Coe Wins Title, Church Hurt, College Hoops, Polo

COE WINS INDOOR TITLE


SEATTLE – MICHAEL COE won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor track title in the 3000 meters Sunday, posting a lifetime-best mark of 7:59.75 and provisionally qualified for the indoor national championships.

The race pitted 34 runners from Cal, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, Arizona State, UCLA, and Washington State. Second was Yoseph Gehbray of Californa at 8:02.68.

The Cal men's distance medley relay, consisting of senior Andres Perezchica, juniors Mark Matusak and Jake Hanson and Coe, also provisionally qualified for nationals with a time of 9:38.39. The relay placed fourth in the race.

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Major League Baseball Spring Training
CHURCH INJURED


RYAN CHURCH took Sunday off after a collision Saturday with first baseman Marlon Anderson during the Mets' 1-0 victory over the Dodgers at Vero Beach, Florida. MLB.com reported it like this--


The collision in shallow right field near the foul line in the fourth inning was quite nasty and left Church with a Class 2 concussion.

Anderson and Church, the right fielder, have thick bodies, and their impact was considerable. But given the potential for more serious injury, Mets manager Willie Randolph concluded, "We were pretty fortunate even though it looked a little ugly."

Anderson and Church were examined via CAT scans at a local hospital. Church was dazed and needed assistance from Randolph and trainer Mike Herbst as he walked off the field. Anderson walked off without assistance.

Church remained in the trainer's room, eyes closed, but emerged 10 minutes later. He preferred not to discuss the collision, a club spokesman said, because he still was groggy.

"He said he doesn't remember anything about anything," media relations vice president Jay Horwitz said.

Church suffered a cut inside his mouth and a sore jaw. He stayed home Sunday and didn’t even make the drive to the ballpark.

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College basketball
HUSKIES UPSET CAL

In Berkeley Saturday Washington staged an 87-84 victory over Cal to pass up the Golden Bears in the Pac-10 race. UW is now 7-10, California 6-10. JOEL SMITH scored two points in four minutes of playing time. The Huskies wrap up regular season play at Washington State on Saturday.

U-MARY ALL DONE


In Winona, Minnesota the University of Mary men’s basketball team saw its first appearance in Northern Sun post-season play end quickly as top-seeded and third-ranked Winona State tore apart the Marauders 77-50 Saturday night. Point guard GEOFF WEST scored eight points.
The Marauders end the 2008 season with a record of 8-20 overall while the Warriors improve to 30-1 this season.

West, a junior, scored 10 points per game to rank No. 2 on the squad. He led the team in steals. His brother JASON WEST, a freshman, played sparingly but ranked No. 2 in free throw percentage at .813 (13 of 16).

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College Women’s Water Polo
Aztecs Split


STANFORD, Calif. - Six different San Diego State Aztecs were able to find the back of the net against No. 2 Stanford, but it wasn't enough as the seventh-ranked San Diego State women's water polo team dropped its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener, 12-9, Saturday afternoon. The Scarlet and Black fell to 13-2 overall and 0-1 in the MPSF, while the Cardinal improved to 10-2 overall, 2-0 MPSF.

Becca Ur scored once while Heather Fenske had seven saves in goal for San Diego.

On Sunday at San Jose State however the Aztecs’ three-goal outburst in the fourth quarter lifted them to a 9-8 comeback victory over eighth-ranked San Jose State (8-8 overall, 1-3 MPSF). The Scarlet and Black improved to 14-2 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Fenske recorded double-digit saves for the fifth time this season, as she turned away 10 shots.

Masson Qualifies for State; Aztecs Rebound

Masson Blow Qualifies for State Meet

MASSON BLOW qualified for the state wrestling meet Saturday. He is pictured above in action in a photo by Armando Robles.

At the CIF-Southern Section Masters Tournament in Rialto the Lompoc High star finished fourth among 30 wrestlers wrestling at 152 pounds.

Seeded #2 Blow drew a first round bye, then pinned Timmy Garnica of North Torrance at 2:31. In the quarterfinal round he won 5-0 over Stephen Mills of Laguna Hills, but in the semifinal he was pinned by eventual winner Jacob Rodriguez of Canyon Springs at 4:47.

Relegated to the third-place bracket he stopped Trevor Gray of San Clemente 10-4, but then lost to Mills by a 7-4 score and had to settle for fourth. Mills had a big advantage in the fatigue category. He had been able to rest instead of wrestle when his qualifying match was won by injury default.

Though Blow had been seeded second by CIF, Rodriguez was no surprise. California Wrestler ranked him #2 and Blow #3. Vinny Maraj of Yucca Valley had been seeded and ranked #1 but he fell to sixth due to injury.

The state meet will take place in Bakersfield next weekend.

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College Women's Water Polo

The San Diego State unbeaten streak was snapped Saturday but the Aztecs battled back for three straight victories to give themselves a 13-1 record by nightfall Sunday.

Upstart UC Davis nipped #6-ranked SDSU on Saturday 8-7 but the team weathered a final flurry to down Michigan 11-9, edged UC Irvine 9-8, and then came from behind with four unanswered goals to top Arizona State 7-5 all at the UC-Irvine Tournament.

Goalie HEATHER FENSKE posted save totals of 8, 12, 5, and 9 with three of her 12 against Michigan coming in the final four minutes. Captain BECCA UR scored against Davis and netted another against Michigan to give the Aztecs their 11-8 advantage to provide a cushion before the Wolverines’ final push.

Becca now has 12 goals for the season, while Heather has 114 blocks.

The #6-ranked Aztecs open conference play at Stanford on Saturday and at San Jose State on Sunday.

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College hoops

SEATTLE— A ragged University of Washington team fell 77-63 to Arizona State Saturday night. The Sun Devils lifted themselves to 7-7 in the Pac-10 while UW fell to 6-9.

JOEL SMITH went 0-for-4 from the field in 15 minutes of play. He snagged three rebounds, dished an assist and blocked a shot. The Huskies visit Palo Alto to play Stanford on Thursday, and Berkeley to face Cal on Saturday.

Bismarck, ND – Fourth-ranked Northern State blacked out the University of Mary Marauders on the boards Saturday and took home a 72-50 victory. The Wolves outrebounded U-M 58-20.

GEOFF WEST led the Marauders with 14 points. He also had two assists and two steals.
The Marauders conclude the regular season at 8-19 and finish eighth in the NSIC at 5-13. The Marauders open the NSIC men’s basketball tournament at regular-season champ Winona State on Saturday,

Geoff Busts Slump; Church Signs and Reports Early

Bismarck, ND – GEOFF WEST and the University of Mary exploded offensively in the second half as the Marauders defeated Bemidji State University 79-68 Friday night.



West scored 15 points after intermission and the Marauders snapped an eight-game losing streak.



Tied early in the second half, the Marauders took control on a 9-1 run behind treys by West and Zach Dosch that built a double-digit lead for U-Mary at 48-38. The Marauders would build the lead to as many as 16 points late in the game.



After scoring in double digits in 10 straight games, West had slipped into a slump recently by scoring just 23 points in his last six games.



West broke out at just the right time, leading U-Mary with 18 points, 15 coming after the break. The junior guard from Lompoc, CA, made 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 beyond the arc. He also made all five of his free throw attempts and added three assists.

Saturday Geoff followed up by leading the team with four steals and four assists plus nine points as the Marauders won again, this time 75-64 over Minnesota-Crookston.

The victories push the Marauders past the Bemidji for the final slot in the NSIC tournament with one game left for U-Mary and two for BSU. The Marauders are now 8-18 overall and 5-12 in the NSIC.

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JOEL


The Washington Huskies startled the world last Saturday when they upset UCLA, but Thursday night they looked like a squad running 4-8 in the PAC-10. They lost 71-58 at Oregon 71-58. JOEL SMITH, playing his customary sixth man role, contributed five points and three steals in 11 minutes.

Saturday Joel did not score but brought down three rebounds, snagged two steals, and dished an assist in 19 minutes as the Huskies demolished Oregon State 97-59. Now UW is 5-8.

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Major League Baseball
CHURCH REPORTS EARLY


Though position players are not expected to report until next week, RYAN CHURCH reported to the New York Mets on Friday. MLB.com reported as follows--



Though Endy Chavez and Angel Pagan could push for at-bats, Mets manager Willie Randolph on Friday confirmed that the starting right-field job remains Church's to lose. If Church shows a propensity to hit lefties, Randolph said he could just play every day.



The knock on Church remains his career .254 average against left-handed pitching, which dipped to .229 last year. But now he'll be playing home games at Shea Stadium, where he hit .317 with four home runs. He doesn't consider those numbers to be minor.



"I hit well there," Church said. "I like hitting there. That's why I'm excited. I definitely think that the doubles can turn into home runs."



And he is excited -- thrilled, even. While many players have qualms about being traded to another team, Church said he was delighted from the start.



"I was pumped," he said. "When they told me I was traded, the first thing I said was, 'Who was it?' When they said New York, I was like, 'Thank God.'"



Last week Church avoided arbitration and signed a one-year $2 million contract with the Mets.

Weekender--Fenske Stars in SD's Roaring Start

Heather Fenske, Lompoc's "Rudy"

In the feel-good story of the winter San Diego State is 5-0 and won the weekend UC San Diego women’s water polo tournament. Better yet, a Lompocan was the star of the event…a most unexpected Lompocan at that

Senior goalie HEATHER FENSKE was a dominant force as she recorded a career-high 14 saves in the San Diego State Aztecs' season-opening 11-8 victory against Hartwick last week.

Then, just to show that performance was no fluke, Fenske turned in nine more in a 13-6 whipping of Maryland and eight later in the day in an 11-6 triumph over Cal State Northridge in the first two games of the UCSD Triton Invitational.

In the semifinal Sunday the Aztecs won 8-6 over UCSB, Fenske registering 10 saves, and in the title game the ‘Tecs won yet again, 10-9 over Loyola-Marymount. Fenske totaled five blocks. In 13 seasons SD State had never before won the UC San Diego early season tournament.

Fenske had scarcely played in it before. She played in just nine matches out of 30 each of the last two years and has won just one letter over three seasons, but she is a six-time scholar athlete at SDSU.

Aztec co-captain BECCA UR netted three goals in the five contests and against UCSB led the defense with four steals.

Earlier in the tournament KATHRYN NELSON of UCSB scored her first collegiate goal in a 16-15 victory over Hartwick.

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College Hoops

Joel
Thursday JOEL SMITH got 17 minutes and scored two points as the Washington Huskies lost their fourth straight Pac-10 basketball game, this to USC. On Saturday when the Huskies snapped the loss skein upsetting #5-ranked UCLA Joel got only four minutes.

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Geoff
Friday in St. Paul, Minnesota GEOFF WEST scored six but the University of Mary fell to the outside shooting of Concordia 86-59. On Saturday West scored eight but the Marauders lost 58-56 to Minnesota-Moorhead in the final three seconds. The Marauders slip to 6-18 with the loss and 3-12 in the Northern Sun.

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College baseball

JAKE KOUGL
JAKE KOUGL is on the South Dakota State baseball roster for his senior year after serving as the Jackrabbits’ closer in 2007. Kougs totaled nine saves to lead the team. He posted an ERA of 3.38

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JC baseball

Hancock
At Hancock COREY DOTZLER must like openers. He rapped two hits for two RBIs in a 6-4 victory over Taft in the Bulldogs’ season opener. Then in the home opener on February 5 he did the exact same thing—two rips, two RBIs. But he wasn’t done. On February 8 against West Hills he rapped two more, including a three-run homer. On Saturday against Rio Hondo he was good for two more including a double. En Fuego!

On February first at Reedley KIRK FRIDRICH notched his first win of the season in a 2 1/3 –inning outing against College of the Sequoias.

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SB City College
At SBCC JOHNATHON TERRONES is batting .222 after 2-for-9 in six of the Vaqueros’ first seven games. One of those raps was a triple. Catcher BRIAN GREGORY has gotten into two games and in one at-bat has an on-base percentage of 1.000. He drew a walk. Pitcher JAMES ROOT has taken the mound for one inning. He struck out one, walked one, and gave up one earned run.

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Boxing
ROY'S BOXING GYM MOVING AGAIN

Effectively immediately, Roy's Boxing Gym will be moving to 960 East Chestnut or next door to the Lompoc Food Pantry. Contact Coach Baca at 588-2901 for more information.

Church Excited About Santana; UW, UM Hoops Fall

CHURCH EXCITED TO HAVE SANTANA

RYAN CHURCH, the last newcomer to the New York Mets before yesterday’s announcement of the club’s trade for star lefthander Johan Santana, expressed delight at the acquisition.

“I'm just glad that he's on our team,” Church wrote in a Wednesday e-mail. “He really is the cream of the crop when talking about starting pitchers. He now joins an already solid pitching staff, and I can't wait to play behind all of these guys!“

Earlier, in an interview televised on Lompoc Locker Room, the TV Show, Church made clear just how very optimistic he is about his new Mets team.

“They want to get an ace like Johan Santana,” Church said on January 11. “If they do, the sky’s the limit.”

“The limit” in baseball is winning the World Series. That is a goal Church's former team, the Washington Nationals, could only dream of for the far distant future.

“I know now that I have a chance year in and year out to win a championship,” Church said. “That’s why I said I was ecstatic and I still am.”

He also commented on a variety of other topics--

Playing right field instead of left field as he did in Washington--“I think I’m capable of playing all three (positions). It’ll be a different angle from where the ball comes off the bat but other than that it won’t be a problem. It won’t take long—a day or two of fly balls.”

The outfield at Shea Stadium—“It’s smaller than DC stadium, pretty much any stadium is. I won’t have to worry about playing so deep.”

Hitting at Shea—“It’s considered a neutral or a little bit a pitchers park but in years past, especially last year, I’ve hit well there.”

How many of his 43 doubles last season might have been home runs at Shea? – “At least 10.” Church hit 15 home runs in 2007.

Besides his doubles and home runs will his RBI total go up as well? –“The potential for hitting in a lineup like that with guys on base, I haven’t had that since I’ve been in the big leagues. In the minor leagues I had guys around me but not in the big leagues. You get better pitches to hit and more opportunities. I’m shooting for 85-90.” He had 70 RBI in 2007.

Is his batting average likely to rise also? “With more guys on base there’ll be more opportunities for sac flies and stuff like that. Definitely the average can go up.” Church batted .272 last season.

Omar Minaya, the Met General Manager, knew Ryan from when they both were with Montreal. Was knowing Omar a factor in the trade?—“They had two positions they had to shore up for next year and Omar, knowing me and Brian Schneider, he went and got us. So I think it played a role.”

Does it make a difference playing for a guy who wants you like Minaya? -- “It’s a confidence booster going in there knowing the guy that runs the team has a lot of confidence in me. He’s already shown that. Trading for me showed that here the NY Mets, a team that contends for the World Series year in and year out, wants me. That alone really brightened my day.”

Washington GM Jim Bowden did not seem to be a Church fan. Did that bother you? --“You can’t worry about it. You can’t let it bother you when they’re sticking it to you. It’s your job, your career. I kept my mouth shut and when I had an opportunity to do something to show them I tried to seize the moment and do it. There’s a lot of business stuff that goes along with baseball. You just have to keep your mouth shut and go out there and play hard.”

The New York sports writers have a reputation for being hyper critical. What do you think? – “I’ll respect them as long as they respect me. (Criticism) comes with the territory. There’s gonna be people writing stuff about you that you might not like. The best thing is not to read it, just go out and play. Don’t pay any attention.”

Regarding criticism from bloggers immediately after the trade — “I have a lot of things to prove to people. I’ll be happy to get in there and strap it up and get them behind me."

Does he like New York? — “I’m looking forward to it but you know me. I’m not a guy for hanging out with a lot of people. I don’t think you’ll see me living it up. I’ll go home, go to bed, get up and go to the yard.”

Is baseball still a thrill after four years? – “It’s a thrill every day. I love the game and I’m still a kid at heart.”

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JOEL

College Hoops

SEATTLE-- The California Golden Bears nipped Washington Saturday 79-75 to dump the Huskies to 3-6 in the PAC-10. JOEL SMITH (pictured above) scored five points in 15 minutes in his sixth man role.

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GEOFF & JASON

College Hoops

BISMARCK, N.D.-- Visiting Wayne State nipped University of Mary 73-65 Saturday. The most startling statistic however was that point guard GEOFF WEST was held scoreless in 25 minutes of action. It was the first time in a regular season game West has not scored. His average is 9.8 points per game. The Marauders fall to 3-10 in Northern Sun conference play, 6-16 overall.

Panel Picks Duffy Male Athlete of 2007; CHS Girls Polo, McIntyre, Ur, Carmona Also Named; 'Peoples Choice' Voting Opens

And the winner is....... DANNY DUFFY!!!!!

KATHRYN NELSON, SARAH UR, coach COREY McINTYRE and ASHLEY SMITH display athlete, team and coach of the year certificates which Cabrillo High girls water polo nearly swept in voting by Lompoc Locker Room's Select Panel.

DANNY DUFFY swept easily to victory in Lompoc Locker Room’s Lompoc Male Athlete of the Year poll it was announced this evening.
He was joined on Lompoc Locker Room, the TV Show by Cabrillo High girls water polo coach COREY McINTYRE, named 2007 Coach of the Year, and by ASHLEY SMITH, KATHRYN NELSON and SARAH UR, tri-captains of the CIF champion Cabrillo girls water polo team, which received Team of the Year honors.

Ur also received recognition as female Athlete of the Year though two awards were made in that category when Ur and Lompoc High soccer star JANI CARMONA finished in a tie for the top spot. Carmona, still at college in Hawaii, was not present but she was contacted by phone.

Among 13 writers, sportscasters, and sports officials Duffy, the fireballing lefthander who whiffed 127 batters for Cabrillo High, signed a lucrative third-round contract with the Kansas City Royals, and then encored with a top-of-the-charts performance in the Arizona Rookie League, far outpolled his competitors.

Duffy totaled 40 points with seven first place votes while his closest competitor, El Camino College quarterback BOO JACKSON, finished with 25 and three first place votes.

They were followed by Cabrillo swim star WES HAIN with 19 points, track star DUANE SOLOMON with 16, and a three-way tie for fifth between Cal distance runner MICHAEL COE, major league baseball outfielder RYAN CHURCH (one first place vote) and 82-year old world swim champion FRANK PIEMME (two first place votes) all with 11 points.

“This is crazy. There are some great people on that list,” Duffy said. “What an honor.” Seventeen male athletes had been nominated.

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Ur, Carmona Tie

The female AOY race was the mirror opposite of the guys’ poll—four nominees finished within seven points. Seven of ten nominees received at least one first-place vote.

Ur and Carmona finished deadlocked at 29 points with two first place points apiece. Ur’s teammate KATHRYN NELSON tied with Cal Poly golfer JULIA HEATH at 22, Nelson also attracting two first-place votes. The top five were rounded out by Cabrillo golfer KELLIE GEORGE who drew 18 votes and had the largest number of first place votes with three.
KARISSA ROBERTSON, the Cabrillo and Hawaii-Hilo soccer star, Hancock cross country runner ARIANA FABING, and Hancock tennis placer ELYSHA McLAIN, also received first-place votes.

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Cabrillo Girls Polo Easy Winner

The Cabrillo girls water polo team, and its coach, McIntyre, dominated voting in team and coach categories. The team doubled the vote total of the Lompoc High baseball, Los Padres League champion for the second year, and for youth football’s Lompoc Scorpions, champions of the Central Coast. The only other team to draw a vote was LHS’ girls soccer team led by Carmona. Eleven teams had been nominated.

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McIntyre Doubles the Total of Nearest Competitor

McIntyre’s closest competitor was not another prep coach but boxing trainer ROY BACA who drew three votes to McIntyre’s six. Lompoc High baseball mentor JIM ALLEN drew two votes and PETER ANDERSON, Cabrillo boys cross country, and ADDIE FRANCIS, leader of league champion LHS girls soccer, one each.

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People's Choice Awards; West Late Entry

Voting for four Lompoc Locker Room “People’s Choice Awards” is now open. It will run through Sunday night.

In the nick of time basketball guard GEOFF WEST has been nominated in the Athlete of the Year category. West led the University of Mary Marauders in their upset win Sunday over No. 8-ranked St. Cloud State. West is the No. 2 scorer for U-M and the No. 2 in steals. He has been described by his coach in comments to the Bismarck, North Dakota newspaper as the team leader.

Chris White Named; Geoff & Jason Lose to NoDak

CHRIS WHITE, who led Sacramento City College in virtually every one of baseball’s offensive statistics, and was named the MVP of his conference before being signed by the Detroit Tigers, has been nominated for Lompoc Athlete of 2007.

The centerfielder was 2007 Big 7 Conference MVP and an All-American. He batted .369 with 30 stolen bases in the regular season and helped his team to the state JC Final Four. He was picked in the 12th round by the Tigers.

White spent much of the summer with the Gulf Coast League Tigers where he caught fire at the end of the season. He was promoted to Oneonta of the New York-Penn League for the playoffs.

White joins Duane Solomon, Ryan Church, Danny Duffy, Wes Hain, Boo Jackson, Miguel Ortiz and Matt Sims on the ballot.

YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. Take a look at the nominations list to date in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

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GEOFF (& JASON)

GEOFF WEST and the University of Mary Marauders (now wait a minute, do the virgin Mary and "the Marauders" REALLY go together?") fell Tuesday night to the University of North Dakota 74-55. West contributed six points, two rebounds and two assists in just 15 minutes of play. NoDak was up by 19 at halftime and it just got worse. JASON WEST also logged 15 minutes but did not score. The Marauders (2-4) visit Wayne State Friday night.

McLain Named; Fans Trash Omar; CIF; TV; Hoops

ELYSHA McLAIN has been nominated for consideration in the Lompoc Locker Room Female Athlete of the Year contest.
McLain, pictured, took her tennis skills which were honed at Cabrillo High, to Allan Hancock College. There last spring she won first team all-Western State Conference honors in singles and second team in doubles.

YOU can nominate right now! Just e-mail your nominee to pressboxprod@verizon.net in any of four categories: Male Athlete of 2007, Female Athlete of 2007, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. Take a look at the nominations list to date in the right-hand column below our sponsors.

Storie on TV

Lompoc Aquatic Center Supervisor JEFF STORIE appears on this week’s Lompoc Locker Room TV show beginning at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Interesting stuff, especially if you swim early or late.

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Kennedy to ref CIF

Lompoc football official BOBBY KENNEDY has been selected to ref one of the CIF finals next weekend. Unknown which one.

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Basketball
Joel

Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma JOEL SMITH showed once again that he is the Washington Huskies' man-beyond-the-arc. Joel came off the bench as the sixth man and played 31 minutes. He hit 2-of-3 from three point land, 1-for-1 inside it, and 2-for-2 from the line for 10 points. He also contributed three offensive rebounds, two assists and a steal in 31 minutes. For the season he is 11-for-16 from downtown for a blazing 69%. Unfortunately Oklahoma State won the contest easily 96-71. UW is now 4-3 with its next game on Saturday when they host Pittsburgh.

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Geoff

Saturday night in Bismarck, North Dakota GEOFF WEST dished the ball around to help the Marauders of the University of Mary rake in their first conference victory of the season.

Bismarck, ND – A balanced attack featuring five players in double figures carried the University of Mary to their first Northern Sun win of the year, a 92-82 victory over Upper Iowa.
Eric Erdmann, a sophomore forward, spearheaded the Marauders attack by scoring 18 points junior center Zach Dosch came off the bench to score 14 points. Freshman guard Jordan Wilhelm also added 14 points and had three assists. Fellow guards Geoff West and Jordan Engelhardt each added 12 points. West had five assists.

Unfortunately Friday night in the conference opener Winona State was just too tough.

Bismarck, ND – The University of Mary lead was brief, but appeared to be enough to really annoy the seventh-ranked Warriors of Winona State as the Marauders fell 93-71 in the Northern Sun men’s basketball opener for both teams.
Playing in front of a standing room only crowd at the McDowell Activity Center, Eric Erdmann hit the opening bucket of the game and, after a three pointer by WSU, Geoff West responded with a three-point basket to give U-Mary a 5-3 lead. Three straight treys, running their streak to four in a row for the Warriors, quickly pushed WSU to a 12-7 lead. That lead would soon expand to a 22-point differential in the first half as Winona State outscored U-Mary 37-13 in one stretch.

The final was 93-71. After five games West is 9-for-17 (53%) from beyond the arc to lead U-M both in attempts and successes. He leads the team in minutes and ranks #2 in scoring with 9.6 per game. The Marauders are now 2-3 with the University of North Dakota coming to visit Tuesday night.

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Baseball
Mets’ Bloggers Trashing Omar

The New York bloggers are having a field day blasting Omar Minaya for trading “future superstar” Lastings Milledge for RYAN CHURCH and Brian Schneider. However there are a few NY fans who get the picture. Here’s one.

Good trade. I wanted to believe that Lastings was as good as advertised 3 to 4 years ago as well. Simply put, his heart isn't and never will be in the game. He called my friends car dealership and demanded a new car bc he's Lastings Milledge. They laughed. He was a can-cer in the Mets locker room. Good luck to him. If he hits 40 HR, I'll not be upset he is gone. Now, for Brian Schneider, FINALLY , we have a catcher that can friggin THROW OUT runners. It's what the Mets needed. He's a HUGE character guy. He is also known to be great with a staff. Tough as nails. Church...what are you guys missing? He's a late bloomer that has played a mere 3 years for a poor team. Seventy RBI in 2/3 of a season? That translates to 110 RBI on the Mets. Check how many runners in scoring position he had in DC LOL. He was in line for 60 friggin doubles. How many times will he be knocking home D Wright this year? Oftentimes. Solid character and fielder. Addition by subtraction even if the two DON't work out, which they will. You guys feel that Alou will play more than 80 friggin games? Not. Church needed greatly. If Lastings had ANY value in terms of landing one of the two A's pitchers...Omar would have tied him to a foul pole and not let him go anywhere…. In the words of NY's Marv Albert: YES!!!!!!!!!!!GO METS! -Lawrence

The Nationals scored 528 runs last season, the Mets 818. You can’t drive in runs when the bags are empty. If Ryan Church can drive in 70 runs for that Washington team he should drive in 90-100 for the Mets. Keep in mind he didn’t play during August. – Mr. En Fuego