CHECK US OUT AT SCOREATL.COMJUNE 4-10, 2010 VOL 6 NO 23

02 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game!

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

“The Fletch” remembers those who wrote off theBraves earlier this season and touches onconference expansion.

In our cover story, Rachel Bowers reports fromthe annual SEC football meetings in Destin, Fla.,where Mark Richt, Les Miles and Urban Meyer touchedon various hot topics.

The Regions Bank Championship Page, where all of the 2009-2010 GHSA state champions are honored.

The Atlanta Dream is off to a hot start and beat writerJennifer Sugarman relays the latest news on the team.

JUNE 4-10, 2010 SCORE ATLANTA I 03

TEAM SCOOP AND VOICESCOVER DESIGN BY DJ GALBIATICOVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF JIM HIPPLE (RICHT) AND UFCOMMUNICATIONS (MEYER)

6 SCORE LIST - KATREK

9 HAWKS 11 SCORE MORE

12 BRAVES - GSU

13 CALENDAR 15 TECH - UGA

PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. RosenbergGENERAL MANAGER Bob HoughtonMANAGING EDITOR Stephen Black

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ GalbiatiBUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

SALES Mark Mayo, Mike NalesBEAT WRITERS Josh Bagriansky (Falcons), Stephen Black (UGA),

Jason Boral (Thrashers), Dave Cohen (Georgia State), Ricky Dimon (Tech), Rajesh Gupta (Hawks),

Jennifer Sugarman (Dream), Fletcher Proctor (Braves), Brian Jones (Preps)

STAFF WRITERS Joe Deighton, Foster Lander, Brian Jones, Krissy Wade, Rachel Bowers, David Wilkerson, Michael Anello

CONTRIBUTORS Alex Ewalt, Tad Arapoglou, Dean Zindler, Zander Lentz, Kevin Dankosky, Mitch Evans, Matt Judy, Tony

Schiavone, Richard Diamond, Joe Haines, Brian Katrek, Chris Dimino,Mike Bell, Matt Stewart, Fred Kalil, Nick Cellini, Phillip Leopold,

Dave Marshall, Greg Smith, Steak Shapiro, Mike Cather, Beau Bock,Hal Lamar, Chris Cotter, Roy Hickman, Dave Cohen, John Olah,

Jeff Woolverton, Chris Voss, Bob Rathbun, Courtney Capps, Bill Hartman, Chuck Dowdle, Shannon Alderman, Dan Kamal,

Dennis Scott, C.C., Hal Lanier, Jeff Batten, Micah Hart, Ben Wright,Alan Vasquez, Andrew Vedlitz, Brian Jones

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS Mitch Albom, Dave Kindred, Barry Bloom

SHOT OF THEWEEK…

LEAD DAWG: Pitcher Sarah McCloud threwtwo complete games in Georgia's Super Regionalseries victory against Cal-Berkeley. The Bulldogsswept the best-of-three series by winning the first twogames. With the win, UGA advanced to the Women'sCollege World Series in Oklahoma City for the secondtime in school history. Photo courtesy of Julianne Upchurch.

CHEROKEE/FORSYTH: Cherokee, Creekview, Etowah, Forsyth Central,North Forsyth, Sequoyah, South Forsyth, West Forsyth, Woodstock

COBB: Allatoona, Campbell, Harrison, Kell, Kennesaw Mountain, Lassiter,Marietta, McEachern, N. Cobb, N. Cobb Christian, Pebblebrook,

Pope, S. Cobb, Sprayberry, Walton, WheelerDEKALB: Chamblee, Columbia, Decatur, Druid Hills, Dunwoody, Lakeside,

Marist, Miller Grove, M.L. King, Paideia, Redan, St. Pius X, SouthwestDeKalb, Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Tucker

FULTON: Alpharetta, Blessed Trinity, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Douglass,Grady, Lovett, Mays, Milton, North Springs, Northview, Riverwood,

Roswell, Tri-Cities, Westminster, Woodward AcademyGWINNETT: Berkmar, Brookwood, Buford, C. Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Dacula,

Grayson, Greater Atlanta Christian, Meadowcreek, Mill Creek, Norcross,North Gwinnett, Parkview, Peachtree Ridge, South Gwinnett, Wesleyan

™ STARTINGLINEUP

™ SCHOOLLISTING

ONTH

E Score Atlanta is looking for new sales associates.If you are interested, email general manager BobHoughton at bhoughton@scoreatl.com or callhim at 404-256-1572. Score also has a fewinternship openings for graphics, radio, web videoand production and internet development. If youare interested, email creative director DJ Galbiatifor graphic artist positions at djgalbiati@score-atl.com or managing editor Stephen Black for theother openings at sblack@scoreatl.com.

CAN’TMISSCAN’TMISS

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GwinnettBraves’

Joe Thurston

THIS WEEK

04 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game!

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

The great demise of the Braves was possi-bly leaked too soon. The Braves were in

rough shape earlier this season, falling all theway to dead last in the NL East before arecent stretch of quality baseball shot them upto the top of the division as of last Monday.The AJC and several personalities on 790 TheZone were already wanting to throw in thetowel on the season, but now, apparentlyeveryone’s tune has changed.

TAKING NAMES … The AJC’s Mark Bradley was blogging live

from Turner Field when Atlanta knocked off thePhillies 9-3 in the series opener and the tunearound the team has certainly changed with therecent eight-game winning streak. Bradleyrecently was able to talk to Braves third base-man Chipper Jones, and you would havethought after reading the piece that Jones was a90-year-old man who needed the Ole Yellertreatment, instead of a player that won a battingtitle two years ago. Recently on Score AtlantaSports Sunday, several of my co-hosts (OKFINE, me too) argued that Jones should bemoved down in the lineup, despite his high on-base percentage thus far this season. Jones musthave heard the whispers, or he simply made theadjustments that a future Hall of Famer has tomake, and he has come up with some clutch hit-ting during this run to the top of the division.

790 The Zone’s Mike Bell and DavidPollack also openly debated whether a tradeto an American League team would be wise,as they argued that his defensive skills haddiminished. While I may agree that his bathas appeared to slow down, I strongly dis-agree about the defense. Each game, I seeChipper making defensive play after defen-sive play — and it looks like Jones also runsthe infield defense — something a shortstop

normally does. Against Philly, Jones made ahuge stab to steal a double from a Philliesbatter. Jones’ defense doesn’t appear to havefallen off from when he was making All-Starteams and winning the MVP in 1999. Thegreat fall of Chipper as well as the Braves wascertainly over-exaggerated, and it should befun over the next few days to hear if peoplebacktrack, eat crow or just ignore it and hopethat the Braves drop again.

CONFERENCE EXPANSION TALK … One thing that I will credit 790 The

Zone’s Pollack & Bell as well as Mr. CollegeFootball, Tony Barnhart, is the topic of col-lege football’s conference expansion. Pollackand Bell have had several college writers onand debated the proper way to expand for sev-eral weeks with them. Barnhart has given hisvery professional point of view as well asinsight from his vast collection of collegecoaching contacts.

The debate over whether Notre Dameshould join the Big Ten has seemingly ended(at least on the Atlanta airwaves), but whetherthe SEC should respond if the Big Tenbecomes a “super conference” is still raging.Chris Dimino and Pollack are both seeminglyin favor of four super conferences with Diminosuggesting that some teams should be shownthe door from the powerful football confer-ences. He threw out the name Vanderbilt fromthe SEC as well as Duke from the ACC. Thename Kentucky also was mentioned as a pos-sibility to be thrown out of the SEC.

Several years ago, Chuck Oliver wrote inScore Atlanta that perhaps Vanderbilt shouldbe shown the door and someone like SouthernMiss be allowed to take its spot. I would dis-agree with both Da Kang and Dimino thatVanderbilt and Kentucky should stay due to

their strengths in other sports. I don’t like howthe Big East has so many schools that playbasketball for them without football (NotreDame, Villanova, etc.), and I don’t want tohave to remember that Georgia's SEC footballrival is blah blah blah, but in basketball andbaseball, it is blee blee blee.

And if we really need to look at how aconference should run itself, look at the Pac-10. Seriously, listen to me before you laugh.The Pac-10 has 10 teams that all play eachother. You never have to wonder, “Well whowould have won if USC had played Oregon,”because they DID play. When LSU beatTennessee for the SEC title in 2007, manyGeorgia fans wondered if the Bulldogs couldhave beaten LSU. If the SEC decided to playlike the Pac-10, the world would know. TheBig Ten could have all of its members playeach other, the same with the ACC and theSEC, but they do not. The ACC, Big XII andSEC rely on a championship game. The BigTen wants one too, but why not just haveeveryone play each other. That would work.

SPORTS TALK WEBSITES … How much is too much? Both sports

radio stations have changed the layout of theirweb pages within the last 12 months and Ihate to say it, but sometimes less is more. The790 The Zone page is now incredibly busy, tothe point that things are flashing and con-stantly cycling and giving small childrenseizures. I happened to really like the olderlayout of the site, and it made it one heck of alot easier to visit blogs and columns and seepictures. Conversely, it appears that 680 TheFan upped its website for the better. The old680 The Fan site was not as fancy and neededan upgrade and it was done beautifully. I alsolike that each of the personalities has multiple

blogs from which to choose. While not all areabout sports, at least you can clearly findthem and pick and choose which to read.

Finally, the Gwinnett Daily Post had a nicestory on Craig Kimbrel as the future closer ofthe Braves major league club. Guy Curtrightdid a great job giving Kimbrel's background aswell as getting some quotes from Atlanta man-ager Bobby Cox. I had planned on doing astory on Kimbrel as I had a chance to interviewthe young righty recently before he was sentdown to Class AAA Gwinnett for more regularwork. Look for Score Atlanta’s story on bothKimbrel and current Atlanta reliever JonnyVenters soon, as well as what current closerBilly Wagner had to say about each and howthe future of the Braves’ bullpen is in goodhands with these two.

Proctor can be reached atfproctor@scoreatl.com.

Chipper reminds critics he’s still got it; SEC should show door to weak teams CAN YOU BELIEVE...

...HE SAID THAT?“So twice as many signees asNCAA violations committed is a decent tradeoff, I guess.”

- The AJC’s Chip Towers in a recentTen at 10 recruiting blog. Towers wasdiscussing last year’s Big Cat recruitingweekend at Auburn last year. Towersused to cover the Georgia Bulldogs forthe AJC but now he is doing this recruit-ing blog everyday and it allows his per-sonality to shine a bit more. Towers ispretty funny. Keep it up. But ScoreAtlanta’s Official Visit still rules!

gers kept pointing to the current format thatis the 12 teams that already make up the con-ference. Taking a hands-off approach as ofnow and following the lead of SECCommissioner Mike Slive is exactly whatLSU head coach Les Miles plans to do.

“You know, I think obviously we kind of

The SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla.,unfolded this week as the Sandestin

Hilton Resort was overrun with athleticdirectors, head coaches and SEC personnel.Reporters flocked outside of meeting roomslike vultures waiting for the chance to feedon their prey, while impromptu interviewstook place in hallways and stair-ways. And the topic that seemedto dominate conversation for theweek was the possibility of theSEC expanding.

SHAKING THINGS UP (MAYBE) … The SEC has earning power. The conference stakes claim

to the last four BCS national cham-pionships in college football. Andbecause of that kind of TV time andpowerhouse reputation, the confer-ence recently signed a $3 billion,15-year deal with ESPN and CBS.

With that type of success per-meating throughout the conferencein football as well as in other sports,and because of the Big Ten’s talksof expansion, the SEC has been hitwith the same dilemma.

Are 12 teams enough?Should the SEC follow if the BigTen goes through with its contem-plated expansion? Or is it a stick-with-what-ya-know scenario?

“This is a conference thatwas just able to strike one of thebest television deals in the historyof intercollegiate athletics withthe institutions we have,” Georgiaathletic director Damon Evanssaid. “I think our- job is to keepour eyes on the landscape and tosee if at some point in time weneed to adjust. But we don’t needto adjust just for the sake of adjusting. Ifwe’re gonna adjust, it’s gotta be somethingthat’s beneficial to us and help us grow fromwhere we already are.”

The last time the SEC expanded, itmoved from 10 teams to 12 teams afteradding Arkansas and South Carolina in1992. Mark Richt was still coaching underBobby Bowden at Florida State, and Evanswas finishing his senior year at Georgia.

And at the SEC spring meetings, Richtbrushed off the notion of a change coming forthe conference in the near future, as he andhis fellow head coaches give the feeling theywill watch the Big Ten’s endeavors play outbefore beginning to fully consider the sameexpansion for the SEC.

“I really don’t think it’s going to affectus anytime soon,” he said.

Throughout the week’s meetings, fin-

But the coach with the longest tenure atone school in the SEC isn’t worried.

“First of all, my goal is just focus on thethings that are really important and that’srecruiting and academics and the process ofhow we go about our business,” Richt said.“Everything else is not really conducive to

success, so I don’t worry too muchabout it.”

He has a new defensive staff inplace with a defensive coordinatorwho he “really likes” and who has “alot of fire.” Richt has the utmostconfidence in first-year startingquarterback Aaron Murray and areturning supporting cast who hehopes will catapult the Bulldogsback to a double digit-win season.

“I think when you have enough his-tory of winning and enough historyof guys playing well at a certain posi-tion, I know Aaron has confidence inme,” Richt said. “He has confidencein (offensive coordinator Mike)Bobo. So that just helps the wholeprocess because a lot of it is a confi-dence level.”

Ten years into being head coach ofa college football program, Richt stillsticks to the same basic plan he hadwhen he walked onto center stage ofBulldog Nation in 2001 as a 40-year-old, former offensive coordinator.

“I had no true preconceived ideaabout what could happen. The onlything I didn’t wanna do is put anylimit on what we thought we coulddo,” Richt said. “My goal on a yearlybasis is try to maximize the talent thatwe have and try to win as many gamesas we can and also help these youngmen grow up and get ready for life.”

HEALTHY AS A HORSE (SORT OF)…Florida head coach Urban Meyer said

doctors diagnosed his chest pains asesophageal spasms, which are “irregular,uncoordinated and sometimes powerful con-tractions of the esophagus … Esophagealspasms can prevent food from reaching thestomach, leaving it stuck in the esophagus,”according to WebMD.

“The biggest thing is I wanted to findout what those darn chest pains were, and Idid,” Meyer said in his Tuesday news confer-ence. “It’s esophageal spasms and they’vegot me on some medications. I’ve just got tobe smarter in the future and I’m going to be.I'm not going to let that happen again. Butthe biggest thing was all that was related towhat the heck were those pains goingthrough my chest. Once you find out what itis, life gets a little better quickly.”

And with Meyer’s chest pains finallybeing diagnosed, SEC head coaches — whoseaverage age is 50.6 years old — are growingmore aware of the toll that having the head jobat a Division I school can have on physicalhealth, especially the stress they live with andthe fast-paced schedule they keep.

“There was a point in time where I did-n’t know what stress was, and then I can tellyou that the older you get your body is a lit-tle bit more sensitive,” Miles said.

Though Miles said working out regular-ly would be “wise,” the LSU head coach alsosaid: “I gotta be honest with ya, I haven’tbeen able to do it. I do really good (workingout regularly) until about September 4 andthen I’m done with it for the year.”

Bowers can be reached at rachelgbowers@gmail.com.

feel like the SEC has the advantage and welike where we’re at,” Miles said. “I don’timagine that Commissioner Slive is consider-ing moving any time soon.”

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE … Richt began his career at Georgia with

an 8-4 record.In the seven seasons between his first

season and his 2009 season, Richt posted atleast 10 wins six of those years.

And, in 2009, Richt reverted back to arecord similar to his rookie season at the helm.The Bulldogs went 8-5 and managed to stayat .500 in conference play.

Though Richt has led the Bulldogs to thepostseason every year, the Boca Raton, Fla.,native enters his 10th season as Georgia’shead coach with some saying he’s ploppeddown on the hot seat.

Talks of expansion dominate SEC spring meetings; dealing with stress an issue for SEC coaches

“My goal on a yearly basis is try to maximize the talent that wehave and try to win as many games as we can and also helpthese young men grow up and get ready for life,” said Richt.

GOOD TO BE KING: SEC commissioner Mike Slive presides over what is arguably thetop college football conference in America. Due to its prestige, the SEC can afford totake the "wait and see" approach to conference expansion. Meanwhile, the Big Tenand others are scrambling to find a way to keep up. Photo courtesy of SEC Media Relations.

OUT FRONT

Georgia head coach Mark Richt (pictured)reacted with surprise when a reporter toldhim he was on the hot seat at the annualSEC meetings this past week in Destin,Fla. Despite averaging 10 wins a seasonand capturing two SEC titles, Richt hasfaced criticism in recent years as histeam has not made the SECChampionship game since 2005. Abovephoto courtesy of Steven Colquitt/UGA.

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

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06 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game!

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

THUMBS UP TOTAKING THE LEAD

THUMBS DOWN TO PAINFUL CELEBRATIONS

Atlanta Braves After sweeping the PhiladelphiaPhillies, the Braves have movedinto first place of the NL East. TheBraves haven’t led the division thislate in the season since 2005. Nottoo bad for a team that was in lastplace on May 17.

Todd RedmondOn May 28, the Gwinnett Braves’ starterpitched a no-hitter in the G-Braves’ 4-0 victo-ry over the Louisville Bats. The game was thefirst no-hitter for a member of Atlanta’s ClassAAA team since 1989 when Charlie Puleo andSteve Ziem combined for one in Richmond.

Troy GlausFollowing a slow start to the season, Glaushas a hot streak going for the boomingBraves. In the past seven games, Glaus hasgone 11-for-22 with home runs in threestraight games while also improving his on-base percentage to .802.

Kendry Morales Seconds after hitting a walk-offgrand slam to give the Angels a 5-1victory over the Seattle Mariners,second basemen Morales celebratedwith disastrous results. Moralesbroke his left leg after leaping intohis teammates, giving new meaningto the phrase “don’t win the game ifyou can’t handle the celebration.”

Rich Rodriguez The University of Michigan recentlyannounced that the storied football programwas guilty of a series of NCAA violations.The self-imposed sanctions are just anotherstrike against the coach, who is on the hot-seat after leading Michigan to an 8-16record in the past two seasons.

Philadelphia PhilliesThings are not well for the two-time defend-ing NL Champions. The Phils became thefirst team since the 1992 Cubs to be shutout in five out of eight games. On defense,the club has committed 12 errors in the pastnine games. This is a bad team right now.

SANITY

“It’s just like a good quarterback.A good quarterback can’t be worriedabout what’s going on around him.You got to focus on your job. If you

worry about things you can’t controlor won’t help you succeed, then really it’s counterproductive.”

- Georgia head coach Mark Richt afterbeing asked if he is on the hot seat

CRUNCHING THE

NUMBERS AT LASTPGA TOUR GETTING GROOVY FOR OPENThe talk about the new grooves on club

heads has died down in the last few months.One reason is that the issue was basicallytalked out. Another reason could bethat the west coast swing and evenmost of the Florida swing wasplayed on over-seeded Rye grass.Rye isn’t as formidable asBermuda, especially around thegreens. I expect all that to changeat the US Open. It was the USGAthat came up with the idea toreduce the spin produced by clubs,and it will be the USGA that is run-ning and, more importantly, setting upthe course for the US Open. PebbleBeach, site of this year’s Open, has the smallest

greens on the PGA TOUR. And with thosegreens firmer and faster in mid-June, and the

lack of spin from the clubs, I expect grooveswill be talked about once again. Before

anyone gets too worried about thisalready tough game getting tougher, Iwill remind you of this: PGA TOURplayers spin the ball more than youdo. The spin they lost with the newgrooves is spin you never had. Thisyear, they will be playing a gamemore familiar to all of us.

Brian Katrek can be heard on 790The Zone’s “On The Green with

Brian Katrek” Sundays from 8-9 a.m.and can be reached at

katrek@790thezone.com.

851-21

6Games the Braves gained onthe Philadelphia Philliesduring the streak

The Braves have outscoredtheir opponents by 30 runsduring the streak

The Braves’ winning streakthrough Wednesday

SCORE LISTCLAIMING THE TOP SPOT:The first-place Braves are one ofthe hottest teams in all of baseballright now, with an eight-gamewinning streak at press time. Aftera rough April, it looks like thisteam is hitting its stride and play-ing at a high level.

STEELE-Y PREDICTION: Collegefootball analyst Phil Steele recentlysaid that Georgia could be a sleeperpick to win the SEC East and possiblyrun the table. That may be a bold pre-diction, but he was dead on in 2005when he went against the flow andpicked the Bulldogs to win the SEC.

AN NBA REMATCH: After along NBA postseason, the Finalsare set with the Los AngelesLakers taking on the Boston Celticsin a rematch of the 2008 series. Ilike the way the Celtics have beenplaying, but I can’t go againstKobe, who is simply the best.

ROLL PANTHERS?: Alabamaquarterback Star Jackson will notbe playing for the Crimson Tide thisfall as he is transferring to GeorgiaState. We are looking forward toState’s season finale, which will beat Alabama on Nov. 20…

REGIONALS AT CHANDLER:After a tough showing in the ACCtournament, the Georgia Tech base-ball team will try to do better thisweekend as it hosts an NCAARegional. The Jackets had a greatregular season but this tournamentis where you make your hay.

GINEPRI GOT SERVED: Protennis player and Kennesaw nativeRobby Ginepri lost to NovakDjokovic in the fourth round of theFrench Open. It was a disappointingloss for Ginepri, but the No. 98-ranked player in the world did wellto get as far as he did.

QUEST FOR THE CUP: TheNHL Stanley Cup finals kicked off onSaturday and, at press time, theChicago Blackhawks have a 2-0lead over the Philadelphia Flyers.I’m not a fan of either one of theseteams, but I would like to see theHawks take it so Marian Hossa canfinally get his ring.

DREAM GO DOWN: For thefirst time this season the Dreamlost a game on Tuesday as theywere defeated by the Seattle Storm.The Dream were the last undefeat-ed team in the WNBA and are still ina great position to do bigger andbetter things this year.

WINNING IT ALL: Georgia ten-nis player Chelsey Gullicksonmade history as she became thefirst Bulldog to win the NCAA sin-gles championship since 1994.This was an especially sweet winfor her since she suffered threeearly-season losses that pushedher out of the top 10 in rankings.

PREP SEASON COMPLETE:The high school season is now overas the state baseball champi-onships took place over the week-end. Congrats goes out to Harrison,Marist, Columbus, Calhoun andWesleyan for winning state titles.Now it’s on to football!!

BY BRIAN JONES

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JUNE 4-10, 2010 SCORE ATLANTA I 07

8 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game!

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CHAMPIONSHIP MONTHPRESENTED BY

FOOTBALLClass 5A - Camden County Class 4A – Sandy Creek Class 3A – Peach CountyClass 2A – Buford Class A - Wilcox County

SOFTBALLClass 5A – Collins HillClass 4A – MaristClass 3A – Columbus Class 2A – Buford Class A – ELCA

VOLLEYBALLClass 5A – PopeClass 4A – WhitewaterClass 3A – Woodward Acad.Class 2A/A – Wesleyan

BOYS CROSS COUNTRYClass 5A – BrookwoodClass 4A – Marist Class 3A – Flowery BranchClass 2A – WestminsterClass A – Wesleyan

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRYClass 5A – North Gwinnett Class 4A – MaristClass 3A – St. Pius XClass 2A – Westminster Class A – Our Lady of Mercy

BOYS BASKETBALLClass 5A – MiltonClass 4A – Miller GroveClass 3A – Columbia Class 2A – GACClass A – Wesleyan

GIRLS BASKETBALLClass 5A – Norcross Class 4A – SW DeKalbClass 3A – Columbia Class 2A – Buford Class A – Wesleyan

GYMNASTICS Class 5A-A – Lassiter

WRESTLING Class 5A – Collins HillClass 4A – AlexanderClass 3A – Gilmer Class 2A – JeffersonClass A – Bremen

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING Class 5A – Brookwood Class 4A-A – GAC

GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVINGClass 5A – LassiterClass 4A-A – Marist

BOYS GOLFClass 5A – HarrisonClass 4A – Lakeside, Evans Class 3A – Columbus Class 2A – Westminster Class A – Brookstone

GIRLS GOLF Class 5A – Collins HillClass 4A – Glynn Academy Class 3A – Oconee County Class 2A – GACClass A – Savannah Christian

BOYS TENNISClass 5A – AlpharettaClass 4A – Starr’s MillClass 3A – Johns Creek Class 2A – Blessed Trinity Class A – Walker

GIRLS TENNISClass 5A – WaltonClass 4A – MaristClass 3A – Woodward Acad.Class 2A – Blessed TrinityClass A – Athens Academy

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD Class 5A – LassiterClass 4A – Tucker Class 3A – Monroe Class 2A – North Oconee Class A – Athens Christian

BOYS SOCCER Class 5A – Collins Hill

Class 4A – Starr’s MillClass 3A – GainesvilleClass 2A/A – Thomasville

GIRLS SOCCERClass 5A – North GwinnettClass 4A – Starr’s MillClass 3A – St. Pius XClass 2A/A – Walker

BOYS LACROSSEClass 5A – MiltonClass 4A-1A – Westminster

GIRLS LACROSSEClass 5A – MiltonClass 4A-1A – Westminster

BASEBALLClass 5A – HarrisonClass 4A – MaristClass 3A – ColumbusClass 2A – Calhoun Class A – Wesleyan

2 0 1 0 S TAT E C H A M P I O N S

June is here, which means the 2010 NBADraft is right around the corner. Now that

the NBA Combine is over, teams shift focusto hosting individual workouts. The Hawkshave the No. 24 overall pick in the June 24draft, but the Hawks may not find immediatehelp for next year’s team.

“I think we will get a piece,” said Hawksassistant G.M. Dave Pendergraft. “I don’t thinkwe will necessarily get a rotational piece. Wecan get a player who after some seasoning canstay in the NBA for a while, that can make acareer out of it. If we can keep our roster intactI don’t see a lot of playing time.”

Pendergraft’s assessment is fair. Most ofthe time, after the lottery picks, it’s rare tofind all-star type players, although it’s notcompletely out of the norm. David Lee,Rajon Rondo and Gerald Wallace were allEastern Conference All-Stars this year whowere picked outside of the top 20. Pendergraftalso said Joe Johnson’s pending free agencywould not affect whom the team drafts. After

drafting point guard Jeff Teague in the firstround last season, the Hawks’ top priority inthe draft could be a center, especially onewho could potentially guard Dwight Howardin the future. Getting a center would allowall-star Al Horford to move to power forward,his more natural position.

Some names to keep an eye on areMississippi State shot blocker Jarvis Varnardo,Marshall’s 7-footer Hassan Whiteside (whohas a 7-foot-7 inch wingspan), French big manKevin Seraphin, and 7-foot-1 Florida Statecenter Solomon Alabi.

BIG SUMMER FOR TEAGUE …The Hawks’ top pick in last year’s draft is

working hard this summer to play a bigger roleon the team next year. The 6-foot-2 guard aver-aged just over 10 minutes per game in his rook-ie season, while averaging 3.2 points and 1.7assists per game. In the playoffs, Teague playedeven less of a role, averaging fewer than sevenminutes a game. With 32-year-old point guard

Mike Bibby posting career lows in scoring andassists last season, many believe Teague couldtake Bibby’s minutes this season. Teague hasalready begun working out with Strength andConditioning coach Chattin Hill in preparationfor next season.

“I’ve got work to do,” Teague toldHawks.com. “I didn’t play a whole lot thisyear and hopefully I can change that next year.That’s going to be the biggest thing for me.”

MEETING OF THE MINDS …Free agents to-be LeBron James, Dwyane

Wade, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh and nowAmare Stoudemire have said they will sit downto discuss their futures together before the freeagency period begins in an NBA version of theSolvay Conference. What does this mean? Whoreally knows? Is some combination of the fivegoing to decide to join each other in Chicago,New York, New Jersey or Miami (the teamswith the most cap room to sign multiple bignames)? It’s certainly possible. It’s also unlike-

ly that anyone besides Johnson ends up inAtlanta, although the Hawks have shown inter-est in Stoudemire in the past. A possible sign-ing of Stoudemire would allow the Hawks toslide Horford to power forward, though itwould leave little room to replace Johnson. Thebottom line is that not much can happen until,at the earliest, July 1, when free agency begins.It’s still fun to talk about the .00000001 percentchance of LeBron coming to Atlanta, though.

COACHING SEARCH DOWN TO TWO …According to ESPN insider Marc Stein,

the Hawks have narrowed their coachingsearch down to two candidates: Dallas assis-tant Dwane Casey and former Dallas headcoach Avery Johnson. Johnson has alreadyinterviewed twice with the team, and a sec-ond interview with Casey is expected soon.Hawks G.M. Rick Sund has not announced atimetable for naming the new coach.

Penter can be reached at bpenter4@ufl.edu.

Big man wanted in upcoming draft; Hawks have finalists in coaching search

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

JUNE 4-10, 2010 SCORE ATLANTA I 9

The Seattle Storm ended the previouslyunbeaten Atlanta Dream’s perfect season

on Tuesday night with a 90-72 victory in thePacific Northwest.

Head coach Marynell Meadors knewthis game would not be easy.

“Out of our four games on the road thiswill be the most difficult,” said Meadors.“Seattle is very good and we know that wehave to bring our ‘A game’ to come out victo-rious over them,” she said before tipoff.Coach Meadors had previously attributed theteam’s history-making perfect season todefense and a collaborative effort. “Thedefense is what gets us ignited on the offen-sive end, and it is definitely a balance of all ofour players. The players who start get us upand running and the players that come off thebench give us more energy.”

Uncharacteristically, defense was some-thing the Dream lacked in the first half of thegame against Seattle. Both teams startedsloppy with turnovers, missed shots andfouls. One of the key players who fouled con-secutively early on was star, Sancho Lyttle.

“It was physical,” Lyttle exclaimed.“We have to learn how to deal withthat. Every game you play, win orlose, you have to learn from it, andthis is one of those. We just have togo back to the drawing board a littlebit and figure it out.”

Once the game picked backup, the Storm’s LaurenJackson took over by scor-ing a season-high 32points.

“Ever since she’sstarted playing, she playsoutside-in,” Lyttle said ofJackson’s game. “She’drather be out there beforeshe goes in so it didn’tsurprise us. We scout-ed it, and she hit somethrees, and we have tolive with it.”

The Dreamnever took the leaddespite tying thescore briefly duringthe second quarter.

“We just didn’tget into our game,”said Meadors. “Webacked down onsome things that weshouldn’t have backeddown on. We didn’t hit theboards like we were capa-ble of and our post playersgetting those early foulsreally hurt us.”

STILL ON TOP …Atlanta was the last undefeated team in

the league and now shares the best recordwith Seattle at 6-1. McCoughtry promisedthat good things will come out of this loss andthat lessons will be learned.

“When you lose, you learn what youneed to work on so we’re going to go backhome and work on what we need to work on,”said team leader Angel McCoughtry. “It’sbeen a long road trip. We did pretty well com-ing out to the west (2-1) so we’re pretty proudof what we came out here and did. We’regoing to learn from this loss tonight.”.

McCoughtry was named the leaguesEastern Conference Player of the Week forgames played May 24 through May 30. Thiswas the second consecutive week the leadingscorer earned the title.

Despite her early success this season, theforward remains humble and has high hopesfor the Dream’s future.

“It was just one of those days wherethings didn’t go our way,” she explained. “Butat the same time, we’ve got to learn how toplay through it. We’re going to learn from it.

It’s a great experience for us. We neededthis to help us get stronger. We werejust getting by, 6-0, winning, we werefeeling good. This is a humblingexperience for us so now we’re goingto get better from here on out.”

BACK HOME AGAIN …The Dream will return home to

Philips Arena this Friday, June 4,to take on the Chicago Sky.

The team has been on theroad for the past week and isanxious to get their home-court advantage back.

“We move on and playChicago on Friday night,”said Meadors. “That’s whatwe’ve got to look forwardto. There’s not much wecan do about this game.This is our fourth gameon the road and we’reready to go home.We’ve been out on theroad for about a week.I’m not looking forexcuses – we just did-n’t play well.”

Chicago is 2-4on the season andhas a record of 1-3so far on the road.Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

The Dream will thentravel to Washington,

DC, for a Saturday tiltwith the Mystics.

Photo of Angel McCoughtry is cour-tesy of DJ Galbiati. Sugarman can bereached at jsugarman@scoreatl.com.

Storm sweeps away Dream’s perfect start

10 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game!

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

Outside of Ilya Kovalchuk, Russianforward Maxim Afinogenov was

perhaps the Thrashers’ most productiveplayer (24 goals, 37 assists) for much oflast season—and easily its biggest sur-prise after making the team on a pro try-out in training camp. After making$800,000 last year, Atlanta has offeredAfinogenov another one-year deal thathe and his agent are currently review-ing. Afinogenov continued his produc-tive play at the IIHF WorldChampionships in Germany with sevenpoints (three goals, four assists) for sil-ver medalist Russia.

SO LONG, COLBY … In the meantime, it appears the

Thrashers will not offer forward ColbyArmstrong a contract after the two sidescould not come close to agreeing on anew deal. Armstrong made $2.5 millionlast season and totaled 29 points (15goals, 14 assists) while serving as one ofthe team’s alternate captains. BothArmstrong and Afinogenov will be unre-stricted free agents on July 1 if they can-not reach new deals with the Thrashers.

Atlanta has been busy signing

prospects to entry-level deals. ForwardsJeremy Morin and Eric O’Dell are themost recent additions to that list. The 19-year-old Morin finished 12th in theOntario Hockey League with 83 points(47 goals, 36 assists) and added 21 pointsin 20 playoff games. He helped theUnited States to the gold medal at theWorld Junior Championships in January.O’Dell, picked up from Anaheim in the2009 Erik Christensen trade, led Sudburyof the OHL with 68 points (35 goals, 33assists). He also added six assists in 10playoff games for the Chicago Wolves,Atlanta’s AHL affiliate.

The Thrash also added Swedishforward Carl Klingberg and right wingDanick Paquette. Atlanta draftedKlingberg in the second round (34thoverall) in 2009, and the 19-year-oldscored 13 points in 42 games forFrolunda of the Swedish Elite League.Paquette, the team’s 2008 third-roundpick, tallied an impressive 65 points (36goals, 29 assists) in 64 games for theQuebec Ramparts of the Quebec MajorJunior League last year.

Lander can be reached at flander@scoreatl.com.

Thrash trying to ink AfinogenovOffseason training activities commenceThe grind that is the NFL offseason

continues in Flowery Branch as theteam began its “Offseason TrainingActivities” program (OTAs) last week.The sessions are not as strenuous aswhat will come later at training camp,but they are a good time to get back upto speed with the team.

Don’t let the fact that the practicesare “voluntary” fool you, head coachMike Smith and company expect everyplayer to attend.

The sessions are especially impor-tant for free agent signees like corner-back Dunta Robinson or draft pickslike Sean Weatherspoon as they mustget acquainted with coaches, strategiesand terminology before they can havean impact on the field. For returneeslike Matt Ryan or Michael Turner,OTAs are a good time to get back intothe swing of daily practices and get toknow their teammates.

It’s only June, but tight end TonyGonzalez already sees the team’s poten-tial after just a few days together.

“I think on paper, this is probably

the best I’ve ever been on,” saidGonzalez. “It’s exciting to know wecan go out there and accomplish somebig things this year. When I say that,I’m thinking Super Bowl and whywould I think any other way?Especially at this point in my careerand with the talent that we have onthis team we can go far if we want toand work the right way.”

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS RETURNS … For the third straight year, the

Falcons will kick off their seasonbefore fans with a scrimmage, givingAtlantans the chance to see their teamin game conditions for the first timesince the ’09-’10 season ended.

“This is a special event for not onlyour fans, but for our players as well,”said Smith. “This event provides us theopportunity to reach out to the commu-nity and give our fans a chance to get upclose and personal with our team as weprepare for the 2010 season.”

Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.

Braves dominate May statisticsHave any of you ever wondered why

LeBron James seems to have a supe-riority complex? There are no shortagesof reasons he could point to that wouldjustify his feelings, and the events of thepast few weeks will only add fuel to thefire. Commissioner David Stern hasbeen fining people thousands of dollarsjust for muttering the words “LeBronJames” in any capacity. It’s supposedlyall about tampering. Therefore, it wassomewhat justifiable in the case of MarkCuban, but not so much in the case ofPhoenix Suns president of basketballoperations Steve Kerr. In Kerr’s case itwas especially ludicrous because all hedid was make a joke about offeringLeBron the mid-level exception.

I understand the need to keep teamson the up and up, but the Commissionershould be smart enough to know the dif-ference between tampering and makinga light-hearted joke on a radio show.This is the same man who in an inter-view expressed his desire for LeBron tostay in Cleveland. One could argue thathis meddling is worse than any of the

things he’s fined people for saying.There is no doubt Stern is the mostinfluential man in the NBA, so hiswords hold more weight than anyowner, general manager, or president ofbasketball operations. LeBron is a greatplayer, but he is not so special that youshouldn’t be able to joke about him inresponse to a question. Kerr’s quip war-ranted a phone call and perhaps a goodtalking to, not a $10,000 fine.

But, as with most things surround-ing LeBron James, this situation hasbeen blown out of proportion. Luckilyfor us, he has decided to do a sit-downinterview with Larry King just in timefor the Finals. What a coincidence! AsKobe Bryant and Pau Gasol go head-to-head with Paul Pierce and KevinGarnett, we get to listen to LeBron sayabsolutely nothing important about hisimpending free agency. Surely he is notso self-absorbed that he would purpose-ly try to take the spotlight off the NBAFinals. Or is he?

C.C. can be reached atcfelicec@yahoo.com.

Dave O’ Brien (AJC Braves beat writer) “Braves in May led NL in runs (163) andwalks (123), were second to Reds in batting average (.279) and OBP (.364), thirdin slugging (.433).”Erin Andrews (Atlanta-based sideline reporter) “Back on the east coast..first thing onthe schedule..take care of my 3 month w/drawl and get to the closest Dunkin Donuts!”David Pollack (Former UGA star and current 790 the Zone personality) “Just gotback from L.A and there was a lot of excitement about the Lakers, man it’s a shamethat the Celtics are going to break a lot of hearts.”Danny Hall (Georgia Tech baseball head coach) “NCAA regionals and top 8 nation-al seed! Hope the Yellow Jacket Nation shows up in mass for the regional. Go Jackets!”Dennis Scott (Former Georgia Tech basketball player and current 790 the Zonehost) “The Finals, some say Lakers in 7: some say Celtic's n 6: what y’all say? Thishas a chance to be one of the best ever if the star's shine!”Chuck Oliver (680 the Fan radio host) “Is it a problem if you are in Vegas and bet-ting on college lacrosse ??? ... NOT IF YOU WIN !!!”Lang Whitaker (Writer for Hawks.com and SLAM Magazine) “Every time TroyGlaus stretches for a ball at first, I wonder if he'll ever be able to get back up.”Bob Rathbun (Atlanta Hawks TV announcer) “SCF (Stanley Cup Finals) game 2gets a 4.1 for NBC Monday night. Rest of country finding out how exciting play-off hockey is. What took so long?”Tim Tucker (UGA beat writer for the AJC) “Richt confirms that CB Vance Cuffran 4.24 40-yard dash, a record for UGA football program.”

LeBron fines getting out of hand

SCOR

EM

ORE

SCOREM

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A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

JUNE 4-10, 2010 SCORE ATLANTA I 11

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

Baseball two and out at CAA Tournament; Barnes adds another recruitGeorgia State’s baseball team went to the

CAA Tournament in Wilmington, N.C.,with every intention of securing anotherNCAA Regional spot, but so did the other threeteams in the field; Virginia Commonwealth,James Madison and UNC-Wilmington.

In the tourney opener against VCU, theRams’ Joe Van Meter ripped a bases-loadedtriple in the eighth to lead them to a 7-4 win.The next afternoon, against UNCW, trailing 7-5 heading into the ninth inning, the Pantherscame back to score three runs and take an 8-7lead into the bottom of the inning. DavidBuchanan got the first two outs and then

walked the next two batters. At that point, apitching change brought Justin Malone in toclose and his first pitch was hit out of the parkfor a three-run home run by Hunter Ridge.

And just like that the Panthers’ seasonwas over.

“It’s really difficult to take, but I’m soproud of the team because they never quit,”said GSU head coach Greg Frady. “It’s been aroller-coaster of a season - we started poorly,then we finished strong before losing two veryclose games here. But that’s baseball. This ismy 23rd year of coaching and I can’t think of10 walk-off games I’ve been involved in until

this season, when we had five walk-off lossesand five walk-off wins. Of course we’re disap-pointed we didn’t have better results here, butwe had a really good season.”

In their final game in a Panther uniform,seniors Bradley Logan and Carl Moniz com-bined for four hits and five RBIs. ThePanthers finished the season at 34-23-1.

NEW PANTHER …Rashaad Richardson, a 6-foot-4 shooting

guard from Oldsmar Christian Academy, hassigned a national letter of intent with theGeorgia State basketball program.

Richardson led his team in scoring with 26.5points per game at Oldsmar Christian inOldsmar, Fla., where he teamed with fellowGeorgia State signee Harold Doby, whosigned with the Panthers last fall.

“He is a good scorer who can reallydrive to the basket and he also possesses astrong mid-range game,” said head coach RodBarnes of Richardson.

Dave Cohen is in his 27th season as the“Voice of Georgia State Basketball andBaseball” on WRAS-FM (88.5) and works onthe football radio crew at Furman Universityin Greenville, S.C.

The Atlanta Braves vaulted to the top of theNL East this past week after winning

eight consecutive games. The streak includeda three-game sweep of the Phillies who hadbeen in first place in the division.

SHIFTING THE BALANCE OF POWER … The Phillies came to town for a huge

series as Atlanta had a chance to move intofirst place in the NL East after Philadelphia’srecent rough patch. On Memorial DayMonday, Hanson pitched 6.2 innings of qual-ity baseball, recovering from a rough first twoinnings to retire 14 straight. He left the gamehaving allowed just one run. Peter Moylanallowed three straight doubles before JonnyVenters entered the game and finally got theBraves out of trouble in the seventh inning.

Venters has been quite effective as areliever after appearing in the spring withGwinnett as a starter. Venters credits Wagnerand Moylan for his early success.

“This is my first time really pitching outof the bullpen and they’ve kind of watchedme and helped me learn how to get loose,how to throw before the game,” said Venters.“They’ve really helped me a lot.” Ventersnoted before the Tuesday game against Phillythat every day he learns something new fromhis fellow relievers in the pen.

The lefty went 1.1 innings in the game asAtlanta piled up nine total runs to take a half-game lead in the NL East thanks to a 9-3 win.

Last week the Braves looked to reboundagainst the Florida Marlins after droppinggame one of a three-game set in Miami. A six-run seventh inning allowed the Braves to comeback for the 7-3 win in game two and giveTommy Hanson his fourth win of the year. Inthe rubber match finale, the Braves got threeruns against former Braves farmhand DanMeyer for an 8-3 win. Martin Prado talliedthree hits in the win while Chipper Jones andYunel Escobar also recorded multi-hit games.

BUCS SWEPT … The Braves looked to stay hot after taking

two of three from Florida with a three-gameseries against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team theBraves just took two of three from at PNC Parkjust two weeks ago. In the series opener, BrianMcCann was on the shelf with an injured rightquad, but backup catcher David Ross providedthree hits in the all-star’s absence, including athree-run first-inning double to give Atlanta alead it would never lose.

Derek Lowe was impressive for theBraves, going seven innings and allowing justone run on four hits to earn his seventh win ofthe year. Prado had three hits and scoredtwice in the 7-3 win. In game two, Atlantawas given a boost from Prado’s three RBIsand Jason Heyward’s 10th home run of theseason. Kris Medlen was also given somesupport from Troy Glaus, who had a two-rundouble to keep the Braves in the game thatthey would win 6-3.

In the series finale with Pittsburgh,Kenshin Kawakami looked like he might earnhis first win of the season and his first sincelast August as he carried a 2-0 lead into theseventh inning. After Kawakami appeared toget a strikeout to open the inning, the third-base umpire overruled the call from thehome-plate ump and Kawakami eventuallylost the batter to a walk. One batter later,Kawakami’s 2-0 lead was dashed as JeffClement tied the score with a home run.

However, in the bottom of the eighthinning, pinch-hitter Chipper Jones gave theBraves the lead with an RBI bloop single.Heyward followed with a two-run triple togive the Braves their final margin of victory at5-2. Braves closer Billy Wagner came on forhis seventh save. Earlier in the game, Glausknocked a run in with a sac fly as well as asolo home run in the third inning.

Proctor can be reached at fproctor@scoreatl.com.

12 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game!

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

Braves win eighth straight, take over first place by sweeping Philadelphia

A L W A Y S A T S C O R E A T L . C O M

JUNE 4-10, 2010 SCORE ATLANTA I 13

Church Sports Arena, 600 Mountain View Drive, StoneMountain, GA 30083. For info, call 770-469-0395, email ccybl1@gmail.com or visit the league’s website(www.ccybl.net).

SOFTBALLAYSA Spring Season. Ongoing - North Park - Cogburn and

Bethany - Alpharetta. Fees: If Alpharetta Residential Property Tax IS NOT PAID at the primary residence of the player, then the Non-City Resident Fee must be paid. After Jan. 13, $10 late fee is charged.

GYMNASTICSGymnastics Classes at Gymnastics AcademyofAtlanta.

Ongoing - 3126 Cobb Parkway Kennesaw, Ga. For information call 770-975-8337 or visit www.gymnasticsacademyofatlanta.com.

Gymnastics Classes at Gwinnett Gymnastics Center Ongoing - 927 Killian Hill Road Lilburn, Ga. For information call 770-921-5630.

Atlanta School of Gymnastics in Lawrenceville. Ongoing. Classes for tots through teens. Cheerleading classes for ages 5 and older. For information call 770-277-9434.

The Little Gym of Snellville. Ongoing. Noncompetitive gymnastics and motor-skills development classes andcamps. For ages 10 months-12 years. For informationcall 770-982-0901 or visit www.tlgsnellvillega.com.

RACINGFriday Night Drags and Show-N-Shine. June 4 at Atlanta

Motor Speedway.Buck Baker Racing School. June 4-5 at Atlanta Motor

Speedway. Stuntfest 2010. June 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.Thursday Thunder. June 10 at Atlanta Motor SpeedwayFriday Night Drags and Show-N-Shine. June 11 at Atlanta

Motor SpeedwayDale Jarrett Driving Adventure. June 12-13 at Atlanta Motor

SpeedwayThursday Thunder. June 17 at Atlanta Motor SpeedwayRelay For Life. June 4 at Road Atlanta

OFFICIATINGFall 2010 Basketball Referee Training Program. Last

chance to become a trained basketball referee before start of season. Begins Fri Nite/Sat Morning August 20/21 with orientation! Nine session, “101 Referee Course” (Saturdays) held in Roswell/Alpharetta area. Call (404) 943-9950 or email gboa@bellsouth.net

9RCorp Sports Officials. Ongoing. Provider of sports officials for multiple sports including basketball, flagfootball, & softball. Looking for additional officials. Forinformation call Dennis Reagan at 404-213-0588 or email 9rcorp@150mail.com.

Georgia Lacrosse Officials Association. Needs boys youthand High School officials for 2010 season. Games areplayed Spring, Summer, and Fall. Great way to earn extra money and get some fun aerobic exercise. For more information, please visit www.GALAXREF.com oremail recruit@galaxref.com.

ATLANTA SPORTS COUNCILChick-Fil-A Bowl. Dec. 31, 2010. Georgia Dome. For

tickets, call 404-444-4444.To reach the Atlanta Sports Council call 404-586-8510or visit www.atlantasportscouncil.com.

MISC.Club Sport. Club Sport opens registration for summer leagues

on May 1st with league play beginning in June. Club Sport is Atlanta's recreational sports and social group with over 10,000 participants each year on 1200 teams in 120 leagues. Each season Club Sport offers leagues in flag football, softball, soccer, sand and indoor volleyball, basketball and more. Club Sport is where Atlanta comes to play! For more information about Club Sport, upcoming events, photos or interviews with the owner, please contact Rich Alvarezat 678-994-0793 ext. 818 or visit www.usclubsport.com.

GOkickball "Atlanta's Premier Social Experience". Providingsocial, co-ed adult kickball leagues throughout metro-Atlanta centered around having a good time, meeting new people, and playing recreational games of kickball at local parks. Registration is open now for spring season. Join the fun! For more information and to register, go to www.gokickball.com/atlanta. Special Score Atlanta 15% off discount code: “Score15”.

26-30 (Ages 9-18) All Day Soccer camps June 21-25,July 12-16 (Ages 6-16) All Day Multi-sport camps July 5-9, July 19-23 (Ages 6-16) www.atlantasilverbacks.com

Competitive Edge Sports. Spring Break Performance CampsApril 5-9 (Ages 8-18) Elite Athletes Speed & PerformanceAges 8-18 boys and Girls 6 Week Summer Training Programs Begins June 1Monthly Speed/Strength Training(678) 957-1333 www.cesatlanta.com

The Pitcher's Mound. Fast Pitch Softball Camps Pitcher/Catcher,College Showcases, Beginners, Advanced Skills Camps(678) 957-9080 www.thepitchersmound.net

Hitters Box. Instruction from the Pros Jasha Balcom (Chicago Cubs, UGA) Timi Moni (Philadelphia Phillies)(678) 386-4206 jbalcom@hittersbox.com

North Metro Gymnastics. Summer Day Camps, Seven Weekly camps, Victory Cheer Camp, Elite Team TrainingCamp (770) 384-8058 www.northmetrogymnastics.com

Future Stars Soccer Academy. Day/Overnight Camps(678)612-1888 www.FSsoccercamps.com

Sports-A-Rama. Marietta, GA Multi Sport Camp Spring BreakCamp Summer Camp (770) 977-9789 www.sareastcobb.com

FCA Team Wrestling Camp. Riverside Military AcademyGainesville, GA (770) 364-2527 www.fcawrestlinggeorgia.org

The Roundtable Fundamental Basketball Camp. Boys & Girls(current 5th-9th graders) St. Francis HS Alpharetta, GA(404)-432-9646 stfrancisbball@yahoo.com

Atlanta Thrashers Summer Camps. June 21-25 at the Ice Forum in Duluth. Mite, Squirt, Pewee/Bantam Camp. Goalie Camp and Cross Ice Camp is from June 14-18. Toregister go to www.atlantathrashers.com/youthhockey.

Atlanta Hawks Summer Camp. June 14-18 at Philips Arena. Boys and girls ages 7-14 can register. Fee is $295. For more information, go to www.hawks.com/youthbasketball.

VOLLEYBALLGwinnett Sports Center. Registration ongoing. For infor

mation call Jerry Robison at 678-491-0203 or visit www.gscfun.com.

SWIMMING & DIVINGSwimming lessons. Ongoing - Alpharetta City Pool -

Alpharetta, Ga. - 1825 Old Milton Parkway. For information call 678-297-6107.

Dynamo Swim School. DynaBabies, Preschool, Grade School, Adult Classes. Youth Swim Team. Call us (770) 457-7946 Ext 16 www.dynamoswimschool.com

Gwinnett Aquatics. Ongoing - 2800 Quinberry Drive and Bethany Church Road. For ages 5-18. Swim team and lessons available. For information call 770-972-4055.

Senior Water-Exercise class. Ongoing - Mountain Park pool - Lilburn, Ga. Fees: $1 per class. For informationcall 770-546-4650. 10-10:50 AM.

SwimAtlanta Sugarloaf at Kid’s Village. Ongoing. Swimteam, lessons, lap swimming, master’s program, water aerobics and scuba available. For information call 678-442-7946.

YOUTH REGISTRATIONSoccer-Soccer Alley. Ongoing - 3265 Roswell Road-

Atlanta. For information call 404-266-0762 or visit www.starsoccerclub.com.

Tucker Youth Soccer. Ongoing - 2803 Henderson Road Tucker, Ga. For information call 770-414-0538 or visit www.tysa.com.

Track and Field - Peachtree City Flash Youth Track Team registration. Ongoing - Riley Field - Peachtree City, Ga. For ages 6-14. For information call 770-631-3552 or email ptcflash@bellsouth.net.

Gymnastics - Georgia Gymnastics Academy. Ongoing. For registration in Lawrenceville call 770-962-5867; in Suwanee call 770-945-3424.

Gym Elite. Ongoing. Registration for ages 2 and older. Cheerleading for ages 6 and older. For information call 770-242-0678.

Youth Soccer Training. Ongoing. Start age 3 and up. For information, call 678-714-7454, e-mail info.indoor@atlantasilverbacks.com, or visit www.atlantasilverbacks.com/indoor.

Corpus Christi Youth Basketball League Registration is now underway for our 29th season! Boys and girls ages 5 through 14, any skill level, are welcome. Cost: $90 per child/$85 for siblings. Fee includes uniforms, field trips, skills clinics, 9 games and more! Register while space is still available Saturdays October 11 & 18, 2008, 10 AM to 12 PM. Location: Corpus Christi

HOCKEYPeachtree Booster Club. Ongoing - Pickneyville Roller

Hockey Rink. Fees: $95 for 12-game season, $30 out-of-county fee. For information visit www.pbcsports.org.

SOCCERChallenged Soccer. Ongoing. For mentally and physically

disabled youngsters. For information call Ken Higgins at 770-985-0434.

Hall of Fame soccer clinics. Ongoing on Fridays Clarkston Community Center. For under-6 through under-12 players.Fees: Free. For information call 404-508-1050 or visit www.clarkstoncommunitycenter.org. 5:30-7 PM.

Competitive Amateur Soccer in Atlanta For more information,visit www.majesticsoccer.com.

TENNISTechnique Clinics. Ongoing - Bitsy Grant Tennis Center.

Tuesdays (serve/volley) and Saturdays (forehand/backhand). Fees: $18. For information call 404-790-4772 or email jimhines01@yahoo.com. 2 PM on Saturdays,6:30PM on Tuesdays.

Tennis camps for kids. Ongoing weekly. Lost Mountain Tennis Center. For information call 770-528-8525.

LACROSSELacrosse. Ongoing. Registration for 1st-8th grades. For

information call 404-216-5870, email jasona@bagatawaylacrosse.com or visit www.bagatawaylacrosse.com.

Double Stixx Lacrosse. Ongoing - Leagues, Travel Teamsand Tournaments for youth, high school and adult’s boys and girls. More information about the best lacrosse programs in Georgia can be found at www.doblestixxlacrosse.com or by contacting Chris Smith at chris@doublestixxlacrosse.com or 404-550-5322.

RUNNING18th Annual Old Courthouse 5K. June 12. Fayetteville,

8:30 AM. 770-858-5703 5K-9 & Kitty Run. June 12. Summerville, 8:00 AM. 706-

862-2553 Monastary 5K. June 12. Conyers, 8:00 AM. 404-513-4238St. Jude Music Fest Road Race 5K/Mile. June 12.

Nashville, TN, 7:30 AM.2nd Annual Just Run 5K Run/Walk and 1K Fun Run.

June 12. Roswell, 8:00 AM. 678-409-9053 Cave Spring Road Race 5K & Mile. June 12. Cave

Spring, 8:00 AM. 706-777-2200 Running for the Girls 5K Run/Walk. June 12. Butler,

8:00 AM. 478-993-6658

CAMPSBill Curry Youth Camp (Open to ages 6-18) June 7-10,

2010 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM ($200/camper) Bill Curry Prospect Camp (Open to all high school juniors and seniors) June 5, 2010 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM ($25/camper)For details or to register, call (404) 413-4121.

Harlem Legends. The Harlem Legends have scheduled their 2010 Shoot for the Stars Basketball & PhysicalFitness Camps. The “Shoot for the Stars Youth Basketball Camps and Clinics” are a unique form of learning experiences geared towards young basketball players of all skill levels. There are two GwinnettCounty camps this year. Please visit our website (www.harlemlegends.com) or call 404-837-6719 for additional camps.

University of Georgia. The University of Georgia offers camps for boys and girls basketball, tennis, soccer, golf, track & field, cross country, and volleyball. Go to their website at www.georgiadogs.com for more information about all of their camps.

Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech offers camps for boys and girls basketball, tennis, soccer, golf, swimming, cheerleading, baseball, softball, sports medicine and volleyball. Go to their website at www.ramblinwreck.com for more information about all of their camps.

THE Summitt Basketball Camp. All Tournament Players Park - Marietta, GA (678) 384-6500 www.atpp.com

Top of the Key Basketball Camps. Boys and Girls Ages 5 - 13 Contact: (404)634-3815 www.topofthekey.com

Trilogy Lacrosse. Middle & High School. Fellowship Christian School June 28 - July 1 www.trilogylacrosse.com

Atlanta Silverbacks Soccer Camps. Youth Skills Camp July 12-16 (Ages 4-14) Goalkeeper Striker Camp July

BASKETBALLClub Sport, “Where Atlanta Comes To Play!” Registration

Ongoing - Men's League plays on Sunday evenings at the Brookhaven Boys & Girls Club. For more info or to register visit www.usclubsport.com

Open Recreational Basketball. GSL -- Georgia Sports Leagues. Georgia’s Best Sports Leagues. Registration ongoing. We offer “Top Gun,” “B,” “C” and Co-Ed styles of play around Atlanta. We play ALL year round. For more information please contact (678)799-0159 or email mark@georgiasportsleagues.org. Visit www.georgiasportsleagues.org.

Roundtable Fundamental Basketball Camp Boys and Girls.Rising 6th-10th Graders (Current 5th-9th Graders) June 7-11. 9am-2pm. St. Francis High School, Alpharetta. Contact Coach Huff stfrancisbball@yahoo.com.

BASEBALLBraves. June 4 at LA Dodgers 10:10 PM. June 5 at LA

Dodgers 10:10 PM. June 6 at LA Dodgers 4:10 PM. June 7 at Arizona 9:40 PM. June 8 at Arizona 9:40 PM. June 9 at Arizona 9:40 PM. June 10 at Arizona 3:40 PM. June 11 at Minnesota 8:10 PM. June 12 at Minnesota 7:10 PM. June 13 at Minnesota 2:10 PM. June 15 vs. Tampa Bay 7:10 PM. June 16 vs. Tampa Bay 7:10 PM. June 17 vs. Tampa Bay 7:10 PM.

Gwinnett Braves. June 4 vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre 7:05 PM. June 5 vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre 7:05 PM. June 6 vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre 2:05 PM. June 7 vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre 7:05 PM. June 8 at Norfolk 7:15 PM. June 9 at Norfolk 7:15 PM. June 10 at Norfolk 7:15 PM. June 11 at Norfolk 7:15 PM. June 12at Durham 7:05 PM. June 13 at Durham 5:05 PM. June 14 vs. Durham 7:05 PM. June 15 vs. Durham 7:05 PM. June 17 vs. Syracuse 7:05 PM.

Prospect Watch. Ongoing - Buckhead. Baseball pitchingand hitting lessons by a former college and minor league coach. For information call 404-869-7966 or visit www.eteamz.com/tryouts.

Adult Baseball League Metro Atlanta. Ongoing. MSBL 18+, 28+, 38+, and 48+. Sunday League contactinfo is 770.785.2588, e-mail info@AtlantaMSBL.com.MSBL 18+ Saturday League contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail AtlantaMABL@aol.com. MSBL 18+ Midweek Wood bat league contact info is 770-436-8114, e-mail AtlantaMABL@aol.com. MSBL 18+Fall League contact info is 770-436- 8114, e-mail AtlantaMABL@aol.com. For more information about our Atlanta Adult Baseball League, please visit our website at www.AtlantaMSBL.com.

TNT Sports. Ongoing. Baseball pitching and hitting lessonsby Rob Blair, former college coach, Snellville. To set up a free pitching or hitting analysis call. 678-344-5876.

Jack City Baseball. Ongoing. Baseball pitching and hitting. Instruction with former pro Keith Whitner. 18-y looking for high school players. The new location is inside Velocity Sports in North Gwinnett. For more information call 770-633-0948 or visit jackcity.net.

FOOTBALLAtlanta Xplosion. May 29 vs. Clarksville TBACollins Hill Athletic Association. Ongoing. Accepting

applications for qualified coaches in all age groups. Forinformation email Craig Deneau at deneauc@charter.net

Grayson Athletic Association. Ongoing. Football coaches needed for eighth grade and all age groups. For information call Duane Davis at 678-300-0282 or visit www.gaasports.org.

Flag Football. GSL -- Georgia Sports Leagues. Georgia’sLargest Flag League. Registration ongoing. We offer 7-Man, 8-man, Youth and Co-Ed styles of play around Atlanta. We play ALL year round. For information pleasecontact (678)799-0159 or email mark@georgiasportsleagues.org. Visit www.georgiasportsleagues.org.

Arena Indoor Football. Ongoing. Youth and Adult Leagues.Youth 7 vs. 7; Adult 6 vs. 6. For information, call 678-714-7454 or e-mail info.indoor@atlantasilverbacks.com.www.atlantasilverbacks.com/indoor.

Capitol City Officials Association. CCOA is accepting ongoing registration for the upcoming GHSA High School season in football. We hold weekly training meetings. For more information, contact Irvin Seabrookat 404-957-3331 or e-mail Irv_Seabrook@yahoo.com.

Softball sweeps Cal in Super Regional behind McCloud, WigginsThe Georgia softball team clinched a bid to

the Women’s College World Series bysweeping California in Athens this past week-end. The Bulldogs (48-11) won game one 7-0and game two 10-1.

GETTING A LEG UP … In the first game, pitcher Sarah McCloud

tossed a complete game shutout, striking outthree and allowing just four hits. Sheimproved to 12-1 on the year with her fourthcomplete game. Third baseman Alisa Golerand catcher Kristyn Sandberg each homeredand drove in two for the Dawgs. Left fielderMegan Wiggins also had two RBIs.

“I'm really just proud of the way myteammates played today,” said McCloud.

“Our defense was fantastic, and I just wantedto hit my spots. Really, I just tried to make mypitches and I knew that the defense would bebehind me. I felt like I got a little better as thegame went on. I was really able to get into arhythm towards the end of the game.”

THE CLINCHER … McCloud pitched another complete game

for UGA in game two of the Super Regionalon Saturday. Wiggins again helped out at theplate, this time connecting on a grand slam inthe second inning to lead the Bulldogs to a 10-run outburst. It was her 15th homer of the sea-son and also the 20th game in a row in whichshe has hit safely, tying a school record.

Georgia will return to Oklahoma City

for the second consecutive season. “I’m super proud of the entire team,” head

coach Lu Harris-Champer told the AthensBanner-Herald. “This was the goal to get back toOKC and represent Georgia. Wow, we had a lotof great hitting, clutch pitching. Wiggins reallybusted open. She’s been a clutch, clutch player.”

The CWS appearance is the second inschool history and will find the Bulldogs fac-ing a familiar foe: Washington. Last season,the two teams played three times before theHuskies eliminated Georgia in the semifinalsand won the national championship.

The game was on Thursday but resultswere unavailable at press time.

Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.

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Baseball team earns national seed despite early ACC exitGeorgia Tech’s baseball team was unable

to advance out of pool play at the ACCtournament, compiling a 1-2 record lastweekend in Greensboro, N.C. Tech bouncedback from an opening loss to Virginia Techby defeating N.C. State, but it could notsurvive another elimination game the sameday against Clemson.

The Yellow Jackets found themselvesimmediately in the losers bracket after their batswere stymied last Thursday by Hokie starterJustin Wright, who recorded a career-high 15strikeouts. Wright tossed a complete gamewhile allowing only four hits and two runs.

After rain washed out play on Friday,Georgia Tech returned on Saturday and ham-mered the Wolfpack 17-5 in seven innings.

Tony Plagman went 3-for-4 with three runsand three RBIs while Matt Skole also drove ina trio of baserunners. Brandon Cumpton scat-tered six hits in six innings to pick up hisninth win of the season.

Later in the day, however, Clemson putan end to the Yellow Jackets’ conference titlehopes. Skole belted his 19th home run of theyear in the 9-3 loss, but Tech could not over-come an early 3-09 deficit.

Despite the disappointment, a piece ofgood news came Georgia Tech’s way onSunday. The Jackets were selected to host oneof the 16 regionals in the NCAA tournamentand play is under way this weekend at RussChandler Stadium. As the No. 8 overall seed,Tech will also host a Super Regional if it can

advance past Alabama, Elon and Mercer.

GOLF IN NCAA FINALS …The Georgia Tech golfers kicked off their

campaign at the 2010 NCAA Championshipson Tuesday, firing a 2-over 290 at The HonorsCourse in Chattanooga, Tenn. John-TylerGriffin led Tech with a 1-under 71, one shotbetter than teammate Paul Haley.

The Jackets were tied for 10th place—seven shots off the lead—after the firstround of competition. They needed to breakinto the top eight after Thursday’s action inorder to avoid elimination, but results werenot available at press time.

Dimon can be reached atrdimon@scoreatl.com.

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JUNE 4-10, 2010 SCORE ATLANTA I 15