Softball Victory Gives GPS Spring Fling Triple Crown

With Track and Tennis Team Championships already in hand, it was the Bruiser Softball Team's turn to bring home a State Championship. And bring it home they did, using the same recipe for success we've seen all tournament: solid pitching, stingy defense, and expolsive hitting that erases any shred of hope the opponent had of keeping pace with the powerful Bruisers. This time the offensive explosion came in the second inning. GPS had a narrow 2-0 advantage going into the inning, but knocked in 8 runs, 4 of which were the result of back to back homeruns by Jessica Phillips and Kamri Chester.

For the tournament, GPS scored an incredible 45 runs in just 23 innings at the plate, while only giving up 3 runs the entire tournament. Standout pitcher Megan Wagner got all four wins for the Bruisers.

All Eyes on Softball

With GPS successfully defending its team titles in both Tennis and Track & Field, all eyes are now turned to the Bruiser Softball Team who has a chance tonight to win the State Championship that narrowly escaped them last season.

Last year GPS lost in the championship game to Father Ryan, who also beat them in the previous round. This year it's the Bruisers who are doing the beating - make that pounding - to the tune of 31 runs on 34 hits in just 18 innings at the plate.

The Bruisers are safely into the final where they will again face JPII, who beat Baylor 1-0 in the loser's bracket final Friday morning. A JPII win tonight would force a deciding game tomorrow. A GPS win would give the Softball Bruisers a well deserved State Championship, and would give GPS a Spring Fling sweep of the 3 girls team titles up for grabs.

Championship game time is 5:30 CST (6:30 EST).

Bartlett Wins Singles Title; Doubles Team Comes Up Short

GPS had a chance to sweep the girls DII Tennis Titles Friday morning. In singles, Claire Bartlett took on East Region foe Guinn Garcia of Webb School (Knoxville). Doubles team Grace Robinette and Courtney Pare faced Brandi Cordell and Katie Thornton of Baylor in another all East Region final.

After a grueling semifinal match yesterday, Claire Bartlett bounced back to win the State Singles Tennis Championship in convincing fashion, 6-0,6-0. It is Claire's second individual championship in a row. Only a Junior, she will have a chance to make it three in a row next year.
Championship Match video coverage and interview at timesfreepress.com

Grace Robinette and Courtney Pare gave a strong effort in the Doubles Championship match, but came up short falling 6-4, 6-2 to the team from Baylor.

Softball Team Blanks JPII to Move to Championship Game

GPS led just 1-0 after 3 innings, but then batted around in the 4th, scoring 8 runs along the way. Another run in the fifth gave GPS a 10 run lead, and the run-rule was applied, ending the game.

Megan Wagner had 7 strikeouts in the shutout for GPS, who has outscored their opponents 31-3 so far in the tournament.

The Bruisers move on to the Championship game tomorrow night vs. the winner of the loser’s bracket final between JPII and Baylor. The loser's bracket final will be played at 10:00 am CST; the Championship game will start at 5:30 pm CST.

Track Team Wins Third Consecutive Team Title

GPS dominated the DII track finals on Thursday night and won its third team title in a row. The Bruisers placed 1st in all four relays, and placed 2nd in the 100 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and 300 hurdles.

Complete results are below:

100 Meter High Hurdles: Taylor Parkes - 3rd, Catie Lester - 6th
4 X 100 Meter Relay: Cydney Parkes, T. Parkes, Makenzie Stokes, Marissa Thompson - 1st
4 X 800 Meter Relay: Charity Blair, Nandia Taylor, Anna Connell, Carly Morrow - 1st
100 Meter Dash: Marissa Thompson - 2nd
1600 Meter Run: Brandi Andrews - 3rd
4 X 200 Meter Relay: C. Parkes, Jasmine Brown, Jordan Shepherd, M. Thompson - 1st
400 Meter Dash: Taylor Parkes - 2nd
300 Meter Hurdles: Cydney Parkes - 2nd
800 Meter Run: Brandi Andrews - 3rd
200 Meter Dash: Marissa Thompson - 4th
4 X 400 Meter Relay: T. Parkes, A. Connell, J. Brown, C. Morrow - 1st

Team Results:

1) Girls Prep School - 145.50
2) Harpeth Hall - 102.50
3) Brentwood Academy - 87.50
4) Webb School of Knoxville - 76 .00

No Headline Could Do it Justice – Bartlett Wins Thriller; Doubles Team Advances

Claire Bartlett will look to defend her Singles Title from last year, while doubles team of Grace Robinette and Courtney Pare hope to add a Doubles Championship to this year's Team Tennis Championship.


SEMIFINALS:
Claire Bartlett erased 3 consecutive match points in game 9 - and another in game 10 - to hang on and force a tie breaker in the final set of the State Semifinal match-up.

Bartlett dropped the first set 5-7, then came back to win the second 6-3 to force the third and deciding set. In the third, Bartlett fell behind 3-0, but fought back to tie at 5-5 then go ahead 6-5. Opponent Gabriela Rangel of JPII held serve to send the final set to the tie breaker.

Once in the tie-breaker, Bartlett won the first 5 points, then alternated points to get the 7 she needed to advance to tomorrow’s State Championship match. The semifinal match lasted well over 3 hours.

Doubles team Grace Robinette and Courtney Pare advanced with relative ease, winning 6-3, 6-1 to give GPS the chance to sweep the girls DII Tennis titles. Senior Grace Robinette closed out the win with an ace on match point.

QUARTERFINALS:

Bartlett advanced with a 6-0, 6-1 win over her opponent from Briarcrest to move on to the semifinals this afternoon. Robinette-Pare had a very solid showing, winning 6-0, 6-0 to advance past the doubles team from Ensworth and into the semifnail match. All Semifinal matches will be played at 2:00 CST today at Old Fort Park.

The Finals will be played Friday at 9:00 CST at MTSU.

Camille Campbell Wins State Discus Championship; Parman 4th

Camille Campbell improved her region qualifying throw by 6 inches to claim the Division II State Discus Championship. Her teammate Heather Parman was 4th.

In the Triple Jump, Sophomore Jasmine Brown finished 3rd; Catie Lester was 5th.Here is a look at the schedule and results for the Track & Field Championships on Thursday:

**All times are CST**

Triple Jump: Jasmine Brown - 3rd, Catie Lester - 5th
Discus: Camille Campbell - 1st, Heather Parman - 4th
Pole Vault: Crissy Singer - 5th
Long Jump: Catie Lester - 5th
Shot Put: Carly Morrow - 3rd
High Jump (No GPS Qualifier)

Running Finals start at 6:00 CST and will take place in this order:

100 Meter High Hurdles (Taylor Parkes, Catie Lester)
4 X 100 Meter Relay (GPS)
4 X 800 Meter Relay (GPS)
100 Meter Dash (Marissa Thompson)
1600 Meter Run (Brandi Andrews)
4 X 200 Meter Relay (GPS)
400 Meter Dash (Taylor Parkes)
300 Meter Hurdles (Cydney Parkes)
800 Meter Run (Brandi Andrews)
200 Meter Dash (Marissa Thompson)
4 X 400 Meter Relay (GPS)

Explosive Fourth Inning Propels Bruisers to 11-2 Win

GPS faced Davidson Academy tonight in the winner's bracket semifinals of the double-elimination State Championship Tournament.

After a scoreless first inning, Morgan Che' Dodd put the Bruisers on the board with an infield hit, scoring Megan Givens who had doubled 2 batters prior.

Amy Campbell tripled in the 3rd, then scored on Jessica Phillips' single up the middle to extend the lead to 2-0.

Then the bats really got warmed up in the 4th: A leadoff single by Jackie Baird and a successful bunt by Tory Lewis gave GPS 2 baserunners. Dodd then popped out, and Whitney Hammond was thrown out at first after a bunt, though she advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd.

With 2 outs, the Bruisers rattled off 5 straight hits, including a 2-RBI double by Kristin Holloway, an RBI double by Campbell, and an RBI triple by Phillips.

When the dust settled, the Bruisers were in control 8-0 after 4 innings.

In the fifth, Davidson Academy scored 2 runs to cut the GPS lead to 8-2.

In the 6th, Campbell reached by error and Phillips walked to give the Bruisers 2 on base when Kamri Chester came to the plate. With a 2-2 count, Chester unloaded on a high fastball sending a towering shot well beyond the fence in left field, stretching the Bruiser lead to 11-2.

In the top of the 7th, the Bruisers gave up just one hit. A blooper snagged by reserve 2nd baseman Maddie Smith ended the game, sending the Bruisers into the winner's bracket final.

The Bruisers will face JPII Thursday night, game time approximately 7:00 pm CST.

Andrews Finishes 4th in 3200

Senior Brandi Andrews represented GPS in the 3200 Wednesday evening. The 3200 is the only DII Track & Field event today.

Andrews finished 4th - the same spot she qualified in - picking up valuable points for GPS.

There will be more Track & Field action tomorrow with Field events beginning at 9:00 am CST and Running Finals starting at 6:00 pm CST.

Bruiser Softball Cruises to Victory in First Game

GPS soundly defeated St. Benedict 10-1 in their opening game of the 2007 State Tournament.

Heading into the third inning, the Bruisers were tied 0-0, after leaving runners on 2nd and 3rd in the top of the second inning.

In the top of the third, Jackie Baird homered with two runners on to give GPS a 3-0 lead. The Bruisers added another run, and St. Benedict picked one up in the bottom of the inning, leaving the Bruisers with a 4-1 after 3 innings.

In the 4th, Whitney Hammond's successful bunt, coupled with throwing errors, led to 3 more runs for the Bruisers, giving them a 7-1 lead after 4 innings.

In the 6th, GPS got the bats going and picked up 3 more runs to stretch the lead to 10-1. St. Benedict popped up the first pitch of the bottom of the 6th for out one. Their next batter singled up the middle. The third St. Benedict batter hit a blooper to left that appeared to be on it's way to being a base hit. But reserve outfielder Lea Capehart charged in to make the shoestring catch, then gunned down the runner before she could get back to first, completing the double play and eneding the inning.

GPS had no hits in the 7th, but carried the 10-1 lead into the last half inning. GPS Senior shortstop Kristin Holloway had 3 groundball putouts to end the game and give GPS a solid win to start the tournament.

GPS Tennis Repeats as State Champions!

Claire Bartlett, Sarah Evans and Grace Robinette each won their matches to give GPS a 3-0 advantage in the State Championship Team Competition. Bartlett won 6-0, 6-0; Evans won 6-2, 6-0; and Robinette won 6-2, 6-1.

Courtney Pare trailed 5-6 in the first set, and Cady Jones won her first set 6-4.

Pare rallied to force a tie breaker, and won her first set in dramatic fashion. She then jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Jones fell behind 2-3 in her second set.

A win by either Pare or Jones would seal the repeat State Championship for the Bruisers.

With Pare leading in her second set, Cady Jones' forehand winner one court over sealed the Championship for GPS, giving her a 6-4, 6-3 win.