Saturday's Report: GHSA/GIAA softball, Russell Henley, Mercer Tennis Classic; Falcons, UGA, Tech, Hawks; MLB, NFL, NBA, college🏈&🏀, golf, NASCAR
News and notes of interest to Central Georgia, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.
In Coverage: Peach State college football previews; high school football roundup; GHSA softball and volleyball, GIAA softball
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Around/about Central Georgia
State softball: Westfield survives, goes for sixth straight; Piedmont in final
Westfield needed extra innings and a walk-off to beat Tattnall and stay undefeated while launching itself into the GIAA Class AAA softball final on Friday.
Piedmont is in the Class AA championship against the last team it beat in the playoffs, Briarwood, which knocked out Brentwood.
The Hornets survived Tattnall, which now plays Strong Rock Saturday morning in an elimination game. The Patriots lost 2-1 to the Hornets, then sent Stratford home 7-4 and sent John Milledge home 8-0.
See Scoreboards all week in The Sports Report for game details as available.
State softball: Five Central Georgia teams win super regionals
Columbus will welcome five teams form Central Georgia to next week’s championship tournament, with perhaps another one coming.
In GHSA action, several scores weren’t report to MaxPreps or to the GHSA, but a number of Central Georgia teams are moving along.
Houston County and Veterans are part of the eight-team Class 6A field. West Laurens went 3-0 to take its super regional in 4A.
ACE had a nailbiting 8-7 win over Brantley County around wins of 12-0 over Cook twice to take its gathering and move along. And Bleckley County blanked Brooks County and then Lamar County twice by a total 29-0 to advance.
The 6A, 4A, AA, and A/I classes went earlier in the week, followed by 5A, 3A, and A/II.
Hawkinsville went 3-0 in Class A/II to advance. The Red Devils beat Montgomery County and then Baconton Charter twice in three offensive games, average score 12.7-7.7.
The Red Devils advance with a 15-12 mark.
GMC is on the verge of advancing in Class A/II.
The 17-4 Bulldogs shut out Taylor County 3-0 and Lake Oconee 8-0. Those two teams were to play to get another crack at GMC.
Jones County, Mary Persons, and Upson-Lee were eliminated Friday in their respective classifications.
East Laurens, Lamar County, Crawford County, Dodge County, and Jones County all reached the championship round in their respective class’s pods.
See Scoreboards all week in The Sports Report for game details as available.
Henley has better second round
Russell Henley couldn’t avoid a bogey-free round, but he sidestepped any major problems for a 1-under second round of the CJ Cup in South Carolina.
Henley had three pars to two bogeys for a 70, improving four spots to a tie for 63rd, along with Jordan Spieth, among others.
There is no cut for the 78-player field.
Henley is 13 shots back of leaders Kurt Kitayama and John Rham after two rounds.
Seeds 1 and 2 battle through to advance at Mercer Tennis Classic
For a little while under the friendly sunshine, it appeared as though a shakeup was coming at the Mercer Tennis Classic.
Top seed Madison Brengle was down 3-1 to seventh seed Taylor Townsend in a quarterfinal.
But Brengle found her game and Townsend started losing some of hers. Brengle took advantage and kept the momentum for a 6-3, 6-3 win to advance to the semifinals.
No. 2 seed Panna Udvardy had a tougher-than-the-score straight-set win over Kateryna Bondarenko. No. 4 Katie Volynets survived No. 5 Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3, and Thaisa Grana Pedretti topped Badia Podoroska in the other quarterfinal.
Brengle teamed with Maria Mateas to win one doubles semifinal while Anna Rogersand Christina Rosca took the other, setting up an all-USA doubles final.
The singles semifinals start at 11:30 a.m. with No. 1 Brengle and No. 4 Volynets.
Around/About Georgia/Southeast
Improving connection with Mariota and offensive line evident
How Falcons respond to win vital to new culture
Atlanta-Cincinnati inside the numbers
Why some Bulldogs picked their numbers
UGA offensive line wants more than midseason honor
Tech’s Key: ‘put ourselves in a poor position … how we were playing’
Collins, Young power Hawks past Magic
College Football/Southeast
Was it dangerously loud at Neyland?
Hard to find a Gator defense this bad on third down
Auburn’s to-do list during the bye week
Why Danny White should fundraise for an SEC West banner
Defense leads Western Kentucky over UAB
College Football
San Jose postpones game after death of running back
College Basketball
What was it like to be picked last at SEC media day?
MLB/Baseball
Schwarber, Segura lead Phillies over Padres for 2-1 lead
Column: Dusty Baker takes another run at elusive title
Houston’s McCullers OK after bottle-cut in celebration
Francona to return to Cleveland
Football/NFL/USFL
With Payton gone, Saints are a mess
Brady apologizes for football/military comparison
Golf
Rahm roars into share of CJ Cup lead
Auto Racing
Hot topic now is retaliation as playoffs roar on
NASCAR at Homestead schedule, notes
NBA/WNBA/Basketball
James’ assault on record books, and other milestones this season
Morant dazzles with 49 against Houston
Around the nation/world