Central Georgia Sports ReportJune 17, 2022Comment

Friday's Report: Bleckley County alum dies, Russell Henley, Bacon win, add locals; Atlanta/World Cup, Braves, Falcons; CWS, NBA Finals, US Open, more

Central Georgia Sports ReportJune 17, 2022Comment

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

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Coastal Plain League

Macon 14, Savannah 6

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Title IX’s anniversary

Icons warn of complacency among law success

Timeline: 50 years of halting progress

Men, women split on equity gains since Title IX

Iowa swimmers wondered if it would work

Campus sex assault rules fall short, pushes for overhaul

Around/About Central Georgia

Former Bleckley County standout Warner dies

Kirk Warner, a multi-sport standout at Bleckley County in the early 1980s, died on Thursday.

Warner died after a fight with angiosarcoma, an aggressive cancer, for the past several weeks.

Warner played tight end at Georgia in the late 1980s and had been head coach at Liberty County since 2002, leading the Panthers to 11 playoff trips and three region titles.

Warner was a 6-4, 205-pounder at Bleckley County, led the Royals basketball team to the GHSA Class AA semifinals in 1985, and was an all-star and player of the year, finishing his Royals basketball career with more than 2,000 points.

He helped Bleckley County got 17-13-1 in three varsity football seasons, earning honorable mention as a senior lineman.

Macon storms back to top Savannah

Savannah had Macon in a very familiar position: trailing.

The Bacon, though, turned a 6-5 deficit around with a nine-run seventh en route to a 14-6 win over the Bananas, a rarity in result and margin for Macon.

Bryce Matthews drove in four runs on three hits, while Holden Breeze had three and three. Grant Smith and James Bell each added two hits for Macon, Kyle Bork and Javon Fields adding two RBI each. Breeze had a double and triple.

The teams play Friday in Savannah, Macon returning home to face Florence on Saturday and Lexington County on Monday.

Bacon bolster roster with local champs

Macon has added a pair of Central Georgia national champs to the roster. GMC’s Cory Bivins and FPD’s Noah Takac helped North Greenville to the NCAA Division II national championship last week.

Henley opens Open with brutal round

Maybe there’s some rust for Russell Henley.

After three tournaments off, Henley showed that rest didn’t do him much good, with a 6-over 76 in the first round of the U.S. Open near Boston.

That put him in a tie at 125 out of 156 players. Last year’s cut line was 4 over, and 6 over two years ago. Adam Hadwin leads at 4 under.

Henley will need one of his best rounds of the season to have a shot at Saturday play. He started off with birdies on two of his first three holes, and was 2 under through five holes. Then a double bogey and three bogeys followed for a 2-over first nine, with four more bogeys on the back nine.

Around/About Georgia/Southeast

Atlanta gets a spot as a World Cup host

Austin Riley as a daddy

Albies’ foot operated on, out until at least August

Braves to host Pride Night on Wednesday

Ridder’s hard work paying off, says Smith

Ex-UGA backup QB Daniels fitting in at West Virginia

College World Series

‘Always dreamed of playing in Omaha’

Home run rate dizzying as Series opens

Arkansas catcher paid tribute while mourning grandma’s death

OU’s Johnson praises former UT legend Garrido