Thursday's Central Georgia Daily News 'n Notes: Football dreams dashed; Mercer rolling/college baseball roundup; UGA sports bosses meet; GMC softball standout now at S. Carolina; and more
Thursday's Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.
CJ Harris thought he was going to be an Auburn Tiger
His medication for epilepsy will prevent that, it seems.
In The Latest Coverage (new name)
Familiar Central Georgia rivals in GISA baseball finals
Piedmont goes after its fifth straight state title on Friday, and has a familiar opponent in the way.
Region 4 rival Windsor will take on the Cougars in the GISA Class AA state championship at Mercer’s OrthoGeorgia Park.
Frederica and Trinity Christian-Sharpsburg battle in the Class AAA final.
The AA first game is at 4:30 p.m Friday, with the AAA opener to follow at 7:30 p.m. The AA second game is Saturday at 10:30 a.m., and the if-needed third game at 4:30 p.m. The AAA games are 1:30 p.m., and then 7:30 p.m. if needed.
Windsor is in the championship after entering the playoffs as the No. 3 team from Region 4. The Knights beat Brandon Hall 26-0 and 8-2, then FPCA before knocking off region runner-up Brentwood in the semifinals.
Piedmont, the region champ, hammered Notre Dame 12-1 and 13-1, and then got past Crisp County 3-0 and 8-6 before topping Southwest Georgia in the semifinals. The GISA website stopped updating scores entering the quarterfinals.
It’s a rematch of the 2015 championship series, won by Piedmont, which also swept this season’s series by a total 19-5 margin.
The Knights reached the finals in 2015 – losing to Piedmont – and in 2012, falling to Brentwood.
College Baseball Roundup: Mercer's on a roll
Yet again, there were plenty of highlights for Mercer in the Southern Conference Tournament after another mercy-rule win.
Georgia came back to tie Mississippi late, but lost in extra innngs, while Georgia Southern eked out a Sun Belt win and Kennesaw State was eliminated from the A-Sun gathering.
Check out the college baseball/softball postseason report in This Week's Coverage.
UGA athletic association meets, talks lots of big numbers
Georgia's athletic association convened and the topic was Money and Numbers.
There was talk of renovations .
Success increases as Greg McGarity's contract nears its end.
There's more money for men's hoops assistants.
GMC alum Dixie Raley now pitching for the team she humbled, South Carolina
Dixie Raley went from GMC to Georgia Southern as a quality high school player and under-the-radar prospect. Now, she's pitching for an SEC team in a Super Regional this weekend.
A Braves mailbox is opened, questions answered
On Luiz Gohara, who's on third, what's on the shopping list.
This Week's Signings
West Laurens boys basketball player Keonta Tyler will continue his career at Albany Tech.
Five Houston County baseball players took part Monday in a signing ceremony.
Logan Morris and Chandler Ring are headed to East Georgia State, a junior college in Swainsboro that had Central Georgians Case Matthews (West Laurens) and Parker Stahlman (Perry) on the 2018 roster.
Dillon Toms signed with Lee University, a member of the Gulf South Conference
Conner Martin will play for Wilson College, a Division III program in Chambersburg, Pa. And Jackson Jones signed with Covenant College, a Division III program in Lookout Mountain, Ga. whose 2018 roster included Stratford's John Mitchell. ...
Perry's John Micah Law has signed to play baseball at Augusta University.
This Week's Honor Roll
Five Georgia College baseball players were named to the all-region team by the national college baseball writers and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association.
Outfielder Logan Mattix, pitcher Charlie Hecht, and utility Nate Schmal made the first team on both lists, and first baseman Matthew Miller and outfielder Wesley Wommack the second team on both.
Hecht was named the region's pitcher of the year by both groups, with D2CCA tabbing Mattix as the region player of the year.