Local Sports

Dave Mansue of Robbinsville N.J., takes the lead in the season-opening event of the 2009 Bassmaster Northern Open

Cecil County To Host second ESPN Bassmaster tournament

Cecil County will host its second ESPN Bassmaster Open in September. When the county first hosted the event in April 2009, it drew 400 competitors and an estimated $1 million in economic impact, said Sandy Turner, tourism coordinator for the county.

“We have great partner hotels that work with us in offering good rates and packages,” she said.

Tuesday June 1 2010

Allegany senior Hayley Stankan scattered five hits and struck out 10 in the Campers’ 8-2 win over Perryville in the Class 1A state championship game. state championship game win over Perryville Saturday.

Perryville Panthers fall in state softball title game

The Perryville softball team fell behind by four runs early and never recovered in an 8-2 loss to Allegany in the 1A State title game on Saturday at the University of Maryland’s Robert E. Taylor Stadium. Allegany clinched the second Maryland Class 1A state championship in Allegany High School history, as the Campers defeated Perryville High School, 8-2, on an overcast and muggy afternoon at the University of Maryland’s Robert E. Taylor Stadium.

The Campers completed a 23-2 season and achieved their stated season-long goal of “winning the last game” behind the gritty pitching of Hayley Stankan and clutch hitting from the likes of Chelsea Oleksik, whose single scored the first two runs of the game to ignite a four-run second inning; Stephanie Dawson, whose sweet left-handed stroke produced a triple and an RBI double to get a game-clinching four-run fifth under way; Audrey Eisentrout, whose two-run double furthered the rally; and Rosenberger, whose second RBI single concluded it.

After the Campers took the 4-0 lead in the second, Stankan seemed to have overcome what appeared to be a bout of nervousness by settling down before allowing Perryville (14-8) its first hit, a single by Natalie Figueroa with one out in the fourth. Stankan then committed a fielding error before making a hurried throw on what would be charged as an error on Rosenberger on the following at-bat.

With the bases loaded and with just one out, Stankan and the Campers faced their first and what would be their last challenge of the game. Stankan answered the challenge beautifully and and got Kendie Hudson looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat and, for all intents and purposes, the game.

“Yes,” Stankan said, “I would agree. That was the biggest part of the game. Perryville is a really good team and they were tough to pitch to.”

Stankan gave up five hits, struck out 10, walked three and hit a batter. She seemed to again labor in the late innings, walking two and giving up two runs in the sixth, which ended when right fielder Bailey Ellsworth went Clemente on Perryville by throwing out Hannah Musick on what looked to be a single that would have loaded the bases or scored a run, but would have definitely kept a potential big inning alive.

The Campers completed a 23-2 season and achieved their stated season-long goal of “winning the last game” behind the gritty pitching of Hayley Stankan and clutch hitting from the likes of Chelsea Oleksik, whose single scored the first two runs of the game.

Sunday May 30 2010

~From the asociated press

Philadelphia Phillies Ace Roy Halladay Pitches Perfect Game

Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history, delivering the marquee performance of his All-Star career in a 1-0 win over the Florida Marlins on Saturday night.

It was the second perfect game in the majors this month alone, unheralded Dallas Braden doing it for Oakland against Tampa Bay on May 9. It’s the first time in the modern era that there were a pair of perfectos in the same season — Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez threw a no-hitter, too, in April.

Halladay struck out 11, then got pinch-hitter Ronny Paulino to ground out to end it, and was cheered by a crowd of 25,086 throughout much of the night.

“I don’t know what to say,” Halladay said. “Early in my bullpen I was hitting spots more than I have been. I felt like I just carried that out there.”

While there were a couple of good plays behind him — shortstop Wilson Valdez went deep into the hole for a grounder, backup third baseman Juan Castro went to his knees for another — Halladay didn’t need any great defensive work in this gem.

The 33-year-old righty known as Doc was a veritable one-man show.

“It’s never something that you think is possible,” Halladay said. “Really, once I got the two outs, I felt like I had a chance. You’re always aware of it. It’s not something that you expect.”

Always stoic on the mound, Halladay (7-3) broke into a big smile as his teammates rushed in to congratulate him.

“That’s a big emotion for him,” Phillies left-hander Jamie Moyer said, laughing in the clubhouse. “It’s fun to watch.”

The Marlins said they would give Halladay the pitching rubber as a souvenir, leading to a slightly surreal scene. The lights at Sun Life Stadium went out and fireworks began exploding two minutes after the game ended, with the field crew preparing for a postgame concert behind second base.

Working in the dark, four men went to work on the mound, digging up the slab where Halladay made history.

The concert lasted a good half-hour. But on this night, Halladay was the lone maestro.

“You’ve got to take your hat off to Doc,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “That’s why he is who he is. That’s what they got him for.”

Halladay has long been dominant, and the former AL Cy Young winner was the centerpiece of a multiteam trade that brought him from Toronto to the two-time NL champions in the offseason.

He was within one out of a no-hitter on Sept. 27, 1998, in just his second major league start, pitching for the Blue Jays against Detroit. Pinch-hitter Bobby Higginson ended that on the first pitch he saw, hitting a solo home run.

Halladay faced three Marlins pinch-hitters in the ninth. Mike Lamb led off with a long fly ball, but Shane Victorino had plenty of time to backtrack in the super-spacious outfield at Sun Life Stadium and squeeze it for the first out.

Another pinch-hitter, Wes Helms, struck out, and the crowd filled with Phillies fans simply began to roar.

From there, it was all up to Paulino, who fouled the first pitch into the seats along the first-base side, took ball one, swung and missed for strike two, and at 9:23 p.m., hit a groundball. Castro ranged to his left to get it and threw across to first baseman Ryan Howard, who caught the ball and jumped in the air.

It was over, and the Phillies mobbed Halladay, surrounding him in a circle as stadium workers immediately ran out to sweep the mound and plate area.

In a week that saw the hard-hitting Phillies get shut out on three straight days by the New York Mets, Halladay delivered the most masterful pitching performance of all.

“He did what he had to do,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “We gave him one run. He made it stand up. That was good. Super for him.”

On the short list of baseball’s perfect games, there are the first two: John Richmond and John Ward pitched them five days apart in 1880, two decades before what is considered the modern era.

This was the Phillies’ second perfect game, with Jim Bunning having thrown one in 1964. Philadelphia has thrown 10 no-hitters, the last by Kevin Millwood in 2003.

It was the second time the Marlins had been no-hit in their history, the lone other coming by the Dodgers’ Ramon Martinez on July 14, 1995.

Halladay credited catcher Carlos Ruiz for a smooth ride.

“We felt like we got in a groove early and about the fifth or the sixth I was just following Chooch,” he said. “I can’t say enough about the job he did today. Mixed pitches. For me it was really a no-brainer.”

The NL East leaders’ lone run off Josh Johnson (5-2) came in the third, and fittingly in this battle of aces, it was unearned. Valdez singled, then scored when Chase Utley’s fly to center skipped off Cameron Maybin’s glove for a three-base error.

“It’s one of those things where everything has to go right and it did,” Maybin said. “J.J. did a great job of competing. Unfortunately, one play … that was the ballgame.”

Valdez scored easily. And Halladay had all the support he needed.

A Philadelphia story, for certain.

Sorry, Flyers — your return to the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night just got upstaged, in a big way. In fact, NBC broke into its coverage of the Game 1 of the Flyers-Chicago matchup to show a replay of the final out.

There have now been three perfect games in the last 10 months, with Mark Buehrle doing it last July 23 for the Chicago White Sox against Tampa Bay.

Halladay had a complete-game one-hitter last September against the New York Yankees, though with far less drama, thanks to Ramiro Pena getting a double to right field in the sixth inning.

Unshakable on the mound, not even three-ball counts fazed Halladay, not on this night.

He went to either 3-1 or 3-2 counts seven times, twice in the game’s first three batters alone, and always worked out of the trouble. Chris Coghlan tossed his bat aside on the Marlins’ first plate appearance of the night, thinking he’d drawn a walk, only to hear plate umpire

Mike DiMuro call strike three.

Coghlan wasn’t pleased, and that was a theme for the Marlins throughout.

Hanley Ramirez had the same issue two batters later, stepping toward first after thinking a 3-1 pitch missed the zone. It hadn’t, DiMuro said, and Ramirez wound up grounding out.

That was just the start.

Jorge Cantu went to a 3-1 count in the second before striking out on a foul tip. Dan Uggla had a three-ball count before flying to center in the fifth, and Maybin — whose mistake let the Phillies score the game’s first run — added plenty of drama in the sixth.

Maybin showed bunt twice, drawing a small chorus of boos, and eventually worked his way ahead 3-1. He ended up hitting a hard shot to deep short, where Valdez fielded it on a hop and threw to Howard in time to beat Maybin by a half-step — umpire Tim Welke taking a big swing to indicate the out.

Halladay got another nice play in the eighth when Castro went to his knees to snare a sharp grounder off Cantu’s bat, recovering and throwing to first in plenty of time. When Cody Ross popped to short to end the eighth, Halladay showed no emotion, simply walking to the dugout with his head bowed a bit, tugging once on the left shoulder of his gray jersey.

“I was thinking, if somebody hit a ball close to me, I was going to do whatever it takes,” Castro said.

For the Marlins, Johnson threw a career-high 121 pitches in seven innings, giving up seven hits, one unearned run, one intentional walk and striking out six.

His night was stellar — and didn’t even come close to comparing to his counterpart.

Saturday Ma y 29^th 2010

Raul Ibanez’s RBI triple in the fourth gave the Phillies their first run in 31 innings, and some rare steals led to two more runs, which was enough to back Kyle Kendrick and end a five-game losing streak  with a 3-2 win over the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. The Phillies are currently in first place in the NL East by a meager 1.5 games. They take on the Marlins this evening at 7:10 in what is sure to be a premier pitchers duel featuring Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay vs. Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson

The Baltimore Orioles were shut out by the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night by a score of 5-0. They are currently 14.5 games back in their division and in last place. They will take on the Blue Jays this afternoon at 1 pm.

The Philadelphia Flyers play the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight. It is the Flyers first appearance in the NHL championship series since 1997. The teams face off at 8 pm EST on NBC.  Will you be tuning in to support your team? GO ORANGE!!

Stay tuned for results of the Maryland 1-A State Championship game will take place on Saturday at the University of Maryland College Park Softball Complex. Our own Perryville High Girls will play for the state championship. First pitch is set for 1 pm.

On Saturday, the 42nd annual Fair Hill Spring Steeplechase Races will take place at Fair Hill Races as the track hosts a seven-race card starting at 1 p.m