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

 

There are Central Georgia state track champions

          The first day of the GHSA state track meet, spread out among three sites, is over, and Central Georgia has a share of state champs early on - helloooo Royals, Bears, and Eagles.. Action increases Friday. Check out the Central Georgia roundup and all the track results with Central Georgians, in This Week's Coverage.

 

Macon Sports Hall of Fame grows by 8

          A capacity crowd of more than 350 welcomed the latest members of the Macon Sports Hall of Fame, with honorees from soccer, golf, basketball, coaching/administration, swimming, and recreation. Local student-athletes were honored, too.

          In This Week's Coverage.

 

Georgia College takes Peach Belt Conference baseball _____ of the year honors

          The Bobcats will have some strut to their step when they open the Peach Belt Conference baseball tournament with the top player, pitcher and coach.

          Outfielder Logan Mattix was named the PBC player of the year, Charlie Hecht the top pitcher, and Jason Eller the top coach.

          Mattix, a senior from Loganville, is in the conference top 10 in doubles, triples, RBIs, total bases, average, and steals, and runs. He is an all-region and Gold Glove winner, and is the third straight Bobcat to win the honor.

          Hecht is 10-0 in 11 starts, first in the PBC with a 2.03 ERA and second with 115 strikeouts. He had a 1.84 ERA in conference play.

          Joining Mattix and Hecht on the first team are outfielder Wesley Wommack and pitcher Charlie Hecht and Bradley Cammack.

          Brandon Purcell and Brandt Stallings were second-team picks.

          Georgia College opens tournament play at 10 a.m. against Lander.

 

Freeman leads Braves to another road win

          Florida remained good to the Braves, who got a 5-hit night from Freddie Freeman in a 9-2 over the Marlins.

 

 

College Baseball: Mercer cruises to two-touchdown win

          Alcorn State stayed fairly close, down only 5-0 after four, but the Bears pulled away late for a 17-3 home win.

          Mercer pitchers set a program record for season strikeouts with 529, which leads the nation.

 

 

College Softball: Mercer falls in extra innings

          Weather delayed the afternoon game several hours, and then it went into extra innings, with sixth-seed ETSU topping No. 2 Mercer 5-3 in nine innings.

          The Bears got behind early for the fifth straight time, came back, but ended up losing on an error and two ETSU hits in the top of the ninth.

 

 

College Softball: Georgia College 'upset' in NCAA opener

          The third-seed Bobcats couldn't get the bats going, and Carson-Newman did just enough at the plate for 2-1 win in the NCAA Southeast Regional.

          A five-hour delay disrupted the schedule, stopping things one pitch into the bottom of the first.

 

 

Chicago writer apologizes for shots at Roquan Smith

          A columnist from the Chicago Tribune didn't take the time to look into the theft of Roquan Smith's property, wrote some knee-jerk stuff, but quickly apologized.

 

  

Ex-UGA gymnastics coach used credit card incorrectly

          Former Georgia assistant gymnastics coach Charlie Tamayo was fired after misusing his UGA credit card.

 

 

There is no daily scoreboard, and GHSA playoff results and pairings are posted

 

This Week's Signings

          Peach County softball standout - and baseball player - Savannah Osborne has signed with Middle Georgia State. ...

          Jones County boys basketball player Garrian Wade will learn to dress warmly, having signed with Luther College in Iowa. ...

          GMC's Mary Elizabeth Jones has signed for a track scholarship at West Georgia, for the shot and discus. ...

          Veterans pitcher Daniel Hawthorne will sign next Thursday with Emmanuel. ...

          Houston County's Clayton Martin signed to play men's soccer in the Peach Belt at North Georgia. ...

          Northeast girls basketball standout Victoria Dumas signed Tuesday with Central Georgia Tech.

 

This Week's Honor Roll

          Georgia College's Holland Coursey and Caroline Snider (Brentwood) have been picked for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's All-Southeast softball team, Coursey on the first team and Snider on the second. ...

          Former Warner Robins multi-sport standout Courtney Walker of Fort Valley State is the SIAC freshman softball player of the year. She went 16-17 and played in all 33 games for the Wildcats. ...

          Cassius Young of Georgia College in the PBC baseball freshman of the week after a .667 on-base percentage and no errors at shortstop. ...

          Georgia's Lu Harris-Champer is the SEC's softball coach of the year.

 

This Week's PollWatch

          Georgia College heads into the Peach Belt Conference as the nation's N0. 6 Division II team in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll.

          The Bobcats are No. 8 in the National College Baseball Writers Association poll. ...

          Mercer's softball team enters the Southern Conference tournament with a No. 74 RPI.