Susquehanna’s Austin White and Christian Miller as well as Montrose’s Billy Hewes have been selected to play for the City team in the 81st annual Dream Game July 29.
The Scranton Lions Club-sponsored, all-star game for recent Lackawanna Football Conference graduates will be played at Henzes Memorial Stadium in Peckville for the second straight year.
The City, which will be coached by West Scranton’s Brian Fahey, takes on the County. Each team is made up of players from 10 LFC schools.
White was named LFC Division III Offensive Player of the Year by northeastpafootball.com while Miller was one of four players to be a first-team Division 3 all-star on both offense and defense on the teams selected by the website.
A Blue Ridge graduate, who played football at Susquehanna as part of the co-sponsorship of the sport between the two schools, White joins Delaware Valley’s Brett Cohen as the City quarterbacks.
White led the District 2 Class A finalist Sabers in rushing, passing and scoring. He carried 166 times for 998 yards and 12 touchdowns. As a passer, White completed 51 of 145 attempts for 899 yards and nine touchdowns while throwing eight interceptions. He added a safety and two-point conversion for 76 total points.
On defense, White was fourth on the Sabers in tackles and tied for second in tackles for losses.
Miller spent much of his time in the interior of the offensive line, earning an all-star selection there, but also played some at tight end, catching four passes for 55 yards.
From his defensive end position, Miller frequently applied pressure in the opposing backfields. He led the team with seven sacks, 18 total tackles for losses, 12 rushed passers and three blocked kicks. Miller was third on the team with 57 tackles while assisting 39 others.
Hewes, a running back, was Montrose’s leading rusher as a junior and ran for more than 1,100 total yards the past two seasons.
The City Dream Game team also includes players from Scranton, Scranton Prep, West Scranton, Dunmore, Holy Cross, North Pocono, Delaware Valley and Wallenpaupack.
Donnie McDonough from Western Wayne will coach the County team which features players from his team as well as Valley View, Lakeland, Mid Valley, Carbondale, Riverside, Old Forge, Honesdale, Abington Heights and Lackawanna Trail.
The County broke a four-game losing streak last season, cutting the City advantage in the series to 39-37-4.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Three members of the 2012 national champion Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Junior Knights team were selected by Pennsylvania teams in the National Hockey League Draft Friday and Saturday.
Ivan Provorov, a defenseman, went in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers as the seventh overall pick Friday.
Forwards Daniel Sprong and Nikita Pavlychev were selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second and seventh rounds Saturday. Sprong was the first Pittsburgh pick.
Provorov, Sprong and Pavylchev helped the Knights to the 2011-12 USA Hockey Tier I U-14 national title. Provorov and Pavlychev returned for another season and helped the Knights to the Tier I U-16 national tournament.
Elijah Latimer from Clifford Township was a defenseman and teammate of the NHL Draft picks on both teams.
Sprong was the leading scorer in the 2012 national tournament and Pavlychev scored the winning goal in the final.
Provorov spent the 2014-15 season with the Brandon Wheat Kings of Canada’s Western Hockey League. Sprong played for the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Pavlychev, who has committed to Penn State University, played for the United States Hockey League’s Des Moines Buccaneers.
Provorov and Pavlychev are both from Russia. Sprong was born in the Netherlands and grew up in Canada.
LOOKING AHEAD
Two Binghamton Mets and a recent addition to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders roster have been selected to play in the Futures Game July 12 in Cincinnati.
Binghamton’s Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Aaron Judge were all part of the outfield for the U.S. team that was announced Thursday. The United States will take on the World in the 17th annual game that features the top prospects in all of Minor League Baseball as a prelim to the Major League Baseball All-Star Week.
Conforto, who joined Binghamton in May, and Nimmo, who was selected for the Futures Game for the second time in three seasons, give the B-Mets at least one representative in the game for the fifth straight year. Matt Harvey played in 2011 followed by Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores in 2012, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero in 2013 and Kevin Plawecki last season.
Both Mets in the game are 22 years old.
Conforto, the 10th overall pick in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft, hit .283 with seven home runs and 28 RBI at Port St. Lucie of the Class A Florida State League to earn the promotion to Class AA. At the time of his selection, he was hitting .346 with two homers and 13 RBI in his first 22 Eastern League games.
Nimmo was the 13th overall pick in 2011. He missed four weeks with a sprained anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, but was on a 13-game hitting streak and batting .317 with two homers and 11 RBI in 40 games.
Judge is widely regarded as the top prospect among position players in the New York Yankees farm system. The 6-foot-7, 255-pounder was the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2013 draft.
After batting .284 with 16 doubles, 12 homers and 44 RBI in 63 games at Class AA Trenton, Judge was promoted to the RailRiders June 22. He hit his first Class AAA home run just hours after his Futures Game selection was announced.
Two former Cincinnati Reds will manage the teams. Ken Griffey Sr. will lead the U.S. team against Tony Perez and the World team.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com.
KYLE AND KURT BUSCH TAKE SONOMA
Kyle Busch celebrates his Sprint Cup win at Sonoma with the traditional glass of wine. Furnished by NASCAR.
SONOMA, Calif.—“Rowdy” Kyle Busch came on strong in the closing laps to win Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Sonoma, while his brother, Kurt, finished a strong second.
Kyle had several problems in the early part of the race, but after the fifth caution he was running third. The race’s sixth caution came out with 12-laps to go in the 110-lap race. Jimmie Johnson, the race leader did not pit, while Kyle and most of the other frontrunners took on four fresh tires.
Back on the track, Johnson was a sitting duck for Kyle and the other drivers that had newer tires.
When the final restart was given on lap 103, Kyle was seventh. One lap later, he was second behind Johnson. On the next lap, it was evident that Johnson’s older tires were no match for Kyle Busch and his four new tires. Johnson pulled over and let Busch and his No. 18 Toyota pass.
“This is awesome,” said Kyle. “It feels so great to be back in victory lane. There were a lot of people and companies that stuck with me when I wasn’t able to race. We’ve won this race, and I believe we can still make the Chase.”
In order for Kyle Busch to make this year’s Chase he must finish within the top-30. It’s possible, but unlikely.
For the last four laps of the race, it was a question of who was going to finish second.
Kurt Busch, who started the race from the second spot, got by Johnson, then Clint Bowyer to claim the runner-up position.
“It was an incredible drive,” said Kurt. “We had a fast car, but I didn’t quite get the restarts I would have liked to. But I have to hand it to my little brother.”
The remaining top-10 finishers were: Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, and Sam Hornish.
David Ragan was involved in two separate bumping incidents. The first came during lap 30 when he got into the rear of Martin Truex, who was sent spinning into the wall. The second occurred on lap 79 between he and Carl Edwards, as their two cars went into a turn. Both cars touched, bumped and hit the outside retaining wall.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Edwards. “It was close racing. I think maybe my left front got into his right rear, and he slipped around.”
During that caution period Jeff Gordon, who was running fifth pitted for fresh tires and gas. One of his crewmembers removed a right-side spring rubber from his car and threw it across the pit wall. NASCAR prohibits the throwing of objects during a pit stop, so Gordon was penalized. He was sent to the rear of the field on the restart, but was able to finish 16th.
Top-10 Chase leaders after 16 of 36: 1. Harvick-616, 2. Truex-563, 3. Logano-559, 4. Johnson-546, 5. Earnhardt-545, 6. Keselowski-505, 7. McMurray-497, 8. Kahne-483, 9. Kenseth-479, 10. Kurt Busch-469.
The top-16 drivers will have their points reset after race No. 26.
Note: The Xfinity and Truck teams had an off week.
Top-10 Xfinity Series leaders after 14 of 33: 1. C. Buescher-528, 2. T. Dillon-499, 3. Elliott-485, 4. Smith-466, 5. D. Wallace-462, 6. Sadler-447, 7. Scott-430, 8. Gaughan-419, 9. Reed-410, 10. Suarez-407.
Top-10 Truck Series leaders after 9 of 23: 1. Crafton-370, 2. Reddick-358, 3. E. Jones-344, 4. Sauter-327, 5. Townley-294, 6. Gallagher-288, 7. Peters-283, 8. Hemric-282, 9. Hayley-280, 10. Kennedy-269.
DANICA NEEDS CONTRACT AND SPONSOR
Stewart Haas Racing is working hard to resign Danica Patrick before her contract expires at the end of the 2015 season.
To do so, SHR must find her a primary sponsor. GoDaddy announced in April
that it would end its longtime sponsorship of Patrick's cars after the 2015 season. Patrick, who is in her third full-time season in the Sprint Cup, is also in the final year of her deal at SHR, which she joined in 2012.
“It's a huge focus of ours on a daily basis,” SHR executive vice president Brett Frood told NBC Sports. “We have a team working on it. From a timing standpoint, we'd like to have something done by the end of the summer in unison with her and a partner and feel confident we'll be able to get that done.”
NASCAR contracts with drivers and sponsors tend to coincide in terms of at least three years. During a news conference last month, Patrick said her agent and advisers were working with the SHR marketing department to align with a new brand.
SOUVENIR HAULERS ARE GOING, GOING, GONE
The traditional souvenir haulers that have long been a mainstay at all NASCAR races are on the way out.
Although the haulers will still be around through the end of 2015, Pocono will mark the debut of the new superstore shopping experience in the form of a 60,000-square foot layout roughly the size of 1.5 football fields.
Contained within the superstore, an enormous tent-style structure made up of two long sides, a centerpiece area and checkout piece at the end, will be merchandise from 58 NASCAR drivers and 25 teams. Individual driver shops within the bigger facility will be 525 square feet, with room to expand.
Unlike the souvenir haulers, where fans can typically only point to a product they wish to buy before making a purchase, the superstore will offer consumers a chance to touch and closely examine a product such as a hat or T-shirt before actually buying it.
Want your name emblazoned on the hat of your favorite driver? Want a T-shirt commemorating your favorite driver's win in a race that just ended? Fans will now be able to buy both before leaving the track.
Altogether, each superstore will house $2.5 million in retail inventory.
In addition to the increased assortment of merchandise, the goal is for the superstore to eventually play host to various forms of entertainment including driver autograph signings and live TV broadcasts.
Weekend Racing: The Cup and Efinity Series are at Daytona International Speedway for a pair of July 4th weekend races. The Trucks do not race until July 9.
Sat., July 4; Xfinity Series race 15 of 33; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: NBCS: Note this is NBC’s Sports Channel, not the main network channel).
Sun., July 5; Sprint Cup race 17 of 36; Starting time: 7:45 ET; TV: NBC.
Racing Trivia Question: Where did Jeff Gordon win his first Cup race?
Last Week’s Question: Dale Earnhardt Jr. visited Europe and Germany this past week, in search of family genealogy. During the trip, he proposed marriage to his girlfriend, and she accepted. He has said retirement from driving is on his horizon. Do you think he will retire after his current contract expires at the end of the 2016 season? Answer. Most of the fans I’ve heard from believe he will race on another three or four years.
You may contact the Racing Reporter at: www.hodges@race500.com.
