Ryan White and Jarod Moskola combined to go 6-for-6 with five runs, four RBI and four of Jefferson-Morgan's nine stolen bases as the Rockets defeated visiting Avella 13-3 in a non-section game Saturday afternoon.
White was 3-for-3 with three runs, two RBI and three stolen bases. Moskola matched White by going 3-for-3 and and driving in two runs. Moskola also scored twice and had a stolen base.
Both White and Moskola doubled for J-M, as did Mike Mox and Ryan Edwards.
Avella had only seven hits, but five went for extra bases, including Tim Rush's two-run homer in the first inning. Ethan Fernbaugh, Sam Spencer, Sam Beton and Cole Heckman also doubled for the Eagles, who fell to 2-2.
Jefferson-Morgan is 3-1 and opens Section 1-A play Monday at defending WPIAL champion California.
n Chartiers-Houston went 3-0 on its trip to Orlando, Fla. The Bucs defeated Great Neck (N.Y.) North 11-0 in five innings on Friday night, then routed Kew Forrest (N.Y.) School 18-2 on Saturday.
Andy Petras and Kyle Thomas pitched in both games for C-H and the Bucs outhit their opponents 23-4.
A.J. Kerr had a triple, double and four RBI in the win over Great Neck North. Andy Betts had a triple, and Andy Lorenzi, Mike Macerelli and Mike Korowicki each doubled for C-H against Kew Forrest School.
n Jim Rider's three-run double in the third inning erased a 1-0 deficit and pushed Peters Township to a 6-1 victory over Lakewood (SC).
Nick Merich pitched a complete game and struck out five for the Indians (4-0).
In a game played late Friday, Peters Township defeated Manning (SC) 8-1. Jordan Jankowski hit his fourth home run of the season and was the winning pitcher. Jim Rider and Mike DiVella each had two-run triples.
n Cory Carr, Patrick Brady and Randy Wilhelm each doubled to lead Northern (Md.) to a 9-0 win over visiting Mapletown in a non-section game.
Kyle Gillum struck out nine in the win for Northern Maryland (1-0). Cory Minnick took the loss for the Maples (0-2).
High school softball
Jordan Jackson's single in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Jenna Phillips and lifted Washington to a 4-3 extra-innings win over Norristown in Orlando, Fla.
Alexis Lopez doubled and pitcher Amanda Baughman struck out six, issued no walks and gave up only four hits to earn the win for the Prexies (3-0).
Amy Palmerci took the loss despite recording 10 strikeouts for Norristown (4-1).
n Chartiers-Houston pitcher Michelle Greenawalt struck out eight, walked none and gave up just one hit in an 11-0 route of Marshall, Wisc. in Orlando, Fla.
Jaci Timko smacked a three-run home run and Jackie Scott delivered a two-run double for the Bucs, who improved to 3-0.
High school track
Trinity's Tyler Lyon placed third in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:29.45 at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Invitational at West Mifflin.
Trinity's Jessica Zimak was eighth in the 3,200 run in 11:53.3 and the girls 1,600 relay team of Chelsea Sumney, Shaina Sumney, Melissa Poach and Tiara Williams finished seventh in 4:20.7. The girls 3,200 relay team of Chelsea and Shaina Sumney, Zimak and Poach finished third and set a school record with a time of 10:04.57.
High school lacrosse
Jason Powell scored three goals and added an assist, but it wasn't enough as Pittsburgh Central Catholic defeated Peters Township 10-7 in boys lacrosse.
Sean-Paul Mauro, Andy Grech, Matt Thomas and Tony D'Abarno each scored a goal and Brent Kostak had two assists for the Indians (2-2).
College baseball
Sean Boone's bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Washington & Jefferson a 4-3 win over Saint Vincent and a doubleheader split with the Bearcats.
Chris Zampogna limited W&J to two runs and three hits in a 9-2 victory in the first game. Chris Varacallo hit a two-run homer for the Presidents (11-2).
Varacallo tied the second game, 2-2, with an RBI-double and Sam Mann hit a solo home run. Ron Mitko picked up the win in relief.
n Chad Litten's sixth-inning home run lifted Waynesburg to a 2-1 win in the first game of a PAC doubleheader against Westminster.
Dan Novak singled home Brandon Dittmar in the second inning to tie the game 1-1. Landon Sinclair earned the compete-game win.
David Colella hit a two-run homer and led the Titans to a 4-2 win in the nightcap. Dittmar doubled for Waynesburg (3-3, 8-9).
n Nick Schreiber pitched a complete game shutout of Slippery Rock to help California salvage the split of a PSAC West doublheader.
Jon Selby had a two-run triple during Cal's three-run sixth inning in a 4-0 win in the second game. Schreiber struck out five batters.
Slippery Rock won the first game 5-3. Cal stranded the game-tying run in each of the last innings.
College softball
Renee Gmiter hit a three-run homer and Julie Mackenzie added a three-run double to lead California to a 6-1 win over visiting Ediboro in the second game of a PSAC West doublheader.
Califoria suffered a 1-0 loss in the first game.
n Rebecca Nachreiner pitched a no-hitter to highlight Washington & Jefferson's PAC sweep of Grove City.
Amanda Howard hit a grad slam, Ally Stasik had an RBI-triple and Valerie Schultz added an RBI-double in W&J's 13-1 win in the first game.
The Presidents (2-0, 7-5) won the second game 5-2 behind Stasik and Schultz run-scoring singles and winning pitcher Georgia Schumacher, who was 3-for-3.
Women's water polo
Washington & Jefferson posted an 8-6 win over Macalester and a 12-5 victory against Colorado College, but dropped a 6-3 decision to Grove City.
Alicia Sutton scored four goals and Jessica Shopiro added two goals and an assist to lead W&J against Macalester. Sutton scored five goals and Brandi Shoupe had four against Colorado College. Kim Sawlsville made 20 saves in the two wins.
Women's golf
Washington & Jefferson is in third place after the first day of the Nike McDaniel Invitational with a four-person score of 377.
Leslie Walker paced the Presidents by carding a 90.
In the NBA
A foul-plagued Vince Carter scored 13 of his 19 points in the third quarter and the New Jersey Nets posted one of their best defensive games of the season with an 86-82 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
n LeBron James scored 39 points, including seven in overtime, and Larry Hughes added 21 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to 112-108 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Cleveland leads Chicago by 11/2 games for second place in the Eastern Conference. The three division winners are guaranteed spots in the top four playoff seeds, meaning the Bulls would be seeded fifth despite holding the third-best record in the conference.
Multiyear deal for Bears' Briggs unlikely
The standoff between Lance Briggs and the Chicago Bears took another turn Saturday, when general manager Jerry Angelo said he wants the Pro Bowl linebacker to return next season but a multiyear contract is unlikely.
"I'm not ruling it out 100 percent, but in all probability, that's not likely to happen," Angelo said during the team's fan convention.
The Bears and Briggs have been at odds since the team slapped the franchise player tag on him in mid-February.
Briggs threatened to sit out the season, then agent Drew Rosenhaus said his client would sit out the first 10 games and report for the final six to qualify as serving one year as a franchise player.
.
Meanwhile, the Washington Redskins offered the sixth pick in the draft for Briggs and the Redskins' No. 31 selection.
"We'll digest what they offered Monday and we'll go from there," Angelo said, adding no other team has made an offer.
The Bears would likely have to pay the No. 6 pick a $15 million to $20 million bonus, although they could package the pick in another trade.
Chicago would owe Briggs about $7.2 million next season -- the average of the top five salaries at his position and approximately 10 times what he earned in 2006. But the franchise player tag makes it difficult for Briggs to market himself to other teams.
If he signs an offer sheet, the Bears have the right to match it. Otherwise, they would receive first-round picks in 2007 and 2008.
Briggs made it clear in early March that he was unhappy with the label, when he told ESPN.com and a Chicago radio station the team should remove it or trade him. He has repeated those sentiments in interviews with several national media outlets.
A week later, he told foxsports.com, "I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again," and basically said the same thing in an interview with ESPN.
Angelo believes Briggs really feels that way, isn't being put up to it by Rosenhaus.
"When somebody speaks, I have to take it as that's what they feel," Angelo said. "I'm not going to characterize Lance as a puppet."
Angelo met with Briggs at the recent NFL meetings and used words such as "amiable" to describe the session. He also made it clear he wants the linebacker in Chicago next season.
"I wanted him to know exactly what our sentiments were," Angelo said. "It was very amiable, given that neither one is really going to get their way. We have to take the high road, move forward to make this the best we can because it serves everybody to do it this way."
Angelo told Briggs the public attacks on the organization weren't "in anybody's best interests."
If Briggs leaves, Angelo said the Bears would not pocket the money. They would use it to acquire and retain players.
A year ago, Briggs reportedly turned down a six-year, $33 million deal. He said it was for seven years, and was "below market value." Either way, Angelo warned him that the Bears might use the franchise tag.
Chicago spent some of that money earmarked for Briggs on center Olin Kreutz, linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer, running back Adrian Peterson and cornerback Ricky Manning Jr.
Briggs made his second straight Pro Bowl, and the Bears won the NFC championship. Now, he's in a stare-down with management.