Thursday's Daily News 'n Notes: Scoreboard; Alums-Peach County, Dodge County; Mercer, Georgia College, CGTC; Hawks, UGA, Braves, Tech; more
Thursday's Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.
High school coaches should send box scores and/or game information to centralgasports@gmail.com within 30 minutes of completion for expanded coverage. The more info provided, the more info to give people.
High School
Baseball
ACE 11, Frederica 7
The Gryphons went from down 6-2 to up 7-6, and sealed it with three in the sixth. Lem Thompson had three hits for ACE, and Ashton Donaldson two hits and four RBI.
Bacon County 10, East Laurens 5
The Falcons led 5-3 after five, and then Bacon County went off. Kelton Mullis and J. Stewart had three hits each for East Laurens, Stewart with three RBI. Hunter Clay added two hits.
FPD 6, Deerfield-Windsor 1; FPD 5, D-W 1
GMC 3, Glascock County 2
Cody Beckham opened the bottom of the seventh with a triple, and scooted home three pitches later on Blake Griffin’s single to short right field. Cayden Avant and Beckham each had two hits for the Bulldogs, who got a solid six-strikeout, one-walk, six-hit, 95-pitch complete game from Christian Black.
Jackson 6, Peach County 5
Peach County trailed 3-1, and couldn’t quite finish the comeback. Jacob Harnist and Andrew Cliett had two hits to go with three hits from AJ Lee. Bryce Harrelson struck out six with a walk in 4.1 innings for the Trojans.
Mary Persons 2, Upson-Lee 1; Mary Persons 6, Upson-Lee 4
The Bulldogs improved to 15-3 and 6-0 behind Eric Snow’s 11th triple of the season in the second game, reportedly a GHSA single-season record and two short of the career record, as per Mary Persons baseball. Thomas Brooks singled, Jaden Banks got a bunt single, and Jake Gore singled to left for the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th in the opener, the Knights battling despite six fewer hits. Bankston and Snow teamed for 13 strikeouts. Jake Willis whiffed 11 with a walk and four hits in seven innings for Upson-Lee. Snow, Brooks, and Gage Hooper had two hits each in the second game, won with two in the top of the seventh on triples from Snow and Caden Swancey and a single from Thomas Brooks. Logan Spivey, Jackson Blakely, and Steven Marriage had two hits each for Upson-lee, Spivey with three RBI.
Northside 16, Warner Robins 11
The Eagles had 12 more hits and four more errors than the Demons in a wild game. Cam Staten went 5 for 5 with five RBI for Northside, which got three-hit games from Rhett Aadams, Gabe Bautista, and Brayden Smith, and two-hit nights from Hunter Johnson and Dylan Herlong. Johnson and D.C Coney had three RBI each. Nine Warner Robins runs were unearned.
College
Softball
Francis Marion 13, Georgia College 3; FMU 9, GC 3
Alumni Update
Kansas City re-signs Peach County’s Robinson
Leonard Floyd (Dodge County) focused on All-Pro now
Around/About Central Georgia
Mercer welcomes Wofford to open Southern Conference play
Weather mucks up Georgia College weekend schedule
CGTC women open GCAA tournament in Albany
Around/About Georgia/Southeast
Hawks move Rondo, re-welcome Lou Williams
No surprise: Fried gets the ball on opening day
Smart talks after another practice, more on Pickens
Tech’s Parham returning, Devoe iffy, no decision from Wright or Alvarado
Falcons make inexpensive moves
Bills sign Georgia Southern alum Breida
Sports and racial/social awareness
Column: NCAA needs leadership, not lawyers for current issues
Sports and COVID 19
Men’s NCAA Tournament
Notes: Howard relishes meeting with Hamilton
Loyola’s Williamson revisits the barrier-breaking 1963 team
Houston among those getting most of transfers
Women’s NCAA Tournament
Notes: Iowa’s Bluder OK with this one-site format for women
Some history made with Black women’s Power 5 coaches, but …
Column: NCAA needs leadership, not lawyers for current issues
College Basketball
Jacksonville swipes a Florida assistant
Oklahoma’s Kruger retires after 35 years
Grand Canyon player dies in car accident
Obit: Mount Vernon native Benny Dees was a character, well-traveled coach, lived in south Georgia
NBA
Lillard hits three FTs with a second left for Portland
Obit: Albeck was a career ABA/NBA man
Baseball
Obit: Brown was a long-time Yankee, eventually president of the AL
NFL
Houston has already opened the door to Watson trade before allegations
Details graphic from 14th lawsuit
Around the nation/world
NASCAR on dirt for the first time since 1970