Royalty reigns in baseball, school, lacrosse and birthdays.

Hey sportsfans!

Lots of baseball.

Last weekend we watched the 5-AAAAAA Georgia  High School Baseball Championship Series. Walton v. Pope at Pope High School.  East Cobb baseball at its finest. 

The Walton Raiders #1 (GA) #14 (Nationally - MaxPreps) 32-4 #2 (Region), came into the series loaded with all kinds of talent, including Zac Kristofak (P) - Georgia, Carter Kieboom (SS, 3B) - Clemson, who is expected to be chosen very high in next month's amateur MLB draft, and several other players committed or signed to play in college.  The Pope Greyhounds #4 (GA) #64 (Nationally - MaxPreps) 27-7 #1 (Region), boast an equally impressive resume' and loaded lineup featuring Ryan Webb (P) - Georgia, Matt Rowland (P) -  Kennesaw State and the 2016 Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year, Joshua Lowe (3B, OF, RHP) - FSU, who will also be drafted very high next month. These schools  play in the same region and are located only a few miles apart. Most of the kids grew up together and attended the same elementary schools.

With at least a dozen pro scouts and numerous college coaches in attendance, the stadium was overflowing with fans (2k+) everywhere. They were hanging over the outfield fence and sitting in hammocks in the trees. 

Kieboom (left) and Lowe (right) between pitches. Notice the father and son peering over the center field fence. 

The games were exciting. The crowds were loud. The food was great. Someone had to win, just wasn't our guys. I guess it was Walton's turn to win the title this year, as Pope (2009 and 2013) most recently claimed the crown. Walton had won it in 1992 and 2007. At least three pitchers were registering in the 90s with hits as precious as cups of ice on this hot spring day. We saw some big flies, outstanding defense and live arms on the mound. Michael, it was a real privilege to watch you play and follow your team this season. You guys will get them next year. It's never fun to watch your rival celebrate its championship on your home field. I bet this will serve as fuel for the Greyhounds as they head into the off-season. Hope to return next year.

Monday. Barons game. Three dingers led to a win over the Biscuits. The Barons currently sit in third place in the Southern League, North Division. Dansby Swanson and the Mississippi Braves visit the Barons in a few weeks. Will be fun to see Carson Fulmer pitch against his former roommate.

Tuesday. The SEC Tourney this year is like a mini Omaha World Series with 7 SEC programs currently ranked in the Top 10 of the national standings. Led by Florida, TAMU and Miss St. ranked 1-2-3, several teams look to earn a spot next month in the College World Series.

Vanderbilt opened the SEC Tourney with a 7-0 win over Mizzou at The Hoover Met. Yes, the Vandy Whistler was in attedance doing his thing. With many stars gone to last year's draft, the Dores showcase four freshmen in the infield supporting seasoned vets led by Kendall, Reynolds and a loaded pitching staff. It's not every program that can lose three first rounders (Swanson, Fulmer and Buehler) and return the next season to compete for the title. The Dores look to return to Omaha once again and fight to be playing in the final series.

Wednesday. Mississippi State took on Alabama in Day Two of the SEC Tourney. Huge crowd. Congrats to Coach John Cohen in being selected as SEC Baseball Coach of the Year. Well earned, as Cohen has guided his Bulldogs to #3 nationally ranked and #1 seed in the SEC Tourney. The Bulldogs took care of business and moved on to the winner's bracket.

Thursday. Altamont graduation. Congrats to this impressive group. These students are heading to an impressive list of schools including Yale, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Wellesley, W&L and many others.

Friday. Back to Atlanta, more specifically to Stone Mountain for Southern Champions Cup lax tourney. After watching the Stone Mountain Laser Lightshow featuring a tribute to our troops mixed in with a Stars Wars theme, it was time for some serious lacrosse. This LB3 team is based in Atlanta and has some serious talent on its roster. Featuring girls from top notch programs at Mill Creek, Chattahoochee and some other area schools, Em is the lone Bama girl in the lineup.  Thus far, at least three girls have committed to play in college (Navy, Rollins and Mercer) with more expected soon.

What a fun team to watch. Smooth offensive transitions, excellent goalie play supported by some aggressive defenders. These girls put the beat down all weekend on teams from West Forsyth, Peachtree City, and Coweta. On their way to the SCC championship title, the LB3 squad outscored the competition 69 to 12 in goals during the five games. After the games were in control Coach Jen flipped the attackers and defenders giving the girls some playing time at new positions. Em dusted off her scoring skills. In one game she scored three times within five minutes.  

 

 

 

 

Next weekend at the Southern Alliance Tournament should be a different story. Much bigger tourney. Better competition. Should be another fun experience for the team. Excited to see how this team progresses this summer.

TAMU took the SEC Baseball tourney title from Florida. Exciting games. Led, by Florida ace, A.J. Puk, numerous SEC players are expected to be drafted next month.  The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced the 16 regional sites for the 70th annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, with a record 7 of the sites awarded to SEC schools. Impressive.

"My fellow Americans, as not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."  John F. Kennedy

Thank you to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country and its citizens. Happy happy birthday today to Sidney, Aunt Starlight, Asher and several other friends. Awesome day for a celebration. Sidney, enjoy your special day!

Have a great week everyone! 
The Sports Guy

Gym Class Hero. Post-season accolades. Disney almost called.

Hey sportsfans!

Sid starred in her main intramural sport this past week by helping her team to win the BSC inner-tube water polo championship! Said Sid after the match, "We won!" Tina was not upset that Sid's team won, but did take issue with Sid's quote. Hopefully they will work things out soon. STK is already in training for next year and is looking forward to defending the title next spring. 

Here are some shots of Em in action during the State Championship game from last week.

(photo cred.: LYB)

Em was chosen on the All-State team and to the play in the 2016 All-Star Showcase game that featured the top players in the State. The game was played this past weekend at Hoover High School. This is her second year to be chosen for both honors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice recent article from Southern Jewish Voice.

Altamont Boys Soccer team played in the Class 1A-3A championship game at John Hunt Park in Huntsville this past weekend against Bayside Academy. The Admirals (21-4) had never won an AHSAA state soccer championship -- until now. Altamont (13-5) most recently won the title in 2012. An eighth-grader scored the game-winner for the other guys in the 72nd minute on a sneaky corner kick play that caught the Knights off guard for a 3-2 victory. Bayside was larger, faster, quicker, taller and more athletic. Our guys played staunch defense and held their ground most of the game.

The Knights should be extremely proud of themselves, particularly since they played the game with a third string goalie. With first string (ankle) and second string (mono) goalies on the bench, Cade stepped in played quite admirably. Considering he had not played organized soccer since third grade, and never played goalie even in the backyard, this athletic older twin now has a story for the ages. Almost Disney-worthy. As years will go by I predict Cade will have stopped 100s of shots on goal in front of 50,000 screaming fans in the title game.  In all seriousness, what a great story for him.  

 

 

 

 

 (photo from al.com)

Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer tied the MLB record of 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game Wednesday night. Scherzer tied the record in a six-hit 3-2 complete-game victory against the Detroit Tigers. Scherzer has a history of making history. He tossed two no-hitters in his first season with the Nationals in 2015. How about Mets pitcher, Bartolo Colon, hitting his first homer at age 42! Awesome. He is The Natural. Good grief. Did Hawks Kent Bazemore fall asleep on the bench during a recent playoff loss? You be the judge: Mayor has a new council member? Summer travel lacrosse with LB3 in Atlanta begins in a few weeks after finals. The fun never ends!

Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy

The Adversity. The Walking Wounded. The Belief. The 'ship. Happy Mother's Day.

Hey sportsfans!
 

“You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.”
 – Herb Brooks, Olympic Hockey Coach

The Lady Spartans got off to a slow start Monday night to open the playoffs against Hoover. I do not think they were over confident, but then again, who could blame them? After a 17-0 spanking of the Bucs a few weeks ago, the Green and Gold might have assumed a repeat was inevitable. It was not. The offense tallied a couple of quick scores to open the game, but the visitors countered with their own two goals. With the score at 5-2, about six minutes into the game, Em went off the field with a pesky left shoulder injury. Same one from December. Hunter then shuffled the deck and moved Grace to fill in on defense. Halftime score was 8-5. The second half was better as the team pulled away for the 17-8 win. Olivia, JB and Lauren led the scoring. Lauren played her best game with aggressive ball control and excellent defense. On to the semi-finals.

“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse 

for anyone to work harder than you do.” – Derek Jeter

The victory put the second ranked Green and Gold (16-6) into the second round of the playoffs against third ranked Vestavia (10-3). The victor earns the right to take on the Oak Mountain  /  Huntsville winner in the State Championship Final. This one was a doozy. For the Ages. With Em sitting out this game, Vestavia opened the game with a bang by scoring six straight goals in the first 12+ minutes of action. Our guys were dazed. Our fans were in bewilderment. Our coach was scratching his head. Even the scoreboard operator could not believe it. The game was getting out of hand and the chance for a fourth straight trip to the State Championship Game was quickly fading away. Like a bullet.

The funny thing about sports is that you never know what will happen next. No matter who is winning, the emotional roller coaster is always there. For the players. The coaches. The fans. That's what makes sports so wonderful, particularly on the high school level. The connection. The doubt. The fear. The dread. The hope. The dream. The desire. The will. The perseverance. They were all present in this game. As was The Belief. The Belief is often the most important of them all. If you were at this game you know just how important The Belief was.

Hollywood cannot script the ending of this game. They would not have believed it. After Vestavia's six goals, during the following 16 minutes of play MB scored eight straight times to go up 8-6 with about 14 minutes to go in the game. Olivia just put the team on her back to lead the Green and Gold on the scoreboard surge. Senior leadership at its finest! With Em helping coach the defense from the sidelines, the defenders pulled together and played very tough protecting their goal. LA was awesome in the second half. The offense was hungry for more scores. A healthy serving of guarded optimism with a side of momentum shaped the game's final eight minutes. It felt like a heavyweight prize fight but with our guys as the punching bag. Yo, Adrian!

This is when emotions took over for the visiting team. Things got really chippy during the comeback. Call it frustration. Call it bad sportsmanship. Call it the recall of losing three years ago to MB in the Middle School State Championship. Regardless of what it was, Vestavia received five yellow cards for dangerous play. Several other hits to the head were not called. This lead to two player ejections and put the visiting team down two players on the field for the final eight minutes of the game.  With the score 8-7, these final minutes were super intense as the teams traded goals. By the time the clock finally expired MB had secured the 11-9 victory and a rematch in the State Championship Game against top ranked Oak Mountain (which had just defeated Huntsville, 15-9). When the final buzzer sounded, the second ranked Lady Spartans (17-6) were jubilant, concerned and exhausted. They reached another preseason goal, but it came at a stiff price. Heading into State Game the Green and Gold are now dealing with injuries to four starters.

Where does this comeback rank in the annals of sports?  I guess time will tell. I bet it will compare to some of the all-time great sports comebacks. At least in my mind. Here is one from Texas high school football that was ridiculous: Bingo. Bango. Bongo. Here is another awesome comeback that involved our buddy Meyer and his local hockey club:  Penguins!

“Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the 

coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the 

game and never looked back… play for her.” – Mia Hamm

Fighting through injuries, the Lady Spartans were faced with a tall task heading into the State Title Game against the two-time defending champs. On the DL were Virginia (knee), Jennings (knee), and Lauren (concussion). Playing injured were Meredith (gash on nose) and Emily (shoulder). These injuries left the team with just one sub and some girls playing out of position.

For the fourth year in a row these two teams squared off for annual bragging rights. The Green and Gold started off the best way possible. With feeds from Olivia, Grace popped the back of the net for two quick scores which stunned the Eagles early on. However, it did not take long for the game to settle down with OM scoring twice, and then several more times before the half.  The 9-3 halftime score looked daunting but the Lady Spartans dug deep and really found the resolve to keep in the game. With most of the seniors playing their last lacrosse game, these band of wounded warriors found a way to keep chipping away at the Eagles lead late into the second half.

Em was strapped in like a Robocop  to keep her left shoulder in place. Props to her for stepping up and fighting through the pain like a true warrior. She played an excellent game despite being limited in her mobility. Several takeways and stops, but most importantly #4 never quit hustling, directing traffic and doing those things a real leader does to help her team to succeed.

Although our guys came up short on the scoreboard, I could not be more proud of them. In the arena, They. Never. Quit. The sign of a real athlete. Just ask Teddy Roosevelt. The 15-7 loss concluded the Lady Spartans season with an impressive 17-7 record and a second place finish in the conference. Returning next year will be a battle tested group of leaders who will be ready to take back the crown. They will be fun to watch.  Thank you, Hunter, for all your awesome coaching! Thank you, seniors. You will be missed! Returning vets, you better work on your game for next season! Lofty goals and big expectations.
 

"Each warrior wants to leave the mark of his will, his signature, on the important acts he touches. This is not the voice of ego but of the human spirit, rising up and declaring that it has something to contribute. In every contest, there comes a moment that separates winning from losing. The true warrior understands and seizes that moment by giving an effort so intense and so intuitive that it could only be called one from the heart." -Pat Riley

Congrats to Jamey and Webb Harris and the Mountain Brook U13 White Lightning winning the State Title! Awesome title game over Hoover. Webb with a key goal late to help seal the 8-6 win.

Sid's semester final art projects are due soon. Previews next week, I hope. All-Star game and final exams fast approaching. Altamont boys are heading  to the Soccer Final Four in Huntsville next week. We hope to cheer them on.  Did you see the crazy ending to Game 2 of the OKC-Spurs game? Just crazy. Here it is: Refs blew it. Baseball selfie of the year?

Happy Mother's Day to everyone with is a Mother, acts like a Mother or loves their Mother. Everyday should be Mother's Day. Amen.

Have a great weekend everyone!
The Sports Guy