The Lady Wildcats' offense was limited to one hit and four walks in an 8-0 sub-region loss to River Ridge. The loss dropped Woodland to 1-5 on the season. River Ridge improved to 4-0 behind the strong pitching of Jessica Mirocha who pitched all five innings and struck out four. RIVER RIDGE 8, WOODLAND 0 RIVER RIDGE —— 3-3-0-2-0 —— 8R | 6H | 0E WOODLAND —— 0-0-0-0-0 —— 0R | 1H | 2E Woodland Hitters: Kylie Knox — 2BB Keri Cagle — 1H, 1BB Brittney Griffith — 1BB Woodland Pitching: Lilly Watson — 5 IP, 6ER, 6H, 3BB, 2K Next Games for Woodland: Thur Aug 20 — at Rome — 5pm Tue Aug 25 — at Sequoyah — 5:30pm Fri Aug 28 — ARMUCHEE — 5pm Fri Aug 28 — COLUMBUS — 6:45pm Sat Aug 29 — CAMPBELL — 8:30am Sat Aug 29 — NORTHSIDE COLUMBUS — 10:30am Sat Aug 29 — DARLINGTON — 6:30pm River Ridge Hitters: Paige Taylor — 3R, 1H Addison Bray — 1R, 1H, 1RBI Beth McCulley — 2R, 1H, SacFly, 1RBI Brianna Collender — 1R, 2H, 4RBI Gabby Williams — 1H, 1RBI Shelby Suggs — 1R, 1H River Ridge Pitching: Jessica Mirocha — 5 IP, 0R, 1H, 4K, 4BB

Hannah Lee had a big day for the Cass Lady Colonels as they won for the first time this season. Lee (in photo) scattered three hits and struck out seven for the pitching win. At the plate, she scored twice, drove in a pair of runs, and reached base three times. The Lady Colonels scored ten times in the bottom of the first on a pair of walks to Lee, an RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Hannah Elrod, a passed ball, a hit by pitch, a two-run single by Taylor Queen, an RBI single by Alexia Najarro, and an RBI single by Sarah Fox. Photo credit: Becky Dabbs "It was nice to win, but I told the girls we still have to play better," said Cass coach Greg Hight. Taylor Queen, recently inserted into the Lady Colonels' lineup, also made a large contribution to the Cass offense by going 2-for-2. "Her bat has been pretty consistent so far," commented Hight on Queen. "She's been a pleasant surprise." Although it is only the first win of the year for Cass (1-6), it keeps the Lady Colonels in consideration for one of the sub-region's five playoff spots. The top five teams from each sub-region advance to the Region 7-AAAAA tournament. "Sequoyah is another must-win for us," noted Hight. "We have to start picking up some sub-region wins if we're going to make the tournament." Cass hosts the Lady Chiefs on Thursday. CASS 13, ROME 2 ROME —— 0-1-1-0-0 —— 2R | 3H | 2E CASS —— 10-1-1-1-x —— 13R | 5H | 0E Cass Hitters: Sierrah Gani — 2R, 2BB Alexia Najarro — 2R, 1H, 1RBI, 1BB Sarah Fox — 1R, 1H, 1RBI Hannah Lee — 2R, 1H, 2RBI, 2BB Hannah Elrod — 1R, 1H, SacFly,3RBI Sarah Moore — 1R, 2BB Mae Mae McIntyre — 1R Casey Brazell — 1R, 1RBI Taylor Queen — 2R, 1H, 2RBI, 1BB, SB Cass Pitching: Hannah Lee — 5 IP, 2ER, 3H, 7BB, 7K Next Games for Cass: Aug 20 — SEQUOYAH — 5:30pm Aug 24 — CEDARTOWN — 5:30pm Aug 27 — at Creekview — 5:30pm Aug 28 — vs. River Ridge (at Stars Mill) — 5:00pm Aug 28 — vs. South Cobb (at Stars Mill) — 6:45pm Aug 29 — vs. South Paulding (S. Paulding) — 9:30am Aug 29 — vs. Ridgeland (S. Paulding) — 1:30pm Aug 29 — vs. Camden Co. (S. Paulding) — 3:30pm Rome Hitters: Franklin — 1R Touchtone — 1H, 1RBI Filetti — 1R Harrell — 2H Masalanka — 1RBI Rome Pitching: West — 4 IP, 12ER, 5H, 8BB

The Cartersville volleyball team went 1-4 in matches at the Sequoyah Classic this past weekend. Etowah — lost 0-2 (25-11, 25-7) Westlake — won 2-0 (25-21, 25-12) Northgate — lost 0-2 (25-18, 25-18) Newnan — lost 0-2 (25-22, 25-14) Pope — lost 0-2 (25-18, 25-11) Next matches for Cartersville: Thur Aug 20 — at Coosa — 7pm Tue Aug 25 — at Kennesaw Mountain w/ Roswell — 6pm Thur Aug 27 — HARALSON CO & MARIETTA — 5pm Sat Aug 29 — Coosa Invitational at Shorter University

The Woodland softball team was shutout Monday night at Lassiter, 6-0, in a non-region matchup with the Lady Trojans. The loss dropped the Lady Wildcats to 1-4 on the season. Woodland returns to Region 7AAAAA play Tuesday and Thursday with games against River Ridge and Rome. LASSITER 6, WOODLAND 0 WOODLAND —— 0-0-0-0 —— 0R | 2H | 3E LASSITER —— 0-6-0-0 —— 6R | 5H | 1E Woodland Hitters: Kereston Franklin — 1H Shelby Rainey — 1H Woodland Pitching: Lilly Jordan — 4 IP, 6R, 0ER, 5H, 5BB Next Games for Woodland: Tue Aug 18 — RIVER RIDGE — 5:30pm Thur Aug 20 — at Rome — 5pm

The Georgia High School Association added a classification and expanded the playoffs for Class A Monday at the Macon Marriott City Center. The new classification -- dubbed the Big 44 -- is for the state's largest schools. The classification will be comprised of schools in the top 10 percent of enrollment. The Executive committee approved the new reclassification plan with a 47-10 vote. There will now be eight classifications and state championships in some sports. Class A, the state's smallest schools, will remain divided into public and private for playoffs. The number of teams in those state playoffs will expand, however, from 16 to 24. Between the Big 44 and Class A will be five other classifications with approximately 58 to 64 schools. There will also be an out-of-county provision applied to schools in Classes AA-AAAAA. Should any of those schools' enrollment include 3 percent or more students from outside the school's county lines, that school will be moved up one classification. Class A schools will not be forced to move up regardless of the 3 percent enrollment and no schools in Class AAAAAA will be forced to move into the Big 44. The plan was essentially sponsored and presented by GHSA reclassification committee members Dave Hunter (Brookwood) and Earl Etheridge (Savannah). The GHSA has 454 member schools with 419 that play football. The new reclassification format will go into effect with the 2016-17 school year. Assignment to classifications will be determined in the coming months based on enrollment numbers, then geographic assignment of regions will be finalized in early 2016.

Cartersville will start the 2015 season ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA according to the MaxPreps Georgia High School Football Daily rankings. The Canes are coming off a 12-2 season and a 27-3 semifinal loss to eventual state champ Buford. The Wolves are riding a 40-game winning streak and are again the No. 1 team in the 2015 Class AAAA poll. Cartersville returns key playmakers Trevor Lawrence, Tiamon Pennymon, Miller Forristall, Terrius Callahan, Tyler Reed and more, so head coach Joey King knows his team has the weapons to challenge again for a state title. “We want that state championship,” stated King in a recent visit with Bartow Sports Zone. “Doing the things that put us in position to achieve that goal has been our focus since we last walked off the field.” Woodward Academy is ranked third in the preseason AAAA poll, followed by Sandy Creek, Marist, St. Pius, Griffin, Carrollton, West Laurens, and Mary Persons. The Purple Hurricanes dominated Woodland in last Friday’s controlled scrimmage and will open their 2015 regular season at Cass Friday, August 28. Kickoff will be at 7:30pm. Archer (Class AAAAAA), Northside-Warner Robins (Class AAAAA), Calhoun (Class AAA), Benedictine (Class AA), and Eagle’s Landing Christian (Class A) are the No. 1 teams in the remaining classifications. In other Maxwell Ratings projections, Adairsville is tabbed as the projected runner up to Calhoun in Region 6AAA with a 98.8% chance of making the state playoffs. Ringgold was picked third (also with a 98.8% chance of making the state playoffs) and Sonoraville fourth (63.5%) in that same region. In Cartersville’s Region 7AAAA, Gilmer (90.6%) is pegged as the runner up, followed by Northwest Whitfield (79.5%) and Pickens (74.8%). In 7AAAAA, Kell (97.8%) is the clear favorite and is ranked in the MaxPreps GHSFD Top Ten at No. 4. The Longhorns are picked to win the region’s Division B ahead of Sprayberry (34.2%) and Riverwood (16.4%). Those same projections have Dalton (91.7%) winning Division A, followed by Sequoyah (55.5%) and Creekview (48.8%). Cass (7.0%) was projected fifth in the sub-region behind those three plus Rome (31.3%). Woodland was projected seventh. The Maxwell Ratings are a computer-based ranking system created by Loren Maxwell. The projections utilize historical scores, recent results, and program consistency then runs one million scenarios using the current schedule to determine projections. The projections will change as new real-game results occur throughout the season.

Australian Jason Day won the final major of the year with a record-setting performance. He fired four rounds at 20-under-par to win the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The victory was his first in golf's major championships. Jordan Spieth, who had already won two major championships this year, finished second just three shots back. Bartow Sports Zone tracks the performances of players affiliated with Scott Hamilton Golf Academy at Cartersville Country Club. Scott Hamilton is the Director of Golf at CCC and works with many prominent professional golfers through SH Golf Acadmey. Results for those players on the PGA Tour, WEB.com Tour, and the senior Champions Tour are listed below. PGA Tour PGA Championship Whistling Straits, Sheboygan, WI Winner: Jason Day (-20) over Jordan Spieth (-17) T12 — Russell Henley (-10) T37 — Boo Weekley (-3) T48 — Harris English (-1) MC — Steven Bowditch MC — Brendon Todd Note: Acworth’s Jason Bohn finished T37 (-3). Next Week: Wyndham Championship, Greensboro, NC WEB.com Tour Price Cutter Charity Championship Highland Springs CC, Springfield, MO Aug 13-16 Winner: Dawie vander Walt (-23) T39 — Hunter Hamrick (-13) T83 — Kelvin Day (-5) T83 — Mark Silvers (-5) Next Week: WinCo Foods Portland Open, North Plains, OR The Champions Tour for senior players was idle this week. Next Week: Boeing Classic, Snoqualmie, WA

With only a few weeks remaining before the University of Georgia Bulldogs take the field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, former Cartersville High School punter Collin Barber received a nod of approval from UGA head coach Mark Richt. Barber, entering his senior season, spent the off-season working with his personal kicking coach Marc Nolan. Barber has played in 35 games for the Bulldogs and is one of Bartow Sports Zone's Athletes Beyond Bartow. He is being challenged in the pre-season by freshman preferred walk-on Rodrigo Blankenship. Blankenship is a rugby-style punter and a potential kickoff specialist. According to comments by Richt on Saturday, Barber has been punting much better in recent practices. The Bulldogs open the 2015 season Saturday, Sept. 5 at noon against the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. For more on Collin Barber, please see Marc Weiszer’s updates including ‘Collin Barber welcomes competition for UGA punter job,’ at onlineathens.com

The Georgia High School Association meets Monday (Aug. 17) and will be considering a proposal to expand the state’s classifications for athletics from seven divisions to eight. The addition — if the proposal is approved — will be what has been called The Big 44. It will be comprised of schools in the top 10 percent of enrollment. The reclassification plan also includes a multiplier formula similar to what was in effect for the larger private schools from 2000 to 2008. The proposed multiplier would apply to any school with open enrollment that accepts 1 to 3 percent of its enrollment from outside its own county. The exact percentage has not yet been determined. That formula could again impact larger private schools as well as city school systems with open enrollment. The plan has basically been sponsored and presented by GHSA reclassification committee members Dave Hunter (Brookwood) and Earl Etheridge (Savannah). Under the proposed plan, the single-A classification will remain unchanged except for the expansion of its current playoff format. The proposal includes an expansion of the private A and public A playoff brackets from 16 to 24 teams. Between the Big 44 and the two single-A divisions, there would be five classifications comprised of approximately 58 to 64 schools. The GHSA has 454 member schools with 419 that play football. The Big 44 plan would mean eight different state championship divisions and would go into effect with the 2016-17 school year. The reclassification plan is on the agenda for discussion at the GHSA’s committee meetings Sunday and would go before the full executive committee membership Monday.

The Cass Lady Colonels' softball team out hit two of their three opponents, but dropped all three games at the Carrollton Tournament this weekend. Cass, now 0-6 on the season, will look to rebound this week with a pair of home Region 7AAAAA home games. Results from the Carrollton Tournament: SOUTH COBB 11, CASS 9 SOUTH COBB —— 4-0-0-0-1-2-4 —— 11R | 7H | 6E CASS —— 1-1-5-0-0-0-2 —— 9R | 14H | 6E Cass Hitters: Sierrah Gani — 1R, 3H, 2RBI Alexia Najarro — 1H, SAC, 1RBI Sarah Fox — 2H, 1RBI Hannah Lee — 1H Brittnee Mayer — 1R Cat White — 1H, 1RBI Hannah Elrod — 1R, 1H Sarah Moore — 2R, 1H Mae Mae McIntyre — 2R, 2H, 1RBI Taylor Queen — 1R, 2H, SAC, 2RBI Cass Pitching: Hannah Lee — 7 IP, 7R, 3ER, 7H, 6K, 4BB _____________________________ BREMEN 10, CASS 6 BREMEN —— 2-0-1-0-4-3 —— 10R | 9H | 2E CASS —— 0-2-3-0-1-0 —— 6R | 5H | 3E Cass Hitters: Sierrah Gani — 2H, 1BB, 1RBI, SB Alexia Najarro — 1BB, 1RBI Hannah Lee — 1R, 1H Cat White — 2R, 1BB, 1H, SB Hannah Elrod — SAC, SF, 1RBI Sarah Moore — 2R, 1BB, SB Casey Brazell — 1R, 1BB, 1H, SAC, 1RBI Brittnee Mayer — 1RBI Cass Pitching: Cat White — 5 IP, 7R, 3ER, 7H, 1BB Hannah Lee — 1 IP, 3R, 2ER, 2H, 1K, 1BB _______________________________ HERITAGE-CATOOSA 4, CASS 2 HERITAGE —— 0-3-1-0-0-0 —— 4R | 7H | 1E CASS —— 0-1-0-0-0-1 —— 2R | 11H | 3E Cass Hitters: Sierrah Gani — 2H, 1RBI Sarah Moore — 1H Sarah Fox — SAC, 1H Hannah Lee — 2H Cat White — 1R, 1H Hannah Elrod — 1R, 1H Casey Brazell — 1H Taylor Queen — 2H, 1RBI Cass Pitching: Hannah Lee — 6 IP, 4R, 3ER, 7H, 2BB, 7K _______________________________ Next Games: Tue. Aug. 18 — Home vs. Rome, 5:45pm Thur. Aug. 20 — Home vs. Sequoyah, 5:45pm

The Scott Hamilton Golf Academy based out of Cartersville Country Club has three players active on the weekend at the PGA Championship being played at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The PGA Championship (August 13-16) is the last of the four major championships in golf. Russell Henley (T13, -7) leads the SH Golf Academy group heading into Sunday’s final round, followed by Boo Weekley (T17, -6) and Harris English (T52, -1). Steven Bowditch and Brendon Todd both missed the 36-hole cut this week. Acworth’s Jason Bohn (T24, -5), a former SH Golf Academy affiliate, fired a 66 Saturday to climb the leaderboard. Jason Day (-15) leads the PGA Championship after 54 holes over Jordan Spieth (-13) and Justin Rose (-12). Branden Grace is also at 12-under following a 64 on Saturday. On the WEB.com Tour where Dawie vander Walt is leading at 23-under through 54 holes, Scott Hamilton Golf Academy affiliated players Hunter Hamrick (T42, -10), Mark Silvers (T75, -6), and Kelvin Day (T81, -5) made the weekend. Jim Renner missed the cut at the Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, MO. The senior Champions Tour with SH Golf Academy’s Joe Durant is off this week. That tour’s next event is the Boeing Classic played at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge in Washington.

Cartersville softball split a pair of games with Central-Carroll this weekend and defeated Haralson County to go 2-1 at the Villa Rica Inviational and improved to 3-3 on the year. Cartersville managed only one hit by Kennedy Bailey and yielded five unearned runs in a 7-0 loss to Central-Carroll Friday, but rebounded to shutout Haralson County 2-0 later in the evening. The Lady Canes then pounded out 13 hits in a rematch with Central-Carroll Saturday to win 10-3. Colbi Ballard scattered five hits, struck out three, and walked only two for the shutout win over Haralson County in the circle. Bailey homered to left field for the Lady Canes in the top of the fourth for the game’s first run. Megan Morneau scored Cartersville’s other run as a courtesy runner for Bailey in the top of the sixth after Tara Mathis’ double. Michaela Crowe, Madison McKinney, and Taylor Waits also had hits in the win over the Lady Rebels. In the rematch with Central, Cartersville scored seven runs in the opening frame and never looked back. Paris Poston had three hits including a double and scored three times to lead the Lady Canes at the plate. Macee Cole drove in four runs with a pair of hits and a sacrifice. Cole also scored two runs and stole a base. Taylor Waits and Molly Wilson added two hits each. Wilson added a RBI. Allie Jackson (RBI, Mathis (RBI, SB), McKinney, and Ballard (RBI) had the other Cartersville hits. Ballard was the winning pitcher for Cartersville, yielding three unearned runs on three hits and five walks. She recorded one strikeout. The Lady Canes host Gilmer Tuesday (Aug. 18) at 5:55pm and travel to Heritage in Ringgold Thursday (Aug. 20) at 5:55pm.