AREA

AREA
Mount athletesare honored
CLEVELAND -- Joshua E. Liddell and Carrie A. Coon, Mount Union College student-athletes of the Ohio Athletic Conference, have been chosen as 2002-03 Clyde A. Lamb winners.
Criteria for the award include at least two years participation in an OAC-sponsored sport, senior status, a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 and sportsmanlike conduct in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete and his/her institution.
Liddell's academic honors include Dean's List for four years, Verizon Academic All America, Academic All-OAC first team, Don Hansen's All-North Region Academic first team and he started all three years for Mount Union College NCAA Division III national championship football teams.
Coon made the Dean's List seven semesters, Verizon Academic all-District IV second team, two-time All-OCSA Academic All Ohio second team, Academic All-OAC first team, John and Helen Saffel prize for outstanding student in English and she was team captain and MVP of the Purple Raiders' soccer team and made the All-Ohio senior all-star team.
Irizarry, 2 othersreceive awards
CLEVELAND -- Three area high school football players were honored Tuesday night at the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the National Football Federation scholar-athlete awards banquet.
Louis Irizarry of Ursuline, Jonathan Powers of East Palestine and Justin Campbell of East Liverpool were among 22 scholar-athletes to be recognized at the Executive Caterers at Landerhaven.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel received the Lee Tressel Ohio College Coach of the Year Award. The former Youngstown State coach led the Buckeyes to the national title last season.
DeSalvo hasmost wins
MARIETTA -- Matt DeSalvo, a senior pitcher for the Marietta College baseball team from New Castle and Union Area High, has become the winningest pitcher in NCAA baseball.
DeSalvo set the NCAA all-divisions record for career victories with 52 last week.
The previous record-holder since 1982 was Don Heinkel of Wichita State.
DeSalvo, who is 52-6 for his career, set the record in the Pioneers' 3-0 win over Wilmington College last Saturday. He pitched a two-hitter and boosted his season record to 12-2.
REGION
Penguins lowerseason ticket prices
PITTSBURGH -- The financially struggling Pittsburgh Penguins are dropping season ticket prices 3.5 percent to 28.6 percent after finishing out of the NHL playoffs in consecutive seasons.
The goal was to give fans more $30-and-under choices, the team said. Under the new pricing plan, 6,900 seats in the 16,958-seat Mellon Arena cost $30 or less for season ticket holders.
The biggest price drops come in the D-level and F-balcony seats at Mellon Arena. Full-season ticket holders will pay $30 per game, down from $39, for seats in the D level, and $20 for F balcony seats, down from $28. The F balcony price cut is the same for 20-game season ticket holders, while D-level tickets will drop from $42 to $35 per game under that plan.
Seats in A/B levels were cut by $2.50 each under both plans, and those in C level by $2 each. E-level balcony seats are being cut $1 each under both plans.
Kosar pledges $100,000
MAYFIELD HEIGHTS -- Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar has pledged $100,000 over five years to Akron public schools for scholarships.
Kosar, who announced the pledge Tuesday night, said the money would pay for eight $2,500 scholarships annually.
Two years ago Kosar pledged the same amount to schools in Cleveland and the Cleveland Roman Catholic Diocese.
Kosar, speaking at the National Football Foundation banquet, turned aside talk that he would run for the U.S. Senate in Ohio. With four children under age 11, "It's probably not in my near-term," Kosar said.
Vindicator staff/wire reports