Tuesday's Report: Scoreboard; GHSA ⚽, Mercer soccer mourns, new Rutland head FB coach, Perry's Hayward, Honor roll-GMC, MGSU; Braves, Falcons, UGA, Hawks; MLB, NFL, NBA/WNBA, colleges, golf/Masters

April 11, 2023 Central Georgia Sports Report

📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D📰

High School

⚾ ⚾ ⚾Baseball ⚾ ⚾ ⚾

ACE 10, Johnson County 0

Grant Edwards threw a no-hitter for the Gryphons.

Baldwin 8, Spalding 6
Central 22, Kendrick 5; Central 15, Kendrick 0
Gatewood 11, Edmund Burke 2
John MIlledge 10, Briarwood 0
Locust Grove 15, Jones County 0
Memorial Day 17, Twiggs 2

Starr’s Mill 6, Upson-Lee 4
The visitors pulled ahead with three in the fifth and sixth and held on despite being doubled up in hits. Colby Hemphill drove in two runs for the Knights, starting pitcher Jackson Blakely fanning nine with four walks in five innings.

Stratford 11, Howard 0
Cope Smith, Cal Hatcher, Ellis Bridges, and Chase Sasser all had two hits and two runs for Stratford, Smith with two RBI. Ellis Harrell went all five innings, fanning five.

West Laurens 13, Westside 0; West Laurens 18, Westside 0
Tucker Brown needed only 64 pitches for a five-inning shutout in the opener, with five strikeouts and two walks in a one-hitter. Ian Anderson had three hits, and Janson Meeks drove in four runs on two hits. A 13-run first led to a three-inning nightcap, Kolby Clark striking out six of the 10 batters he faced, giving up no hits. Hessy Dover drove in four runs, Kaden Baggett three, and Jayden Todd two for the Raiders, who needed only eight hits, thanks to nine walks, seven wild pitches, and four hit batters.

⛳⛳⛳ Golf ⛳⛳⛳

Boys

1. Rivers Academy, 295; 2. Stratford I, 302; 3. Perry, 320; 4. FPD, 328; 5. Stratford II, 330 6. Stratford III, 344; 7. Pike Co., 346; 8. Lamar County, 349; 9. Schley County, 354; 10. St Pius X, 364; 11. ELCA, 373; 12. Jones County, 395; 13. Tattnall Square, 397; 14. CFCA, 426; 15. MDS, 437

Stratford’s Marshall Butler shot a 72 to tie for low medalist.

🏫🏫🏫 College 🏫🏫🏫

Links contain stories or boxes

🥎 🥎 🥎Softball 🥎 🥎 🥎

Fort Valley State 7, Paine 6; FVSU 10, Paine 8

Georgia Tech 10, Boston College 2

⛳⛳⛳ Golf ⛳⛳⛳

W-Brickyard Collegiate, first round, Mercer

Pro

⚾ ⚾ ⚾ MLB ⚾ ⚾ ⚾

Atlanta 5, Cincinnati, 10 inn.

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Alumni Update

Perry’s Hayward a boss, co-owner in National Cycling League

Honor Roll/Players of the Week

GCAA SB-GMC’s Hudson Smith

SSAC BSB-Middle Georgia State’s Pierce (Veterans), Lee

Around/About Central Georgia

Mercer mourns stunning death of soccer player

A men’s soccer player at Mercer and McIntosh High grad died Monday night after playing in a pickup soccer game on a Mercer intramural field earlier in the afternoon.

Baba Agbaje, a senior midfielder, went into cardiac arrest, and was pronounced dead at Atrium Health Navicent at 7:48 p.m.

"We're heartbroken over Baba's passing, and our hearts go out to his family and loved ones," men's soccer head coach Brad Ruzzo said in a statement. "He was an incredible person, who embodied what it means to be a Mercer Bear. Everyone who knew Baba loved him and he was a blessing to coach. He will be greatly missed."

Agbaje played in 18 games in four seasons, with a career high of eight in 2021, with four starts. A two-time Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll selection, he joined his brother Salam at Mercer in 2019.

He helped McIntosh to a pair of GHSA Class 5A state titles in high school.

Mercer is providing any necessary counseling.

Rutland hires head football coach

Longtime Burke County defensive coordinator Anthony Williams has been named head football coach at Rutland, according to social media posts Monday night by Bibb County athletics.

Other than noting his 24-year career, 14 years in Burke County and three years in Laurens County, no other information was provided. He was approved at Monday night’s Bibb County School District called meeting.

Williams served as Burke County’s interim head coach for the final three games after head coach Eric Parker suffered a heart attack. Parker announced his retirement in early January.

Burke County went 2-1 in those three games under Williams, the Bears losing 17-16 to Wayne County in the game in which Parker collapsed. They lost 44-0 to 4A quarterfinalist Bainbridge in the second round of the playoffs.

Williams was also a strength and conditioning coach at Burke County.

He becomes Rutland’s seventh head coach since the program started in 2003. Jarmarcus Johnson resigned nearly a month ago after two seasons, and has accepted a teaching job in the Monroe County system. He came to Macon from Mary Persons.

Around/About Georgia/Southeast

Murphy booms walk-off homer in 10th, good Elder start

Sudden turning of tide for Braves

Comedy team of Soto and Acuna?

Miami favored over Atlanta in play-in

Is everything – and everybody – on the table for the Hawks?

Smart about ‘players, not plays’

About the Falcons and free agency

MLB/Baseball

Rays up to 10 straight

Scherzer rebounds, Mets blank Padres

Bohm’s six RBI lead Phillies