Saturday's Report: GIAA/Gatewood, Russell Henley; UGA/Tech/Regionals, World Cup/Atlanta, Braves, Dream, Falcons; NBA playoffs, SEC, MLB, World Cup, WNBA, golf, French Open, WCWS, NCAA regionals
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High Schools
(Teams: Please post first and last names, and names are preferred over social media handles (they know who they are, most people don’t) and post team names, not mascots)
⚾ ⚾ ⚾ Baseball ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
GIAA Championship
Class AA: Gatewood 7, Heritage 0
The Gators rolled to their fourth straight state championship, behind a near-perfect game from sophomore pitcher Lawson Moore. As per Gatewood scoring, Moore’s fourth-inning error was the only thing preventing a perfect game. Heritage scored the grounder an infield hit. Nevertheless, Derek Grebeck was the Hawks lone baserunner.
Moore needed only 85 pitches in the seven-inning complete game, striking out eight. Bryce Larimore had 2 of Gatewood’s 6 hits while Ben Brannen drove in 3 runs and stole 2 bases.
Gatewood put together a walk, Drew Love’s double, Brady Haley’s single, a walk, and Larimore’s single to center for the 3 in the top of the second that was more than enough. Brannen cleared the bases with a double in the four-run sixth.
FPD-Stratford Game 2 pushed to Saturday afternoon. Maybe. Hopefully. Possibly.
⚾ ⚾ ⚾ Baseball ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
⚾ ⚾ ⚾ Coastal Plain ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
Lexington County 5, Macon 2
Pro
⚾ ⚾ ⚾ MLB⚾ ⚾ ⚾
🏀🏀🏀WNBA 🏀🏀🏀
📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰
Around/About Central Georgia
Second round just like the first, Henley moves up
Russell Henley came mighty close to a fairly rare bogey-free round, but it didn’t hurt him.
He followed the bogey on 17 with a birdie on 18 to jump 13 spots after a second straight 4-under at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
He sits at 8 under and tied for sixth, only two shots back of leader Jordan Smith. Henley has good company in that spot: J.J. Spaun, Akshay Bhatia, and Alex Smalley, all three ranked in the top 20.
Henley started the day with a second straight birdie to get going, with three birdies in the first five holes and embarking on a steady round with seven straight pars before another birdie.
He got out of a bunker nicely on 17, going from 54 feet to 12, but just missed the the par putt.
He pulled off a sweet shot, getting up and down from 137 yards for a birdie on No. 18, a day after doing the same from 120 yards on No. 9.
The Stratford grad tees off Saturday at 12:53 p.m. with Bhatia and Smalley.
Around/About Georgia
Tech powers past Flames with 7 bombs
Rain alters Atlanta Regional schedule
Georgia matchup with Long Island suspended due to weather
Milestones Georgia could reach in NCAA Athens Regional
US trains for World Cup at new $250 million, 200-acre, 19-field complex south of Atlanta
Harris II’s 3 hits and 3 RBIs help Braves beat Reds
Reese’s 18 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists lead the Dream past the Fire
Divine intervention: Deablo steps into command of Falcons defense
College Sports, the changing landscape
Big 12 becoming first Power Four conference to have all members agree to CSC participation
NBA Playoffs
NBA Finals will show if the Knicks were a great team or just benefited from good fortune
Game 7 awaits Spurs and Thunder, with NBA Finals berth against Knicks going to the winner
OKC to be without injured Williams for Game 7
NBA/Men’s Basketball
Magic, Spurs assistant Sweeney are finalizing deal to make him their head coach
SEC Meetings
Sankey pushes back on legislation, while billionaire booster fires back
At SEC Spring Meetings, a Consensus on Problems, but Not Solutions
The SEC is standing firm for a 16-team College Football Playoff instead of the 24 pushed by Big Ten
Sankey Had A Rough Week, No Matter The Metric
Insights: Governance & Playoffs
Inside the SEC's spring meetings: A 9-game schedule and a growing frustration with the CFP
MLB/NL
Dodgers beat Phillies as Justin Wrobleski strikes out 9 and Los Angeles hits 4 homers
Melendez comes off the bench and powers the Mets past the Marlins 9-7 in 10 innings
Reynolds hits 2-run homer in 9th to lift the Pirates past the Twins
Merrill hits a two-run homer in the 7th inning to give the Padres a 7-5 win over the Nationals
MLB/AL
Vargas’ two-run homer in the 10th inning gives the White Sox a 4-3 victory over the Tigers
MLB/Baseball
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner stands by ad slamming Red Sox over private equity
Yomiuri Giants baseball manager Abe resigns after arrest over allegedly assaulting his daughter
NHL/Hockey
Hockey world mourns Claude Lemieux's death
More women are watching the Playoffs. There are many reasons why
Hurricanes roll past Canadiens 6-1 in Eastern Conference Final, earn trip to Stanley Cup Final
Soccer/World Cup
Robinson learns of World Cup berth on golf course, Roldan during club meeting, Reyna in parking lot
Altar-ed plans: US midfielder gets 1-day leave from World Cup training for his own wedding
WNBA/Women’s Basketball
Miles and the Minnesota Lynx have been an instant match in a WNBA season of change
Wheeler’s late burst, Ogwumike’s double-double help Sparks beat Mystics
Astier sparks Liberty surge as New York holds off Mercury
Burton, Williams lead the way as Valkyries hold off Clark, Fever
College Softball/WCWS
Grant’s record 42nd home run highlights UCLA’s 11-0 rout of Arkansas at WCWS
Kavan’s 4-hit shutout keeps defending champ Texas alive at WCWS with 4-0 win over Mississippi State
Grant sets UCLA record with 91st career HR
College Baseball
National title hopeful UCLA stunned in historic loss to Saint Mary's in regional opener
Ole Miss and Arizona State went 14 innings until 2:16 a.m.
Liberty rallies past Boston College in ninth inning at Athens Regional
Jax. State uses early pressure to stun Virginia in Hattiesburg regional opener
Auburn baseball stunned by Milwaukee in regional opener
Alabama baseball dismantles Alabama State to begin Tuscaloosa Regional
Florida survives Rider to open Gainesville Regional
USC squanders late lead, falls to Texas State in NCAA regional opener
South Carolina baseball coach search has 2 leading candidates, per report
NFL/USFL/UFL/Football
Bears coach Johnson says he is ‘buying Luther Burden stock’ going into the season
Dart reportedly addressed Giants teammates after Trump controversy
Smith knows he can write a ‘superhero movie’ story in his return to the Jets
Pollard is in exclusive company with Derrick Henry after 4 straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons
Sewell’s move to the blind side will be easy for the versatile Lions star, Campbell says
Auto Racing
Busch’s Attorney Shuts Down “False” Conspiracy Theories With Retaliation Warning
Stenhouse Jr.'s NASCAR Nashville paint scheme honors popular Busch design
Tennis
Djokovic’s French Open loss to teenager Fonseca ensures a new men’s Grand Slam winner
Who remains in French Open contention after Sinner and Djokovic defeated?
No longer in big brother’s shadow: Juan Manuel Cerundolo shocks Sinnern
Sinner’s meltdown is not rare: A look at other major collapses at Grand Slams
Double fault: Tiafoe's racket taken by fan during French Open celebration later returned
Vallejo facing fine for ‘sexist remarks’ after French Open loss
Larry King, ex-husband of Billie Jean King who helped with growth of women’s pro tennis, dies at 81
Golf
Spaun is contending at Colonial and believing things are aligning for his U.S. Open defense
Beck has career-low 63 and leads new mom Estrup by 1 shot at ShopRite LPGA
Soccer
Man United's transfer budget could break club record
Robinson learns of World Cup berth on golf course, Roldan during club meeting, Reyna in parking lot
College Football
Cignetti’s warning signals a sport nearing its limit: 'It's scary'
College Football/SEC/ACC/South
McGuire: TTU willing to play Texas in Week 1
College Basketball/Men
Smart is a program builder at Marquette. But he says it’s time to dig into the transfer portal
A last-minute rush of NBA draft withdrawals reshapes college basketball rosters
Scoreboards