Sports

There may have been times Thursday when the rest of Region 7-AAA's competitors wondered if they were running against robots dressed in White County and Buford colors.

Gainesville's Marcquel Woodard and Sara Hayes each nabbed first place finishes, while Flowery Branch also produced four top three results on the final day of the Region 8-AAAAA track championships on Thursday in Loganville.

The pressure was already high enough, but when Katherine Wright learned that a region championship was riding on her racket, the butterflies fluttered that much harder.

Pinch-hitter Evan Gattis connected for a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 on Thursday night.

After two consecutive scoreless ties, the Flowery Branch girls soccer team finally unleashed its offense.

The Gwinnett Braves were shut down offensively by Norfolk for the second straight night, and the Tides capitalized on seven walks to send the G-Braves to a 5-1 loss on Thursday night at Coolray Field.

The Chestatee girls finished third and the boys took fourth at the Region 8-AAAA tennis tournament at Madison County Hiigh School Thursday.

The East Hall boys soccer team qaulified for the Class AAA state tournament after shutting out Buford 3-0 Thursday on the road in Region 7-AAA action.

Eddie Hurst had a hat trick to lead the White County boys soccer team to a 4-1 victory over Franklin County Thursday.