Thursday's Daily News 'n Notes: Mercer BSB starts; GHSA wrestling in full go; GISA wrestling; area/state info; Scoreboard
Thursday's Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media. Updates will be noted, so check back.
The only Scoreboard(s) for Central Georgians is here, with GHSA, GISA, GAPPS basketball, high school and college spring sports
Central Georgia having a good start to GHSA wrestling
Veterans, Perry, and West Laurens have several reps in the semifinals of the GHSA state traditional wrestling tournament at the Macon Coliseum.
Central Georgia’s only coverage of note is in The Sports Report.
Defending SoCon champs Mercer ready to roll
Houston County grad Tanner Hall gets the ball to open his senior season and Mercer baseball’s season as the Bears look to defend their Southern Conference tournament title.
Mercer opens the season at 4 p.m. Friday against Maryland-Eastern Shore, which finished 10-44 last year, including two losses to Wofford.
Hall, a versatile star with the Bears in high schools, moved to the college Bears from Armstrong Atlantic State when the program was disbanded amid a merge of colleges. The left is 8-7 at Mercer with a 5.54 ERA, and opponents hit .265 off him last year.
He is one of two Central Georgians on the roster, joined by former Houston County teammate Hunter Phillips, a pitcher and grad student who transferred from South Alabama.
Mercer has won at least 35 games 10 straight seasons, accompanied only by LSU, Florida State, and Vanderbilt on that list. The Bears were picked to finished third in the conference, with Le Bassett earning first-team preseason honors, and Angelo DiSpigna, RJ Yeager, and Collin Price second-team honors.
Mercer hosts Radford next weekend, and begins an impressive home stretch with Florida State on March 3, and West Virginia March 6-8.
Westfield takes third in GISA wrestling
Three Hornets won in their weight class to help Westfield to a third-place finish in the GISA state wrestling tournament completed earlier this week.
Team standings
1. Bulloch 239.5
3. Westfield 147.5
5. Piedmont 85
6. Trinity Christian 75
7. John Milledge 70
8. Gatewood 67
18. Windsor 0
Central Georgia champions
113: Nic Sapp, Westfield
126: Ryland Brown, Trinity Christian
132: Trent Coots, Piedmont
138: Latrell Schafer, Westfield
145: Cole Williams, Westfield
195: Jayson Wright, John Milledge
Central Georgia top 3 finishes
106: 2. Eli Hartwell, Trinity Christian
113: 1. Nic Sapp, Westfield
120: 3. Connor Smith, John Milledge
126: 1. Ryland Brown, Trinity Christian
132: 1. Trent Coots, Piedmont
138: 1. Latrell Schafer, Westfield
145: 1. Cole Williams, Westfield; 3. Jack Schneider, Gatewood
152: 2. Coe Leavengood, Westfield
160: 3. Justin Jameson, Gatewood
195: 1. Jayson Wright, John Milledge
220: 2. JV Brookins, John Milledge
285: 2. Gray Morgan, Piedmont
Around/About Georgia
FVSU women look to sweep Albany State
Bark in the Park is Saturday at GC softball
Scoreboard
High school coaches should send box scores and/or game information to centralgasports@gmail.com within 30 minutes of completion for expanded coverage. The more info provided, the more info to give people.
High School
Soccer
G-Spalding 8, Howard 1
B-Spalding 5, Howard 0
College
Basketball
M-FGCU 70, Kennesaw State 58
M-Georgia State 76, App State 65
Former Stratford standout O’Showen Williams had 17 points for ASU. Warner Robins’ Nelson Phillips had 16 points and Veterans’ Josh Linder three points for the Panthers.
W-Georgia Southern 72, Louisiana-Monroe 66
M-Georgia Southern 79, Coastal Carolina 69
W-Georgia State Louisiana-Lafayette
W-Virginia Tech 64, Georgia Tech 61, OT