Baseball
Whitewater has reached five consecutive state semifinals without winning a state title. This year’s team, under first-year coach Rusty Bennett, could be the best hope yet. The Wildcats are 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAA.
Pitching is the key factor. Ten pitchers have gotten innings, and the team ERA is 1.60. Jake Lee, a junior who committed to Georgia Tech, is 1-0 with an 0.50 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 13 innings. Junior left-hander Ethan Gillis, who committed to Kennesaw State, is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA. Johnathan Hendershot, a senior, is 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA.
More baseball
Mountain View pitcher A.J. Moore, who committed to Kennesaw State, is 4-0 with an 0.57 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings. In his past three starts, Moore threw a no-hitter (vs. Eastside), a one-hitter (Gainesville, ranked No. 1 at the time) and a two-hitter (Peachtree Ridge). … Sprayberry junior pitcher Bobby Gauvreau, who committed to Georgia Tech, threw a four-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory against Creekview on Thursday. He has allowed one earned run in 21 2/3 innings. … Northview pitcher Dave Ehmen threw a three-hitter, striking out 12, in a 3-0 victory against Kell last week. Ehmen signed with Wofford. … Mays sophomore pitcher Xzavion Curry has struck out 48 batters in 29 innings. He had 14 in two games (vs. Grady, North Springs). Mays is 8-2-1.
Soccer
Girls: St. Pius senior forward Amanda Vocelka scored three goals to lead the Golden Lions to a 4-0 victory against Carrollton on Tuesday. She also had three of St. Pius' seven goals in the recent Tournament of Champions in Jekyll Island, where the Golden Lions beat Union Grove 4-1 and Auburn (Ala.) 3-0. Vocelka entered the season with 62 career goals and recently signed with Villanova. … Towers freshman Mia Carradine is the DeKalb County leader in goals with 12 and is tied for second in assists with seven, according to the most recent statistics released Thursday. Chamblee freshman Kamilah Mustafa is the leader in assists with eight and is third in goals with nine. Other goal leaders are Chamblee's Louise McGirt with 10, Towers' Bridgette Grimes with nine and Chamblee's Ally Jones with eight. Among goalkeepers, Lakeside freshman Miranda McNalley and Tucker senior Melissa Lippy have yet to allow a goal.
Boys: Senior Cort Coxhead assisted on 14 of No. 4 Wesleyan's 19 goals through eight games. Son of coach Billy Coxhead, Cort also has scored three goals. Benji Johnson leads the Wolves with five goals, and goalkeeper Austin Pack has three shutouts this season. The Wolves are 4-3-1 on the season. … After ending a six-year playoff drought last season, the Duluth Wildcats appear poised for another postseason appearance. Duluth has won its first 10 games this season. The Wildcats' hot start is highlighted by a stretch of three victories in three days last week, first-year coach Adel Mohsen said. During that stretch, junior midfielder Carlos Delarosa had a hat trick, highlighted by the tying and winning goals in a tournament victory against West Forsyth on March 14. … Second-ranked Walton improved to 12-0 and 4-0 in Region 5-AAAAAA with a 2-0 victory against Milton on Thursday. Noah Langub and Felipe Galarrza scored for the undefeated Raiders.
Track and field
Girls: North Hall won the girls crown at the Hall County Championships. Sophomore Trini Puente set two county records, winning the 200 meters in 26.84 and the long jump with a leap of 16-2 1/2. … Flowery Branch's 1,600-meter and 3,200 meter relay teams set county records, running 4:22.63 and 10:43.19, respectively. … South Paulding won the Paulding County Championship behind the record-setting efforts of junior Jazmine Burse, who won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.08 and the shot put with a throw of 33-6. … Sophomore Tionna Fant won the 200- and 400-meter titles for the Spartans in 27.05 and 1:02.85, respectively. South Paulding's 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams set county records, finishing in 50.02 and 4:23.58, respectively.
Boys: Gainesville won the boys title at the Hall County Championships, with junior Orrin Ragland setting three records, winning the 100- and 200-meter titles in 11.49 seconds and 23.42 seconds, respectively, while also winning the triple jump with a leap of 43 feet, 5 inches. Ragland's teammate Marcquel Woodard set two county records, winning the 400 meters in 51.38 and the 800 meters in 2:05.44. … North Hall senior Drew Bryant won the discus with a toss of 154-6 1/2, the eighth-best throw in the state this season. … North Paulding won the boys title at the Paulding County Championships. South Paulding senior Aaron Jones set three county records winning the 100 meters (11.05), 200 meters (22.14) and long jump (22-7).
Golf
Girls: Cambridge won the Parkview Invitational at The Georgia Club in Statham with a 219. Rachel Dai was medalist with a 69 and Sabrina Long added a 72, with Payton Schanen shooting 78. All three are juniors. Cambridge also won the Chattahoochee Invitational, with Dai shooting a 72, to beat host Gainesville by three shots. … Darlington has four returners from last year's Class A-Private championship team, including Mercer signee Hannah Mae Deems. She has finished among the top three individuals at the past three state tournaments, which she won as a freshman. Peyton Albertson, who also was on those teams, is another key returner.
Boys: Zach Healy shot a 38 to help Norcross beat Northview at Berkeley Hills. … The biggest meets coming up are the Packer Invitational at Sunset Hills in Moultrie on March 29 and the High School Invitational at the Atlanta Athletic Club on March 31. … Columbus tied for fourth at the Joe King Memorial in Auburn, Ala. Nolan Miller led Columbus with rounds of 77 and 79. … Lakeside-Evans won the TaylorMade Adidas Tournament at Waynesboro Country Club. Freshman Isaac Hergott shot the team's low round. … Many of the state's best players will compete in the American Junior Golf Association's Junior All-Star tournament at Chateau Elan Classic on March 28-31.
Tennis
Girls: The Brookwood girls started the season 12-4 and have potential to challenge for a state championship. The Broncos are led by Liz Slaughter at No. 1 singles. Slaughter, a senior who committed to Dallas Baptist, won three of four matches at the Blue Angel's Southern Invitational in Pensacola, Fla. Freshman Christina Bugg, the No. 2 singles player, was the only player to go undefeated in Pensacola. … Brookwood's No. 1 doubles team of Alex Adams and Sheridan Schuster is undefeated, including a victory against a team from Leon, Fla. Coach Martha Brick will continue to rotate senior Natalie Nabors and freshmen Clarissa Jolley, Katie Derreberry and Esther deMiguel through singles and doubles.
Boys: The Brookwood boys remained undefeated with a 5-0 sweep of Starr's Mill, a battle of two reigning state champions. Brandon Mills, Will George and Zach Jennings won at singles. Brookwood also won at No. 1 doubles with David Brown and Will McWhirt and at No. 2 doubles with Ryan Pridgeon and Anthony Porcelli. … North Oconee won bragging rights with a 3-2 victory against Oconee County. North Oconee's Ray Donovan beat Drew Horsley at No. 1 singles, and the Titans improved to 7-1.
Lacrosse
Girls: Northview is ranked No. 2 in AAAAA-A and is 7-2 overall, 2-0 in Region 3 play. It recently played in Jacksonville, Fla., where it defeated Nease 14-2 and lost to Bartram Trail 18-7. The Lady Titans also lost to Centennial, ranked No. 6 in AAAAAA, 11-7, which could cause them to slip in the rankings. The leaders last week were sophomore attacker Colleen O'Connell, freshman attacker Sophie Kopec, junior midfielder Amber Scales and senior defenseman/midfielder Alexa Rivard. … AAAAAA's No. 1-ranked Milton defeated No. 4 Walton 18-8 on Tuesday in Region 2 play behind a streak of consecutive goals midway through the first half that stretched the lead to 12-5 at halftime. The Lady Eagles improved to 5-1 and 4-0 in Region 2.
Boys: The Centennial Knights, ranked No. 1 in AAAAAA, defeated Region 3-opponent South Forsyth 15-1 on Thursday to improve to 6-0 overall, all region games. Junior Austin Skorb had 10 saves at goal, and attackers Nathan Solomon, Ryan Carvin and Brendan Spence each scored three goals. … Harrison downed North Paulding 18-5 to move to 8-0 on the season. They're 1-0 in Region 1-AAAAAA and are the state's No. 2-ranked team.
