Tuesday's Report: HS playoffs; GMC state soccer battle, Honor Roll (Stratford); Braves, UGA's Condon, Cousins/Vikings/Falcons; NBA playoffs/news, WNBA, NASCAR, NFL, colleges, NHL, soccer

May 7, 2024 Central Georgia Sports Report

In Coverage: GMC goes after another GHSA boys state soccer title

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(As of 12:30 a.m.)
High Schools
⚾ ⚾ ⚾Baseball ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
GHSA playoffs
Class 6A

Houston County 3, Lassiter 1; Houston County 8, Lassiter 1

The Bears executed small ball to perfection in the opener of the quarterfinal series, outhit 3-2 by Lassiter. They scored all 3 in the third, getting the first four batters on with a single, walk, hit batter, and a walk for a run. Troy Carpenter’s grounder up the middle erased Eli Stephens at second as a run came in, and a wild throw to first allowed another run to come in. Winning pitcher Will Allen remained effective and avoided trouble, other than Lassiter’s run in the fifth, striking out the side to end it. Houston County eliminated suspense in the nightcap, with 5 in the second, 3 on Vick Gann’s homer to left. Landon Tankersley fanned 7 with a walk in 5 innings, Carson Small finishing Lassiter off. Stephens had 2 hits and 2 RBI for the Bears.

Class 4A

North Oconee 10, Perry 1; North Oconee 8, Perry 1

The Titans took control of the opener with 5 runs in the first inning, and pulled away late, outhitting the Panthers 9-3. In the nightcap, the visitors put up 5 in the third and 3 in the fourth, with 9 hits to Perry’s 4.

Class A/I

Crawford County 4, Weber 3

Hosting their first Elite 8 series in school history went as planned for Crawford County, advancing to the semifinals by taking an early lead and holding on for four innings to with the Game 3 showdown. The Eagles led 4-1 after three, Weber adding one in the fourth and then one in the seventh. Reliever Isaac Meadows came on for middle-man Makale Harris after a leadoff single in the seventh. Weber got a runner-advancing groundout and then a single, a run coming in a batter later on a groundout to second, leaving the tying run on second. Meadows and Mark Grosswald got into an epic battle that included a wild pitch that then put the tying run on third. Grosswald fouled of three 3-2 pitches, before lining out to left fielder Caleb Swanson to end the game. Winning pitcher Drew Hammock drove in two runs, and Talen O’Neal got 2 hits from the ninth spot.

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Alumni Update/Honor Roll

Stratford grad Shelby Bandt earned second-team all-conference honors in the South Atlantic Conference for Anderson (S.C.) softball. The sophomore batted .362 with 7 steals for the Trojans, who have advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Around/About Georgia

Sale prepared for extra jolt facing former team in next start

‘Never seen anything like’ Condon, Georgia’s calm and casual home run king

Report: Cousins left Vikings over plans to draft QB early

A closer look into what the Falcons valued in the picks of four pressure players in the 2024 NFL Draft

RB going from Colorado to Georgia State

NBA/Basketball

Spurs’ Wembanyama named Rookie of the Year after a record-setting season

Tuesday
7 p.m.: Cleveland at Boston, TNT/Tru; 9:30 p.m., Dallas at Oklahoma City, TNT/Tru
Wednesday
8 p.m.: Indiana at New York, TNT/Tru

Brunson scores 43, rallies Knicks over Pacers

Edwards, Towns lead Wolves’ blitz of Murray, Jokic for 2-0 series lead

Officials admit they flubbed critical kick-ball call in final minute of Pacers-Knicks