[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14712]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING COLUMBUS HIGH SCHOOL BLUE DEVILS BASEBALL TEAM, THE 2004 
                        AAAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Columbus 
High School Blue Devils baseball team in Georgia's 11th Congressional 
District. Columbus added the 2004 AAAA State baseball crown to its 
trophy case this year by defeating the Northgate Vikings of Coweta 
County for the championship.
  Columbus is no stranger to State championships. This year's title 
marks the school's eighth. It was the twelfth time the school had 
played in the finals.
  In this year's 2-game series final, Columbus outscored the Northgate 
Vikings 20 to 1. The Newnan Times-Herald stated that the Blue Devils, 
who finished the season with a 35 and 2 record, are arguably the best 
team in Georgia, regardless of any classification. Two members of the 
team have signed on to play with Division I college teams.
  In two games, Columbus' fielders avoided a single error, while the 
Blue Devils' pitchers held the Vikings to one run and five hits over 
two games. At the same time, their offense was at its peak, racking up 
23 hits.
  Although teammates mobbed Ric Bishop after he caught a foul ball to 
end game 2, that was not the only memorable moment of the playoffs for 
the first baseman. Earlier in the week, Bishop hit his 13th home run of 
the season, a school record. The previous record-holder at Columbus 
High was former Blue Devil Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox. 
Bishop knocked out another homer in the championship series to finish 
the year with 14 home runs.
  The Blue Devils' pitchers also put in notable performances. Iain 
Sebastian and Brad Rulon quieted the powerful bats of the Northgate 
Vikings who entered the series hitting 357 as a team. Sebastian shut 
out the Vikings and Rulon allowed only one run.
  As Coach Bobby Howard told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, ``Everybody 
has talked about our hitting, but our common denominator for winning is 
with our pitching. I would have hated for anybody to try to hit those 
guys today.''
  Sebastian's fastballs zipped at speeds up to 90 miles an hour and 
Rulon notched nine strikeouts. They contributed to an overwhelming team 
effort for which the high school and the entire Columbus community can 
be proud.
  Congratulations to the Columbus Blue Devils for continuing a 
tradition of excellence.

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