Wednesday's Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.

Suzuki, Bourjos lift Braves past Nationals

          Kurt Suzuki belted a pair of homers, but it was Peter Bourjos' 2-run single in the top of the 12th that had the Braves celebrating a 5-3 win Wednesday afternoon over Washington.

College Baseball: Shorter brings offense to John Kurtz

          Shorter more than doubled up No. 13 Georgia College in runs and hits for a 13-6 non-conference win.

          Shorter improved to 20-18 while Georgia College fell to 27-8.

College Baseball: Georgia Tech bats suddenly quiet in city rivalry

          A day after putting 16 runs on the road in a quality win at Mercer, Georgia Tech slumped at the plate in a 5-2 loss to Georgia State.

          Georgia State pitchers, seven of them, whiffed 14.

College Softball: Georgia College sweeps conference road series

          Georgia College turned in a day of clutch play in holding on for a 7-6 and 5-4 doubleheader win at Francis Marion.

          The Bobcats survived a 3-run bottom of the seventh in the first game, and then scored 3 in the sixth to win the second game, improving to 29-11 overall and 10-2 in Peach Belt play.

Daily Scoreboard is posted and updated

This Week's Signings

          The same week he earned All-America honors (see below), Central Georgia Tech's Mike Laster signed with Bowling Green, an NCAA Division I team in the Mid-American Conference that finished 16-16 last season. ...

          Bleckley County is sending two softball players to the next level. Aliyah Whitehead has signed with Albany State, and Jordan Williams with Jordan Williams.

          A pair of Houston County golfers signed on Wednesday, Hilton Beck with Georgia College and Brent Hamm with Troy. ...

Earlier

          Tattnall girls basketball standout I'Uana Slaughter has signed with Southern Crescent Tech. She helped the Trojans to 83 games in four years, averaging 11.2 points as a senior. ...

          Houston County girls soccer player Marissa Molnar has signed to continue her career not far from home, at Wesleyan.

Coming Up

          A collection of Central girls basketball players will sign Friday at 10 a.m. in the gym: Jada Clowers with St. Petersburg (junior) College, JeNya Wilder and Tyleia Williams with Snead State (Ala.) Junior College, Kayia Greene with Southern Crescent Tech, and NeeNee Goolsby with Benedict in the SIAC.

          Dooly County's Jarquavius Brown will sign with Columbia State (Tenn.) CC on Friday at 11 a.m. in the media center.

This Week's Honor Roll

          Central Georgia Tech's Fredricka Sheats earned honorable mention All-American honors by the National Junior College Athletic Association, after averaging 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds. She is a freshman from Athens. ...

          Central Georgia Tech men's basketball player Mike Laster was named to the NJCAA All-America second team. The freshman from New York averaged 14.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in helping the Titans reach the national tournament. ...

          Outfielder Sarah Couch of Georgia College is the  Peach Belt Conference freshman of the week.

          Couch hit .500 in four conference games last week with a double and five RBIs. ...

          Junior MJ Rookard of Middle Georgia State is the Southern States Athletic Conference player of the week, for the second time this season.

          He helped the No. 17 Knights to a 3-1 week, hitting .500 with a .714 slugging percentage and 4 RBI. Rookard is batting .379 with 5 homers and 26 RBI.

This Week's Poll Watch

          Georgia College's women's tennis team is 24th, up seven spots, in the latest ITA poll, while the men moved up two spots to No. 23. ...

          Georgia College stayed at 13th in the latest Collegiate Baseball Division II poll, five spots behind Columbus State. The Bobcats moved up to No. 10 in the college baseball writers polls, and to No. 4 in Perfect Game. ...

          Georgia is No. 18 in the latest D1Baseball.com and USA Today/Coaches poll, 21st in Baseball America, and 25th in Perfect Game. The Bulldogs fell out of the Collegiate Baseball poll.