Score Atlanta Vol. 11 Issue 20

Time to look great!

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 20 | MAY 29 - JUNE 4, 2015

What A Year | Pg. 4 Kyle Sandy takes a look back at the 2014-15 high school year.

Field of Dreams | Pg. 8 State’s best make dreams come true in state finals.

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YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

TAKE THESE BROKEN WINGS Historic Hawks season ends on sour note. | Pg. 5

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Vol. 11 Iss. 20 | May 29 - June 4, 2015

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

04

COLUMNISTS

05

ON THE COVER

08

PREP COVER

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock

MANAGING EDITOR Craig Sager II

ASST. MANAGING EDITOR Kyle Sandy MARKETING/ Lauren Goldstein PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick

BEAT WRITERS Ricky Dimon (Braves) Brian Jones (KSU) Dan Mathews (UGA) Craig Sager II (Falcons)

Kyle Sandy (Hawks, GSU,

G-Braves) Colin Hubbard (Tech)

STAFF WRITERS Jalisa Smith Matthew Cason

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Copyright 2015 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is published in print every other week on Fridays and a digital version is posted to ScoreAtl.com in-between print issues. Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

TEAM SCOOP AND VOICES

06 11 13

SCORE LIST | NUMBERS GEORGIA STATE | KENNESAW STATE GEORGIA | GEORGIA TECH BRAVES | FALCONS HAWKS | GWINNETT BRAVES

COVER PHOTOS COURTESY OF CECIL COPELAND AND ROB SAYE.

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Visit our website, ScoreAtl.com, for the final rankings of each spring sport as well as stories on each of the baseball finals from the past week.

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On ScoreAtl.com, we will continually be updating you, our readers, on the progress of the Falcons this offseason as they move towards the 2015 season. We will have reporters at OTAs as well as training camp and Friday Night Lights.

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SANDY’S SPIEL

A LOOK BACK ON 2014-15

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

he long 2014-15 school year has come to a close. Seniors have secured their diplomas T and now look forward to what their futures

hold in their next phase of life. This school year has produced us with many great memories crowning state champions in each sport. While some student-athletes have written their final chapter in their prep sports careers, others continue to chase their dream of making it to the pros. With that being said, it’s time to put a closing stamp on this year’s sports.

FALL ...

Football is king in the south and this year’s excitement provided another stellar season featuring some of the country’s best teams and brightest prospects. In Class AAAAAA, Colquitt County held off hard-charging Archer 28-24 to secure a perfect 15-0 season and the school’s first state championship in football since 1994.

Sihiem King led the Packers’ offense with 135 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Bull Barge and Quintin Hampton carried the Colquitt County defense all season long, combining for 332 tackles on the season.

In AAAA it was Buford capturing its 11th state title and seventh in eight seasons. After a slow start, the undefeated Wolves reeled off 55 straight points to beat St. Pius 55-10. Buford’s plethora of division-one talent was too much for the well-coached Golden Lions to overcome.

Buford brought home another title in softball as the Lady Wolves won their eighth-straight championship. In AAAAAA, Kelly Barnhill dominated for the Pope Lady Greyhounds and helped them to their first ever softball championship. The Florida-signee pitched a no-hitter against Hillgrove and struck out 16 batters in the title game. It was a remarkable way to finish her high school career

SAGER SAYS

INTENSE POSITION BATTLE LOOMS FOR ATLANTA LINEBACKERS

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

ajor roster moves and a new coaching M staff headlined by Dan Quinn has made it easy to grasp the changes as this year’s

Falcons cross off another week of offseason workouts. The competition we expected to see within many key positions this offseason will only continue to intensify with each passing week, but if any player on this team is up for the challenge, it is linebacker Paul Worrilow.

This is the exact type of environment Worrilow has thrived in throughout his football career and the third-year pro plans to attack this offseason no differently.

“You always feel like you have something to prove each offseason,” Worrilow said. “And when you have a new coaching staff, that is going to weigh on your mind. You don’t have

any credit. Everyone is coming in at the same level and we are all competing for spots.”

Worrilow has led the team in tackles each of his first two seasons, compiling 270 combined tackles in his 32 games, but the corps of linebackers around him this offseason are the deepest it has been since the former Delaware Blue Hen was signed as an undrafted rookie in 2013.

On March 10, Atlanta added outside linebackers Justin Durant and Brooks Reed, boosting the total to 11 linebackers on the active roster. Worrilow has always been a fan of the process of preparing for each new season and when it comes to position battles, he knows the more competition there is, the better each player will get.

and was her astounding 20th no-hitter.

Volleyball crowned both a repeat champion and a newcomer to the podium. Holy Innocents’ successfully made the jump from Class A to AA and repeated as champions. The Golden Bears defeated Lovett in three sets to seal the deal. Sequoyah won its first ever title in Class AAAAA after trailing two sets to one. Logan Page and sisters Kelley and Lauren Hartman were instrumental in bringing the trophy home to Hickory Flat.

WINTER ...

The winter season was highlighted by the action on the hardwood. Class AAAAA’s six-time defending champ Miller Grove was stunned by Warner-Robins in the quarterfinals in a rematch of last year’s 27-point championship blowout.

Dual-sport star Marquez Callaway sliced through the Miller Grove defense and lived at the line sinking 17-of-17 to lift the Demons to a 63-57 overtime victory.

Brunswick claimed the AAAAA title in dominating fashion over Allatoona. Jenkins sank Morgan County in the AAA championship, 6260 on an Eric Johnson layup with 3.6 seconds remaining to end Morgan County star Tookie Brown’s prestigious high school career. The Laney girls raced past Beach 70-55 with Clemson-signee Aliyah Collier recording 24 points, 19 rebounds, eight assists, seven steals and four blocks.

The Wesleyan Lady Wolves avenged three regular season losses to Holy Innocents’ to

stop the Golden Bears’ quest of an undefeated season in Class AA. The win gave Wesleyan its 11th state championship. On the boys side, Seminole County won its first title since 1998 behind UGA-commit Jordan Harris’ phenomenal 41-point performance.

The final game of the 2014-15 season was the most exciting and most controversial with the No. 2 prospect in the nation, Jaylen Brown, sinking two free throws with 0.5 seconds left to beat Pebblebrook, 59-58. Brown went a perfect 12-for-12 from the line en route to a game-high 22 points for Wheeler.

SPRING ...

Repeats and familiar champions were the reoccurring theme throughout this spring in soccer, lacrosse and baseball. The Dalton boys soccer team won its third consecutive title; this time in Class AAAAA after winning the past two in AAAA. St. Pius and Greater Atlanta Christian also defended its titles. The St. Pius girls won their third-straight after defeating reigning back-to-back champ Marist in AAAA. The Milton Lady Eagles continued their dominance as a dynasty in lacrosse winning their sixth-straight championship and their 10th in 11 years. Kell girls also repeated while the Roswell Hornets did so in the AAAAAA boys final.

King’s Ridge Christian and Blessed Trinity both successfully defended their championships in baseball at the Class A-Private and Class AAA levels.

Photo courtesy of Ty Freeman.

“You always feel that pressure of competition, especially with a big group, but it just makes everybody that much better,” Worrilow said. “It’s a good group. We are helping each other and we are watching film with each other.”

Coaching the linebackers will be 38-yearold Jeff Ulbrich, who left his defensive coordinator position at UCLA to become the Falcons linebacker coach this season.

Ulbrich played 10 seasons with the 49ers and the intensity of the young assistant and his familiarity to the game will be great fit for evaluating what could be the team’s deepest position battle.

“He is very intense,” Worrilow said when describing Ulbrich’s coaching style. “You can feel the intensity in our meeting room when he is explaining things and he’s been through it.

Anything he is telling you, like where you can take your chances and where you can cheat a little bit in the alignment is a huge benefit.”

As for the defensive schemes the linebackers will be running this season under Quinn, Worrilow is confident it will suit his style of play. After a couple weeks of going over the basic terminology and install, Worrilow has noticed that the defense this year is based more on effort than the amount of terminology and alignments.

“Through the first couple weeks, there is less volume from everything we have put in,” he

said. “You can tell it is geared more on effort, the fundamentals of the game, tackling and attacking the ball has been a huge emphasis, as well.”

Physically there are differences in Worrilow’s preparation for the season. He focused on adding size last offseason but has shifted his focus to improving his mobility this time.

“Mobility is something they (the coaching staff) want me to focus on and I’ve been working on that every morning, whether it’s 20 minutes or an hour,’’ he said. “I schedule it so I get here an hour-and-a-half early so I can get that in … strength and conditioning is a huge interest of mine. Even if I didn’t play football, working out would be a huge part of my life. “

There is no denying a lot has changed from Worrilow’s first offseason with the Falcons when he was an undrafted rookie just trying to make a roster for the first time.

Now, he’s a married man carrying backto-back seasons of leading the team in tackling into the offseason, but the same determination and willingness to improve remains and it has a chance to fit nicely into the type of defense Quinn is building in Atlanta.

“This (Quinn’s) defense preaches intensity, attitude and effort and that is something I think I bring,” said Worrilow. “I look forward to working on all the fundamentals of the things they are preaching and I think it is going to be a good offseason.”

Photo courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons.

Vol. 11 Iss. 20 | May 29 - June 4, 2015 November 8, the Hawks beat the Pelicans 100-91. From that day until February 2, Atlanta ripped off a hellacious 33-2 record including 19-straight wins. By that time, the Hawks transformed from a 7-6 team to a 40-8 team.

Times were good and the slogan “True To Atlanta” became a rallying cry for those that supported the team. Philips Arena became the hottest ticket in town and sellouts became the norm. The team was clicking on all cylinders and Bud Ball was born with the unselfish play of the Hawks earning them the nickname of “Spurs East”.

Atlanta continued its strong play but came back down to earth after the All-Star break and recorded a humanly 17-11 record. On February 10, rookie and 15th pick in the 2014 draft Adreian Payne was traded to Minnesota for a future first round pick. The big man did not see much playing time and rumor has it had a falling out with the coaching staff. Already slim on big men, Atlanta felt it was the right move to make.

ON THE COVER

ATLANTA HAWKS

REMEMBERING THE ’14-15 ATLANTA HAWKS

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

Wins. Four All-Stars, including an 60 All-Star Head Coach. A perfect 17-0 month of January and also a franchise

record 19-straight wins. The franchise’s first conference finals appearance. The late-season injuries. The nightclub. The what-ifs. These are all things that Hawks fans will never forget.

The franchise’s best season ever since moving to Atlanta was highlighted by many great accomplishments, but was marred by injuries and mishaps down the stretch.

To fully wrap one’s head around what the Hawks did this season, you must look at where they began. Atlanta was a plucky bunch in Coach Budenholzer’s first season a year ago, compiling a record of 38-44 without Al Horford for the majority of the season after he injured his pectoral muscle. Even with the sub-.500 record, the Hawks earned the eighthseed in the watered down Eastern Conference.

They weren’t expected to do much against the experienced top-seeded Indiana Pacers, but after a 101-93 win in Game 1, Atlanta fans began to believe.

The Hawks held a 3-2 series lead with a chance to pull the upset and close out the Pacers in Game 6 at Philips Arena, but the

Pacers fended off Atlanta twice and advanced to the next round. Something happened in that playoff series. The Hawks found themselves going chest-to-chest with one of the toughest teams in the league without backing down. It was the beginning of a culture change.

THE WORMS TURNS ...

As the 2014-15 season approached, a healthy Al Horford would be returning to the fold. Additions of Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefolosha may have seemed insignificant, but as the season unfolded, for better and for worse, these two acquisitions loomed large in the subsequent success and failures of the Hawks. The season kicked off with rapper T.I. performing concerts pregame, at halftime and postgame, but the Hawks ended up losing 109-102 to the Toronto Raptors. A win over the Pacers and narrow losses to the Spurs and Hornets got Atlanta off to a rocky 1-3 start, which definitely would not surprise anybody in the NBA considering the team won just 38 games a year ago.

Then something happened. Atlanta won six of their next nine games and began to find their footing on the season. On Friday

WAR OF ATTRITION ...

Injuries began to pile up late in the season.

Thabo Sefolosha was entrusted to be their top wing defender and split duties with DeMarre Carroll, but a strained right calf held him out for months. Both Mike Scott and Dennis Schroder sprained their toes and had to sit out a few games. Paul Millsap hurt his shoulder in the final week of the season and later it was Al Horford injuring his finger. And of course in the playoffs, the season ending injury to Kyle Korver and bone bruise and turf toe Carroll sustained. Injuries however are a part of the game. You can’t look to injuries as the main reason why things went south in the playoffs.

The biggest blow was the early morning arrests of Pero Antic and Sefolosha outside a nightclub in New York. Pero missed a few games, but Sefolosha was done for the season after the altercation with the cops resulted in his fibula being broken.

The loss of Sefolosha piled with all the other injuries to the Hawks left the team thin in the playoffs. Atlanta’s lack of size hurt them as the Cavaliers out-rebounded them in every game. The Hawks entered the playoffs with a literal and figurative limp that they were never able to solve. Uninspiring performances against the Nets and Wizards were just enough to get by, but once they faced a Cleveland team— who also was battling injuries—Atlanta did not have enough bullets left in the chamber.

OFF-SEASON NEEDS ...

Atlanta has a strong team-oriented core in the weak Eastern Conference, but decisions will need to be made on how to improve the team. Both DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap

5

are unrestricted free agents. With the way Carroll was playing before injury, it seemed like the Junkyard Dog was in-line for a major pay raise. Luckily for him, he suffered just a bone bruise and not ACL damage, insuring he will get a hefty raise.

Millsap was up and down during the postseason but was Atlanta’s most reliable player during the regular season. It may be tough to re-sign both but it will be on the team’s ledger as a top priority.

The most glaring need is a big man who can rebound and defend. 7-foot-3 Walter Tavares plays overseas, but was selected by the Hawks last year. He is incredibly raw but if he could turn into what the Utah Jazz have with Rudy Gobert, coach Bud would be ecstatic. Atlanta is able to swap draft picks with the Nets after the 2012 Joe Johnson trade. They now select 15th instead of 29th. It will be imperative for them to hit on the pick after deciding Payne wasn’t the right man a year ago.

Photos courtesy of Jon Barash.

6

Parkview Baseball

High School Graduates

Mike Foltynewicz and Williams Perez have entered the Atlanta rotation and have given the Braves a lift. Folty went 7.2 innings and struck out seven during his three-hit, one-run gem. Perez’s last two starts have combined for 11 innings, two runs and 14 strikeouts.

Todd Cunningham has hit .357 through 10 games.

The Panthers captured their sixth state championship and did so in impressive fashion, sweeping the Walton Raiders, 3-0 and 8-1. Parkview won 26-straight games to end the season 34-2. MaxPreps ranks them as the No. 1 team in the nation and rightfully so.

Huge shout out to all the high school seniors that have graduated this month. Studentathletes and students alike have all taken the next step forward in life and have achieved a great accomplishment. Hats off to you guys and good luck in the future!

By Kyle Sandy

WHO’S HOT

Former G-Braves

SCORE LIST

By Brian Jones

ONE FUN RIDE

It was a disappointing end to the Hawks 2014-15 season as they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, but what they did this season should not be ignored and they are only going to get better. The Hawks have energized the city and I can’t wait for what’s in store for next season.

SURGERY FOR KORVER

Kyle Korver injured his ankle in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals and had surgery on it this past Wednesday. Korver suffered a severe ankle sprain in the Game 2 loss and will miss four-to-six months. It will be interesting to see where he stands when he returns. Will he be a starter, or will he start the season as the sixth man?

CALLASPO, STULTS TRADED

Veteran infielder Alberto Callaspo and starter Eric Stults are no longer with the Braves as they were traded on Tuesday to the Dodgers for veteran infielder Juan Uribe and pitcher Chris Withrow. This is another move by GM John Hart to free up money and get younger pitchers on the roster. Uribe is at the tail-end of his career, but he provides leadership to a young Braves squad.

BEST IN THE COUNTRY

Parkview baseball was able to sweep Walton in the state championship series on Saturday to win its sixth title in school history. Not only could Parkview be viewed as the best team in Georgia, they very well could end up as the national champions when the final national polls are released. What a year for the prestigious program.

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON

In less than 100 days, the KSU football team will hit the field for the very first time to take on East Tennessee State. Head coach Brian Bohannon has been working hard the last two years, but now it’s crunch time as the countdown has begun. It will be a fun time to be a KSU Owl this fall.

WHO’S NOT

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Hawks

Brooks Reed

Al Horford

The No. 1 seed was swept away by King James and his disciples. Atlanta was run out of the gym in Game 4 and went down without a whimper, 11888. All the talk of fans being proud of the Hawks for showing so much “fight” has gone out the window with the lackluster final performance.

The new Falcons linebacker suffered a groin injury right before OTAs. Reed is an experienced veteran who played four seasons with the Houston Texans. He will be counted on to provide depth and leadership for the younger linebackers on the team. His injury should not hold him out long.

A Game 3 ejection sent Horford to the showers early after a hot start saw him score 14 points in 19 minutes. That shower must have really cooled him off. In Game 4, Horford was a complete non-factor in 29 minutes shooting 1-of-6 with two points.

It was a disappointing way to end the season for the always steady vet.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Kyle Sandy

Our email newsletter is something we take a lot of pride in at Score. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a high school sportsheavy publication that we produce each day to fill in our readers on the latest happenings in Georgia prep sports. We send it out Monday through Friday throughout the year and Monday through Saturday during the fall.

Not only do we cover popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, we also cover every other varsity sport the GHSA fields. If you like Georgia high school sports at all, sign up for our email newsletter by visiting www.tinyurl.com/scorenewsletter and enter your email address(es) that you’d like added to the distribution list.

?

TRIVIA QUESTION

“

SANITY AT LAST

HOW MANY SHUTOUTS DID BUFORD PITCH THIS POSTSEASON?

“It wasn’t awkward at all. I talked to him this morning. He wants to be here obviously. And he’s in the lineup.”

ANSWER ON PAGE 14

- Fredi Gonzalez on Alberto Callaspo before he was eventually traded.

4

Times the Hawks were held under 90 points this postseason

3

Gwinnett-based schools that won baseball state championships this year

12

Weeks until the Metro PCS Corky Kell Classic

14

Weeks until the Falcons season opener against the Eagles

30

Point loss to end the Hawks’ season

2

Al Horford points in Game 4

15

Years newest Brave Juan Uribe has played

4.5

Atlanta Braves games back of first place

Vol. 11 Iss. 20 | May 29 - June 4, 2015

SEMIFINALS

Wednesday, July 22 Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA

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SPRING SPORTS

KINGS OF THE DIAMOND CROWNED BY: KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

T

he 2014-15 high school season’s final spring sports wrapped up this past week with Classes AA-AAAAAA determining the state champs in baseball. Champions across Georgia have gained national recognition as some of the top programs in the country.

Class AAAAAA is home to MaxPreps’ No. 1 ranked team in the nation, the Parkview Panthers. The Panthers claimed their sixth state title after sweeping Walton, 3-0 and 8-1.

At 34-2, Parkview won its final 26 games and left no doubt they were the premier program in the state. Ryan Inman, a Georgia State-signee, pitched his third complete-game shutout of the postseason in Game 1’s win over the Raiders.

David Draper hit a two-out, two-run single in the first inning to give the Panthers all the runs they would need. In Game 2, it was Ole Misscommit Will Ethridge dealing a complete-

game to lock down another title for Parkview.

Georgia-commit Austin Biggar laced a two-run shot and later added a two-run single to power the Panther offense.

Greenbrier and Gainesville met for the Class AAAAA championship and suffered through bad weather. On Monday, the two teams split with Gainesville taking Game 1, 6-2 and Greenbrier answering with a 7-3 win.

Jonathan Gettys pitched a complete-game and struck out 11 batters while allowing just two hits in the Red Elephants’ 6-2 Game 1 victory. Game 2 saw Garrett Marchman and Avery Smoak drive in runs for the Wolfpack before Ty Snipes and John Dennany helped blow the game open. Game 3 was scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed till noon on Wednesday in which Greenbrier won 5-2.

Buford downed an emerging Whitewater

program 5-0 and 3-1 to win Class AAAA and bring home its third state title. In Game 1, the Wolves pitched their sixth shutout of this postseason, which included all five Game 1’s and Jake Higginbotham’s no-hitter against Perry in Game 2 of the second round.

Higginbotham, a Clemson-signee, dominated for five scoreless innings in the series opener, before Connor Bennett came in relief in the top of the 6th and got the visiting Wolves out of a bases-loaded jam. Joey Bart, Austin Wilhite, Griffin Jolliff and Caleb Moore all had big hits during the series.

The phrase “pitching wins championships” rang true in Class AAA as Blessed Trinity’s dominating staff helped the Titans roll to their second straight title. Wins of 3-0 and 6-4 propelled the defending champs over Jefferson.

Brad Spinner threw a complete-game shutout in Game 1 marking the Titans’ 20th of the season. Blessed Trinity allowed just 39 runs all season. Cody Roberts’ 2-for-3 night with three RBIs lifted the Titans in Game 2. Jefferson’s four runs in Game 2 were the most allowed

by Blessed Trinity in 27 games, but it was still not enough to stop the Titans from repeating.

Jefferson rallied in the fifth inning as it pushed home three runs, with Jake Franklin and Micah Carpenter singling in runs while Ethan Garner doubled home Carpenter. Roberts earned the

save for Blessed Trinity with two scoreless innings.

Wesleyan earned its first state title since three-peating from 2008-10. The Wolves swept Darlington in the Class AA finals, 6-4 and 11-5. Carter Hall provided two RBIs in Game 1 while Andrew Sauer pitched a complete-game on the mound and also added a solo homerun at the plate. Darlington pitcher Jay Shadday hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh, but Sauer was able to shut the door. In Game 2, Hall had a monster game with four RBIs coming off of two solo shots and a two-run double.

Last Tuesday, King’s Ridge Christian won a thrilling Game 3 to repeat as Class A-Private champs. A 6-5 win over Hebron Christian was decided on a Lawson Hill sac fly in extra innings. Brandt Stallings, a Georgia Techsignee, finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Tigers. King’s Ridge won the opening game of the series 2-0 while Hebron forced a third game with a 7-5 win in last Saturday’s second game.

Schley County swept Emanuel County Institute 4-0 and 7-5 for the Class A-Public title. Michael Leeder led the way for the Wildcats with a 6-for-7 series at the dish.

Photos courtesy of Cecil Copeland, Sonny Kennedy and Brian L. Morgan.

Vol. 11 Iss. 20 | May 29 - June 4, 2015

A young athlete’s brain is still developing, so don’t take chances with a head injury. Bring him to Children’s, where doctors have the expertise to diagnose and treat concussions. And with ImPACT testing, we can compare a patient’s progress to a normal baseline score to help determine when he’s ready to play again. To schedule a baseline ImPACT test for your athlete or team, visit choa.org/baselinetesting.

TM

©2014 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. All rights reserved.

TM

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Vol. 11 Iss. 20 | May 29 - June 4, 2015 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

COLLEGE FOOTBALL MAGAZINES ARE OUT… HIGH ON UGA?

BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

M

emorial Day is in the rear-view mirror and now we are that much closer to the start of the college football season. One thing that reminds us of this fact, are the release of the preview magazines for the upcoming fall.

In my possession, I have four different magazines. They are the Sporting News and Athlon national previews. Plus, Lindy’s and Athlon’s SEC preview magazines.

For another year, the writers are high on Georgia to have a promising season in Athens.

Plus, they all have the Bulldogs finishing the season in very prestigious bowl games.

The bad news is they have Georgia missing out on the second college football playoff. The good news is they have picked UGA to win the SEC East and advance to the December championship game inside the Georgia Dome.

Lindy’s and Athlon have projected Georgia as the number 10 team in the country entering the 2015 season. However, Sporting News believes that Georgia is the number 18 team

GEORGIA STATE

PANTHERS END SEASON WITH LOSS TO RED WOLVES

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

M

att Rose continued his monster season at the plate blasting his 16th homerun, but Georgia State (30-27) lost last Friday to Arkansas State (27-29) in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, 6-2, ending the Panthers’ season. The Red Wolves scored four runs in the first inning on GSU starter Garrett Ford and never looked back. Ford lasted just two innings before giving way to Cole Uvila who struck out seven and walked four in 3.2 innings of work. Uvila allowed two unearned runs to cross the plate.

Rose drilled a two-run bomb in the third, but the Panthers were unable to add any more runs. He finishes with the fourth-highest season home run total in school history; the only three Panthers to hit more in a season are Chad Smith (21), Jason Glover (20) and Rose’s former teammate Nic Wilson (18). Rose, the junior infielder, has hit 31 career homers in three seasons, tied for seventh in the GSU record book.

heading into the fall.

Don’t get mad at Sporting News just yet.

They have the Bulldogs heading to Glendale, AZ this January to play Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.

Athlon seems the highest on Georgia, picking them to win the SEC East and then head to the Sugar Bowl to play TCU. Like the Fiesta Bowl, this would be another member of the college football playoff’s six bowl games.

POSITION BATTLES ...

Athlon also came out with a ranking of each team’s individual position groups. Which program had three groups at number one? You guessed it.

They believe that Georgia has the best offensive line, running back and linebacker groups in all of college football.

Two positions the national writers could be seeing as an issue for Georgia are quarterback and center. These are two groups that have yet to name a starter.

When fall camp starts later this summer, we will see an all-out battle for those starting spots.

At quarterback we’ll see redshirt sophomore Brice Ramsey, junior Faton Bauta and redshirt freshman Jacob Park battle for the job.

At center, the battle seems to be between sophomore Isaiah Wynn, junior Brandon Kublanow and senior Hunter Long.

These are two position groups that will have to prove themselves. In regard to the quarterback, head coach Mark Richt says he’d like to have a starter named by the final scrimmage of the fall.

SIX IN THE MIX ...

The Georgia State women’s track and field team will have six participants in the NCAA East Preliminaries May 28-30 in Jacksonville, Fla. Ravin Gilbert, LaPorscha Wells, Alysiah Whittaker, Wande Brewer, Katherine Randolph and Breonca Reid all qualified to make the trip and represent the Lady Panthers.

“This group has been going full steam ahead and are focused on more accolades after school records and Sun Belt Conference accomplishments,” coach Chris England said.

“It is a young group, so they can look forward to returning again to this elite event. Ravin and Alysiah are going back for a second time and should benefit from last year’s experience. This is another highlight for our program that is coming off back-to-back second-place conference finishes as a team and with stellar individual accomplishments.”

PORTIA JOINS BASKETBALL PROGRAM ...

On Tuesday, Portia Jones was named Director of Basketball Operations for the women’s basketball program. Jones has been surrounded by basketball her entire life. She played at Jenkins High School in Savannah as a team captain for the basketball team and served as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball manager in 2005-06. The 2014 master’s degree graduate in Sports Administration from Georgia State also played collegiate basketball at Armstrong State where she was team-captain and won the award for Best Offensive Player while being named to the Peach Belt All-Academic team.

GEORGIA TECH

BASEBALL SNUBBED; GOLF AND SWIMMING TEAMS REWARDED

BY COLIN HUBBARD | CHUBBARD@SCOREATL.COM

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he Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will not be playing in the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time since 2007 and just the third time in head coach Danny Hall’s 22year tenure. The Yellow Jackets finished with a regular season record of 32-23, tying the lowest win total for the Jackets since Hall was hired in 1994. Coming into the tournament, the Yellow Jackets were ranked 37th and were the second highest ranked team not selected into the field of 64. Georgia Tech’s early exit in the ACC tournament did not help its cause either.

Their inability to build their resume ultimately cost them from making a tournament in which seven other ACC teams did, tying for the most teams out of any one conference in the country.

The Jackets’ five-game losing streak to end their season may go down as one of the worst overall performances in Georgia Tech history. The Jackets lost their last five games by a combined score of 59-5. Arguably the Yellow Jackets’ best hitter, Kel Johnson, went down with an injury late in the season

KENNESAW STATE

BASEBALL SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS TO FGC, COUNTDOWN BEGINS FOR FOOTBALL

BY BRIAN JONES | BJONES@SCOREATL.COM

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he expectations for the baseball team were high this season as they were coming off their first appearance in the Super Regional last year. While they were able to do a lot of good things this season, it came to an end as they lost to Florida Gulf Coast 6-2 in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Tournament last Thursday.

KSU registered seven hits on the day.

Grant Williams led the Owls with two hits while Alex Liquori, Kal Simmons, Chris Erwin, Collin Bennett and Jeremy Howell each had a hit in the loss. Pitcher Travis Bergen allowed six runs on eight hits in six innings of work.

The Owls finish the regular season with a 28-28 overall record. They did have some down moments in the season, but they had their share of highlights as well.

In the early stages of the season, the Owls won the Team of the Year award at the Atlanta Sports Awards ceremony. Max Pentecost won the Colligate Athlete of the Year while head coach Mike Sansing won Coach of the Year.

KSU was also able to defeat Georgia Tech this

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and never returned to form. When Johnson sprained his ankle, Tech was hitting .289 with an overall record of 16-7 and an ACC record of 5-4. Tech finished the season going 16-16 with a conference record of 8-13. The Yellow Jackets will now have a long offseason to reflect back on their lack of performance to close the season and look to use that as motivation heading into next year’s season.

STUDENT-ATHLETES IMPRESS ...

Georgia Tech’s golf and men’s swimming teams were publicly honored for being among the top 10 percent in Academic Progress Rates (APR), announced Wednesday by the NCAA. Bruce Heppler’s golf program has received an APR Public Recognition Award every year since the inception of the APR in 2006.

Courtney Shealy Hart’s men’s swimming program was recognized for the second consecutive year. Georgia Tech has received 27 public APR awards in 10 sports since the APR was introduced 10 years ago -- baseball (2008, 2009), men’s cross country (2009, 2010), women’s cross country (2009, 2010, 2011), football (2012, 2013), golf (2005-2014), softball (2010), men’s swimming (2013, 2014), women’s swimming (2005), men’s tennis (2011), women’s tennis (2013) and volleyball (2008, 2009). Tech’s ability to show it is dedicated in building athletes in both the classroom and on the field has helped make the school one of the best in the country.

season, marking the first time in school history the Owls have beat the Yellow Jackets in backto-back seasons on the road. Their 15-13 record at Stillwell Stadium is the fifth straight year the Owls have posted a winning record at home.

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON… With spring sports winding down that means fall sports are right around the corner.

That also means the football team will be ready to make history with the very first game on Sept. 3, less than 100 days away.

“The team is obviously excited the closer it gets,” Bohannon said to ksuowls.com. “It’s ironic, it’s 100 days away and our kids are coming back today (Tuesday) to start summer school. They all report back in the dorms and will get going first thing in the morning (Wednesday, May 27) with the strength and conditioning program with Coach (Jim) Kiritsy and I know they all are extremely excited, as we are too, as we get closer to playing that first game at East Tennessee State.”

There were 4,000 fans that watched the Owls scrimmage in the very first spring game.

Since then, the players have completed the spring semester and enjoyed a three-week break before starting summer school. The coaches have been working on getting a strong 2016 recruiting class while adding more pieces to the 2015 roster.

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Vol. 11 Iss. 20 | May 29 - June 4, 2015 ATLANTA HAWKS

HAWKS LAY AN EGG IN EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

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tlanta’s historic and record breaking season did not have the storybook ending fans hoped for as the Hawks were annihilated in Game 4, 118-88, completing a clean sweep for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The loss means Atlanta is still yet to win a conference title and play for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

Cleveland dominated from the opening tip and gave the shorthanded Hawks not one iota that they had a chance to steal a game in the series. Al Horford, who was ejected from Game 3 after nearly being taken out by Matthew Dellavedova, suited up for Game 4 and was a non-factor, scoring just two points in 29 minutes. Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap were the only two players who were able to produce some form of offense on the nightmarish night.

Millsap, an unrestricted free agent this summer along with DeMarre Carroll, scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss. Teague finished with a team-high 17 points.

ATLANTA BRAVES

BRAVES BRIEFLY SURGE ABOVE .500 PRIOR TO L.A. SETBACKS

BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

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eginning with a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins from May 15 through May 17, the Atlanta Braves climbed from three games under .500 to briefly compile a winning record.

Atlanta followed up the sweep by splitting two contests with the Tampa Bay Rays and taking three of four games at the expense of the Milwaukee Brewers. Last Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Milwaukee pushed the Braves over .500 for the first time since they were 10-9 after a win on April 27.

A west coast road trip, however, got off to an inauspicious start on Monday and Tuesday in Los Angeles. Atlanta lost its opener to the Dodgers 6-3 before getting blanked 8-0 by Clayton Kershaw and company. Kershaw tossed seven innings while allowing only four hits and striking out 10 batters.

The Braves rounded out their series in L.A. on Wednesday before the start of a four-game set with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Results were not available at press time. Next

Kyrie Irving returned to the lineup after missing two games and was able to chip in 16 points. LeBron James continued his dominant series with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while J.R. Smith added 18 points and 10 boards off the bench. Atlanta was destroyed on the glass in every game this series. Cleveland used a 56 to 39 advantage to limit the Hawks’ opportunities and to get second chance looks of their own. In the teams’ eight total meetings this year, the winner of each game was able to outrebound the losing team.

GAME 3 KERFUFFLE ...

The chances of winning the series were slim after a 2-0 hole, but Atlanta still had fight in them and matched the Cavs shot for shot in the opening half of Game 3 before disaster struck. Al Horford, who had scored 14 points in 19 minutes, was ejected after a scrum with Matthew Dellavedova. Horford was fighting for a loose ball when the St. Mary’s product went for the ball as well as Horford’s knees.

Horford came down with an elbow which the officials deemed a Flagrant-two foul and ejected Atlanta’s best player from the game. The Hawks had chances to win at the end of regulation but the loss of a post presence hurt them as LeBron James carved them up for 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists.

week will begin with three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks before Atlanta returns home for seven in a row.

OFF AGAIN, ON AGAIN …

The Braves have acquired veteran third baseman Juan Uribe from the Dodgers in exchange for utility man Alberto Callaspo.

Or have they? Yes, they have. The two teams agreed to a deal on Tuesday afternoon but Callaspo rejected it, exercising his right to veto any deal because he is in the first year of a freeagent contract (he signed for one year and $3 million this past offseason). On Tuesday night, however, the 32-year-old had a change of heart and accepted the trade. With Atlanta already in Los Angeles for a three-game series, perhaps Callaspo realized that all he had to do in order to join his new team was walk across the infield.

The Braves took a chance on the nineyear veteran after he batted just .223 with the Oakland Athletics in 2014. They coveted Uribe primarily because he has established himself as a veteran leader in clubhouses. The 36-yearold is in his 15th season in the majors. He can also pack a punch at the plate even though he is hitting a modest .247 with a mere one home run and six RBIs in 81 at-bats during the 2015 campaign. Uribe compiled a .311 average while belting nine homers and driving in 54 runs in 103 games last season.

ATLANTA FALCONS

FALCONS OPEN UP FAST-PACED OTA’S

BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

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uesday began “phase three” of the offseason program according to head coach Dan Quinn, with the first day of organized team workouts. The Falcons also had pretty much perfect attendance from rookies and veterans alike.

So far, the Falcons have worked the veterans and rookies separately on the practice field. Now, this is the first chance they’ve had to work together.

Quinn says the goal of the on-field work right now is to meet a specific goal for the team moving forward.

“We wanted to really learn how to really practice fast,” Quinn said. “Against each other, but doing it safely and when we become a really good practicing team that’s when it will carry over into the games.”

The Falcons practices now include many different periods of work, where players and coaches are both running from station to station. There are many different situations worked on and the team will have certified

GWINNETT BRAVES

SKIDDING BRAVES LOOK FOR DOUBLEHEADER MOMENTUM

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

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he last-place Gwinnett Braves (19-25) lost to the Columbus Clippers (25-20) on Sunday, 4-0. Cody Martin pitched three innings and allowed one run before Greg Smith entered and surrendered three runs in four innings. Jhoulys Chacin shutout the Braves for eight innings; Gwinnett was only able to touch Chacin for three hits. The once highly-touted prospect has headlined the Clippers’ rotation as he seeks a return to the majors.

Michael Martinez scored Tyler Holt on a double in the third inning to give Columbus all the runs it would need. The Clippers managed to score again in the fourth on a Ryan Rohlinger groundout and added two more runs on hits from James Ramsey and Carlos Moncrief in later innings.

THE MAN-NY ...

Manny Banuelos continued his recent string of strong performances last Saturday against Columbus in a 6-1 win. The 24-yearold had a short outing, lasting 4.1 innings, but

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referees at all practices.

When you come to mini-camp practices later next month, you’ll also notice music playing throughout the entire workout. All of these things are geared to a specific purpose says Quinn.

“Really what we’re looking for is not a clean environment in which to practice at,” Quinn said. “Because that’s really not how you play, where everything just lines up just right. The noise, the energy, the situations that we put the guys in is intentional for that to make it more competitive. Where it would seem like chaos to a lot of other folks, but for us that’s how you play the game. That’s why we’re trying to create so many of those scenarios that we can.”

MATTY ICE…

Quarterback Matt Ryan has only known one head coach during his time in the NFL and now he has to get used to a new system of practicing. He definitely notices the difference between a Quinn run practice and ones that he went through before this offseason.

“It’s non-stop,” Ryan said. “You get out here, you get going and you keep going. I like that.”

Falcons will finish up practice this week with two more days of work and then continue OTA’s next week. The Atlanta Falcons minicamp built by The Home Depot will begin on Tuesday, June 16 and concluding on Thursday, June 18. Practices will be open to the public.

struck out six and gave up only one run. David Carpenter picked up his first win of the season in relief. Cedric Hunter got the G-Braves off to a good start with an RBI double in the first inning to plate Eury Perez. Hunter finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs on the day. In the third inning, Perez showed some power of his own and blasted his second homer of the year. Gwinnett blew the game open in the fourth inning with four runs crossing the plate highlighted by Hunter’s tworun single.

G-BRAVES IN THE A ...

The latest Gwinnett Brave to get a cup of coffee with the big league club is Adonis Garcia.

The 30-year-old minor league veteran was called up on May 18 and made his big league debut on the 19th. Garcia was hitting .338 in Triple-A and was leading the team with 21 RBIs. He hit .319 last season with the Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate. Garcia signed with the Yankees in 2012 after starring in Cuba’s top league, Series Nacional. He has played both third base and outfield this season.

LET’S PLAY TWO ...

Due to rain, Monday and Tuesday’s games vs Lehigh Valley have been pushed back to Wednesday and Thursday doubleheaders.

Monday’s game was suspended in the bottom of the second and will resume on Wednesday; Game two will begin at 6:35 P.M. Thursday’s first game will begin at 5:05 P.M.

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