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SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2011
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ASOMUGHA Continued from Page 1B
FRED ADAMS PHOTOS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Taccarra Roper slides into the bag at second base for Kingston/Forty Fort, trying to beat the tag from Warrington’s Mikala Simons.
SOFTBALL Continued from Page 1B
Kingston/Forty Fort’s Lauren Pizano hustles down the line for a single in the sixth.
crossed home on the combination of a hit by Madison Bitting and an error. Andreoli followed with her first RBI before a double from Mikala Simons finished off the scoring in the inning, staking Warrington to a 4-0 lead. Kingston/Forty-Fort would take its cuts against Andreoli’s fastballs. When they did connect, they couldn’t get a ball past Warrington’s swarming infielders and quick outfielders. Warrington struck again in the bottom of the fourth thanks to back-to-back singles from Simons and Meghan Bradley, along with a walk drawn by Lauren Curso. After a bases-loaded walk to Emily Gillard, Ruscio beat out a throw to first for an infield single and a 6-0 lead. Bitting added an RBI groundout before Andreoli laced a shot into right field for her second RBI and the final run of the game. Kingston/Forty-Fort’s last chance came on a Lauren Pizano single. She moved over to second on a sacrifice and Irelyn Sullivan reached on a walk before Andreoli shut the door to complete the shutout.
YO U T H S O F T BA L L / BAS E BA L L RO U N D U P
Hazleton-based team finishes third nationally The Times Leader staff
STERLING, Va. — The Hazleton-based Stripes and Strikes 12u fast-pitch softball team finished third in the National Softball Association World Series after a 7-4 loss to Delaware Swoop on Friday in the loser’s bracket final. Stripes and Strikes surrendered a 3-1 lead after allowing four unearned runs in the fifth inning to turn the game around. Megan Trivelpiece and Ilissa Hamilton had two hits apiece in the loss, and MacKenzie Klinger added a two-run double. Tiff Lapotsky, Rayanne Hawk, Allie Warren, Celine Podlesny and Marissa Trivelpiece all singled. The team went 7-2 at the World Series and finished its season with a record of 51-8. Klinger led the team at the plate at the World series, hitting .462 with six doubles and 11 RBI. Pitcher Megan Trivelpiece
YANKEES Continued from Page 1B
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is now 2211. They are now 8-5 against Buffalo. The Yankees continue their road trip with a pair of games against Rochester, against which they are 5-3. Scranton is 9-3 against Syracuse. Of his 82 pitches, Brackman threw only 35 strikes in his second start since making 11 straight appearances out of the bullpen. Returning to the rotation was a good opportunity for the 2007 firstround draft choice to perhaps improve his control and become a reliable starter. Instead, Brackman raised his season walk total to 69, just nine away from the Scranton single-season record of 78, set by Jason Grimsley and Chuck Malone in 1990. “My problem the whole season has been fastball location,” Brackman admitted. “(Starting) gives
was 5-1 with three shutouts in the tournament.
STATE TOURNAMENT JUNIOR SOFTBALL
Greater Wyoming Area 6, Bristol Boro 0
Nicole Cumbo struck out 13 and pitched a two-hit shutout, as Greater Wyoming Area finished first in its pool and advanced to the state semifinals at 1 p.m. Sunday in Indiana, Pa. A win there would put the team in the state championship that evening. Cumbo finished with four RBI at the plate, including a key three-run double in the fifth to help put the game away. Heather Nametko added a two-run single in the win.
SENIOR LEGION ALL-STAR TOURNAMENT
Wyoming Valley 7, Bradford County 5
Chris Murphy pitched 51⁄3 me more work off the mound and more repetition. “Hopefully I can get some more innings in before the season’s over.” Brackman would not admit that a demotion to Double-A Trenton might help. “I have to grind it out and keep pitching,” Brackman said, adding that he will stay with Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre “as far as I know.” Despite the wildness, Brackman somehow kept an early lead intact. The Yankees scored twice in the first inning on RBI singles by Mike Lamb and Brandon Laird, then added two more in the third on a two-run homer by Jorge Vazquez. Buffalo finally got on the scoreboard once Wordekemper (3-2) cameinwiththebasesloaded.Luis Figueroa and Josh Satin greeted him with RBI singles and Nick Evans drew an RBI walk. Mike Baxter then came through with a two-run single to give the Bisons a 5-4 lead. Reliever J.C. Romero wasn’t much better, throwing just11of his
innings, striking out six batters to lead Wyoming Valley to a victory over Bradford County. Eric Ringsdorf went 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBI, while Dominick Gulius went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Josh Savakinus went 2-for-2 with one RBI. Brian Reese and Tanner Skerpon each contributed multiple hits with one RBI each. Wyoming Valley will play the District 15 champion at 5 p.m. today at Hilldale Park.
3-for-3 with a double. Sean Murphy also contributed, going 1-for-1 with a bunt single and scoring a run. Bob Horlacher’s Cole Coolbaugh hit a double and a single while Tommy Traver and Robert Phillips each doubled.
EXETER TOURNAMENT 8-9 BASEBALL
North Wilkes-Barre 11, Hanover 10
Dante Vitali’s sacrifice fly brought in the winning run as TOMMY’S PIZZA CORNER North Wilkes-Barre completed a 8-9 BASEBALL sixth-inning comeback. Mountain Top 10, Chad Regan was 4-for-4 and Bob Horlacher 4 Cameron Krugel, Josh Rhodes and Logan Davison each had Kevin Frisbie pitched a comtwo hits. plete game, striking out nine Noah Radici, Hayden Kryzbatters as Mountain Top wicki and Vitali also added a hit claimed the tournament chamapiece. pionship. Max Mendrzycki, Anthony Josh Sepela went 3-for-3 at bat Palermo, Matt Barber, Zack with two singles; Jacob Antosh Halenda and Matt Beecham led went 2-for-4 with two singles Hanover’s offense with hits. and two runs, and Frisbee was 28 pitches for strikes and allowing three fifth-inning runs. Josh Schmidt followed with 31⁄3 scoreless innings. After Vazquez’ homer, Buffalo starter Dylan Owen (5-5) retired16 of the last 19 batters he faced and left with two out in the eighth inning after allowing a double to Laird. Jordan Parraz was 2-of-3 and extended his hitting streak to 14 games, tying Jesus Montero for the team’s longest streak of the season. Parraz doubled home Laird in the eighth. NOTES • Rafael Soriano’s rehab stint with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is over, as the reliever was activated by the New York Yankees prior to Friday’s game against Baltimore. In two appearances with the team, covering two innings, Soriano allowed one hit and a run while striking out two. He also picked up the win on Monday against Syracuse. • The parent club also an-
nounced that Ivan Nova will start the second game of today’s split doubleheader in the Bronx. Nova was optioned to Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre on July 3 upon the return of Phil Hughes. At Triple-A, Nova was 1-2 in three starts with a 3.38 ERA. He struck out 18 batters over 16 innings. Buffalo 8, Yankees 5 Buffalo ab r h bi ab r h bi Russo lf 5 1 1 0 Perez cf 2 2 1 0 Krum cf 4 0 0 0 Figueroa dh 5 2 3 1 Montero c 4 1 1 0 Satin 3b 5 1 2 2 Lamb dh 4 1 1 1 Pascucci 1b 5 0 1 1 Vazquez 1b 4 1 2 2 Evans lf 2 0 0 1 Laird 3b 3 1 2 1 Baxter rf 4 0 1 3 Parraz rf 3 0 2 1 Hrnandz 2b 4 0 0 0 Nunez 2b 4 0 0 0 Tejada ss 3 2 1 0 Bernier ss 3 0 0 0 Ryan c 3 1 0 0 Totals 34 5 9 5 Totals 33 8 9 8 Yankees ............................. 202 000 010 — 5 Buffalo ................................ 000 530 00x — 8 SWB — 2B: Laird (23), Parraz (22); HR: Vazquez (25); SAC: Krum; Team RISP: 3-for-8; Team LOB: 6. BUF — Team RISP: 6-for-19;Team LOB: 15; SB: Perez (2); DP: 1. IP H R ER BB SO Yankees Brackman ................. 3.1 0 3 3 9 2 Wordekmpr (L, 3-2) 0.2 3 2 2 1 1 Romero .................... 0.2 3 3 3 2 0 Schmidt .................... 3.1 3 0 0 1 1 Buffalo Owen (W, 5-5)......... 7.2 8 5 5 0 3 Lujan ......................... 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 Thayer (S, 12) ......... 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 WP: Brackman 2; HBP: Baxter (by Romero, J), Parraz (by Owen), Laird (by Owen). Umpires: HP: Jon Byrne; 1B: Art Thigpen; 3B: Travis Brown. T: 2:56. A: 12,831. Yankees
warded our football team and the city of Philadelphia with some great players.” Asomugha, considered the top free agent on the market, spent his first eight seasons with the Raiders. He had a careerhigh eight interceptions in 2006, went to the Pro Bowl in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons and was named a first-team allpro in 2008 and 2010. Late Friday, the Eagles announced they had agreed to terms with quarterback Vince Young. The one-year deal was made early Friday morning, but the Eagles couldn’t officially announce it because of a procedural matter involving Young’s release from the Tennessee Titans. The former Pro Bowl quarterback is expected to arrive Saturday for training camp at Lehigh University. Young won’t be allowed to practice until Thursday because he technically is a free agent. The addition of Young gives the Eagles a proven NFL quarterback — albeit one with a rocky history — and fills the team’s need for a backup after they shipped Kevin Kolb to Arizona on Thursday. Second-year quarterback Mike Kafka will remain the Eagles’ third option. Asomugha is considered one of the top cover cornerbacks in the NFL, even though he has just three interceptions in the last three years, and was courted by several high-profile teams, including the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. “He’s one of the best, if not the best, cornerback in the National Football League,” Reid said. “He’ll be a great addition to our cornerback corps. Right now.” The Eagles now have three Pro Bowl cornerbacks on their roster: Asomugha, Rodgers-Cromartie and Asante Samuel, who has 42 interceptions in eight years and has made the Pro Bowl four straight years. “It’s always been a priority position for us,” Roseman said. “Corners, pass rushers, and we
BIG TEN Continued from Page 1B
Brewster (Minnesota) and Bill Lynch (Indiana) were all dismissed by their schools in the past year. They have been replaced by Luke Fickell, Brady Hoke, Jerry Kill and Kevin Wilson, respectively. The following is a brief look at the issues facing each of those new coaches headed into the 2011 campaign. INDIANA Wilson wasn’t allowed to directly address the one topic he would have loved to talk about. Earlier this week, Indiana received a verbal commitment from Gunner Kiel, the consensus top high school quarterback recruit in the country. NCAA rules prohibit schools from discussing recruits until they have signed a letter of intent or have enrolled on campus. So Wilson had to speak in general terms. “We’re selling a great product, a great school, a great opportunity because we’re ready to take this ship and get this thing exploded,” Wilson said. MICHIGAN The Wolverines finally got a “Michigan man” when they hired Hoke, a former Lloyd Carr assistant. Now Hoke must work to fit players who were recruited to run an option-heavy spread offense into his more conventional schemes. “We are smart enough – people usually don’t say that about me – but we’re smart enough to have elements (from) the past in the spread in our offense,” Hoke said. Hoke has little choice after convincing explosive quarterback Denard Robinson to stick around despite the departure of Rodriguez. MINNESOTA Kill led Northern Illinois to a bowl game in each of his three
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felt like last year, we were in a situation where maybe we got a little short-handed, and we thought it was a place that we wanted to go heavy and have a lot of talent at. “You can never have enough cover corners. That helps your pass rush and when you have an opportunity to add the players we added, we just thought we had to add those guys.” The Eagles last year allowed a franchise-record 31 touchdown passes in the regular season, and three more in a 21-16 loss to Green Bay at home in the first round of the NFC playoffs. “We have three good cornerbacks,” Reid said. “It reminds me a little bit of when we had (Pro Bowl cornerbacks) Al (Harris), Troy (Vincent) and Bobby Taylor.” Though he may have made more elsewhere, Asomugha made it clear he was interested in winning a title as well. As the league headed toward it’s freeagency signing period, which started on Friday at 6 p.m., it appeared as if the Jets were the clear frontrunner. What seemed to help New York’s cause, is that Asomugha has aspirations of acting when his playing days are over. New York, over several other destinations, clearly seemed like a good place to start that second career. But instead of joining the team that made the AFC title game the last two years, he’ll join an Eagles club that went 10-6 last season, won the NFC East and figures now to be considered among the Super Bowl favorites this year. What makes the move even more surprising is that the Eagles weren’t a part of the early courting of Asomugha. In fact, Roseman said Philadelphia entered negotiations “very late.” But while they certainly have one of the deepest defensive backfields now, clearly one of the big three won’t be able to start for the Eagles. Perhaps it’s Samuel, who was excused from training camp at Lehigh University the last two days. The Eagles also officially signed Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Babin to a five-year contract, and tight end Donald Lee and wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins to one-year deals. seasons there, going 11-3 and winning the MAC West Division title last year. The Huskies certainly looked to be better than the disjointed squad Brewster led at Minnesota. So the coaching switch already looks to be an upgrade for the Gophers. “Well, I think it’s a little bit different because you look at our conference, how difficult it is,” Kill said about making the jump from the MAC. “You have to play those games week in and week out. When you’re at a mid-major, you may play two or three. That’s a huge game when you play them. You’re not playing that competition week in, week out. I think that’s the difference.” OHIO STATE Leading the Buckeyes may be a dream for Fickell, but not under these circumstances. Fickell took over after the school was forced to get rid of Tressel in the fallout of a scandal that also saw star quarterback Terrelle Pryor dismissed from the team. Now Fickell has a handful of other starters serving five-game suspensions. He must pick between a 25-year-old former minor-league pitcher and an 18year-old true freshman at quarterback. And because Ohio State has thus far escaped without major sanctions, the school should still be able to lure a high-profile coach to replace Fickell after this season. “Everything happened pretty fast,” Fickell said. “The greatest thing I guess I could say is I had no time to sit and think. I had no time to feel sorry of any sort, to have a whole lot of emotion. The situation arose and obviously I had to stand up. “I think that’s what’s been best for me – not to have the ability to sit down and think about the situation that’s ahead, but hit the ground running, do what I know how to do best, and that’s compete and obviously learn along the way.”