed on Tuesday that the 32-year-old did indeed win one of the coveted positions. So far in spring training he is 17-for-52 (.327) with one homer, four RBIs and a team-high 10 runs scored. That success at the plate combined with Francoeur’s ability to impact games defensively with his strong arm will make him a backup outfielder behind start-ers Hector Olivero in left field, Ender In-ciarte in center and Nick Markakis in right. Atlanta released Nick Swisher earlier in this week and with the addition of Francoeur it will likely either trade Michael Bourn or re-lease Emilio Bonifacio. The Braves are eating Swisher’s $15 million salary in 2016 and may

The NFL has announced the offseason workout program dates for the 32 clubs around the

league and the Atlanta Falcons schedule for 2016 is as follows. The first day of offseason activities is April 18. OTA offseason workouts follow May 23-24, May 26, May 31, June 1, June 3, June 6-9. Mandatory Minicamp will be June 14-16. The voluntary offseason workout programs are aimed at providing training, teaching and physical conditioning for players, and according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the vol-untary nine-week program will be conducted in three phases: Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only. Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a “separates” basis. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted. Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or

With the coaching carousel in full force, some GHSA boys basketball jobs stand-

out above the rest. All across the state, coaching openings have materialized. Listed below are a couple of the best current positions that are available. From Gwinnett to Clarke, programs are looking to turn things around.

GRIFFIN (7-18) Outlook: The Bears were stuck in the dif-ficult R4-AAAA with the likes of Jonesboro, Walnut Grove and Eagle’s Landing. A change of scenery in Region 5-AAAAA should help Griffin be much more competitive with a blossoming big man in the middle.

ATHENS ACADEMY (8-17) Outlook: Athens Academy will once again be in Region 8-A, a cluster that looks wide open behind Lakeview Academy. Jacob Hudson is slated to return for his senior season and gives whoever is head coach, a true go-to guy. Payton Bowles IV came on strong late in the year but

ment,” Patrick Patterson said. “It’s another thing we can take away from this season, building off of the 49 (wins) we had last season. Coming into the season with the mentality of wanting to beat that and actually doing it, having that un-der our belts, is a great feeling.”

KING’S RANSOM LeBron James was too much for the Hawks on Friday night. The Cavs blew a 21-point first half lead before taking overtime to knock off Atlanta 110-108. LeBron finished with 29 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and one block. Paul Millsap did the best he could to keep the Hawks in the game and nearly matched James’ production. Millsap went for 29 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. The Hawks trailed 84-73 with 9:22 left in regulation after James found Matthew Della-vedova for a layup. Atlanta went on a 16-4 run to take an 89-88 lead on a Kyle Korver three with 4:11 remaining. Teague hit a layup with 29 seconds left to force overtime tied at 96. In the extra period, Al Horford’s desperation three at the buzzer went amiss. Horford went 0-6 from beyond the arc. “I felt good about it,” Horford said. “It’s probably as good a shot as we’re going to get at the end of the game. It just didn’t go down.”

end up doing the same with the $1.25 million owed to Bonifacio. “For me, it’s going to be really cool on Monday running out there back at Turner Field, especially being the last year [of the ballpark],” Francoeur told the team’s web-site. “I have so many great memories there, not just playing, but (also) as a kid going to watch…. So running out there on Monday is going to be pretty cool.” “Frenchy earned it,” general manager John Coppolella added. “Every step of the way he came in here, he played well and did everything we’d hoped he would do this spring. It’s always a tough decision for any roster spot because of the effect it has on other players, whether that is Boni or Bourn or whoever it might be. It’s tough because while we like Francoeur, there’s also a lot to like about other players, too.”

OLIVERA ON FIRE … Last year’s midseason trade of starting pitcher Alex Wood to the Los Angeles Dodg-ers may end up paying dividends offensively, because it brought Cuban star Hector Olivera to Atlanta. The projected everyday left fielder, Olivera has been the Braves’ best player in spring training. He went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored in Monday’s 12-9 loss to Houston and his average now stands at .414. Olivera is tied for fourth in the entire league with 24 hits in spring training and he leads the Braves with 12 RBIs.

“OTAs”. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted. The Collective Bargaining Agreement also gives clubs the right to hold one mandatory minicamp for veteran players, but this mini-camp must occur during Phase Three of the offseason program. Each club may hold a rookie football devel-opment program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2016 may begin on May 9. During this period, no activities may be held on weekends, with the exception of one post-NFL Draft rookie minicamp, which may be conducted on either the first or second weekend following the draft.

DRAFT GEM… During last month’s NFL Scouting Combine, Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson told Atlant-aFalcons.com that he believes he would fit well in Dan Quinn’s defense. Lawson posted 12.5 sacks and 24.5 tackles for loss last year on the Tigers. While many experts project the 6-foot-3, 269-pounder to be drafted before Atlanta is on the clock, there is still hope for the Fal-cons taking Lawson at No. 17 overall in several early projections. CORNERSTONES… Bleacher Report’s NFL 1000 series con-tinued on Wednesday, as Matt Miller counted down the league’s best cornerbacks. Robert Alford earned 29 overall, while Pro Bowler Des-mond Trufant earned the No. 5 spot. “Desmond Trufant’s emergence contin-ued in 2015. He is already one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks but continues to improve at just 25 years old,” wrote Miller.

must cut down on his turnovers in year two.

SOUTH GWINNETT (5-20) Outlook: There will never be a shortage of talent in Gwinnett County. That’s the good thing. The bad thing is that there will never be a shortage of talent trading hands. The Com-ets are going to be stuck in the brutal Region 8-AAAAAAA with Newton, Shiloh and Gray-son. Only three seniors graduate off last year’s 5-win team. Next year’s team will be loaded with seniors and juniors.

DULUTH (16-10) Outlook: If the pieces remain intact, the Duluth job is hands down the best on the mar-ket in terms of talent and program history. A strong potential starting five is already in line with key pieces set to return. Alex Powell altered countless shots as a freshman and if he can put on weight, he could be a force inside with his advanced skillset offensively. Adam Flagler and Jalen Hodges are two veterans that can ease the transition under a new head coach.

DAWSON COUNTY (13-13) Outlook: Dawson County could be on the verge of something with everyone returning. Eight sophomores littered the roster headlined by big man Gabe Bryant who will be a D-I big man as he continues to grow his game. If Bry-ant and the rest of the core remains in place, the Tigers could have some bite in Region 7-AAA.

ATLANTA HAWKS

ATLANTA BRAVES

ATLANTA FALCONS

GHSA BASKETBALL


BY RICKY DIMON | [email protected]

BY CRAIG SAGER II | [email protected]

EAST’S BEST, BEST HAWKS

FRANCOUER MAKES IT: BRAVES ADD HOMETOWN STAR TO ACTIVE ROSTER

FALCONS OFFSEASON DATES SET

TOP BOYS BASKETBALL VACANCIESBY KYLE SANDY | [email protected]

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