We're wrapping up the just-completed school athletic year by taking a look at some of the most notable moments and occurrences. Next up is The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

On my first real year on the job, I’d have to say it’s difficult to pin down which is the most memorable event I’ve seen. Winters Mill’s run to the Class 2A boys basketball state championship, upsetting perennial powers Gwynn Park and Randallstown in the process, comes to mind. Seeing an injured Steele Stanwick hoist the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference SFX trophy in lacrosse, after upsetting the undefeated and No. 1-ranked team in the country in Gilman is another.

But what trumps them all is Dunbar’s memorable run in football for their second straight 1A title. Seeing Tavon Austin dance on the field is one of the great pleasures of this job. Seeing the way the Poets’ players responded to coach Lawrence Smith is heart-warming. And most importantly, seeing those kids recover from a catastrophic loss of former coach Ben Eaton, and respond the way they did all season long was exciting, inspiring and emotional all at the same time. This might’ve been only my first year, but I doubt I’ll see a story quite like that one in a long time.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From Oregon, here's a story that has something of a local tie.

It seems that a 6-foot-1 12-year-old has been banned from playing basketball at a private basketball facility in Beaverton, Ore., and the kid's coach thinks it's because the kid is too good to play with the rest of the team.

Did we mention that the 12-year-old, Jaime Nared, is a girl and the league is an all-boys league? Jaime's coach, Michael Abraham, thinks she is being punished for her parents' decision to have her play with children her own age, whom her skills are apparently superior to, rather than with older girls.

By the way, here's the local tie: Jaime Nared's father, Greg, is a former University of Maryland point guard, and her older sister, Jackie, recently signed a letter of intent to play basketball at College Park this fall.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

As the curtain drops on another school athletic year, we'll be featuring some of the memories of our scholastic sports reporters about what they saw and observed in this space.

First up: The Sun's Glenn Graham:

The 2007-08 school year brought many memorable moments and standout efforts, from the amazing skills of McDonogh soccer standout Chris Agorsor to Hereford wrestler Josh Asper's successful quest for a fourth straight title to the dogged determination and baffling changeup of Chesapeake-AA junior pitcher Lauren Gibson displayed in registering a second straight no-hitter in the Class 4A softball championship.

The one game that stood out the most, however, was the Class 2A boys soccer championship game between River Hill and Loch Raven. It had pretty goals, spectacular saves, a prideful comeback, overtime drama, and both emotional cheers and tears in the end. River Hill took an early advantage with two first-half goals before Loch Raven, with the help of an incredible individual effort from senior Steve Ehatt, rallied to send the game into overtime. River Hill and its do-everything catalyst Jake Pace ended up having the final say with an emphatic header to win the game.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Normally, legends games have all the artistic appeal of watching oatmeal get cold, but when the legends are former Dunbar boys basketball players, well, then you've potentially got something really spicy.

The Dunbar Poets Nation will gather tonight at the school for a game pitting recent and not-so-recent graduates against each other in a pair of games, tipping at 6 and 7:30 p.m. In addition, at halftime of the second game, which is designated as the legends game, the 1973 team which knocked off then nationally top-ranked DeMatha will be honored.

The games, and a roast tomorrow night at Martin's West in Woodlawn, are organized to pay homage to former Dunbar coach Bob Wade, one of the architects of the Poets' basketball program, who led the team to a pair of mythical national championships. Tickets for tonight's games are $7 for adults and $3 for youth 12 and under. Tickets for the roast are $65. For additional information, call Diane Leach at 443-286-2862 or ladidi_12@verizon.net.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Not to get all Chicken Little here, but if a recent New York Times story is accurate and there are agents truly flooding the ranks of high school athletics, then we really are reaching a point where some kind of intervention, probably from a federal governmental agency, is going to happen and will almost certainly be warranted.

True, as the Times piece points out, this kind of thing has been going on, more or less, since Kevin Garnett skipped college to go straight to the NBA 13 years ago, and seems to be focused on elite-level athletes, but it still threatens the integrity of high school sports, which are still perceived to be relatively pristine.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a kid showcasing his skills to try for a college scholarship, but all he or she should get from that is a varsity letter or a trophy, not cash. Don't forget that the NCAA's roots came from then President Theodore Roosevelt's warning that he would clean up college sports if the schools themselves didn't. The states have simply got to do more to police high school sports, or else they'll find the federal Department of Education, or even worse, Congress, getting involved.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The deal isn't official yet, but apparently there's something in the works to pit one of Florida's top high school football teams against a Mississippi school that has the nation's longest winning streak and (surprise, surprise) television is involved.

Apopka (Fla.) is on the verge of accepting an offer to play South Panola, which has won five straight Mississippi titles, in mid-September in a game that South Panola coach Lance Pogue has said has been set up by ESPNU. Apopka coach Rick Darlington told our sister newspaper, The Orlando Sentinel, that his team might get "beat half to death, but it can't hurt us." Those are great words going into the battle, huh?

Just wondering: Does Apopka really have to leave the state of Florida to find a team that could beat them half to death? Where is the school's athletic director or the area's superintendent to tell the coach that leaving Florida to play in a television game is counter-productive to the school's educational mission? No doubt, they'll be off somewhere cashing ESPN's check and counting the money.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Which is more important in assessing the wear and tear on a pitcher: the number of innings pitched or the number of pitches thrown?

That's the issue at the heart of the forfeiture that cost South Hagerstown a chance at the Class 2A state baseball title last weekend. The Rebels had beaten Marriotts Ridge in a state semifinal game last Wednesday, but were forced to vacate that win because one of their pitchers, Brandon Knight, worked 15 innings over a seven-day period, one inning more than is permitted under National Federation of High School Associations rules, which also prohibit a pitcher from throwing more than 10 innings in three days.

The South Hagerstown administration told The Sun that the coaching staff lost track of Knight's innings in the midst of all the rainouts in recent weeks, and while it is a rule violation, it's an understandable one. The thing to wonder, however, is whether the number of innings that a pitcher works is as important as his pitch count.

Under NFHSA rules, a pitcher who comes in to throw one pitch in an inning to get one batter out is treated the same as one who throws 40 pitches in an inning, namely, they both technically have worked an inning. Sorry, but from this perspective, that makes no sense. The objective of the rule is clearly to keep kids from wearing their arms out too soon, and while that's an admirable goal, it's probably better accomplished by requiring coaches to keep pitch counts and applying limits to the 10- and 14-day thresholds.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Megan Finn is alive and doing well.

The former Overlea field hockey player who collapsed on the practice field September 25, 2004 and was saved when her coach, Jenna Zava, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her, is 19 years old, lives in Virginia Beach, Va, with her husband of six months, Hunter McColgan, and is living her life to the fullest, or at least as much as her hypertrophic cardiomyopathy will allow.

"I have a lot more energy,' said Megan McColgan the other day. "I've been doing really good. I'm happy with where I am right now.'

Telling and re-telling Megan's story has been one of the great joys of doing my column because her tale is so life-affirming. One can only imagine the horror that she and her family lived in the hours after her attack. That she has fought back so hard not only to have a life, but a happy one, is a tremendous testament to the indomitability of the human heart, literally and figuratively.

I had a chance to catch up with Megan earlier this week in conjunction with the column that appears in today's sports section about tomorrow's screening conducted by the Heart Hype campaign of the Johns Hopkins University. The screening, to be held at the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association's state track and field championships at Morgan State, may help medical volunteers detect the presence of HCM, a thickening of the heart muscle that in some cases restricts the flow of blood out from the heart.

HCM is, according to medical professionals, the leading cause of sudden death among people aged 30 and younger, and often goes undetected during a regular physical examination. An electrocardiogram or EKG, which measures the electrical impulses of the heart over time, can provide signs of the presence of HCM, but the exam can cost up to $1,000 per test. Tomorrow's tests are free, and do not require pre-registration. However, students under 18 who plan to take the EKG must have either parental permission or the parent present at Morgan tomorrow to give permission. You can get a permission form online at the MPSSAA's Web site.

Megan McColgan, whose HCM wasn't detected until after her attack, spent four weeks in the hospital four years ago. She has spent a good chunk of those four years since visiting doctors at the University of Maryland Hospital Center here in Baltimore, seeing them once a month until this March, when the frequency of visits was changed to once every three months, because of the progress she's made.

She's taking a fairly high dose of a beta blocker twice a day as well as aspirin, and there are limits to what she can do in terms of exertion. But the dosage of the beta blocker has been reduced in recent months, reducing the incidents in which Megan would feel dizzy upon standing up or out of breath.

Megan, who goes for walks and takes Pilates classes, hopes that when she sees her cardiologist next month, he'll clear her to resume taking ballet classes. In addition, she's hoping to get the green light to consider having a baby.

In an interesting twist, Megan said she has taken courses on how to administer the EKG, and she'll take a test in July to receive a license to give the EKG. During her classes, her teacher used her as a guinea pig of sorts, to show her classmates what an abnormal EKG looks like. She said she spoke to the class often about her experiences, and you get the feeling that, with the twists and turns her life has taken, no one will be more proficient, or at least more empathetic in administering an EKG than Megan McColgan.

'I loved it,' Megan said. 'I learned a lot about myself from taking that class and I can't wait until I get into some scrubs and run an EKG machine and help out other people with it.'

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Three area high school golfers have received scholarships from the George E. Sonnefeld Foundation to go toward their college education.

This year's recipients are Carver's Gabriella Biondo, Chapelgate Christian Academy's Michael Lovaas and Severna Park's Eric Robinson. Biondo will attend Yale next year, Lovaas will go to Maryland and Robinson will attend William and Mary. Each of the three will receive $2,000 from the foundation, which is named for the former president of the Towson Junior Jaycees, a golf enthusiast.

Current juniors who are interested in applying for the scholarship, which is awarded to Baltimore-area seniors who love golf, should contact Susan DiLonardo at either 410-446-0852 or at DiLonardo2@aol.com.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

OK, it's nearly the end of the spring sports season, well past the time when basketballs have been locked away in school storage closets. Still, there's never a bad time for big hoops news, and this qualifies.

Oakland Mills guard Miriam McKenzie has been named one of the nation's top 30 girls high school players by MaxPreps. McKenzie, a 5-foot-8 senior, averaged 28 points and 13.6 rebounds a game for the Scorpions, and was named The Sun's Player of the Year.

McKenzie, who will play at Loyola in the fall, notched four triple-doubles and 21 double-doubles during the season, and became Oakland Mills' all-time leading scorer, narrowly falling short of becoming Howard County's all-time leading scorer.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Earlier in the week, we told you about Ryan McGeeney, the Utah photographer who took a javelin in the leg while attempting to shoot the state track and field championships last weekend. We've been informed by Randy Wright, the executive editor of the paper that employs McGeeney, that the Standard-Examiner is published in Ogden, not Provo, as I wrote. My apologies to all concerned.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Getting enough high school baseball, especially of the championship variety? Well, the state of Florida is giving players and coaches there much more, by expanding the baseball playoff format.

The Florida High School Athletic Association, that state's equivalent of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, has opened the regional final format from a single game to a best-of-three miniseries, with the winners advancing to the state semifinals. So far, the new format has proven to be a winner, with nine of the 24 series going to a third game and six of them won by the team that lost the first game of the series.

Of course, the natural question here is to wonder whether such an animal could survive here. The obvious answer is no, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that high school baseball here is nowhere near as popular as it is in Florida, so there's isn't that level of demand. Plus, the weather, as we've seen in the last two weeks, is unpredictable enough in Maryland to make it difficult to get three straight days where play is possible, and if there are enough rainouts, the traditional Memorial Day weekend finale would go out the window.

Still, the regions in Maryland are contiguous enough to make the idea intriguing, if not, entirely workable.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Congrats are in order to Loyola for winning the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title last night at Johnny Unitas Stadium, with cheers going out also to the Hereford boys for capturing the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Class 3A-2A flag, as well as to Glenelg for grabbing the girls and boys 2A-1A titles at UMBC Stadium.

Today's lacrosse championship games include a pair of girls matches, with Towson meeting No. 11 Winters Mill in the 3A-2A final at 4 p.m., and No. 2 Severna Park attempting to clinch a second straight unbeaten championship season in its 4A-3A game against No. 15 Catonsville at 6 p.m. The lone boys game of the day will pit No. 7 Dulaney against Urbana for the 4A-3A title.

If you can't make it out to Catonsville, be advised that the girls and boys 4A-3A games will air live on CN8.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Because lacrosse players appear to be made of hardier stock than baseball and softball players, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association 's state lacrosse finals are on as scheduled for today and tomorrow at UMBC Stadium, with tripleheaders on tap, assuming that lightning doesn't enter the picture.

Today's trio of games will find No.15 Glenelg meeting Loch Raven in the girls Class 2A/1A title match at 4 p.m., with Glenelg's sixth-ranked and unbeaten boys meeting Southern of Anne Arundel in the 2A/1A championship game at 6 p.m. Finally, No. 15 Hereford will take on Walkersville at 8 p.m., for the boys 3A/2A state title.

Tomorrow, No. 13 Winters Mill will meet Towson in the girls 3A/2A match at 4 p.m., followed by the girls 4A/3A title game between second-ranked and undefeated Severna Park and Catonsville, a game that will be televised live on Comcast's CN8 channel. The championship games will conclude with the 4A/3A boys game between Urbana and No. 8 Dulaney.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Administration has called all eight state softball semifinals scheduled for today at Bachman Park in Glen Burnie, with the games to be played tomorrow at the same times at the same fields, weather permitting.

The rundown for tomorrow goes as follows:

The Class 4A semifinals will be played at 7 p.m., with Chesapeake facing Linganore on Field 3, while Eleanor Roosevelt will meet Sherwood on Field 1.

The 3A competition, is also scheduled for 7 p.m., with Damascus facing Northern of Calvert County on Field 4, and Franklin taking on Atholton on Field 6.

In the 2A semifinals, both at 4 p.m., Eastern Tech will take on Easton on Field 3, while Century will meet McDonough of Charles County on Field 1.

The 1A games, also played at 4 p.m., will pit Western Tech against Colonel Richardson on Field 6, with Bohemia Manor taking on Fort Hill on Field 4.

All eight semifinal winners will advance to Saturday's championship games at the University of Maryland softball stadium in College Park.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Upon further review, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Administration has postponed all eight baseball state semifinals games scheduled for today because of the rain.

As a result, today's schedule has been shifted to tomorrow, weather permitting. St. Michaels will meet Sparrows Point at 4 p.m., and Clear Spring will take on Harford Tech in the Class 1A semifinals at 7 p.m., at McCurdy Field in Frederick. Arundel High will host the 2A semifinals, pitting Kent Island against Loch Raven at 4 p.m., with Marriotts Ridge facing South Hagerstown in the 7 p.m. game.

Centennial and Patapsco will meet in one 3A semifinal at Joe Cannon Stadium in Harmans at 4 p.m., with the winner getting the winner of the 7 p.m. game between La Plata and Seneca Valley. Finally, the 4A semifinals, held at the University of Maryland's Shipley Field, will find Sherwood taking on Eleanor Roosevelt at 4 p.m., with C. Milton Wright facing South River in the other game at 7 p.m.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Administration has announced that today's Class 2A baseball state semifinals at Arundel High have been postponed until tomorrow because of inclement weather.

The 4 p.m. game pitting Loch Raven against the winner of yesterday's Kent Island-Easton regional final as well as the 7 p.m. game between South Hagerstown and Marriotts Ridge will be held at the same times tomorrow, weather permitting.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We told you last month about a new NCAA rule designed to restrict the amount of contact NCAA coaches can have with potential recruits during the spring. Well, should anyone be surprised that coaches have already come up with ways to skirt the new law?

The Chicago Tribune reports that instead of evaluating recruits in the spring period, Illinois football coach Ron Zook is, instead, conducting coaching clinics -- six of them, in fact. While Zook may not be seeing the kids directly during say, seven-on-seven drills, he gets the next best thing: access to coaches, who, in turn, can pass along information between a recruitable athlete and Zook.

Even oilier is the way Alabama coach Nick Saban is getting around the rule. Saban, who was the intended target of the rule change, is using a Web cam from his office to contact a few kids a day. The next thing you know, Saban and Zook and other coaches will get jobs at fast food restaurants in their prized recruits' hometowns to slip them a Big Mac and a scholarship offer.

Posted by Milton Kent at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

There's not a reporter or photographer alive who doesn't have a tale to tell about the hits or near misses attendant with covering high school sports, whether it be getting flattened by football players heading for the sideline, or perhaps being plunked on the noggin by a stray baseball or softball or having a basketball player fly into you attempting to save a loose ball. It all comes with the territory.

But Ryan McGeeney, a photographer with the Standard-Examiner newspaper of Provo, Utah, may have taken the concept of going to all lengths to get the picture to a ridiculous and dangerous extreme. This weekend McGeeney's right leg was pierced below the knee by a flying javelin during the state track and field championships.

McGeeney, who served seven years in the Marines, including a six-month deployment in Afghanistan, was apparently so intent on getting shots of the girls discus competition at one end of the stadium that he didn't notice a javelin flying in his direction from another end. McGeeney, who, according to officials was standing where he wasn't supposed to be (well, duh), was not seriously hurt and returned later in the day to finish shooting.

The even better news is that the athlete who launched the javelin won the title, though his total distance does not include the distance the javelin traveled to the hospital while it was lodged in McGeeney's leg.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune comes word of a school district that thought outside the box in order to keep sports programs and teams in business.

The good people of the Brainerd area voted down a referendum last year that would have raised property taxes to support schools, so education officials decided to cut 17 of 29 varsity sports and all middle school athletic activities. That triggered a community effort to raise money to save those activities.

The fundraising drive collected $330,000, which combined with a hefty hike in activity fees, will keep sports alive on the level at which people had been accustomed. Now, 22 percent of sports and activities funding will come from the school district, rather than the 78 percent figure that had been in effect previously.

Of course, collecting money in that fashion, even through a non-profit entity, does raise questions about how sports programs will be funded, and, more importantly, who will make the decision. Will the field hockey program receive the same degree of support as the football team? Will the boys and girls basketball teams get the same dollars? How about the softball and baseball teams, or the girls and boys track squads? And to what extent would the public want corporate involvement, and at what level and price?

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From the "Is anyone really surprised by this?" department comes word from California that Mark Avery, the 14-year-old youngster who committed to play college basketball at Kentucky before he had chosen a high school, much less played in a high school game, is getting calls from Lexington.

Well, duh. Who couldn't have seen that coming? Oh, maybe his parents, or Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie? Avery's decision may be the most potentially self-destructive thing he'll do in his life, or so we should hope.

It's nice to see that Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, says that his organization "needs to take some leadership" on this matter, but it's hard to envision coaches like Gillispie seeing past their own self interest to do what's right.

Nope, it's going to take NCAA legislation to save kids like Mark Avery from themselves and from destroying college basketball.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

ESPN today announced a new initiative designed to consolidate its high school programming, publications and online efforts under one umbrella.

Titled ESPN Rise, the plan includes a new high school oriented Web site that will include content from ESPN.com, Scouts Inc, the newly acquired Hoopgurlz.com and RISEmag.com, as well as social networking opportunities, with a scheduled August launch. In addition, ESPN's high school football and boys basketball telecasts will come under the Rise auspices, which will also oversee recruiting reporting. Also, four magazines with high school appeal will be merged into the new ESPN Rise magazine.

Finally, and perhaps most eye-raising, ESPN announced that starting with the new school year, high school news will air on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and College Football Live, because that's what O.J. Mayo and Mark Avery, the 14-year-old kid from California who committed to Kentucky for basketball before he selected a high school, need: More time in the limelight before they're able to handle it or before they actually deserve it.

Great. Just great.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

In this time of unnecessary hype and overstatement, it's not too much of a stretch to say that a bit of local, if not national, history was made yesterday at Centennial when the Eagles girls lacrosse team beat Mount Hebron 10-9 to win the South region of the Class 3A/2A tournament and advance to the state semifinals.

In the process, Centennial formally ended one of the longest stretches of dominance seen in high school athletics, Mount Hebron's 11-year run of state titles, not to mention the Vikings' string of 20 consecutive visits to the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association's final four and 16 straight title game appearances.

Yes, the seemingly impregnable fortress of success that had formed around Mount Hebron had suffered serious cracks, from the end of their record 103-game winning streak last year, and losses this season that ended their local streak and their run against Howard County schools, including an earlier loss to Centennial. But yesterday's loss felt like the walls had finally been torn down. It will be interesting to see if the Vikings come back next season and start a new streak, freed from all the psychic baggage they had to carry from maintaining all those streaks.

And, by the way, let's not let this moment pass without giving Centennial its proper due for the win. The Eagles should be feted more for the accomplishment of getting to the state semifinals than for whom they beat to get there. Goalie Mary Teeters turned back 13 Mount Hebron shots, including two in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter after Centennial had taken the lead.

All in all, it was a nice day to be a goalie in the Teeters household, as Mary's twin brother, Kevin, stopped six shots as the Centennial boys beat Reservoir 14-8 in the 3A/2A South regional final.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association boys lacrosse tournament has progressed to the regional final stage. Here's a look at the schedule for today's regional final matches. The winners advance to next week's state semifinals at UMBC Stadium.

2A-1A West Regional Final

Century at No. 6 Glenelg; 5 p.m.

2A-1A South Regional Final

Harford Tech at Joppatowne; 5 p.m.

2A-1A North Regional Final

Eastern Tech at Pikesville; 5:30 p.m.

3A-2A North Semifinal

Fallston at No. 15 Hereford; TBA

3A-2A South Regional Final

Centennial at Reservoir; TBA

3A-2A East Regional Final

Northeast-AA at Kent Island; 6 p.m.

3A-2A West Regional Final

Winters Mill at Walkersville; TBA

4A-3A North Semifinal

North Carroll at Urbana; 5:30 p.m.

4A-3A South

Catonsville at Dulaney; 5 p.m.

4A-3A East

Severna Park at Leonardtown; 6 p.m.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Here's something to ponder this week as the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association baseball tournament continues through at least one rain date, with the possibility of another, if weather forecasts for later in the week are accurate: It may not be enough to regulate a pitcher's innings, as the MPSSAA does. You also have to keep an eye on pitch counts.

The MPSSAA wisely limits the number of innings that a pitcher can work in a seven calendar day period to 14, and to 10 in a three calendar day period. But there are no ceilings on the number of pitches within those innings, and that could be the rub, especially for kids down the line.

By the way, those innings restrictions stay in effect through the postseason, and could really come back to bite clubs that have, say, just one or two good starters this week.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Poly will host a player development camp, sponsored by the National Football League, tonight at 6. The camp runs for one week and will show players the fundamentals of football. It also features an SAT prep course. The camp is for students enrolled in Baltimore City Public Schools, is free and and for students in grades 9 through 11.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You've heard the joke about an athlete being so good that he or she could have beaten another team single-handed? Well, that's not a joke any more, or at least it isn't for Rochelle (Tex.) High student Bonnie Richardson, who won a state track title over the weekend all by herself.

Richardson, a junior, was the only girls track performer from her school to qualify for the Texas 1A meet, and was entered in five events in the two-day meet. She managed to win two of them, (high jump and 200 meters, placing second in two other events (long jump and 100 meters) and third in another (the discus) to amass 42 team points, six more than the Chilton team that finished second.

Richardson, who was limited by rule to five events, said she couldn't have done any more or better because of the heat. She is believed to be the first female Texas athlete, and the second in state history, to win a state track title all alone. Remarkably, she did so well despite the fact that her school doesn't have a real track, and she has to train by running on a nearby road.

Needless to say, the pick for the San Angelo Standard-Times Athlete of the Week was pretty easy this week.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Three cheers aren't enough to salute the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association for a program it will offer to up to 1,000 athletes on May 24 during the state championship track meet.

On that day, the MPSSAA, in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University's Heart Hype Program, will offer free screenings to detect the possibility of the presence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an abnormality that involves the thickening of the walls surrounding the heart. HCM, which tends to afflict younger people, does not commonly show up in the average athlete physical, yet can lead to heart attacks and death if not detected and treated.

The screenings will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hurt Gymnasium at Morgan State, and will involve a weight and blood pressure measurement as well as an echocardiogram. Participants will need to fill out a consent form and a questionnaire before the event. The forms are available at the MPSSAA's Web site.

Getting your kid to this screening may be the most important thing you do for him/her.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You might recall the story last year of Hayley Milbourn, last year's area Golfer of the Year from Roland Park. Despite leading the field at the conference tournament by nine strokes, Milbourn gave up a chance to capture her third straight Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland league title last year because she inadvertently struck the wrong ball and turned herself in. Milbourn was honored at last year's Sun High School Athlete of the Year ceremony for her sportsmanship.

Milbourn's parents report, with justifiable and understandable pride, that she had a splendid freshman year at Amherst College, where she won five tournaments this spring, and finished second in two others. Her 74 in the final round of the Williams Spring Invitational, the last match of the season, tied a course record.

This just goes to show that nice girls really can finish first.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Ravens, in conjunction with USA Football, a Washington-based non-profit organization that offers coaching and officiating education to youth leagues and high school programs, will sponsor a coaching school for youth league coaches next Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.

The clinic, which will be conducted by a number of Baltimore- and Washington-area high school coaches, will offers courses on schemes and motivational techniques, as well as position fundamentals and drills and will run from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The cost of registration is $35, and can be paid at the stadium or through pre-registration at USA Football's Web site. On-site registration will take place at Gate A, in front of the statue of Johnny Unitas, and will begin at 7:30 a.m. Doors open at 7 a.m.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The good news just keeps on coming for Digital Harbor, the school that broke Poly's eight-year stranglehold on the city baseball title. The Rams were rewarded for their good fortune and solid play with a No. 1 seed in the upcoming Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association tournament, when the draw was unveiled yesterday. After a first-round bye, Digital Harbor will open play Monday against the winner of tomorrow's Western Tech-Carver game. The 1A tournament semifinals will take place May 20 in a doubleheader at McCurdy Field in Frederick, with the championship match to be played May 23 at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen at 1 p.m.

Despite finishing out of the money in the city race, Poly still received a No. 1 seed in the 2A North and a bye to the regional quarterfinals, where they will host the winner of the Lansdowne-City first-round game next Monday. Down the road, the Engineers could face defending state champion Eastern Tech in the regional final. In the South, Marriotts Ridge, which beat Centennial yesterday in the Howard County championship game, received the top seed in the region. They'll get a bye into the quarterfinals to meet the winner of the River Hill-Hammond first-round game. The 2A region winners will meet in a doubleheader at Arundel May 20, with the championship game taking place at Ripken Stadium on May 23 at 4:30 p.m.

Even with the loss to Marriotts Ridge, fifth-ranked Centennial received the No. 1 seed in the 3A East region, and will meet the Bel Air-Long Reach first-round winner in Monday's quarterfinals. The Eagles may face No. 9 Northeast, the No. 2 seed in the regional final. Unranked Patapsco got the top seed in the North and will host either Dundalk or Milford Mill Monday in the quarters. The 3A semifinals will take place at Joe Cannon Stadium in Hanover on May 20, with the winners advancing to the championship game at Ripken Stadium.

Fourth-ranked Arundel has the top seed in a stacked 4A East region that has five ranked teams in it. The Wildcats will meet the Thomas Stone-Glen Burnie winner in the quarterfinals. The other four ranked teams -- No. 8 Old Mill, No. 10 Chesapeake, No. 11 Severna Park and No. 12 South River -- are all bunched in the bottom half of that regional draw, meaning Arundel would likely only have to play one of them to advance to the state semifinals. Meanwhile, in the North, Kenwood, which is having one of the best seasons in school history, got the No. 2 seed, and may face No. 7 C. Milton Wright, the third seed and Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference winner, in the regional semifinals. The 4A semifinals will take place at Shipley Field at the University of Maryland on May 20, with the championship game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on May 23.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Last fall, the 4A East region of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association field hockey tournament was the equivalent of a steel cage match, with four of the area's top seven ranked teams all bunched in the same area. The release of the MPSSAA softball draw yesterday revealed another contentious bunching of Anne Arundel County teams, with four of the area's top 15 teams in the mix in the same 4A East region.

Top-ranked Chesapeake got the No. 1 seed in the region, and a bye into the quarterfinals next Monday. The Cougars' likely reward for a dazzling regular season is a potential meeting with No. 15 Severna Park, provided the Falcons get past Old Mill in the first round Friday. (Parenthetically, the fact that Severna Park got a No. 8 seed even with an 11-7 record is point No. 1 million for why the MPSSAA should seed teams all the way through the draws in all sports, rather than just in football. The only fair way to decide a championship is to distribute all teams through a bracket on their merits, rather than relying on seeding the top four in a region, then positioning the rest of the teams by the blind luck of a computer. OK, rant over).

In the 3A bracket, Franklin grabbed the top seed in the North region, and a bye into the quarterfinals, where they will meet the winner of the Patterson-Hereford first-round game. On the other side of the North draw, keep an eye out for next Monday's Western-Catonsville quarterfinals matchup. The two schools have developed a healthy rivalry in a number of sports, particularly in basketball and a few hoopsters also play softball. In the East region, there's a potentially sensational regional semifinal brewing between second-seeded Atholton, the area's 12th-ranked team and fifth-ranked Northeast, which got the third seed in the region.

Unranked Eastern Tech has the No. 1 seed in the 2A North region, and will face the winner of the Samuel Banks-Edmondson first-round game. On the other side of the bracket, fourth-ranked Hammond, the defending 2A champion, got the second seed in the South region and a wicked draw. The Bears, led by pitcher Stephanie Speierman, will likely have to get past seventh-seeded Calvert, a six-time state titlist, in the quarterfinals and a possible regional final match on the road against Gwynn Park of Prince George's County.

In the 1A draw, two area teams got No. 1 seeds. Glenelg, the 13th-ranked team in this week's Sun poll, is at the top of the South region and will get the winner of the Bohemia Manor-Surrattsville first-round game. Meanwhile, Sparrows Point received the No. 1 seed in the North region, and the requisite bye into the quarterfinals, where they will host the winner of the W.E.B. DuBois-Forest Park opening-round game. Keep an eye out for Western Tech, on the other side of the North draw, to possibly make some noise out of the No. 6 seed.

The regional winners in all four classes advance to the beautiful Bachman Park for what should be an epic day of softball semifinals on May 20, with the winners advancing to the University of Maryland on May 24 for the championship matches. Frankly, it would be much better for all parties if the finals were held at Bachman, rather than College Park.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It's become a given that the best boys high school lacrosse in the area is played either at the private schools or in the suburbs, yet two city schools received top seeds in the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association boys lacrosse tournament draw, and a third school got a No. 2 seed, when the field was unveiled this week.

Unranked Forest Park got the top seed in the 2A-1A North region, and a first round bye into the regional quarterfinals. They join No. 9 Glenelg in the west region and unranked Joppatowne in the South as No.1 seeds in the 2A-1A tournament, which will be settled in the semifinals May 16 and 17 at Reservoir and the finals at UMBC Stadium on May 20 or 21.

City, which is also unranked, grabbed a No. 1 seed in the 3A-2A South region, and will meet the Howard-Hammond winner in the regional quarterfinals Saturday. Unranked Lansdowne got the top seed in the 3A-2A North region, and a bye into the second or quarterfinal round against the Towson-Dundalk winner. The four region winners will meet May 16 or 17 at Annapolis with the winners there advancing to the state title match on May 20 or 21 at UMBC.

Finally, Walbrook, the relative newcomer among the city's lacrosse powers, got the No. 2 seed in the 4A-3A South region, behind top seed Kenwood. Both teams received byes into the regional quarterfinals, where Kenwood will get the winner of the C. Milton Wright-Perry Hall game, while Walbrook will host the winner of the Southwestern-Aberdeen first round match. North Carroll will host the 4A-3A semifinals on May 16 or 17, with the winners advancing to the state title game on May 21.

Posted by Milton Kent at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The first thing that grabs your attention when scanning the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association girls lacrosse tournament draw isn't necessarily who's on top of the bracket, but who is not.

Specifically, for the first time in school history, Mount Hebron, which has advanced to the state semifinals an incredible 18 straight years, with 15 titles to show for their efforts, will have to get back in a position other than as the top seed in their region.

The 11th-ranked Vikings, who have won 11 straight Maryland championships, are seeded third in the 3A-2A South region, behind Centennial and Reservoir, both unranked. Mount Hebron received a first-round bye and will host sixth-seeded Long Reach in the regional quarterfinals Saturday.

Two other unranked Baltimore area schools, Winters Mill and Dundalk, received top seeds in the girls 3A-2A bracket, with Winters Mill drawing the No.1 seed in the West, and Dundalk getting the top seed in the North. The regional semifinals will take place at Annapolis High on either May 16 or 17, with the championship match to be played at UMBC Stadium on either May 20 or 21.

No.14 Liberty and unranked Loch Raven received top seeds in the girls 2A-1A bracket, with Liberty receiving a No.1 seed in the West region, as well as a bye into the regional quarterfinals against the winner of the Smithsburg-Catoctin first round game. Meanwhile, Loch Raven gets a bye all the way to the regional semifinals, to face either Eastern Tech or Carver. The 2A-1A semifinals will take place at Reservoir on either May 16 or 17, leading to the title game, also at UMBC on either May 20 or 21.

In the 3A-4A bracket, Severna Park, one of two remaining unbeaten area girls teams, tops the East region. The second-ranked Falcons will meet the winner of the Arundel-North County first round game in a quarterfinal match Saturday. Meanwhile, unranked Kenwood received the top seed in the South region and draws a bye into the quarterfinals where they will host the winner of the Perry Hall-Catonsville first round game. The 4A-3A semifinals will be staged at North Carroll on either May 16 or 17, and the state championship match will take place at UMBC on May 21.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

There’s just one week remaining in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference, yet little has been decided as far as playoffs go. Nine teams are jockeying for six seeds.

Gilman has clinched the No. 1 seed with a 9-0 record and the tiebreaker over the teams below them. Loyola is currently No. 2 with a 7-1 record and Calvert Hall No. 3 with a 6-2 record. The Dons don’t have the No. 2 seed locked up just yet, with Boys' Latin and Spalding looming this week, but they have the tiebreak over the Cardinals, so they’d have to lose both to fall to No. 3.

After the top-three seeds, things get interesting. As of today, St. Mary’s, McDonogh and Boys' Latin are all tied at 4-4. Boys' Latin is in the driver’s seat, having beaten McDonogh and St. Mary’s in the regular season already. If they were to tie with those teams in records, they’d be the first to get in and get the highest seed.

A No. 4 seed would be ideal for the Lakers, since it would guarantee them a home game in the playoffs, and they’re 8-1 at home this year. Boys' Latin has a tough road game against Loyola today, before finishing the season at home against St. Paul's.

A game with major playoff repercussions takes place later today, with McDonogh traveling to St. Mary’s. Whichever team loses isn’t necessarily out, as a 5-5 record should still be good enough to get in. The Saints play Severn away in their regular-season finale, while the Eagles play Mount St. Joe at home.

Spalding currently is the first team out, with a 4-5 record. They play Loyola at home in their regular-season finale on Friday night. Working in the Cavaliers favor is their major upset against Boys' Latin during the regular season. That tiebreaker gives them a shot of sneaking in. Severn and St. Paul's both have 3-5 records and little chance of getting in. It doesn’t help that both teams have difficult games this week with the Admirals facing Calvert Hall and St. Mary’s and St. Paul's facing Gilman and Boys' Latin. If either team manages to sweep though, the quality wins would surely put them back in position to get in via tiebreakers.

The Sun's prediction: :

The St. Mary’s-McDonogh matchup should be a well-played close game, but we’re giving the edge to the Saints. The Saints and Eagles should both win their finales.

We think Boys' Latin will lose to Loyola before beating St. Paul's at home. Based on tiebreakers, these team should be playing in mid-May.

1. Gilman
2. Loyola
3. Calvert Hall
4. St. Mary’s
5. Boys' Latin
6. McDonogh

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

When basketball season commences next winter, high school players, coaches and referees will have to adjust to a rule change approved by the rules committee of the National Federation of State High School Associations that presumes to clean up rough play during free throw attempts.

The new rule will leave the two marked spaces on the foul lane open during free throw attempts, which brings high school play into line with the colleges. A new mark will be applied to the foul lane to mark where the last lane spot is. The change comes from an experiment conducted this past season during Georgia high school games. There's no word on whether the rule change will affect girls basketball, though the women's college game has had the empty spaces under the rim for years.

In addition, the committee changed the rule about technical fouls assessed for the wearing of illegal uniforms. Beginning next season, a technical will be charged to the head coach, rather than to the players, as the committee moved to place blame on the coaches for allowing the players to wear the uniforms in the first place.

Finally, the rules committee wisely decided not to authorize the use of video replay in state championships, on the theory that reviews run counter to what high school sports are all about. Plus, the committee said the decision was influenced by the unavailability of video equipment in some places as well as the notion that it would be unfair for officials to be required to use replay at the end of a season, after not using it the rest of the year. There were calls for video replay after a controversial ending in a South Carolina boys state final, with two state legislators attempting to inject themselves into the matter.

Posted by Milton Kent at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Or to ask the score of a 41-40 softball game, as the case may be.

So, I was at Dr. Samuel L. Banks High School on Wednesday to do reporting for today's column on Digital Harbor, whose baseball team was playing at Banks. The first pitch was around 3:45 and the game went the regulation seven innings, ending about 5:15. After about 15 minutes of interviews, I trudged up the rather unkempt hill towards the parking lot and my car.

Along the way to the car, I passed a softball game between Banks and Southside, which had started about the same time as the baseball game. I glanced over for a moment, saw the batter get a hit and a run score. Seems normal enough, right? So much so that I got in my car and went home.

While reading the paper yesterday, I scanned through the scores to see if the usual suspects had done what they usually do and to see the boxscore of the game I had watched. My eyes did a screeching stop at a line score the likes of which I couldn't ever recall seeing in a baseball or softball game at any level, namely:

Southside     40 8 5
Banks           41 24 7

I let out an audible 'Wow,' because line scores like that one just scream out for recognition. Then, I noticed the two schools involved and a wave of recognition rolled over me. I actually saw some of that game, albeit a brief glance.

In hindsight, I'm not sure which of the numbers from that box score are the most noteworthy: the 81 total runs, the fact that Southside scored 40 runs on just eight hits (with assistance, no doubt from seven Banks errors) or the fact that Southside scored 13 runs in the seventh and final inning, only to lose when Banks scored 10 runs in their half of the inning. In fact, Banks scored 19 runs in the final two innings.

Unbelievable. I was a witness to history of some sort, and didn't even realize it.

So, let this be a lesson to you dear readers. The next time you're at one sporting event and another one is going on nearby, always stop to ask what the score is. As Ferris Bueller once warned, you might miss something.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Gilman has been the No. 1 boys lacrosse team in the area for a month now, but they've finally climbed to the top of the mountain in the national rankings as well. The Greyhounds are No.1 in this week's insidelacrosse.com poll.

This is really no big surprise. Gilman is still undefeated in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference, which is regarded as the top conference in the nation. They've just come off a week where they beat No. 3 Calvert Hall, 10-7, and routed No. 2 Loyola, 17-7.

They have scoring weapons all over the field and an unheralded defense that has played well most of the season, and Harvard-bound junior midfielder Jack Doyle has to be considered the favorite for Player of the Year thus far this season.

Gilman's (15-0, 8-0) reign at No. 1 won't be easy as their first game in the newly minted top spot comes against No. 4 St. Mary's (13-3, 4-3), a tall and strong team stocked with football players.

Watch video of Gilman's 12-10 win over Archbishop Spalding on Tuesday:

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)