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SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2012
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Nowicki powers Greater Pittston
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He also closed with a 75 in 2009 at the PGA Championship when he lost a two-shot lead to Y.E. Yang. All is not lost for Woods, not to mention another dozen or so players. In a U.S. Open that is living up to its reputation, it was difficult for anyone to build a big advantage. McDowell and Furyk were two shots ahead of Fredrik Jacobson, who had a 68. In the group another shot behind were Lee Westwood, whose Saturday-best 67 gave him another shot at his first major, and Ernie Els, who holed a long pitch for eagle on the 17th that carried him to a 68. The Big Easy is a two-time U.S. Open champion, with that first title coming 18 years ago. Thirteen players were separated by four shots going into Sunday, a list that includes 17-yearold Beau Hossler, who followed bogeys with birdies for a 70. Woods, who has never won a major from behind, was five shots back. His round ended with a shot from the middle of the 18th fairway that hung up in the right collar of rough, and a stubbed chip that took a hard turn to the left some 10 feet away. When he two-putted for his
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LOCAL ROUNDUP
TWITTER Perform sports media group, 26 percent of U.S. fans use social media platforms to follow their favorite sports, up from 15 percent in a similar survey in 2011. One-third of those fans say they use Twitter to follow sports, trailing Facebook (89 percent) and YouTube (65) — based on 1,002 online interviews of adults conducted during February and March. Colleges and professional sports are paying attention to those numbers. Sunday’s Pocono 400 Presented by #NASCAR marked Twitter’s first official partnership with a sports league. There are all sorts of official hashtags that allow fans to zero in on everything being said about their hometown teams at key moments. “It’s really interesting to get more perspective on the game or whatever, whether it’s golf or football, because I get to learn more about the players maybe the announcers aren’t talking about,” Carleton said. Carleton, 34, a stay at home mom in Portland, Ore., goes to Mike Pereira whenever there is a questionable ruling in a 49ers game. Pereira was NFL vice president of officiating from 2001-09 and will weigh in on some controversial whistles on Twitter. Foreman, 40, of Lewisburg, Pa., likes the community aspect found on Twitter during sporting events. “I’m sort of an expatriate so a lot of time as I’m watching the Pirates game I am communicating with people in California and other far-flung locations, especially watching WVU,” said Foreman, who works in development at Bucknell University. Will Hunsinger knows exactly what Foreman is talking about. Hunsinger, 42, is a proud Georgetown alum and avid follower of the men’s basketball team. He was watching a game with his wife last year while communicating with a friend from Switzerland over Facebook and receiving text messages from his father when he came up with an idea. “I was like ‘God, if I could just have this in my hand, where I was watching the game and do all this and see what people were talking about on Twitter ... it would make the game even more fun because now I’m connected with all the people I care about being connected with while I’m in the moment,”’ he said. That was the beginning of SportStream, a free application for the iPad that was just approved by Apple and went live on Thursday. The new program offers curated Twitter feeds for major games that focus on posts from the most popular users based on an evolving credibility database. Fans also can check into games on Facebook and invite friends, as well as talk trash with others in another area of the app.
THE TIMES LEADER
The Times Leader staff
PETE G. WILCOX PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER
Luzerne Criterium bike race participants head down Main Street in Luzerne in the Cat 4 race on June 10.
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Critetium for 15- and 16-yearolds. Joining the two in Augusta will be Booey Hottenstein. Hottenstein, a 20-year-old from Kingston, will compete in Friday’s Cat 12 criterium for 19to 22-year-old riders and Sunday’s elite Cat 1 road race. David Novak, who won last Sunday’s featured event, won’t be in Augusta for the Junior Nationals. Instead, he will be competing in a stage race in Wisconsin. Young Luzerne Criterium bike race participants line up for the Novak, a 19-year-old from start of the 11-14 age group on Main Street in Luzerne on June 10. Kingston, is schedule to compete in the Tour of America’s Dairyland from June 21through July 1. Hoping for a third annual Speaking of the Luzerne County Criterium, if you didn’t make it out to watch the racing you missed a good time. Sure, the fields for the races could have been a little bit bigger. But the racing was good and the weather cooperated with a nice sunny day. It was also a rare chance to see a couple of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s top cyclists race right in the Wyoming Valley. All in all, the Upstate Velo Club put on a good show. Here’s hoping they are able to pull of a third annual Luzerne Crit next year. A Luzerne Criterium bike race participant wins the 1-2-3 race on Strange days What a couple of unpredictable couple of weeks it has been in the pro ranks. First BMC racing announced that the “God of Thunder” Thor Hushovd won’t compete in the Tour de France. Hushovd, who has worn the yellow jersey, is recovering from a viral infection. He will race in the Tour of Poland later in the July. Then came the announcement that American Chris Horner will be left off the RadioShackNissan Tour de France team. That was followed by RadioShsixth bogey, his day got a little worse. Climbing the hill toward the fabled clubhouse at Olympic, a photographer brushed past him and Woods banged his hand into the camera. He shook it several times, but later said he was fine. The real hurt came from Olympic. “It was just a tough day on the greens, and most of the day, I just kept getting that half-number, right in between clubs all day,” said Woods, who was either well long or short on his approach shots. Furyk, the only player who has not had a round over par this week, and McDowell played together in the opening two rounds. On Sunday, much more is at stake. But this was not shaping up as a two-man race for McDowell and Furyk. “Looking at the leaderboard, you’ve got to look down as far as the guys at 3 or 4 (over) as having a realistic chance of winning this tournament,” McDowell said. For every bogey Hossler made, he answered with a birdie on the next hole. His only big blunder came on the 11th, when he was too aggressive with a downhill putt and missed his par putt from 6 feet. Two holes later, he hit a heavy chip from the hazard that rolled back down a slope for another bogey. The kid just wouldn’t go away, though, and suddenly he is
June 10.
ack announcing that Andy Schleck is out of the Tour with a back injury. There was also the retirement announcement of George Hincapie, Lance Armstrong’s longtime teammate. He will call it quits after 2012 season. And, of course, the USADA brought doping charges against Armstrong. Whew, that’s a lot of action and we are still two weeks away from the start of the Tour de France.
In case you missed it There is a new bike shop in town. Rob Friedman and Dave Temarantz have opened Valley Cycle next to the River Street Jazz Café in Plains Township. Times Leader intern Nodyia Fedrick had all the details in her story. Read it at www.timesleader.com. Joe Soprano covers cycling for The Times Leader. Reach him at jsoprano@timesleader.com or 829-7164.
O’Donnell ..................
Kody Nowicki went 3-for-4 and scored four runs to lead Greater Pittston to an 8-4 win over Mountain Post-2 in American Legion baseball action Saturday. P.J. Bone scored two runs to contribute to the victory. Curt Yenchak scored two runs in the effort for Mountain Post. Mountain Post ab 3 4 4 3 3
r 0 1 1 2 0
h bi 0 1 2 2 0
Nowicki ss Bone lf Grove rf Chupka 1b Granteed p
Greater Pittston ab r 4 4 2 2 4 0 2 1 0 0
h bi 3 1 1 0 0
2 0 3 3 0 3
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
Maloney dh Loftus c Debona cf RCarey 3b MCarey 2b
1 1 0 1 1
Sajawari 2b Munistieri cf Kulati ss Yenchak c Snyder 3b EMarkowski 1b Murphy p Buchholz dh DMarkowski lf Wychok lf Gain rf
3 2 4 3 3
0 0 0 0 1
Totals 28 4 6 Totals 27 8 9 Mountain Post ......................... 201 100 0 — 4 Greater Pittston ....................... 210 302 x — 8 2B – M. Carey, 3B – Nowicki, HR – IP H R ER BB SO Mountain Post Murphy ...................... 5 7 6 4 1 Markowski................. 1 2 2 3 0 Greater Pittston Granteed ................... 7 4 4 4 3 ....................................
Mountain Post-1 5, Wilkes-Barre 1
Shane Casey pitched a complete game, striking out six and allowing just four hits, to lead Mountain Post-1 to a win over Wilkes-Barre. Brian O’Donnell pitched six innings in the effort for WilkesBarre, striking out four batters. Mountain Post Wilkes-Barre ab r h bi ab O’Donnell Piavis c 3 1 1 1 ss 4 Chupka lf 2 1 1 1 Preston c 3 Engler 3b 1 0 0 0 Demarco cf 3 Amsberry Quintiliani 2b 4 0 0 0 3b 3 Sweeney c 3 0 1 1 Malacari 1b 3 E. Rinehimer rf 2 0 0 0 Doogle p 3 Columbo ph 1 0 0 0 Kendra ss 2 Casey p 1 1 0 0 Yurkoski 2b 2 J. Rinehimer ph 1 0 0 0 Cabada ph 0 Marchetti 1b 3 1 1 1 Shorts rf 3 Miale ss 1 1 0 0 Totals
21 5 4 4 Totals
r h bi 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
26 1 4 1
Mountain Post ......................... 120 000 2 — 5 Wilkes-Barre ............................ 000 000 1 — 1 3B – Piavis IP H R ER BB SO Mountain Post Casey ........................ 7 4 1 1 1 6 .................................... Wilkes-Barre Doogle ....................... 1 1 1 1 0 1
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Nanticoke sweeps Tunkhannock
Nanticoke defeated Tunkhannock twice in a doubleheader, taking the first game 5-1 and the nightcap 4-3. Nanticoke was led by Anthony Ioanna’s two RBI in the first game. Tyler Weiss went 1-for-3 and scored Tunkhannock’s lone run in the opener. Dominick Policare went 2for-3 with a run and an RBI for Nanticoke in the second game. Ryan Weiss went 1-for-1 with an RBI for Tunkhannock. Nanticoke 5, Tunkhannock 1, Game One Nanticoke
Yudichak c Ivan 1b Briggs dh
ab 4 0 3
r 0 0 3
Policare 2b Ioanna ss Hauer cf Decker rf Jezewski lf Deno p
3 4 3 4 3 3
1 0 1 0 0 0
Higgs 3b Pawlowski ph
2 0 1 0
Tunkhannock h bi ab 1 0 Zaner p 4 0 0 Lee rf 4 1 0 Bernoski c 2 Condeelis 1 0 ss 3 1 2 Sick 2b 1 2 1 Holton 1b 0 0 1 R. Weiss 1b 2 0 0 T. Weiss 3b 3 2 0 Sherry lf 2 Thompson 0 0 cf 1 0 0 Swilley poh 1
r 0 0 0
h bi 0 0 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 30 5 8 4 Totals 23 1 3 1 Nanticoke ................................. 201 001 1 — 5 Tunkhannock........................... 000 000 1 — 1 3B – Hauer IP H R ER BB SO Nanticoke Deno .......................... 7 3 1 1 5 1 .................................... Tunkhannock Zaner.......................... 7 8 5 4 1 3
Nanticoke 4, Tunkhannock 3, Game Two
Nanticoke
Yudichak c Briggs 2b Policare 3b Ioannas ss Hauer cf Volkel rf Jezewski lf Youngblood ph Ivan 1b Kinney ph Tsevdos p
ab 3 3 3
r 1 1 1
3 3 1 2
0 0 0 0
Tunkhannock h bi ab 2 0 Sherry cf 4 0 1 Lee rf 4 2 1 Bernoski c 2 Condeelis 0 0 ss 4 1 1 T. Weiss 3b 4 0 0 Sick lf 4 1 0 Holton p 2
1 0 0 0 R. Weiss rf 2 1 1 0 Swilley 1b Thompson 1 0 0 0 2b 3 0 0 0
r 2 0 1
h bi 1 0 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 0
1 1 0 0
1 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 3 0
Totals 25 4 7 3 Totals 31 310 3 Nanticoke ................................. 220 000 x — 4 Tunkhannock........................... 200 000 1 — 3 IP H R ER BB SO Nanticoke Tsevdos ..................... 6.1 9 3 3 1 3 Ioanna ........................ .2 1 0 0 0 1 Tunkhannock Holton ........................ 4 6 4 3 1 1 Lee ............................. 3 1 0 0 1 3
Ron the Greek rallies to win Stephen Foster The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ron the Greek rallied to overtake pacesetter Nate’s Mineshaft near the finish line, then held off favorite Wise Dan by a head Saturday in the $437,200 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. Ron the Greek, ridden by Jose Lezcano, earned the first automatic berth in the Breed-
AP PHOTO
was no way that was going to hold up on a course like Olympic, though Woods was expecting better than what he delivered on this Saturday. He missed the first fairway, came up short of the third green and wound up with three bogeys through six holes. Woods wasn’t alone in making
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HORSE RACING
Tiger Woods reacts on the 10th tee during the U.S. Open Championship at The Olympic Club in San Francisco Saturday.
dreaming big. Hossler wanted to make the cut. Then, he wanted to be the low amateur. Now? “My goal now is to win the tournament,” he said. In the 14 majors he has won, Woods was never worse than par in the pivotal third round and had a scoring average of 68.3. There
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mistakes. David Toms, tied for the second-round lead with Furyk and Woods at 1 under, played that rugged six-hole stretch in 5 over and fell six shots behind with a 76. Even with the USGA watering the course Friday night and Saturday morning, Olympic was as relentless as ever.
ers’ Cup Classic through the “Win and You’re In” series. It was his second Grade 1 victory this year, following the Santa Anita Handicap in March. Trained by Bill Mott and owned by Brous Stable, Watchtel Stable and Jack T. Hammer, Ron the Greek paid $20.80, $6.40 and $5.40. Wise Dan returned $3 and 2.80, and Nate’s Mineshaft paid $8 to show. But it wasn’t impossible. Westwood showed that, as did Els, who called it as easy as the course played all week. Kevin Chappell, who tied for third last year to earn a spot in this U.S. Open, had a 68 and takes an unthinkable streak of 24 holes without a bogey into the final round. He was at 3-over 213, along with Webb Simpson, who also had a 68. Asked if the experience at Congressional would help, Chappell gave an apt description of what awaits on Sunday. “Last year we were trying to make birdies in the U.S. Open,” he said. “And here, you’re just trying to survive.” Westwood came in right behind Chappell, and while he failed to take advantage on the par 5s, he finished in style with a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 67. Westwood began this week as the third wheel in a powerful threesome of the top players in the world ranking. Luke Donald, the world No. 1, and defending champion Rory McIlroy have gone home. Westwood now has another chance to pick up his first major. He twice has missed a playoff by one shot, in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and the 2009 British Open at Turnberry. He twice as been runner-up in the majors. A win on Sunday would end that heartache, and return him to No. 1 in the world.