Briefs
PAC basketball
Thomas More College was selected as this season’s favorite in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Poll results are determined, by vote, of the league’s 10 head coaches.
Thomas More collected nine first-place votes and 99 total. The Saints enter the season ranked fifth in both the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Top 25.
Washington & Jefferson College totaled 86 points to finish second in the preseason poll followed by Saint Vincent, Waynesburg and Grove City in the top five.
In the men’s poll, Saint Vincent was selected as the preseason favorite followed by Thomas More and saint Vincent. Waynesburg was picked to finish in ninth place and W&J was tabbed for 10th place.
Wild Things re-sign
2 pitchers
The Washington Wild Things have re-signed two pitchers from last season’s team, righthanders Davis Adkins and Trevor Bradley.
Adkins had a 5-1 record with one save in 39 appearances this past summer, his first in Washington and second in the Frontier League. He sported a 3.38 ERA.
Bradley was 2-3 with a save and 3.60 ERA in 40 innings.
“Davis pitched at an All-Star level 95% of the season. We saw flashes of greatness when he pitched for Florence in 2016, and we knew in a stable situation he could dominate here in Washington,” said general manager Steven Zavacky. “He embraced the challenge of pressure situations and dominated right-handed hitters better than almost anyone in the Frontier League.
“As a two-way player in college, Trevor brought a lot of natural competitiveness to our pitching staff. He showed spurts of dominance and made quality strides in his first season of professional baseball. We’ve asked Trevor to prepare for a bigger role out of our bullpen in 2018.”
W&J’s Moyer qualifies for NCAA Championships
Washington & Jefferson’s Harley Moyer finished fourth out of 328 runners Saturday at the Mid-East Regional Men’s Cross Country Championships to earn a spot in the Division III National Championships.
He ran to a time of 25:25.0 to lead the Presidents to a 10th place finish out of 51 teams.
Grant McCarthy ran 26:28.4 to secure 52nd place followed by Trey Razanauskas in 63rd at 26:42.8. Shane Burkhardt was 65th in 26:46.8.
Moyer will compete for a national championship Saturday in Elsah, Ill.
College wrestling
Washington & Jefferson’s Hunter Neely, a Bentworth graduate, won the 157-pound weight class Saturday at the W&J Invitational.
Neely went 4-0, opening with a 19-6 major decision over Waynesburg’s Zack Mackall followed by another major decision over Heidelberg’s Austin Rayburn, 8-0. Neely defeated Connor Craig of Wheeling Jesuit 7-4 in the semifinals and a 5-3 decision over Hayden Swartwood of Lycoming in the championship round.
The Presidents’ Mike Heinl (141) and Sam Florentino (149) each finished in second place with 4-1 records.
In golf
Rickie Fowler woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday and played three holes in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. It was enough to get him a three-way share of the 36-hole lead going into a marathon finish in Mexico.
Fowler and Patrick Rodgers had to wait out a five-hour rain delay just to resume their second round Saturday. Fowler saved par from a bunker on the 18th hole for a 4-under 67. Rodgers finally make his first bogey of the tournament on his 17th hole had to settle for a 65.
They shared the lead at 10-under 132 along with Patton Kizzire, who hasn’t hit a shot since his 70 on Friday.
The last three groups didn’t have enough light at El Camaleon Golf Club to even start the third round, leaving them a 36-hole finish on Sunday. But that’s only if the weather at this rain-plagued event allows. More thunderstorms, with heavy downpours, were in the forecast for the next two days.
In the NBA
Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving has a broken bone in his face and is doubtful for their next game.
The team called the fracture minor.
Irving left Friday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets in the first quarter after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face from teammate Aron Baynes. Irving was bleeding from the nose as he was escorted to the locker room.
Also Saturday, the Celtics said Al Horford probably would be able to return for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors.