l rporter
May 29, 2019
WE HAVE IT COVERED IF IT'S PLAYED
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Mercer will make its fourth
NCAA Division I Baseball
L
Championship appearance in the
last 10 years as it was named the
No. 4 seed in the Athens Regional
during the ESPNU-broadcasted
selection show on Monday.
Mercer (35-26) clinched its
third automatic bid to the NCAA
Toumament with an impressive
seven-game run through the
Southem Conference Champi-
onship, induding five consecu-
tive wins in elimination contests.
The Bears will make their first
NCAA appearance since 2015;
they have played in regionals in
2010 and 2013 as well.
Mercer opens the regional on
Friday, May 31 against in-state
rival and regional host Georgia
at Foley Field in Athens. The
game is slated for a 7 p.m. (ET)
first pitch on the SEC Network.
No. 2 Florida Atlantic and No.
3 Florida State are also in the
Athens Regional.
The Bears have faced all three
regional foes in the past, some
more recently than others. Mer-
cer has not played Georgia (44-
15) since a 4-3 extm4nning win
in Athens on March 14, 2017.
Mercer made a trip to Tallahassee
in March to face the Seminoles
this season. Mercer and FAU, for-
mer ASUN Conference foes, have
not met since 2006.
The winner of the Athens
The Mercer Bears baseball team won five straight
next face top-seeded Georgia at 7 p.m. on Friday
Regional will face the winner of
the Baton Rouge Regional, which
features host LSU, No. 2 Arizona
State, No. 3 Southem Miss and
No. 4 Stony Brook. Super Regional
play is set for June 7-10.
For more information on the full
elimination games to capture the program's sixth-ever
in Athens. (Photo/Mercer Athletics)
64-team bracket, visit NCAA.com.
Athens Regional tickets went
on sale online the afternoon of
Monday, May 27 or by calling
the Georgia ticket office starting
Tuesday, May 28 during normal
business hours at (706) 542-1231.
conference tournament title. Mercer will
All session pricing includes
Game 7 for free, if applicable. All
chairback seats inside the regular
Foley Field seating areas will be
Reserved Seats during the postsea-
son. General Admission seating
will be located in the right field
bleachers. Reserved Seat Ticket:
$15 single game / $56 all-session;
General Admission Adult Ticket:
$10 / $42 all-session; General
Admission Student/Youth Ticket:
$5 single game.
Mary Persons sophomore Justin Wachtel, leading
the pack, finished third among all state runners in
the 3,200 meters at the Georgia High School Meet
of Champions in Marietta on May 17. (Photo/Kip
Burdette)
e
m
By Richard Dumas
forsyth@mymcr.nef
Mary Persons sophomore track star Justin Wachtel
placed fourth out of 20 high school racers in in the
one mile at the Wingfoot Mile competition in Atlanta
on Tuesday; May 21.
Wachtel finished with a time of 4 minutes, 16 sec-
onds at the race sponsored by the Atlanta Track Club
and held at Emory University.
Four days earlier, on May 17, Wachtel, who cap-
tured the GHSA AAAA state championship in the
3,200 meters on May 9, faced off with state champi-
ons from other dassifications at the Georgia High
School Meet of Champions in Marietta.
Wachtel placed third out of 20 boys runners in
the 3,200 meters, finishing in a time of 9 minutes,
11 seconds. Zach Jaeger of Mcintosh was the boys
3,200-meter champion with a time of 9 minutes, 6
seconds, followed by Marietta's Kamari Miller, who
took second with a time of 9 minutes, 8 seconds.
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
tl
II
2019 Monroe
County edition of:
the Spring North
American Mi-
gration Count was staged
Tuesday, May 21.
The count began long
before most Monroe
Countians were stirring
from their slumber in the
bewitch-
ing hours
between
midnight
and dawn.
As usual the
first two birds
recorded were
the whip-
poor-will and
chuck-will's-
widow. TERRY W.
Neither of
these noctumal birds has
ever been sighted during a
count. Yet, like most of the
birds tallied each year, they
were identified by their dis-
tinctive calls. This year five
whip-poor-wiUs and one
chuck-wilrs-widow were
heard. The count ended in
the dying light of the after-
noon as I watched a pair of
chimney swifts flutter down
my chimney.
By the time the count
ended 851 individual birds
representing 71 species
were recorded.
You might be scratch-
ing your head wondering
why anybody would go to
the trouble of spending so
much time counting birds.
Actually the answer to this
question is quite simple. For
well more than two de-
cades, biologists and citizen
scientists alike have been
monitoring the progress
of the spring bird migra-
tion. One of the ways in
which this is accomplished
is through the Spring
North American Migration
Count.
The goal of the count is
to record as many b'trds
as possible in one calen-
dar day. Our local count
encompasses all of Monroe
County.
When the counts are
carried out in the same area
within the same window of
time over many years, the
data collected helps biolo-
gists determine the timing
of the migration as
well as the effects
of weather on bird
migration. It also
aids in assessing the
status of both resi-
dent and migratory
bird populations.
During the history
of the count, 154
JOHNSON species of birds have
been sighted by vol-
unteers conducting
the Monroe County Count.
This year's survey effort lo-
cated only 46 percent of the
total birds that have been
recorded here.
Here is a list of the 10 spe-
cies most often encountered
during the 2019 count: cliff
swallow (268), northem
mockingbird (60), northem
cardinal (41), mourning
dove (35), American crow
(33), eastern bluebird (25),
chipping sparrow (23),
common grackle (23),
house sparrow (23) and
European starling (23).
What is most notewor-
thy is not what was seen
as much as what was not
found. Although 12 species
of waterfowl have been seen
on the count, this year this
group of large birds was
represented only by the
Canada Goose. Similarly no
wild turkeys or quail were
located. No hawks were
spottod. None of the 11
species of shorebirds seen
in years past was seen this
year. In addition only eight
(pine warbler, Black-and-
white warbler, American
redstart, Swainson's warbler,
Kentucky warbler, corn-
O
The male American Goldfinch was one of the beautiful birds
seen in Monroe County during the Spring North American
Migration Count on May 21. (Photo/Terry Johnson).
mon yellowthroat, hooded
warbler and yellow-breasted
chat) of the 21 species of
warblers that have been
found over the years made
this year's tally.
There are a number of
factors that could have con-
tributed to the paucity of
birds encountered this year.
One explanation might be
birds might have migrated
through Monroe County
earlier this year due to our
balmy spring weather.
Another factor was pos-
sibly weather conditions
on the day of the count.
This year, Monroe County
is in the throes of dry, hot
weather. By afternoon the
temperature peaked at 94"F
with a heat index of 96*F. It
was obvious to the counters
bird movement and vocal
activity dipped precipitously
as the temperature soared.
The count results might
also be linked to habitat
changes that have been tak-
ing place in Monroe Coun-
ty and elsewhere along
the migratory pathways of
migrants returning from
their wintering grounds.
It is impossible to know
what happened until
the data collected on the
Monroe County Count
are compared with similar
counts hdd elsewhere.
In the meantime, as the
folks that took part in the
2019 Monroe County
North American Migration
Count ponder the count
results, they will know their
efforts helped in the conser-
vation of our precious b'trd
populations.
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan-
gered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative
column 'Monroe Outdoors'
for the Reporter for many
years. His book, "A Journey
to Discovery" is available at
The Reporter. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth.net.
