District 2 had a big finish to the 2014-15 high school sports year, taking three teams to the final day of Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association season with appearances in the state baseball and softball finals at Penn State University.

Holy Redeemer from Wilkes-Barre won the Class AA softball championship.

Wyoming Valley West (AAAA) and Abington Heights (AAA) reached the state baseball finals.

Montrose graduate Bill Zalewski, who guided Abington Heights to the 2009 state championship with current San Diego Padres second baseman Cory Spangenberg in the lineup, put the Comets in their second final in seven seasons.

Holy Redeemer rallied from an early three-run deficit Friday to defeat Deer Lake, 10-5, in the Class AA softball final.

Morgan Bienkowski threw five scoreless innings of relief and went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI in the win.

The Royals scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 9-5 lead.

Both Wyoming Valley West and Abington Heights were tied in the fifth inning of baseball championship games when they were interrupted by rain. Both the Spartans and Comets fell after the restart.

North Penn from Lansdale defeated Wyoming Valley West, 4-3, in Class AAAA.

Abington Heights had a 15-game winning streak end in a 7-5 loss to Knoch in the Class AAA final.

Zalewski went on from Montrose to play at Lackawanna College and King’s College where he was a first-team Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom League first-team, all-star as a senior.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The New York Yankees Old-Timers’ Weekend will extend to PNC Field in Moosic Sunday.

Following the 69th annual Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York Saturday, a Yankees Legends Game will be played Sunday.

The Legends Game will honor Brian Doyle, a member of the 1978 World Series champions, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the National Parkinson Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

The game will feature Yankees legends playing against each other. A winner of an online auction to benefit Parkinson’s research will also receive the opportunity to play in the game.

The event will include a Father’s Day barbeque, live bands and post-game activities. There will be access to the field to play catch or Whiffleball and to take photos in the team dugouts.

“Our top priority, in our first season as an ownership group, was to establish a stronger connection between the New York Yankees and the communities of northeastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey,” Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders co-managing owner David Abrams said in a press release. “The event is our way of thanking our fans by enabling them to see their Yankees heroes and interact with them in an intimate setting, while sharing a special Father’s Day with their families.”

RailRiders co-owner Grant Cagle said the idea came about after Doyle announced he has Parkinson’s Disease.

World Series stars Reggie Jackson and Don Larsen are among the nearly 30 former Yankees who have committed.

Jackson earned the nickname “Mr. October” for his World Series exploits, including three consecutive homers. Larsen pitched the only World Series perfect game.

The others scheduled to make appearance include Bucky Dent, Tommy John, Roy White, Charlie Hayes, Gene “Stick” Michael, Ron Blomberg, Jesse Barfield, Jeff Nelson, Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd, and Oscar Gamble, along with Jim Coates and Hector Lopez, members of the 1961 and 1962 World Series champions.

Gates open at 12:30 p.m. in advance of the 2:05 p.m. first pitch.

Ticket prices range from $10 for bleachers/lawn to $20 for field reserve up to $150 for VIP packages that include pre- and post-game lunch and VIP reception with the former Yankees.

The Father’s Day barbeque, beginning at 3:30 p.m., is $25 for adults $12 for children under 12 and free for children under 2.

More ticket information is available by calling 570-969-BALL (2255) or online at ticketmaster.com or at swbrailriders.com.

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.

KURT BUSCH WINS MICHIGAN RAIN RACE

Kurt Busch who won Michigan's rain-shortened Sprint Cup race. Furnished by NASCAR

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Kurt Busch won his second Sprint Cup race of the season Sunday at Michigan, after the scheduled 200-lap race was called at the completion of 138 laps, with Busch leading.

It was his 27th victory in 519 Sprint Cup starts.

Busch inherited the lead on lap 133 after Kyle Larson had to pit for fuel. Five laps later, the rains came, and Busch was declared the winner.

“Obviously things couldn’t have worked out better for us,” said Busch. “We didn’t quite have the car we needed at the beginning of the race, but during each one of the rain periods, we talked it over, and the team made the right adjustments.

“Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time means more than speed or horsepower, and today we were where we needed to be in order to win.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr, who only led one lap, was scored second.

“Yeah, I mean, you just had to wait on the weather to get moved out, wait on them to dry the track,” he said. “You know, it didn't give you a whole lot of opportunities to understand your car and know exactly how to adjust your car and what to work on, so we were still dealing with some issues that we wanted to improve when the final shower came.

“When it came to the restarts, we didn't take off as well as the 41. We saw the same thing at Charlotte, the 78 (Martin Truex) and the 41 (Kurt Busch) take off real good. We were just kind of tight waiting on the front to work, don't have the good speed that they have the first three or four laps, and that was the difference today, and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) having the trouble he had. He had the field covered. I think on the long run, again, we were one of the best cars. Us and the 4 seemed to match each other into that last run and found some good speed running the very top of the groove, had the car turning.”

Martin Truex Jr., winner of last week’s Cup race did not lead any laps, but was third.

With his third-place finish Truex Jr. became the first racer to score 14 top-10 finishes in the first 15 races since Richard Petty in 1969.

“Really proud to have my name mentioned next to Richard Petty,” said Truex, “The King is pretty special and I am so thankful for my team and what they've done this year. Hopefully we'll keep this thing rolling.”

Matt Kenseth was fourth, while Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Trevor Bayne, and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10.

Polesitter Kasey Kahne was 15th.

Perhaps the driver with the worst luck was Kyle Larson. He led twice for seven laps, and was leading the race when he had to pit for fuel on lap 133. Five laps later, it was all over, and Larson finished 17th.

Kevin Harvick led the most laps (63), but cut a right front tire and had to make an extra pit stop. He finished one lap down in the 29th spot.

Danica Patrick finished 16th. There have been three other female drivers that competed at Michigan in the Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie, Robin McCall, and Shawna Robinson. Of the four, Guthrie’s 10th place finish has been the best.

Top-10 Chase leaders after 15 of 36: 1. Harvick-576, 2. Truex-561, 3. Logano-520, 4. Earnhardt-508, 5. Johnson-506, 6. Keselowski-480, 7. McMurray-464, 8. Kenseth-456, 9. Kahne-447, 10. Gordon-434.

KYLE BUSCH GETS 71ST XFINITY WIN

When Kyle Busch crossed the stripe in Saturday’s Xfinity race at Michigan, it marked the 71st time he has won in that series. It also was the first victory for him since returning after a February crash that sidelined him for nearly four months.

Busch led three times for 27 laps. He gained the lead from Chase Elliott with four-to-go in the 125-lap race.

“It feels good to win a race like this, when you really have to fight for it,” said Busch. “I didn’t have quite the car Joey did, but after the deal between him and Kevin, I knew that I could win.”

Busch was referring to a racing incident between Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick late in the race. After the race’s eighth caution, Logano and Harvick were racing for the lead. On lap 117, their two cars bumped, causing each driver to get squirrelly, and lose positions.

“I just got loose,” said Harvick. “I was trying to get by underneath, and the back of my car came around and I got up into him. It was a pretty aggressive move on my part, but what the heck, I was going for the win.”

Finishing order: 1. Kyle Busch, 2. Chase Elliott, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Chris Buescher, 5. Elliott Sadler, 6. Kevin Harvick, 7. Joey Logano, 8. Aric Almirola, 9. Brian Scott, 10. Denny Hamlin.

Top-10 leaders after 13 of 33: C. Buescher-489, 2. T. Dillon-464, 3. Elliott-454, 4. Smith-434, 5. Wallace Jr.-426, 6. Sadler-414, 7. Scott-394, 8. Reed-378, 9. Gaughan-378, 10. Suarez-369.

CUSTER GETS TRUCK WIN

GRANITE CITY, Ill.--Cole Custer gained the lead from Tyler Reddick on a restart with five laps to go, and cruised to his second Truck Series win of the season.

Top-10 finishers: 1. Custer, 2. Spencer Gallagher, 3. Johnny Sauter, 4. John Nemechek, 5. Cameron Hayley, 6. Timothy Peters, 7. Ben Kennedy, 8. Tyler Reddick, 9. Daniel Hemric, 10. Austin Theriault.

Top-10 leaders after 8 of 23: 1. Crafton-329, 2. Reddick-317, 3. Sauter-299, 4. Jones-296, 5. Townley-260, 6. Hayler-254, 7. Gallagher-251, 8. Hemric-246, 9. Peters-245, 10. Kennedy-238.

ROSS KENSETH TAKES ARCA RACE

Ross Kenseth earned his first victory on the ARCA Racing Series, beating Frank Kimmel by 2.1 seconds at Michigan on Friday. Kenseth is the son of Sprint Cup star Matt Kenseth. Ross Kenseth, 22, was making his third career ARCA start.

Kenseth plans to make his Xfinity Series debut next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

Weekend Racing: There is no racing this Sunday. The Cup teams have the weekend off. The Xfinity Series are at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, while the Trucks tackle the seven-eighths mile Newton, Iowa track.

Fri, June 19; Truck Series race 9 of 23; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: Foxsports1.

Sat., June 20; Xfinity Series race 14 of 33; Starting time: 9:30 pm ET; TV: Foxsports1.

Racing Trivia Question: Martin Truex Jr. drives the No. 78 Chevrolet for Furniture Row Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series. Where is the team based out of?

Last Week’s Question: Which Cup driver experienced two hard crashes at the Michigan track in 1994 and 1999, that ended his racing career. Answer. It was Ernie Irvan.

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