Mountain View outfielder Megan Stenzhorn was named as a second-team outfielder on the Class AA all-state team picked by the Pennsylvania Softball Coaches Association.

Stenzhorn, a senior, was the top hitter and run-producer when the Lady Eagles finished 9-3 to tie for second place in Division 4 of the Lackawanna League.

In football, three more Susquehanna County players were recognized in advance of their senior seasons.

Susquehanna defensive end Christian Miller, along with defensive back Patrick Parks and running back Billy Hewes from Montrose, were named as Others To Watch at their positions by www.northeastpafootball.com.

Earlier, quarterback Austin White and fullback Brett Hepler from Susquehanna were named among the Five To Watch as the most promising five players at their positions in all of District 2.

Miller was one of a total of 17 defensive linemen, including the Five To Watch, in the district recognized by the website going into the season. Hewes was one of 15 running backs and Parks one of 14 defensive backs.

WEEK IN REVIEW

The American Hockey League has set its division alignment for the 2014-15 season, adding the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to the East Division, in place of Syracuse.

Lehigh Valley, in its first year in a new arena in Allentown, will join the Binghamton Senators, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Hershey Bears and Norfolk Admirals in the East Division.

Syracuse will move from the East Division to the Northeast.

Allentown actually replaces Abbotsford, British Columbia. The Calgary Flames will send their top minor-leaguers to Glens Falls, N.Y. where the team has been renamed from Adirondack Phantoms to Adirondack Flames.

Lake Erie moves from the North to the Midwest and Iowa will move from the Midwest to the West.

In professional baseball, the Binghamton Mets swept a four-game series from the visiting Portland Sea Dogs July 7-10, cutting Portland’s Eastern League lead from eight games to four games.

Portland, which has the second-best record of all full-season teams in minor-league baseball, had not lost four straight games all season while moving 30 games above .500.

The Mets outscored the Sea Dogs, 31-8, including handing Portland its worst beating of the season, 13-3, in the series finale.

Travis Taijeron went 6-for-12 with three home runs, a double and nine RBI in three games during the series. He added a punctuation mark with a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to close the scoring in the series.

“They’re a real good team,” Taijeron said. “At the beginning of the year, they were unbeatable. They had a lot of guys like Travis Shaw and Mookie Betts.

“We’re having a lot of fun right now and we’re really confident.”

The Mets ended the week 4 ½ games behind in the Eastern League Eastern Division.

Binghamton was well-represented in Sunday night’s Futures Games at Target Field in Minnesota when the United States defeated the World, 3-2, for its fourth straight victory in the game that features the top prospects from all of minor league baseball.

Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki went 0-for-2 but drove in the first U.S. run with a groundout.

Former Met Noah Syndergaard, now pitching for Triple-A Las Vegas, got the save.

Syndergaard pitched a scoreless ninth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Baseball reaches its all-star break this week.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders second baseman Jose Pirela will play for the International League against the Pacific Coast League Wednesday in the Triple-A All-Star Game in Durham.

Pirela is fifth in the IL with a .321 batting average along with eight homers, 37 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 88 games.

The Binghamton Mets have four players on the Eastern Division roster to face the Western Division Wednesday night in the Eastern League All-Star Game in Altoona.

Infielder Brian Burgamy, outfielder Kyle Johnson and pitchers Cody Satterwhite and Jon Velasquez will represent the Mets.

Burgamy is hitting .260 with 15 homers and 53 RBI in 78 games. Johnson is hitting .278 in 70 games.

Satterwhite is 3-1 with seven saves and a 1.49 earned run average in 33 games. Velasquez is 4-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 30 games, also in relief.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

TWO WIN WEEKEND FOR KESELOWSKI

Brad Keselowski wins at New Hampshire. Furnished by NASCAR

LOUDON, N.H.---It was a perfect racing weekend for Brad Keselowski. First, he won Saturday’s Nationwide race, then he took Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Speedway.

And in both races, Kyle Busch finished second.

Just like in Saturday’s Nationwide race, Keselowski had to battle it out in a green-white-checkered finish, but the results were never in doubt as Keselowski clearly had the dominant car, after leading 138 laps of the 301-lap race.

“This might be the best weekend I’ve ever had,” said Keselowski. “It sure feels like it. What a thrill to win both races.

“It was a great race, because Kyle kept the pressure on there at the end. I knew had a fast car and I couldn’t afford to mess up.”

Kyle Busch started on the pole and led 62 laps, but his Toyota was no match for Keselowski’s Ford near the end.

“We thought we had a pretty good car, but about 40 or 50 laps into the race, I couldn’t turn it,” said Busch. “We’re close to where we want to be, so I couldn’t afford to screw up today.”

Rookie Kyle Larson finished a strong third.

“We had a good car, but the team made some really good calls to allow me to stay near the front.”

Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Kevin Harvick ran out of fuel with two to go, while Jeff Gordon had run out one lap earlier. Harvick came in 30th, while Gordon was able to take on fuel and finish 20th.

Joey Logano got tangled up with Morgan Shepherd, the oldest driver to ever start a Cup race during lap 212, and finished 40th.

Jimmie Johnson had a tire go down on lap 8, and had to pit under green. Two laps later, another tire blew out on his No. 48, and he wrecked, finishing 42nd.

Top-10 Chase leaders after 19 of 36: 1. Gordon-670, 2. Earnhardt-658, 3. Keselowski-634, 4. Kenseth-621, 5. Johnson-598, 6. Edwards-574, 7. Newman-573, 8. Kyle Busch-567, 9. Logano-551, 10. Bowyer-548.

KESELOWSKI IS RUNAWAY NATIONWIDE WINNER

It was a runaway win for Brad Keselowski in Saturday’s Nationwide race. He led 152 laps of the 200-lap race, and at one point had an eight second lead.

“Loudon is one of my favorite places to go race,” said Keselowski. “That is why I am running the Nationwide race here. I really enjoy being out here. Lap traffic is always difficult here at Loudon, but I give credit to the field. They helped me out and gave me a few breaks. That is part of the fun.”

The race ended under a green-white-checkered finish with Kyle Busch, who led 34 laps coming in second.

The remaining top-10 finishers were: Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Elliott Sadler, Brian Scott, Chase Elliott, Trevor Bayne, and Regan Smith.

Top-10 leaders after 17 of 33: 1. Smith-611, 2. Sadler-603, 3. Elliott-598, 4. T. Dillon-577, 5. Scott-560, 6. Bayne-553, 7. Gaughan-493, 8. C. Bueshcer-486, 9. J. Buescher-470, 10. Reed-456.

JONES GETS IOWA TRUCK WIN

Erik Jones, driving Kyle Busch’s No. 51 Toyota won Friday night’s truck race at Iowa Speedway. It was his second career truck victory. It was the seventh win in nine races for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Ryan Blaney finished second, followed by Matt Crafton, Joey Coulter, German Quiroga, Ben Kennedy, Jeff Choquette, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick, and John Nemechek.

Top-10 leaders after 9 of 22; 1. Crafton-330, 2. Blaney-228, 3. Sauter-323, 4. Quiroga-311, 5. Hornaday-307, 6. Kennedy-306, 7. Peters-299, 8. D. Wallace-293, 9. Coulter-282, 10. Townley-279.

NEW NASCAR TEAM IN TOWN

There’s a new player in NASCAR.

For the first time since 1969, an organization has been formed to collaborate on issues facing teams involved in NASCAR racing.

It was formed a week ago, and is called Race Team Alliance. The new organization is comprised of the top nine Cup teams and is headed by Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner Rob Kauffman

“This is the first time since the Professional Drivers Association disbanded in 1970 that NASCAR will see an organized group of competitors,” former Charlotte motor Speedway president “Humpy” Wheeler said. “Call it what you may, this group will represent a powerful force that must be reckoned with by sponsors, NASCAR, and the tracks.”

Kauffman is the major player that saved the MWR organization several years ago. He is a high stakes Wall Street player, with an estimated net worth of over $1 billion. He said the top goal of the RTA, which is operating with bylaws and an executive committee, is to work on cost-saving initiatives related to travel and buying power for parts, and communicating with one voice to NASCAR the team ideas on testing.

“Calling it a union would be incorrect,” he said. “A union would be for employees. The right way to characterize it would be a 'business alliance.' Unions are about employees directly trying to negotiate something. The RTA is pooling together to look at things we can be doing better.

“No one is looking to start a fight or be controversial.”

One thing the group might be looking at is the new television package NASCAR has signed with NBC and Fox, which begins in 2015. The new package is worth $8.2-billion, with race tracks getting 65 per cent, teams 25 per cent, and NASCAR 10 per cent.

If RTA could negotiate a larger percentage of the television pie for teams, that would be a big plus. But whichever way they go, it’s going to be a tug-of-war, because no one wants to give up any of their designated money.

Bruton Smith, owner of eight NASCAR tracks blasted the organization.

“What I know about it, of course I don't like it,” Smith. “I don't know anything about it that's good for what we do. I don't see anything that's going to be good for the sport. Nothing. What little bit I know about it right now, it seems it will damage the sport. If NASCAR needs us, we're there with NASCAR on the deal. We're there every day, every hour, if they need us.”

With Smith’s major focus being on money, it seems he’s worried the new organization may attempt to break into the hen house, and lay claim to additional TV money.

Weekend Racing: The only racing this weekend is by the Nationwide teams at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway. The Cup teams have an off week in preparation for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. The trucks race Wed., July 23, at Eldora Speedway.

Sat., July 19, Nationwide Series, race 18 of 33; Starting time: 8 pm ET; TV: ESPN2.

Racing Trivia Question: Which Cup team does Paul Menard drive for?

Last Week’s Question: What does it mean when a team “blows an engine”? Answer. It means the engine tears up, comes apart, quits running, etc.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodges@race500.com.