Colts

YOUTH BASEBALL STRUTHERS, Ohio -- Four errors hurt the Hagerstown Colt League All-Stars on Thursday in an 8-1 loss to Johnstown in the first round of the East Zone West Region Super Regional. Charles Cvijanovich and Matt Daley each had two hits for Hagerstown. Phil Pietro tripled and Jake Bachtell and Luke Toms both hit a double. Hagerstown will play either Butler or Con Mac today at 2 p.m. in the losers' bracket. River City Classic 9-10 Maugansville 11, Hancock 1 Maugansville: Justin Akins3 hits; Jacob Carbaugh7 Ks; Ryan Wolfe 4 Ks. Valley 13, Maugansville 10 Valley: Austin Moser 2 hits, HR; Andrew Mathias, Brendan Kemp, Dylan Eyler, Mark Moholt 2 hits each.

YOUTH BASEBALL The Hagerstown Colt League All-Stars begin tournament play tonight in Struthers, Ohio, in the Super Regional for the East Zone's West Region. Hagerstown will face Johnstown (Pa.) at 7:30 p.m. "We have a strong team, both offensively and defensively," Hagerstown manager Steve McLucas said. "We only have one player who hit below .450 in league play and a strong pitching staff, with nine boys who can throw. We are looking forward to getting started. " Hagerstown's players are Adam Moore, Aaron Dinterman, Jake Bachtell, Alex Courtney, Riley Stephenson, Drew Deshong, Hunter McKinley, Joe Lashley, Brad Spickler, Luke Toms, Charles Cvijanovich, Austin Yost, Phil Pietro, Jordan Nicewarner, Hunter Szaflarski, Aaron Jones, Matt Daley and Brock Heiston.

YOUTH BASEBALL STRUTHERS, Ohio -- Youngstown (Ohio) defended the winners' bracket and knocked off Hagerstown Colt All-Stars for the second time in two days on Sunday with a 6-4 decision to win the East Zone West Region title. Hagerstown reached the championship round by defeating Center Township (Ohio) 14-2 in the opener. Hagerstown would have had to defeat Youngstown twice to win the title and advance to the Zone tournament. Youngstown scored all six of its runs in the first two innings with the help of four Hagerstown errors.

Hagerstown Colt League/South High baseball will hold a bonanza Friday at the Elks Lodge on Robinwood Drive. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Tickets cost $40 per couple, which includes two meals. A cash prize of $1,500 will be available.

The Hagerstown Colt League 'C' All-Stars will gladly let the Hagerstown 'A' and 'B' teams handle the pressure of expectations at this weekend's East Zone West Region sectional tournament at Hellane Park. The 'C' squad is happy playing the role of spoiler. "We don't have a lot of pressure. We always try to play up the role of underdog," said Hagerstown 'C' manager Brian McLucas, who has managed the 'C' team eight of the past 10 years. "And it's worked before -- we won this two years ago. This is the best group of kids we've had on the 'C' team in my time.

The Super Bowl is only three weeks away after the second round of playoffs this past weekend, including two upsets Sunday. The best game this week was between the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers. Green Bay had home-field advantage, but it wasn't looking so hot when Packers running back Ryan Grant lost two fumbles and Seattle scored on both. Green Bay finally got it together and managed to pull off a stunning victory over Seattle, 42-20. I went 3-1 with my picks this week (36-32 for the season)

With almost half the season of football over, things begin to heat up. Teams begin to play harder to get into the playoffs. For others, it's just for pride. There are only nine weeks before the post-season and the unbeaten and winless are still out there. The best game this week was Jacksonville at Tampa Bay. The Jaguars came in 4-2 while the Buccaneers came in 4-3. Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia had not thrown an interception this season until halfway through the second quarter.

Week 7 has brought along some good games, some great games and some bad games. New England remains undefeated after its 49-28 win over Miami, while St. Louis remains winless after its 33-6 loss against Seattle. The best game this week was the Tennessee Titans on the road against the Houston Texans. Tennessee entered the game 3-2 while the Texans entered at 3-3. The Titans dominated most of the game, leading 32-7 at the end of the third. It seemed like the game was over, right? Nope.

It's that time of year again. No, it's not quite time for the Super Bowl, but the NFL has begun its 2007-08 season. The Indianapolis Colts played the New Orleans Saints in the season kickoff game Thursday, Sept. 6. Indianapolis, winner of the Super Bowl in February, showed it's still a championship team with a 41-10 trouncing of the Saints. What will this season hold? I can only predict what could happen until it does happen. Last season, I made predictions every week as to who would win each game.