LOCAL

LOCAL
SteelHounds nameHoffman as 'voice'
YOUNGSTOWN -- George Manias, general manager of the Youngstown SteelHounds, announced that Bob Hoffman was named the team's Director of Public/Media Relations and Broadcasting and will serve as the SteelHounds radio play-by-play broadcaster.
The Cuyahoga Falls native spent three seasons with the Utah Grizzlies (AHL) as Vice President of Communications and broadcaster.
Hoffman graduated in 1997 from Kent State.
Cene Wooden BatTournament today
STRUTHERS -- The crack of the bat will replace the & quot;ping & quot; today as the Bob Cene Memorial Wooden Bat Tournament starts with four games.
Today's games are: Andy's 9ers vs. Mink Financial, and the Mountaineer Park Hitmen against Rondinelli Tuxedo at 6 p.m.
At 8 p.m., the Astro Falcons will take on the Stark Stars and GlenOak Eagles will play Joe Koch Construction/Line Drive Academy.
Action continues with 10 games Saturday and six more on Sunday before the championship game at 5:30 p.m.
REGION
Cavaliers clear moresalary cap room
CLEVELAND -- The Cavaliers cleared out more salary cap space Thursday by waiving reserve guard Lucious Harris, who never found his shooting touch during a dreadful season in Cleveland.
Harris' release comes one day after the club declined to pick up forward Robert Traylor's $1.76 million option for next season. Harris would have made $2.75 million, a portion of which would have been guaranteed if he was still on the roster on July 1.
The Cavaliers have eight players on their roster, accounting for a $23.3 million payroll. Last season's salary cap in the NBA was $43 million, but could go up by several million next season when the new collective bargaining agreement is agreed upon.
Harris signed as a free agent in October after playing seven seasons for the New Jersey Nets. The 6-foot-5 guard was picked up by the Cavs to help their woeful outside shooting.
However, the 34-year-old didn't help much. He shot less than 40 percent from the field and only 32 percent on 3-pointers -- a drop from his career average in both categories. Harris averaged 4.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 73 games, scoring in double figures only seven times.
In his 12-year career, he has averaged 7.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 800 games.
WORLD
Gasquet advancesto semifinal round
NOTTINGHAM, England -- Fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet advanced to the semifinals at Nottingham on Thursday with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 victory over defending champion Paradorn Srichaphan.
Gasquet, seeded 27th at Wimbledon, will face American Taylor Dent in the semifinals. Dent, seeded fifth, advanced after Thomas Johansson withdrew with a groin injury. Dent was leading 6-3, 1-0 with a break when his Swedish opponent pulled out.
Also, Olivier Rochus beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, and will play Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the other semifinal. Mirnyi defeated Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark 7-6 (2), 6-4 to make his fourth semifinal appearance of the season.
*EASTBOURNE, England -- Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova fought off a strong challenge from eighth-seeded Nathalie Dechy before winning 6-4, 7-5 Thursday to advance to the semifinals at Eastbourne.
Kuznetsova will next meet seventh-seeded Kim Clijsters, who swept aside American Mashona Washington 6-2, 6-2 in just 55 minutes.
Russian qualifier Vera Douchevina, who upset top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in the second round, advanced with France's Marion Bartoli retiring with a left foot strain while trailing 5-0.
Rain caused the last of the quarterfinals to be suspended, with Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci leading fourth-seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-4, 0-1.
*DEN BOSCH, Netherlands -- Sixth-seeded Gisela Dulko of Argentina upset second-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Ordina Open, while third-seeded Mario Ancic and wild card Mark Philippoussis advanced to the quarterfinals on the men's side.
The Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova ousted fourth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia 6-4, 6-4, and will play Dulko.
Philippoussis defeated Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2), while Ancic of Croatia downed Wayne Arthurs 6-4, 7-6 (1).
Italy's Davide Sanguinetti beat Sjeng Schalken 7-6 (6), 6-3, and Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman defeated Julien Benneteau of France 6-4, 6-2.
In other women's matches, eighth-seeded Klara Koukalova beat fellow Czech Denisa Chladkova 6-3, 6-3, and Meghann Shaughnessy advanced when Dutch teenager Michaella ' retired after twisting her right knee while up a break at 4-3 in the first set.
Vindicator staff/wire report