Campbell coach honored; former Whitefield player drafted

After successfully hosting the Little League of Georgia District II 7 & 8 All-Star Tournament for the majority of the past week, there’s no rest for Smyrna Little League officials and volunteers as Brinkley Field will be the site of the District II 9-year-old All-Star Tournament that begins Saturday.

The six-team tournament runs through Wednesday with the host team from Smyrna taking on Murphey Candler Blue in the opening game today at 1 p.m. The Smyrna All-Stars will also face the East Marietta All-Stars Sunday at 3 p.m.

Members of the SLL All-Star team are Cole Peteson, Dylan Kobiolka, Connor Hay, Jordan Culley, Julian Munoz, Luke McLemore, Andrew Whitcher, Parker Mitchell, Schuylar Willis, Will Thomas, Clayton Cross, Devin O'Rourke, Andrew Prather and Jason Lilliard.

A complete schedule can be found here. But even if you can’t make it out to the ball field, select games will be webcasted at sportsjuice.com. If you want to listen in to the webcasts on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device, then check out the TuneInRadio app that links to the app at sportsjuice.com.

• Keeping on the baseball front, congratulations to former Whitefield Academy standout Kenny Straus, who was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 26^th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Draft this past week.

The former all-state player for the Wolfpack batted .350 with six homers and 39 runs batted in as a sophomore designated hitter this past year at Georgia Perimeter College. He led the Jaguars in doubles (17) and triples (three) despite missing almost three weeks with a calf injury.

The left-handed hitter signed with Duke University out of high school before transferring to GPC. The 783^rd player selected in the draft, Straus is signed to play at Georgia State University next season if he doesn’t turn professional.

• Moving to track, congratulations to Campbell High School’s Mike McCloud, who was selected as the 2011 Marietta Daily Journal/Cobb County Girls Track and Field Coach of the Year.

McCloud guided the Lady Spartans to their first-ever region championship this spring and a school-best fourth-place finish at the state championships. The previous year, Campbell had finished second in the region and eighth at the state meet.

• And finally, it’s never too early to talk about football, right? The Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas this week released lines on select college football games.

Sure it’s almost three months away, but the Georgia Bulldogs are six-point underdogs against the Boise State Broncos as those two teams are scheduled to meet at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 3. According to the casino, the Florida Gators are a three-point favorite against the Bulldogs in late October. And when the Dawgs visit Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Thanksgiving weekend, the Jackets will be a 6 ½-point underdog.