Friday's Report: Scoreboard, scores/pairings; Ben Smith now at Baldwin; Falcons/UGA/draft, Hawks, Braves; NFL Draft/news, NBA, MLB, NHL, college 🏀

Friday's Report: Scoreboard, scores/pairings; Ben Smith now at Baldwin; Falcons/UGA/draft, Hawks, Braves; NFL Draft/news, NBA, MLB, NHL, college 🏀

📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D📰

High School

⚾ ⚾ ⚾Baseball ⚾ ⚾ ⚾

GHSA Playoffs

Bleckley County 11, Brooks County 1; Bleckley County 15, Brooks County 0
          Eli Mullis whiffed nine in five innings in the opener, and James Fordham was perfect in the shortened three-inning nightcap, striking out all nine batters. Caleb Senters and Clayton Beck each had two hits in the second game, with two-RBI games from Senters, Beck, Breagan Cravey, and Austin Yourn. Creavey, Beck, and Austin Hill had two hits in the opener, the Royals drawing 10 walks.

Crawford County 6, Bryan County 3; Crawford County 15, Bryan County 3

ECI 7, Hawkinsville 1; ECI 13, Hawkinsville 0

Tanner Meeks had three his for the Red Devils in the opener. But Hawkinsville had no hits and six errors in the six-inning nightcap.

Johnson County 9, Taylor County 0
Lamar County 4, Screven County 1
Whitefield Academy 11, Jasper County 1

⚽ ⚽ ⚽Soccer ⚽ ⚽ ⚽
GIAA boys

Central Fellowship 1, FPD 1

🏫🏫🏫 College 🏫🏫🏫

Links have stories or boxes

🥎 🥎 🥎Softball 🥎 🥎 🥎

Middle Georgia State 20, Brewton-Parker 10

Pro

⚾ ⚾ ⚾MLB ⚾ ⚾ ⚾

Miami 5, Atlanta 4

🏀🏀🏀NBA🏀🏀🏀

Boston 128, Atlanta 120

📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰

Around/About Central Georgia

Smith looking no more, ex-Dublin coach takes over at Baldwin

          Ben Smith was barely on the boys basketball coaching market before he was off it.

          About 20 hours after posting that he wasn’t returning to his alma mater, he posted on social media that he was taking over the boys program at Baldwin.

          The school posted on Facebook a welcome a few hours after his announcement.

          Anthony Webb reportedly resigned recently after four seasons with the Braves, but there appears to have been no official or public announcement. A search of county board of education meetings had nothing on him resigning.

          Baldwin won the 2020-21 Class 4A state title, going 17-0 in a season abbreviated by COVID-19. The Braves edged Fayette County 54-53 in the championship game, ending a 40-year title drought.

          Webb went 14-10, 17-0, 22-4, and 18-11 in four seasons, a 71-25 total.  

          Webb was approved in May of 2019, coming from Worth County after one season. He was the longtime leader at his alma mater, Hancock Central, taking the Bulldogs to a state title in 2008 and runner-up finish in 2016 during a 14-year run as head coach.

          He succeeded Buck Harris, a notable hire from Laney with college experience and a AAA state title. Harris went 68-43 in four seasons, with two region titles, before he moved a little east to Jones County.

          Smith becomes the Braves’ seventh head coach since 2000.

NFL Draft

Friday: 7 p.m., rounds 2-3, seven and five minutes between picks
Saturday, 12 p.m., rounds 4-7, five and four minutes between picks