Issuu

Time to look great!

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 14 | APRIL 17-23, 2015

Saving Football | Pg. 4 Craig Sager II looks into the GHSA’s new ruling on limiting full contact in practice.

Record-Setter | Pg. 8 Centennial star etches his name in lacrosse history.

YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

A BRAVE NEW WORLD What baseball’s opening week has taught us about the new Braves | Pg. 5

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Vol. 11 Iss. 14 | April 17-23, 2015

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

COLUMNISTS

ON THE COVER

PREP COVER

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock

MANAGING EDITOR Craig Sager II

MARKETING/ Lauren Goldstein PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

BEAT WRITERS Ricky Dimon (Braves) Brian Jones (KSU) Dan Mathews (UGA) Craig Sager II (Falcons) Kyle Sandy (Hawks, GSU, Gladiators) Colin Hubbard (Tech) STAFF WRITERS Jalisa Smith Matthew Cason

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Copyright 2015 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is published in print every other week on Fridays and a digital version is posted to ScoreAtl.com in-between print issues. Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

TEAM SCOOP AND VOICES

06 12 13

COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF SONNY KENNEDY, DEB DREESMAN AND AP PHOTO/KEVIN LILES.

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SAGER SAYS

RYAN RAISES $90K FOR CHOA DURING GOLF TOURNEY BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

years ago, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Fcareive Matt Ryan partnered with Children’s Healthof Atlanta to set up his first celebrity amateur golf tournament with the understanding that half of the proceeds would go to the Matt Ryan Foundation and the other half would go to the Aflac Cancer Center at Children’s. Following the event and seeing first-hand the type of impact this type of fundraising would have on young cancer patients, the Ryan Foundation sent its check to the Aflac Cancer Center. On Monday, for the fifth year, the Aflac Cancer Center received all the profits from the tournament, this time totaling more than $90,000. “Money can go in a lot of different directions, but in my personal opinion, there is no better place for your money to go than to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta,” said Ryan.

The event teed off with an early shotgun start as 29 fivesomes spread throughout Sugarloaf Country Club’s three nine-hole courses to compete for the lowest round of 18. With an 80 percent chance of rain in the forecast, we were warned to listen for a siren to tell us we needed to go in, but neither the rain nor the siren ever came. Instead, a cool and misty April afternoon set up near perfect conditions on the well-groomed course that will host the Champions Tour’s Greater Gwinnett Championship later this week. My father, Craig Sager, has played in Ryan’s tournament several times but his recent relapse with leukemia kept him from participating in it this year. I am nowhere near the experienced golfer (or dresser) he is, but they knew how much this tournament meant to him each year and they allowed me to fill in. I joined a team that included Georgia Tech’s all-time assist leader, Drew Barry,

SAGER SAYS

EMBRACE GHSA’S LIMIT ON FULL CONTACT PRACTICE BY DAN MATHEWS | DAMTHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

n Monday, the GHSA set limits on full O contact during football practices. The new rules, effective this fall, will limit full contact to

45 minutes per day and 135 minutes per week in preseason and then only 30 minutes per day and 90 per week in the regular season. Practices with full-contact drills cannot take place over three consecutive days. The GHSA’s new policy is almost identical to the recommendations that came out of the National Federation of State High School Association’s Concussion Summit Task Force and the fact that Georgia was one of the first states to adapt to the changes is something we should be very proud of. Player safety is football’s biggest threat and everybody knows it. It is a matter that

arose from decades of hard evidence and from its truths that have led to dwindling participation numbers across the country. We are seeing the efforts to protect the game from these long-neglected truths. That is what the GHSA did, while taking a necessary step on Monday to limit full contact during practices. Football is a dangerous game and during the season, our teams leave it all on the field once a week. We see the intensity and physicality at its peak, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Anyone that has ever played football or been around it knows that football practice is the real test. Games are fun, practice is brutal. Since football’s inception, the guys that can handle the physicality and can take and deliver the hits the best are the ones that earn the

and nine-year NFL pro and Falcons alum Coy Wire, now CNN’s Sports Correspondent. The PGA-level course got the best of our group. Barry kept us as close to shooting par as he could in the modified scramble format. He was clearly one of the better golfers on the course Monday, but it was just not our day. We birdied three of the four par threes and Barry even stole a longest drive from former Georgia quarterback and Falcons alum D.J. Shockley, but we could not even break par on the back nine and knew we had no shot at placing in the top three teams. Before we had stepped on the course, Ryan had already been at morning workouts at Flowery Branch and even stopped by the range to get in a few practice cuts. He was definitely warmed up and he and four teammates; Brian Betkowski, Robert Amberg, Don Hallacy and Brian Mikes took first place. “Never win your own tournament,” joked event emcee and Falcons legendary play-byplay sportscaster Wes Durham. The first place prize was a football autographed by Ryan himself. “Good teammates are always the key,” the Pro Bowler said after holding up his prize. “I was able to get the muscles firing before hitting the course with our morning workouts so that helped, too.” The event would not be complete without a look at the impact it has made in the community and cancer survivor Justin Berry, from Hall County, was there to share his inspirational story.

“I thank God for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta,” said Berry. “They saved me and were there to walk me and my family through it every step of the way.” Berry, a black belt, and avid runner, collapsed with a shooting pain in his leg last August. After several misdiagnoses, it was finally discovered that Berry had Osteosarcoma in his tibia, a form of bone cancer. He took the podium to share the journey he took with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta once he found out he had cancer. Berry battled through seven months of chemo that contained the cancer to the point where his tibia could be reconstructed with a donation from a cadaver. Now, one bone transplant later, Berry was up on his feet in crutches and proudly showing off the scar that saved his life. Ryan handed Berry a personally autographed football after his moving speech and also had an autographed baseball from Chipper Jones for him. “Having done this for five years now and doing two events annually with different kids that can speak about the hospitals they’ve been at with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta puts this in perspective,” Ryan said. “When we can come together and raise this much, it is very rewarding, but at the same time, you can never raise enough.” Ryan’s annual events raise between $250,000-$300,000 for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Photo courtesy of Craig Sager II.

playing time. Right? You can work year-around but if you cannot deliver a hit in practice, you are never going to see the field as a starter. The more pads are taken out of the equation at practice, the more fundamentals can be looked at when evaluating a player and building a team. I played at Walton High School before walking on at wide receiver and special teams at UGA for three years. Practice was game-day for me. I was not going to be one of the guys playing on Saturday’s so I did everything I could at practice to get my chance. I honestly cannot remember ever going full pads more than once a week, but that did not mean practice was not incredibly physical. Every play in football requires ‘putting a hat’ on somebody. When I was blocking, the harder the force was coming at me, the harder I was going to have to return the hit to avoid getting ran over and letting my teammate get hit. I felt this everyday at practice and made sure I packed on as much size as I could to take this daily punishment. I started playing football in eighth grade and by the time I finished at UGA, my list of injuries included a cracked sternum, two torn shoulders, multiple concussions, a torn meniscus and two dislocated fingers, none of which ever happened in a game. In fact, only my second torn shoulder even happened in ‘full

pads’, but I had messed it up so many times in our ‘limited’ contact before that day that it was already in a harness heading into what turned out to be my last ever football practice. I got hurt in practice more because games are such a small fraction of the sport. That is a simple math to understand, but it was also because I focused on trying to survive and earn playing time through physicality and not fundamentals. I felt I had no other choice. Some of my coaches over the years planted this idea in my mind, and that is why I believe the entire culture needs to change and it can gravitate towards this vision under GHSA. I overheard a conversation between two former NFL players yesterday about how they would not sign their kids up to play football unless their kid walked up to them, put his hands around their throat and demanded to play. They said this because they know how much time is required year around and how brutal practice can be. They feared their kids would spend their entire childhood dedicated to football like they did and miss out on so many other chances with different sports they could enjoy that that would also showcase their athletic gifts. Some may see my support of change as bad to the sport, but after years of denial, I see it as the only way to save it. Photo courtesy of Sonny Kennedy.

Vol. 11 Iss. 14 | April 17-23, 2015

ON THE COVER

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

TAKEAWAYS FROM MLB OPENING WEEK BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

ith the 2015 MLB Opening Week in the books, there have been some early surprises and early disappointments. However, as we all know, it’s a long season so don’t get too excited or fret too much with over 150 games remaining this year. To me, there have been four storylines that have caught my eye so far: 1. Atlanta starting 5-1. 2. The Royals and Tigers combining to start 12-0 in the AL Central. 3. The NL-favorite Nationals struggling. 4. The lackluster Cubs. The Braves, whom many expected to be in tank mode this season (including myself), have shocked the league by winning five of their first six games. Is it because the Miami Marlins and New York Mets aren’t as good as many predicted? Possibly, but not probable. General Manager John Hart and Manager Freddi Gonzalez have to be given credit for their hot start. Atlanta could have easily limped out to a one or two-win start to the season and no one would have batted an eye, but instead, Gonzalez has a plucky Braves team playing hard and winning with small ball and strong pitching. Out of everyone from Atlanta’s depleted

offense, who would have predicted journeyman Alberto Callaspo would lead the team in hitting out of the gates with a .538 batting average? And who would have thunk that the mixture of rookie relievers and well-traveled veterans in the backend of the bullpen would combine for a 0.44 ERA in 20.1 IP while striking out 22 and allowing a MLB-low .097 batting average to opposing hitters? Definitely not me. Enjoy this recent run of success, it may not last much longer or for all we know, the Braves might be the Hawks of baseball. On the flipside of the NL East, the Nationals, who some picked to win 100-games, have fumbled their way to a 2-4 start. Ian Desmond has already committed four errors in his first six games; two of which helped the Mets take two out of three games in Washington. The Nationals’ pitching hasn’t been as dominant as predicted but has been good enough to win games. It’s been their offense which has faltered scoring just 13 runs thus far--least in the division. It is a long season, but every single game counts as the wins and losses begin to pile up. Washington fans shouldn’t worry

about the slow start yet. The AL Central race has already begun with the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers both 6-0. The Royals just completed a statement sweep of the Angels in Los Angeles. Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and new additions Kendrys Morales and Alex Rios highlight the success of the Royals’ offense. The pitching staff without James Shields has flourished as well with Yordano Ventura looking like he might be ready to take his game to the next level at the tender age of 23. The Tigers already boast a +31 run differential and have clicked on all cylinders. Miguel Cabrera is coming off a ho-hum 11-for-14 weekend series against the Indians in which he drove in six runs. Justin Verlander is on the 15-day DL with a triceps issue, but it hasn’t affected the team at all now that David Price is in the Motor City for his first full season. The 2012 Cy Young award winner has yet to allow a run in his first 14.1 innings pitched. The Cubbies (3-2) took the stage in the first game of the season and proceeded to lay an egg. Jon Lester’s arm already looked dead as he was rocked for eight hits in 4.1 innings. The Cubs have rested him eight days before his next start this week. The 31-year-old signed a six year, $155 million dollar contract this offseason and if he can’t find his form and his age catches up to him, it is the type of contract that can cripple an already cursed franchise. Also, the renovations of Wrigley Field have been a disaster. Toilets did not work and lines lasted nearly an hour for the bathroom. Fans had to pee in cups and one concession stand ran out of hotdog buns but not hot dogs. Just another year of the Cubs being the Cubs. DOWN ON THE FARM ... The stars of tomorrow are down in the farm today, but there are a handful of players who might get the call to the bigs sooner rather than later. The most ballyhooed prospect this spring has been Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs who opens up in Triple-A Iowa. The slugging third baseman mashed nine homers and 15 RBIs while batting .425 in 40 at-bats. He didn’t open the season with the big league club because General Manager Theo Epstein wanted to hold him back for at least two weeks so the club could hold control of Bryant’s contract longer, and push back the start of his MLB service-time. Once he is called up, Bryant will immediately supplant the struggling Mike Olt at third base. In five Triple-A games this season,

Bryant already has two homers and seven RBIs. Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets enters Triple-A Las Vegas for the second straight season. The 6-foot-6, 240 pound righty nicknamed Thor, was the centerpiece along with current Met catcher Travis D’Arnaud in the 2012 R.A. Dickey trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. Syndergaard features a 95+ MPH fastball and a devastating breaking ball. If healthy, he will make an appearance in the majors this season. The Dodgers have a top notch infield prospect in Corey Seager. The 20-year-old has opened up in Double-A and has hit .583 through six games. At 6-foot-4, Seager may end up switching from shortstop to third base once he ascends to the majors. Through 271 career minor league games, he has hit .319. He is the younger brother of Mariner all-star Kyle. The Dodgers are known for being aggressive moving their young players up the ladder, so don’t be surprised if he gets called up in September to make an impact. Photos courtesy of Pouya Dianat/Atlanta Braves and AP Photo/Kevin Liles.

San Antonio Spurs

Atlanta Braves

The 21-year-old out of Dallas, TX set the golf world ablaze with his incredible 18-under-par performance to win the Masters. Spieth birdied his way into the history books as he sunk 28 to set a new course record. The sky is the limit for the mature beyond his years youngster.

It’s that time of year again. Time for the ageless Spurs to come back from the dead and get unthinkably hot heading into the playoffs. They were once destined to finish near the bottom of the conference but 11-straight wins later and Pop’s bunch finds themselves on the cusp of the number two seed.

Who would have thought the Braves would start the season 5-0? Freddi’s ball club came out of the gates on fire and shocked the league. They have since come back down to earth, but give credit to the manager and general manager for managing to put a competitive team on the diamond while rebuilding.

By Kyle Sandy

WHO’S HOT

Jordan Spieth

SCORE LIST By Brian Jones

PLAYOFF TIME

It was a great season for the Atlanta Hawks, but now it’s time for the real basketball to begin. The playoff start this weekend and the Hawks have home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference rounds. It will be a fun atmosphere at Philips, and hopefully the Hawks can make a deep run, which would mean the NBA Finals.

HOT BRAVES

Who would have thought the Braves would be 6-2 to start the season? That’s where they are as of Wednesday morning, and the reason for the early success is quality pitching and the batters able to get hits with runners in scoring position. It’s too early to tell if the Braves are for real, but they look like a much better team than what they were last season.

MASTER JORDAN

The Masters took place in Augusta the past weekend, and 21-year old Jordan Spieth was the one that was wearing the green jacket when it was all said and done. He was impressive as he shot 18-under 270, which tied a Masters’ record. Spieth is only going to get better, and odds are we’ll see him get another green jacket very soon.

G-DAY SATURDAY

The Bulldogs held their annual G-Day game this past Saturday, and fans got a really good look at what the team will look like in 2015. A.J. Turman ran the ball well, Lorenzo Carter was disruptive in the backfield and Faton Buata had a strong showing at quarterback. Overall, it was a great spring for the Bulldogs.

BLUE AND WHITE

While the Bulldogs were banging heads in Athens, the Georgia State football team was doing the same thing at the GSU Soccer Complex for the Blue and White Spring Game. Quarterback Nick Arbuckle led the Blue Team with 279 passing yards while safety Tarris Batiste notched two interceptions for the White Team. Let’s hope the Panthers can build on this game for a successful 2015 season.

WHO’S NOT

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Thabo Sefolosha

Trevor Cahill

Aaron Hernandez

It turns out that Thabo broke his leg during his arrest outside a New York City nightclub last week. The season-ending injury is the ultimate “insult to injury” for the first year Hawk. Sefolosha will now turn to legal action against the NYPD.

Welcome to Atlanta. Cahill seemingly did not get the memo that the Braves are not in full tank mode and are looking to compete. The former D-Back lasted 2.1 innings in his debut and got shelled for four runs off five hits. He is now the proud owner of a 15.43 ERA.

The judge and jury have spoken. The former New England Patriot was found guilty of all charges. He now faces a life sentence in prison. Hernandez was accused of killing Odin Lloyd in 2013. The murder weapon was never found, but common sense prevailed and helped lock him away.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Kyle Sandy

Our email newsletter is something we take a lot of pride in at Score. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a high school sportsheavy publication that we produce each day to fill in our readers on the latest happenings in Georgia prep sports. We send it out Monday through Friday throughout the year and Monday through Saturday during the fall. Not only do we cover popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, we also cover every other varsity sport the GHSA fields. If you like Georgia high school sports at all, sign up for our email newsletter by visiting www.tinyurl.com/scorenewsletter and enter your email address(es) that you’d like added to the distribution list.

TRIVIA QUESTION

“

SANITY AT LAST

HOW MANY LACROSSE PLAYERS IN HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY HAVE EVER SCORED 600 CAREER POINTS?

“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him as a person. He’s got great energy and he’s awesome here in the building”

ANSWER ON PAGE 14

- Matt Ryan on getting to know Dan Quinn.

18 2

Weeks until the Corky Kell Classic Weeks until the NFL Draft

558

Career points for Centennial Lacrosse Standout Chase Solomon

2012

The last time the Marist girls soccer team lost a game

Record-setting wins for the Atlanta Hawks this season

Consecutive wins the Braves opened this season with

$90,000

Raised for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta from Matt Ryan’s golf tournament

135

minutes of full contact per week allowed under the newly formed GHSA guidelines

Vol. 11 Iss. 14 | April 17-23, 2015

SEMIFINALS

Wednesday, July 22 Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA

SPRING SPORTS

CENTENNIAL STAR CONTINUES SCORING AT HISTORIC PACE CRAIG SAGER II, RICKY DIMON & KYLE SANDY

acrosse standout Nate Solomon became the No. 5 scorer in high school lacrosse history over the weekend after putting together 10 goals and seven assists in the Knights victories over Plant (FL) (22-6) and Gulf Coast (FL) (233). Solomon passed Casey Powell for No. 5 on the all-time list, a player Solomon looks to be taking a similar trail as. Powell captained the US Nationally team and was a four-time AllAmerican at Syracuse, the college Solomon will be attending next fall. Solomon sits at 558 career points and will lead the 11-1 Knights into the final six games of the regular season. Only two high school players have ever hit 600 career points. Centennial faces McCallie (TN) Friday and return to action Saturday to play Montgomery Bell Academy (TN). The final four games on the season slate will be played right in out backyard and will give us a chance to witness Solomon as he chases history. Centen-

nial closes out its season with Milton (4/23), North Gwinnett (4/28), South Forsyth (4/30) at home before the season finale at Harrison (5/1). ON THE PITCH … In a Region 6-AA showdown at Holy Innocents’ on Tuesday night, the Wesleyan girls outlasted the Golden Bears 5-4 in penalty kicks. Despite surrendering four goals in a fast-paced, high-scoring battle, Wesleyan goalie Carolina Cannon came up big from start to finish. The senior made 21 saves, including one on Holy Innocents’ final penalty kick. The Wolves got a pair of goals from Regan Lochmandy, while Talor Panther and T.J. Anderson also found the back of the net. A 4-4 tie at the end of regulation held up through the overtime periods before the shootout had to decide it. Wesleyan converted its first five kicks and Holy Innocents’ capitalized on its first four attempts

before Cannon made the clinching save. For a while the Wesleyan vs. Holy Innocents’ boys’ showdown appeared to be on its way to a similar destination. A 3-3 tie, however, was erased by the Wolves swiftly and decisively. Wesleyan scored five unanswered goals to run away with an 8-3 win. Chandler Marsh and Bryce Cooke scored two goals apiece for the Wolves, who also got five assists from Luke Hedrick and one goal each by William Delk, Nick Eversbusch and Grant Sauer. The Central Gwinnett boys secured the top seed in the state playoffs out of Region 8-AAAAAA by winning at Grayson 4-2 on Tuesday. Jorge Romero notched a pair of goals to lift the Black Knights and Diego Godinez and Eric Garcia each scored once. They can wrap up the outright region title with a victory at South Gwinnett on Friday. Central Gwinnett holds a one-game lead over Parkview, which it defeated 2-1 on March 31. Head coach Cory Morgan’s squad is led by Godinez (nine goals on the season), Joel Dominguez (team leader in assists) and goalkeeper Rickie Ortiz—an allGwinnett County selection last year. One of the most impressive turnarounds since the 2014-15 campaign has been engineered by the Cedartown girls. After going winless last season, the Bulldogs have been led by new head coach Randall McDowell to a 5-3 record in Region 5-AAA. They maintained position to qualify for the state playoffs by hammering Pepperell 10-0 on Tuesday. Cedartown

has clearly benefited from the return of senior Adilene Campos, who missed all of her junior year because of a broken leg. Campos scored 33 goals as a freshman, added 20 as a sophomore and has already surpassed the 30-goal mark this season. BACKYARD BRAWL … Parkview baseball (18-2, 10-1), 6A’s No. 1 ranked team, gained some separation in Region 8-AAAAAA after picking up a crucial win over No. 7 Brookwood (15-5, 8-3) last Monday, 7-1. Austin Biggar drilled a grand slam in the third inning to set the tone for the Panthers and help lift them over the Broncos. Will Ethridge tossed a complete-game while allowing one unearned run. The Broncos dropped to South Gwinnett last Wednesday but quickly rebounded with a 4-2 win over No. 9 Archer (15-6, 8-3) to pull into a tie for second place. No. 6 Lakeside-DeKalb enters the polls after ripping off nine-straight wins. Georgia Statesignee Darius Sewell leads the Vikings with six homeruns and 27 RBIs. Gainesville (15-4, 10-2) took No. 2 in this week’s Class 5A poll and Greenbrier (15-2, 5-1) tumbled to No. 4 after a 4-1 loss to South Forsyth (11-9, 7-5). The Red Elephants have picked up wins over No. 7 Loganville (15-4, 10-2) and Winder-Barrow (12-6, 8-4). Photos courtesy of Deb Dreesman, Sonny Kennedy and LeeAnn Young.

Vol. 11 Iss. 14 | April 17-23, 2015

A young athlete’s brain is still developing, so don’t take chances with a head injury. Bring him to Children’s, where doctors have the expertise to diagnose and treat concussions. And with ImPACT testing, we can compare a patient’s progress to a normal baseline score to help determine when he’s ready to play again. To schedule a baseline ImPACT test for your athlete or team, visit choa.org/baselinetesting. TM

Vol. 11 Iss. 14 | April 17-23, 2015

Score Atlanta Baseball Rankings Class AAAAAA

Class AAA

1...........................Parkview 2............................ Lambert 3...............................Walton 4.........Kennesaw Mountain 5................................Milton

1..................Blessed Trinity 2................... Pierce County 3............................ Jackson 4............Westside-Augusta 5...........................Jefferson

6..............Lakeside-DeKalb 7........................Brookwood 8............................. Newnan 9................................Archer 10.....................East Coweta

Class AAAAA 1........................ Starr’s Mill 2........................Gainesville 3...................... Union Grove 4........................ Greenbrier 5...........................Allatoona

Class AA 6..................................... Ola 7..........................Loganville 8.................... East Paulding 9....................... Stephenson 10..................Richmond Hill

1.......................... Wesleyan 2................................ Lovett 3.......................Benedictine 4..Greater Atlanta Christian 5....................Bacon County

6....................... Pike County 7................... Wayne County 8......................Crisp County 9..................................Perry 10..........................Thomson

1......................King’s Ridge 2.......................... Mt. Paran 3..................Tattnall Square 4.........Eagle’s Landing Chr. 5.............................Treutlen

Class AAAA 1...............................Buford 2....................... Whitewater 3.....................Troup County 4..............................St. Pius 5.....................Locust Grove

6......................Westminster 7.................Franklin County 8..............................Decatur 9..................Oconee County 10...........Central-Carrollton

6..........................Darlington 7....................Rabun County 8...........................Jeff Davis 9..............................Bremen 10.....................Thomasville

Class AAAAAA

Class AAA

1..................Chattahoochee 2...........................Campbell 3................................Duluth 4............................. Roswell 5....................... Brookwood

1..................... Westminster 2.............................Calhoun 3...........................West Hall 4............................ Jackson 5................Dawson County

6............................... Walton 7.............................Lambert 8.............................Marietta 9............................ Harrison 10.........Habersham Central

Class AAAAA

Class AAAAAA

1......................Johns Creek 2.........................Centennial 3............................ Lambert 4............................. Roswell 5..................................Pope

1................................Milton 2...............................Walton 3.............................Lassiter 4..................Chattahoochee 5..................North Gwinnett

6..........................Mill Creek 7.................. North Gwinnett 8............................. Lassiter 9............................ Harrison 10........................Northview

6..........................Northview 7...................................Pope 8..........................Mill Creek 9............................ Harrison 10................... West Forsyth

Class A - AAAAA

1..................... Westminster 2................................ Lovett 3...........................Allatoona 4........................Cambridge 5...........................McIntosh

1........................Cambridge 2..................... Westminster 3..................Blessed Trinity 4....................................Kell 5..............................St. Pius

6................................ Marist 7....................... Benedictine 8.......... Greater Atlanta Chr. 9...........................Wesleyan 10............................ St. Pius

6......................... Creekview 7........................River Ridge 8........................ Sprayberry 9...........................Wesleyan 10..............Lakeside-Evans

6..........Whitefield Academy 7................ Charlton County 8........................Brookstone 9......First Presbyterian Day 10.... Providence Chr. Acad.

6...............................Islands 7...................Blessed Trinity 8............................ East Hall 9.....................North Murray 10............................Decatur

Class AA 6...........................Sequoyah 7.................Glynn Academy 8.........................Starr’s Mill 9............. Heritage-Conyers 10......................... McIntosh

Class AAAA 1...........................St. Pius X 2........ Woodward Academy 3....................North Oconee 4....................... Whitewater 5............................ Johnson

Score Atlanta Girls Lacrosse Rankings

Class A

Score Atlanta Boys Soccer Rankings

1................................Dalton 2........................ Greenbrier 3................ Houston County 4........................Gainesville 5.........................Riverwood

Score Atlanta Boys Lacrosse Rankings

1..Greater Atlanta Christian 2...................... Thomasville 3.............Riverside Military 4..................Pace Academy 5.......................Benedictine

1........... Stratford Academy 2........... Atlanta Int’l School 3.......... Savannah Christian 4.........Fellowship Christian 5..............................Paideia

Class AAAAAA

Class AAA

1............................Harrison 2.............................Lassiter 3.............................Grayson 4................... South Forsyth 5...............................Walton

1..................... Westminster 2..................Blessed Trinity 3.................Dawson County 4............... Lumpkin County 5.........................Adairsville

6.......................East Coweta 7...................................Pope 8.............................Lambert 9........................... Parkview 10..............Peachtree Ridge

Class AAAAA 6................. Holy Innocents’ 7...........................Wesleyan 8.................................Lovett 9.....................Union County 10.................... Long County

Class A 6...........................LaGrange 7......................... Jonesboro 8...........Southeast Whitfield 9.......... Northwest Whitfield 10..............................Buford

Score Atlanta Girls Soccer Rankings

1...........................McIntosh 2..........................Northgate 3........................ Starr’s Mill 4..........................Columbus 5........................Gainesville

Class AA 6.......................... Alexander 7................................. Rome 8....................Richmond Hill 9..................... North Atlanta 10.......................Greenbrier

Class AAAA 6...............Athens Academy 7......Mount Paran Christian 8............................. Aquinas 9......Hebron Christian Acad 10...............St. Anne Pacelli

1................................Marist 2...........................St. Pius X 3........ Woodward Academy 4............................Veterans 5...............................Buford

6............................. Calhoun 7..............................Decatur 8...................Savannah Arts 9..................Oconee County 10......................... Jefferson

1..Greater Atlanta Christian 2................................ Lovett 3.......................... Wesleyan 4......................St. Vincent’s 5.....................East Laurens

6................. Holy Innocents’ 7..............................Bremen 8.................. Pace Academy 9.......................... Fitzgerald 10..................Lamar County

Class A 6............................ Spalding 7....................... Pike County 8........................Whitewater 9....................Mary Persons 10................................... Ola

1.........Fellowship Christian 2........... Atlanta Int’l School 3......First Presbyterian Day 4..............................Paideia 5...............Athens Academy

6............................. Aquinas 7............Stratford Academy 8...........Savannah Christian 9............................... Walker 10...Hebron Christian Acad.

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UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

DEFENSE SHINES AT G-DAY BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

he fans and media got their extended look at the 2015 Georgia Bulldogs, with their annual spring game Saturday afternoon. This game saw some big plays deep in the passing and running game. The defense was able to make stops in the backfield and cause turnovers. Plus, we even got to see a little of Nick Chubb on the field in game situations. They were relatively able to stay out of injury trouble, although it does look like sophomore wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie could be out for the rest of the spring with a hamstring injury. Richt admits that it was tough to get a good impression of the spring game, because he was missing some of the action to do on-air interviews with the tv and radio crews calling today’s game. With the quarterback race being so closely scrutinized by the coaches, fans, media, and others interested. People want to

GEORGIA STATE

HOMERS POWER BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

uch like in basketball, the Sun Belt is slowly becoming dominated by Georgia State this season. The Panthers (22-15, 11-3) completed a three-game sweep of ULM on Sunday at the GSU Baseball Complex after a 9-0 shutout of the Warhawks. Seven pitchers combined for Georgia State’s first shutout since 2013. On a designated staff day, Nathan Bates, Alex Hegner, Wayne Wages, Connor Stanley, Clayton Payne, Garrett Ford and Will White allowed just six hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. The offense was supplied yet again by Matt Rose who crushed his conference leading 11th homerun of the season. Joey Roach also went deep, connecting on his seventh long ball of the year. The spread out usage of the pitching staff was planned, but Coach Greg Frady didn’t envision a shutout. “We knew today would be a staff situation because of the rainout Friday night. Bates goes through three innings in 41 pitches, which was perfect, and then our bullpen came in and did such a wonderful job,” Frady said.

know what Richt thinks about the battle. Ramsey started the day as the first team starter, to finish three out of six completions for 138 yards and one 72 yard touchdown pass to McKenzie. 16 of 25 for 171 yards and a touchdown pass to Jordan Davis. Jacob Park goes 10 of 15 for 92 yards with one interception. CENTER OF ATTENTION… Another position that is being closely supervised, is the battle to win the starting center spot. Saturday and pretty much all spring, sophomore Isaiah Wynn had been practicing with the first team. On the defensive side of the ball, it is the outside linebackers that seem to be making a name for themselves this spring. One in particular has been Lorenzo Carter. Carter finishes with four tackles and a sack Jordan Jenkins had two and a half tackles for a loss, plus a sack of his own. Nick Chubb took three carries for 34 yards and included a 17 yard touchdown run. The sophomore running back also showed that the receiving game is in good form, with three catches for 23 yards. This is not the end of spring for the Georgia football team. They’ll go through two practice’s this week before closing up formal onfield work for the summer.

SEASONS IN THE SUN ... The beach volleyball team continued to roll at the Fiesta on Siesta Key tournament. The No. 7 Panthers (18-1) competed in the pairs-only portion of the event and found success in the duos of Deidra Bohannon/Alexis Townsend, Delaney Rohan/Natalie Wilson and Molly Smestad/Alexis Elmurr. Bohannon and Townsend went 3-0 in their pool with wins over pairs from Florida International, Florida State and South Carolina. Both other aforementioned pairs finished 2-1 in their pool play matches. GSU has one more weekend of pairs competition before the team finds out if it will be making the trip to the AVCA Nationals. GSU is currently ranked No. 7 in the AVCA poll with the eight top teams receiving bids to the tournament. GOIN’ YARD ... The Lady Panthers (28-16, 7-8) fell 14-5 to Appalachian State (10-26, 1-17) at Bob Heck Field on Sunday, but Georgia State fans were treated to history. Megan Litumbe drilled her 17th homerun of the season, tying the GSU single-season record. Litumbe has 12 more regular season games to shatter the record and cement herself in Panther history. The phrase “Chicks dig the long ball” has proven true this season as the Lady Panthers have blasted a record total of 75 homers thus far. Ashley Christy and Ivie Drake both went deep in Sunday’s game. The Panthers travel to Tallahassee to battle with No. 8 FSU in a doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday.

GEORGIA TECH

GEORGIA TECH READY FOR SPRING SCRIMMAGE BY COLIN HUBBARD | CHUBBARD@SCOREATL.COM

eorgia Tech’s annual spring football game G is set to take place tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Admission is free

and no ticket is required for entry. This will be the first football game played by the Jackets since defeating Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl to cap off what was one of their best seasons to date. Georgia Tech is returning quarterback Justin Thomas and Michael Summers on offense but will be in search of replacements in the backfield as well as in the receiving core. On defense, the Jackets will return several starters including defensive backs Jamal Golden and Chris Milton. Linebacker Jabari HuntDays will also make his return to the Jackets team after missing all of 2014 due to suspension. Sophomore Keshun Freeman will be in uniform as well for Jackets and will look to improve on what was a fantastic 2014 season for Freeman. Watch for several young Jackets to make impacts in the spring game as well as in the 2015 regular season.

KENNESAW STATE

BASEBALL SWEEPS NORTHERN KENTUCKY, WOMEN’S GOLF WINS CONFERENCE TITLE BY BRIAN JONES | BJONES@SCOREATL.COM

he baseball team is starting to look like the team of last season as they have won four of their last five games as of Wednesday morning. The past weekend, the Owls swept Northern Kentucky to improve their conference record to 5-4. The Owls won the first game 8-5, and it was a game where Chris Erwin and Chris McGowan each hit homers. McGowan ended his day going 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Erwin had and additional hit with the homer. The offensive firepower continued for the Owls on Saturday as they dominated Northern Kentucky 10-1. Kal Simmons, Brennan Morgan and Colin Bennett hit home runs in the win, and pitcher Travis Bergen earned his fourth win of the year with a one-run complete-game outing. “I thought Bergen threw extremely well for us today. He set the tone for us and we were able to get a couple of runs early,” head coach Mike Sansing said. “I feel confident with Bergen on the mound and he was great today.”

TOP 25… The Georgia Tech baseball stands at 24-12 including a 9-9 record in conference play. The No. 24 ranked Yellow Jackets have one two consecutive series against Virginia Tech and most recently against the Virginia Cavaliers. Coming off of a non-conference win against Mercer, Georgia Tech played host to the Cavaliers in a three game series this past weekend and took two out of three games to even their conference record with nine wins. The first game of the series did not go the Jackets way as they suffered a 14-4 loss. But, the Jackets would even the series in game two after defeating No. 15 Virginia, 11-4 behind 5 first-inning runs. With the series deadlocked, star pitcher Brandon Gold toed the mound for the Jackets in search of his fifth win of the season. Gold limited the Cavaliers to just three hits and one run in his seven strong innings on the mound and was boosted by a three-run fourth inning from his offense. Gold improved to 5-1, while Zac Ryan pitched the final two innings for his seventh save in what was a 4-3 win for the Jackets. Georgia Tech improved to 17-1 this season when scoring first, 8-2 in games decided by one-run and 7-7 versus ranked teams. The GT-UGA game scheduled for last Tuesday was postponed due to rain and will be rescheduled for a later date. The Jackets will travel to play Boston College in a three game series starting tomorrow night.

Sunday was the same story for the Owls as they scored six runs in the eighth inning to win 12-7. Drew Davis hit a homer while Erwin and Taylor Allum each drove in two runs. Pitcher Logan Hutchinson got his first win of the year, going two innings (seventh and eighth) and striking out two batters. The Owls had a Tuesday game against Jacksonville State. KSU was leading 5-4 going into the sixth, but the Gamecocks scored five unanswered runs to give them the 9-5 win. The Owls will be back in action this weekend when they face Florida Gulf Coast for a three-game series. CONFERENCE CHAMPS The women’s golf team was able to make history on Tuesday as they won the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship by 30 strokes. They are the third team in Atlantic Sun history to win a conference title by that large of a margin. “We are obviously really excited right now,” said head coach Rhyll Brinsmead. “I knew we were going to play well, but I did not know that we were going to win by 30 strokes. The team just came out today, and not even today, all week and played phenomenal. It is not like a golf course is that was an easy set-up or anything, we just stuck to the game plan and pulled it off. The Owls will now get ready for the NCAA Regional, which will take place on May 7-9.

Vol. 11 Iss. 14 | April 17-23, 2015 ATLANTA HAWKS

HAWKS GET KNICKED; POSSBILE PLAYOFF REMATCH LOOMS BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

n their final home game of the season, the Atlanta Hawks (60-21) fell to the lowly New York Knicks, 112-108. Battling injuries down the stretch, Atlanta is still looking to find its groove heading into the postseason. Coach Budenholzer has used a multitude of ways to rest his players choosing to sit a few starters on given nights and has even implemented a platoon system recently. The concerning part about the loss to New York (17-64) was that every key player played except for Paul Millsap who has missed five games now with a shoulder injury and Dennis Schroder who was resting. Aside from the final score, Atlanta’s offense looked promising nailing 11 three-pointers and assisting on 27 baskets. Six players scored in double figures led by Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague’s 19 points. Al Horford and DeMarre Carroll also looked sharp, scoring 16 and 18 points respectively. The Knicks received a career-high from rookie Langston Galloway who went a perfect six-for-six from deep en route to 26 points.

ATLANTA BRAVES

BRAVES LOSE A SERIES, BUT STILL START 6-3 BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

he Atlanta Braves suffered their first series loss of the season after dropping two of the last three contests in a three-game home-stand against the Miami Marlins to begin this week. After taking Monday’s opener 3-2, Atlanta got blown out 8-2 in the second game and fell 6-2 in the rubber match on Wednesday afternoon. Fortunately for the Braves, a season-opening sweep of Miami followed by two wins in three tries against the New York Mets means they still boasted a better-than expected 6-3 record through nine games. Starting pitcher Shelby Miller, acquired in the Jason Heyward deal, is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 10 innings after two starts. He took a no-decision in a 2-0 victory over Miami last Wednesday before getting the win in a 3-2 defeat of the Marlins on Monday. Miller has given up only seven hits and one run. His next start is expected to come on Sunday at Toronto for Atlanta’s third game of a nine-game road trip.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jason Smith pitched in 23 and 20 as the Knicks shot 55.8 percent from the field. Atlanta trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half. Jeff Teague attributed the team’s poor performance to lackadaisical play, “That was the whole theme of the game,” Teague said. “We were just not into it.” COMING INTO FOCUS ... The playoff picture, though still a bit muddled, is starting to piece together. One spot remains up for grabs at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics (38-42) have clinched a playoff berth and hold a one game lead over Indiana (37-43) and a game and a half lead over Brooklyn (37-44) for the seventh seed. A week ago, it seemed as if the Nets were surging into the playoffs and had a realistic chance to possibly climb as high as the sixth seed, but after losing four of their last six games they find themselves trailing the Pacers by half a game. Brooklyn has one final game with the Magic while the Pacers have tough tests with Washington and Memphis looming. If Indiana holds on to the eighth seed, it will be a rematch of last year’s seven game series but with the two teams swapping seeds. UP NEXT ... The Hawks close their best season in franchise history on the road in Chicago (49-32) on Wednesday at 8 P.M.

HOT OFF THE GRILLI … Nobody can truly replace Craig Kimbrel— not on this team nor on any other ballclub in Major League Baseball. But Jason Grilli is doing best to give fans and teammates the same kind of belief in the closer’s role that they had enjoyed in four previous seasons with Kimbrel. And like the flame-throwing youngster did in 2011, Grilli is wasting no time becoming a fan favorite. The 38-year-old is putting up the numbers doing so with his typical exuberance. He has made four appearances this season— all in save situations—and has converted all four of his chances. Grilli did not give up a single hit or run during his first three saves before getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the 3-2 win over the Miami on Monday at the expense of just one run allowed. Fellow newcomer and setup man Jim Johnson has also impressed. The 31-year-old has pitched in five games, going an inning in each of those five. He boasts an unblemished ERA and has surrendered a grand total of three hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts. “Two different guys,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Grilli and Johnson. “But they’re both veterans, serious, and they bring it every day. It’s been fun. Unbelievable preparation (by) both of those guys, before a game, and I think the young guys follow them. They’re two good role models.”

ATLANTA FALCONS

QUINN REVEALS PRESEASON MENTALITY BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

he Falcons preseason schedule was released last week and during a press conference following the first team workouts, new head coach Dan Quinn expressed his stance on the importance of these four games. “I don’t think there’s ever a time to diminish the preseason games,” Quinn said. “It could be totally critical to anybody who is trying like crazy to make their team and put their best foot forward. I think every time we talk about, ‘it’s only preseason, don’t worry about it,’ I think we’re really not giving the proper due and respect for the guys who are totally going for it, and so in that way, all of the games are important.” The Falcons will host the Tennessee Titans before traveling in consecutive weeks to play the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The dress rehearsal before the regular season will be against the Baltimore Ravens at the Georgia Dome. “In some preseason games, people will play less, but when we’re out there, let’s go

GWINNETT GLADIATORS

OVERTIME COMEBACK HIGHLIGHTS HOME FINALE BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

he season ended for the Gwinnett Gladiators (20-45-3-4) on Saturday as they fell to the Greenville Road Warriors (39-29-1-3) by a final of 5-1. Gwinnett finishes the season with the second-worst record in the conference and third fewest points in the ECHL. As they had been all season, goals were tough to come by in the loss at Greenville. The Gladiators were outshot 36 to 22 throughout the game while the Road Warriors scored on two power play goals. Anthony Luciani scored the first power play goal of the game at 12:22 mark of the first period; his 28th goal of the season. Luciani had been a thorn in the Gladiators’ side all season, scoring eight goals against them this year. In the second period, Ryan Hegarty added a goal to make it 2-0 entering the final period of the season. Dallas Jackson scored a goal against the shorthanded Gladiators at the 7:18 mark to bring the lead to an insurmountable three goals. The frustration of another large

battle,” Quinn said on his approach to the preseason. “Let’s go ball and play like we’re capable of, and then when the next group of guys goes in, let’s do that again. Although the duration of their play might be less or longer, based on the evaluation that we need to get to get the guys ready, I do think there’s a lot of value in preseason games.” YEAR THREE… Desmond Trufant has been the Falcons starter at cornerback since his rookie season (2013) and has continued to improve while serving as a bright spot on the defensive side of the football. With Quinn’s new system in place, it is thought that Trufant is poised to have a breakout season this year and he has spent the offseason preparing physically and mentally. “They made point-of-attack tapes for us,” explained Trufant. “They showed us what we did last year without (us) even knowing it. That’s what they’re teaching this year, including the things they would like to correct.” The new defense’s simplicity is Trufant’s favorite part and he believes this system will allow him to take advantage of his quick play on the field. It’s not too complicated, and it’s going to allow us to play fast….Of course, we’re going to have to know what to do, we’re going to have to communicate and things like that, but just how free we’re going to be and the simplicity of it (will) allow us to go make plays.”

deficit during a rough season began to show on the ice. The Gladiators crashed the Greenville net hard, and in the subsequent scrum around the crease, Jason Missiaen took exception with Sean Berkstresser, and threw two punches at the head of the former Road Warrior captain. The kerfuffle bred some life into Gwinnett as it managed to get a shorthanded goal on Mike Merrifield’s fifth goal of the year. Greenville would end the game with an empty net goal and a last second shot to put the finishing touches on Gwinnett’s long season. HAPPY DAYS ... Gwinnett stormed back from a 2-0 hole in the third period to win in thrilling fashion 3-2 in overtime against the Evansville IceMen in the Gladiators’ final home game of the season last Wednesday. The Glads came out aggressive outshooting Evansville 15-8 in the first period but came away empty handed. The IceMen broke through in the second period on a Justin MacDonald power play goal. They would score again early in the third before the tides changed. Daniel O’Donoghue scored the first of Gwinnett’s two power play goals at the 4:59 mark. Later with under three minutes to play, Mike Merrifield smashed the puck home to tie the game. Tyler Murovich gave the fans a storybook ending in overtime as he ripped a shot past goaltender Branden Komm to win it in overtime.

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Vol. 11 Iss. 14 | April 17-23, 2015

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