Sports briefs
Wild Things sign former PSAC player
The Washington Wild Things announced Wednesday that they have come to terms with infielder Nick Ward.
The Kennett Square native will make the cross-state drive for his first season in Washington.
As a three-year member of the West Chester University baseball team, Ward helped the Rams win the NCAA Division II championship in 2017. His play at West Chester showed consistent growth. Ward’s career highs in doubles (11), home run (13), RBI (50), hit by pitch (17), walks (30) and batting average (.364) each came as a senior in 2018. His 69 runs led the PSAC and ranked third nationally. He holds the West Chester record for career runs (175) and his 25 home runs rank third.
Selected in the 34th round of the 2018 MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics, Ward played for four different affiliates. In 148 career games he has played all four infield positions.
“The one thing I already appreciate about Nick is that he stays true to himself and to his game. He plays an old-school style that has become undervalued at the professional level,” Wild Things general manager Tony Bucilli said. “We expect Nick to play a meaningful role in our lineup, creating runs at a high level and impacting the outcome of games.”
All black for Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are moving to black pants with black jerseys for their home uniforms in 2020 as part of a redesign the team says respects past fashion choices with updates “to match the modern progression of Atlanta.”
The team’s first redesign in 17 years also include white jerseys and white pants for road uniforms. The Falcons will wear continue to use black helmets.
Each new look features red stripes. The black home jerseys will have white numbers. The all-white road uniforms include black numbers.
Falcons President Rich McKay says the redesign was influenced by feedback from fans.
Track worlds rescheduled
The first major domino tipped in the wake of the Olympic postponement on Wednesday when track leaders rescheduled next year’s world championships for July 2022, setting up a busy summer for a sport that would normally be taking a breather.
The new dates for the event in Eugene, Oregon: July 15-24, 2022.
Track worlds are one of the largest global sporting events this side of the Olympics, drawing around 1,800 athletes from more than 200 countries.
Fan sues Tiger
A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against Tiger Woods and his caddie, claiming he suffered injuries from the caddie pushing him out of the way during the Valspar Championship that Woods played two years ago.
The civil complaint, filed Tuesday in Pinellas County, alleges Brian Borruso tried to take a selfie as Woods approached his tee shot left of the 13th green in the third round at Innisbrook, and that Joe LaCava “intentionally shoved” Borruso and caused him to stumble and fall into the crowd.
Josh Drechsel, the lawyer representing Borruso, said the lawsuit was filed two years after the tournament to get a better understanding of the injuries, which were described in the suit as “either permanent or continuing.”
Drechsel issued a public plea for evidence from fans who might have been at the 13th green that day and witnessed the incident. One video Dreshsel has shows LaCava approaching the fans with his left arm extended saying, “You’ve got to back it up.”