Five from Chattanooga area try for Women's Amateur Championship

Mercer University junior Mary Alice Murphy from Lookout Mountain and Girls Preparatory School, a trio of recent and current area players at Middle Tennessee State and Florida Southern's Hannah Duffie from Dalton High School are among the 93 entrants who will be competing Monday at Eagle's Landing Country Club in Stockbridge, Ga., for nine spots in the 2012 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. Two alternate positions also will be on the line. The MTSU contingent includes Tullahoma's Morgan Hale, who was a Blue Raiders assistant coach this past year after ending her career in 2011, sophomore Haley Cothran from Soddy-Daisy and freshman Avery George from Walker Valley. MTSU senior Ashley Haggard from Savannah, Tenn., also is in the field. The 112th U.S. Women's Am will be held Aug. 6-12 at The Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio.

Baseball

• Chase Marsh, who was a second baseman for McCallie, has signed scholarship papers to continue his baseball career at Cleveland State Community College. "Playing baseball at the college level has been a dream of his for a long time, and I couldn't be happier for him," said Chris Richardson, who coached Marsh at McCallie. "He is a great young man who really loves the game." A two-year starter, Marsh hit .288 this past season but had a .450 on-base percentage.