THOMASVILLE TIMES
Coming Thursday
• Jennings Withers feature
• CCC Softball update
Sports
tvillesports@yahoo.com
TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2010
CCC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
East brings home CCC title
Calendar
TODAY
CCC Softball Tourney
5- 4 winner
vs. C. Davidson
5 p.m.
CCC SoftballTourney
6- 3 winner
vs. E. Davidson
7 p.m.
MFC Softball Tourney
Second Round
TBA
WEDNESDAY
CCC SoftballTourney
Championship
Game
7 p.m.
MFC Softball Tourney
Championship
Game
TBA
FRIDAY
Baseball
NCHSAA State
Playoffs (Rd. 1)
TBD
TUESDAY
Baseball
NCHSAA State
Playoffs (Rd. 2)
TBD
Softball
NCHSAA State
Playoffs (Rd. 1)
TBD
Darlington
Top 20
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Jamie McMurray
3. Kurt Busch
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Juan Montoya
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Kyle Busch
8. Jeff Burton
9. Ryan Newman
; 10. Brian Vickers
11. David Reutimann
12. Brad Keselowski
13. Matt Kenseth
14. David Ragan
15. Carl Edwards
16. Mark Martin
17. Regan Smith
18. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
19. Martin Truex Jr.
20. Kasey Kahne
Game Report
Deadlines:
Monday-Friday
9 p.m.
tvillesports@yahoo.com
TIMES Staff Report
With two outs and the
game tied in the bot
tom of the seventh, East
Davidson’s Preston Gam
mons ripped an RBI sin
gle to left field, driving
in Braxton Shetley for a
walkoff 8-7 win over West
Davidson in the Central
Carolina Conference
tournament title game.
West had fought back
from a 7-1 deficit in the
top of the seventh getting
a grand slam from Colby
Bassett to tie it.
East starter Keaton
Hawks helped his cause
in the first inning, plat
ing leadoff hitter Justin
Weavil, who had reached
on a walk.
The bottom of
the Golden Eagle
lineup made it 2-
0 in the bottom
of the second.
Braxton Shetley
walked, stole sec
ond and reached
third on a passed ball.
Taylor Warren plated
him for the second run.
West put together a
serious threat in the top
of the third, but Hawks
stood his ground on the
hill.
Tyler Hudson had
walked and made his
way around to third with
no outs, using a
Hawks balk and
wild pitch to get
there. West could
have plated a
run when Gary
Ferguson lined a
deep out to Weav-
n in right field, but the
courtesy runner on third
failed to tag up, and noth
ing was hurt on the play
for East. Hawks thwarted
the rally with a strikeout
and flyout.
The Golden Eagles took
(at the time) a strangle
hold on the game in the
bottom half, scoring four
runs to rattle West’s Fer
guson. Davin Lawson,
Justin Mounts, Preston
Gammons and Warren
each had an RBI, as the
East lead grew to 6-0.
After EDHS scored
its seventh run in the
fourth. West finally got
on the board with a run
in the fifth.
Visit www.tvUletimes.
com for more on East’s
CCC title win.
ON NASCAR
SHOWTIME SOUTHERN 500
'a ^
■ ^
GETTY IMAGES
Darlington race winner Denny Hamlin (No. 11) battles Jeff Burton on the outside Saturday during the running of
the SHOWTIME Southern 500. Burton had a miscue on pit road that cost him a shot at the win.
Hamlin claims Darlington
NASCARMedia.com
DARLINGTON, S. C. —
Denny Hamlin is begin
ning to like NASCAR’s
toughest track.
He has a perfect batting
average after winning
both ends of a double-
header at the track “Too
Tough To Tame.”
The young Virginia
driver won Friday night’s
Nationwide Series race
and came back Saturday
night to win the SHOW
TIME Southern 500 NAS
CAR Sprint Cup race at
the 3.66-mile, egg-shaped
oval.
It was Hamlin’s third
win of the season and his
first NASCAR Sprint Cup
victory at Darlington. He
credited his team for get-
GEHY IMAGES
Denny Hamlin is all smiles in Victory Lane at Darlington
over the weekend.
ting him out first on his
final pit stop, but Hamlin
battled Jeff Gordon and
Jeff Burton throughout
the 367-lap race for the
top spot.
Both Gordon and Bur
ton ran into some tough
luck at the end of the race
to thwart whatever win
ning effort they might
have managed. Gordon
was coming to pit road
but was accidentally
blocked at the pit road
entrance by Tony Stew
art and had to make an
extra lap which cost him
valuable track position.
Burton was in great
shape to give Hamlin a
run for his money be
fore running over an
air hose on his final pit
stop, prompting a pass
through penalty that cost
him numerous spots on
the restart.
It was a typical Darling
ton race, full of twists
and turns that eliminat
ed at least one of the pre
race favorites, Jimmie
Johnson was involved in
several scrapes before
one with AJ AUmending-
er sent him to the garage
See CLAIMS, Page 9
CATHY ELLIOTT
NASCAR Columnist
Too tough to
tame more than
name for Kbapil,
Darlington
It seems oddly appro
priate to be standing
in a hauler with Travis
Kvapil in the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series garage
at Darlington Raceway
because in a way, both
are testaments to the te
nacity of “the little guy.”
Kvapil, driver of
the No. 34 Long John
Silver’s Ford for Front
Row Motorsports has,
to paraphrase the old
Joni Mitchell song,
looked at racing “from
both sides now.”
The Wisconsin native
got off to a great early
start after securing a
deal in the NASCAR
Camping World Truck
Series in 2001, where
he was named Rookie
of the Year that same
season. He won the
Series title in 2003.
Darlington made an
early career splash, too.
The big track in the little
town created a major
sensation back in 1950.
Just as great drivers
assume the mantle of
those who have gone be
fore them and move the
sport forward — from
Richard Petty and Dale
Earnhardt to Jeff Gor
don and Jimmie John
son, for example — Dar
lington Raceway moved
NASCAR off the beach
and the dirt and onto
the pavement for good.
It was over 60 years ago,
but she was definitely
the Rookie of the Year.
Kvapil quickly moved
up through the ranks of
racing, competing in the
Cup Series part-time in
2003 for Penske Racing
and full-time in 2005 for
PPI Motorsports before
joining forces with Jack
Roush to return to the
Truck Series in 2007.
He won four races that
year, and in 2008 moved
to Yates Racing, where
See KVAPIL, Page 9
Myers takes
checkered flag at
Bowman Gray
BG Report
On Saturday, fans were reminded why
Bowman Gray Stadium is known as “The
Madhouse.”
Experienced veterans tangled with tal
ented rookies, many fans were on then-
feet for more laps than not, and although
Bm-t Myers of Walnut Cove won the race,
. See MYERS, Page 8
ERIC HYLTON PHOTOGRAPHY
Tim Brown (No. 83) takes a shot from behind from rookie Zach Brewer Saturday night.