Fox, Johnson reach Match Play semifinals

Friday, July 15, 2011

LOUDON, Tenn. - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Steven Fox of Hendersonville and Lookout Mountain resident Steve Johnson each won twice Thursday in the 2011 Tennessee Golf Association Match Play Championship at Tennessee National and will play a former champion in the semifinals this morning. Johnson, who beat Logan Hance of White Pine 4 and 3 and then whipped Knoxville's David Novinger 6 and 5, faces Murfreesboro's Spencer Provow, the 2007 winner. Fox takes on 2009 champ Todd Burgan of Knoxville after winning 4 and 3 and 1 up over two other Knoxvillians, Nick Willenborg and Jeff Golliher, on Thursday. The final is set to start at 1:30 this afternoon. In the senior division, Loudon's Jim Brown reached the final by edging Signal Mountain's Tom Baird 2 and 1 and Chattanooga's Neil Spitalny 1 up. Spitalny beat Loudon's Jim Nancarrow 1 up in the quarterfinals. Brown's opponent this morning is Mike Nixon of Nashville.

• COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Lauren Johnson of Signal Mountain and Andy Stout of Manchester were the 13-15 age-group winners Thursday in the two-day Tennessee PGA Junior golf tournament at Cookeville Golf Club. Johnson tied incoming Middle Tennessee State freshman Haley Cothran from Soddy-Daisy for seventh overall in the girls' competition at 148, six strokes behind winner Emily Wiliams of Lawrenceburg, and Stout was seventh at 138 among the boys. Rand Wasson of Norris, Tenn., was the boys' overall winner with his 65 Thursday for a 133 total. Logan Stewart of Crossville tied for fifth in 13-15 boys at 149, and John Blevins of Ringgold, Ga., was seventh at 152.

Diving

• Former Baylor School standout Jordan Mauney is one of four University of Tennessee divers competing today through Sunday in the Zone A USA Diving National Preliminary Meet at Christiansburg, Va. Entered in the 1- and 3-meter and platform events and in the 3-meter synchronized competition, he will be trying to qualify for the national championships Aug. 9-14 in Los Angeles.

Hunting

• The Tennesse Wildlife Resources Foundation will be holding an eBay auction until 10:45 p.m. EDT next Saturday for the fifth permit for the Oct. 17-21 elk hunt in the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area. The other four 2011 permits were allotted through the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency's quota drawing; the TWRA always assigns the final permit to a nonprofit organization as a fundraising opportunity. The foundation is partnering with Bill Swan of the Chattanooga Chapter of the Safari Club in promoting and selling the final tag.

Baseball

• MARIETTA, Ga. - The Chattanooga Cyclones under-17 baseball team reached the round of 16 in the Perfect Game World Wood Bat National Championships by outlasting the Indiana Pony Express 12-10 and then edging fifth-seeded Top Tier from Illinois 1-0 Thursday on Bobby Towne's fourth consecutive shutout and second in this 216-team tournament. T.J. Binder had two hits against Top Tier, including the double that drove in 15-year-old Logan Baldwin, who had singled. Lee Gibson made a crucial defensive play at shortstop for the Cyclones, one of only two Tennessee teams that made the under-17 playoffs and the only to win a playoff game. Binder had three hits and four RBIs and Drew Toth and Matt Allen also had three hits apiece against the Pony Express.