Albany Herald

Photo by Danny Aller

AUGUSTA -- Westover's boys and girls tennis teams both won in the first round of the Class AAA State Tournament on Tuesday.

The boys beat Johnson, Augusta, 3-2, and the girls beat Westside, Augusta, 4-1, to advance to Tuesday's second round against opponents yet to be determined.

Kyle Ryer won at No. 1 singles and both boys doubles teams of Edwin Bell and Garrett Hogencamp and Tyley Clenny and Mason Murphy won to send the Patriots to the next round.

Savannah Boysen won at No. 1 for the girls, while Lizzie Hale won at No. 2 singles. Both of Westover's doubles teams also won. Morgan Barton and Mills Pickett won at No. 1 doubles, and Rebekah Brown and Merra Kuntawala won at No. 2 doubles.

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BASEBALL:

PERRY -- Deerfield Windsor's baseball team lost another heartbreaker to Westfield on Tuesday night on the road as Westfield clinched the GISA Region 3-AAA title with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Knights, 6-5.

Westfield (7-0 in the region) beat DWS earlier in the season in eight innings.

"It was another tough loss to them,'' said DWS coach Rod Murray, whose team is 5-2 in the region and 11-5 overall with three games left to play. "Rhett Cooper gave us a tremendous effort on the mound, going 5 1/3 innings (four hits and one strikeout) and left with a 5-2 lead, but we couldn't hang on, and they scored twice in the seventh.

"That's baseball. We'll get up (today) and get ready for Tiftarea (next).''

Chris Moates went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, and Banks Kinslow and Lindsey Short and Matt Moree all had big hits for DWS. Gil Gilespie had a sacrifice fly for the Knights.

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WESTWOOD 18, GCA 0 (5):

The Wildcats scored nine runs in the fifth inning to officially end this rout, thanks in part to Mason Worsham's one-hitter on the mound. Caleb Morell also added three hits (two doubles) and Douglas Nobles hit his eighth HR of the year. Westwood improved to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in Region 3-A with a big showdown looming Friday at home against Crisp Academy, last year's state runner-up and the No. 1 team in the GISA Coaches Poll again this year.

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TIFTAREA 4, SCA 1:

After a shaky first inning that saw the Eagles give up Tiftarea's only four runs of the game, starting pitcher Clay Wyatt and Co. settled down and pitched a shutout the rest of the way. But SCA got little run support and fell to 4-8 overall and 2-6 in Region 3-AAA. From the plate, Bret Sheppard was 2-for-4, as was Wyatt, while Andrew Lanier had a double and scored the only run on an RBI single by Aaron Anthony.

SCA travels to face Brookwood next on Friday.

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SGA 17, VALWOOD 4 (5):

The Warriors improved to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in 3-AA, but more importantly took over the No. 1 spot in region after co-No. 1 Fullington lost on Tuesday at CCA, giving SGA sole possession of first. But Fullington can get it right back if it beats SGA on Friday in Cordele, where it hasn't lost all season.

Carson Ray picked up the win, striking out five in four innings of work, and Ray added two RBI from the plate.

Van Harrell had a double an five RBI, while Garrett Vann had a double and two RBI. Parker Adams added three RBI.

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SOCCER:

ALBANY -- The Sherwood girls soccer team all but locked up a spot in the state playoffs Tuesday when they downed Region 3-AAA rival Tiftarea, 6-4.

Paige Barker had a big game, scoring three times, while Casie Wright added two goals and Mary Margaret Charles scored the other.

All Sherwood (10-5, 5-3 in 3-A) needs to do from here is to beat Southland on Monday in Americus, and it will play on into the postseason.