AREA

AREA
Curbstone Coachestake a break
BOARDMAN -- The Curbstone Coaches Association will not meet Monday. The organization's weekly noon luncheons will resume on Nov. 28 at the Lockwood House.
Area ace
LAKE MILTON -- Les Mewbourn of Lake Milton scored a hole-in-one at Olde Dutch Mill Golf Course here last week.
He aced the No. hole, 164 yards with a 7-wood. The shot was witnessed by Mitch Blake.
Playoff tickets
Ticket sale times for Friday's Division II state semifinal playoff game between Canfield and Tallmadge at Twinsburg are set at Canfield High School.
Dates and times are: Monday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m.; and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.
Kickoff is Friday at 7:30 p.m.
In North Lima, tickets for the South Range-Hamler Patrick Henry football game Friday at Fremont Ross High School go on sale Monday at South Range High and South Range Middle School.
They also will be on sale Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. at the high school only.
Advance tickets cost $7. Gate price is $9.
Canfield's Huleasets record
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Quarterback Sonny Riccio ran for 94 yards and four touchdowns as Delaware topped Villanova 38-13 on Saturday.
Riccio scored on runs of 23 and 6 yards in the second quarter and the Blue Hen defense forced a pair of fumbles by Villanova quarterback Frank Jankowski, setting up Riccio's other two scoring runs in the fourth to wrap up the game.
Omar Cuff added 125 yards and one touchdown for the Blue Hens (6-5, 3-5 Atlantic 10).
Matt Dicken and DeQuese May each scored on 2-yard runs for Villanova (4-7, 2-6).
Canfield High graduate Brian Hulea made 13 tackles for the Wildcats to become Villanova's all-time leader in tackles with 431.
REGION
Pirates remove Redman, Hill
PITTSBURGH -- Tike Redman, who began last season as the Pittsburgh Pirates' starting center fielder and No. 3 hitter, was removed from the 40-man roster and must be traded or released within 10 days.
Also designated for assignment were right-hander Jeff Miller, utility infielder Bobby Hill and outfielder Michael Restovich -- all of whom must also be traded or released.
Reinstated to the 40-man roster from the 60-day disabled list were left-hander Sean Burnett and right-hander John Van Benschoten, both of whom missed last season after having surgery, second baseman Jose Castillo and outfielder Chris Duffy.
Redman hit .251 with two homers and 26 RBIs in 135 games, but saw his playing time decrease as the season progressed. He lost his starting job after Duffy was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis at midseason and did not regain it even after Duffy missed the final month of the season with a torn hamstring.
Hill, acquired from the Cubs in the Aramis Ramirez trade in August 2003, hit .269 with no homers and 11 RBIs in 58 games and was the Pirates' most-used pinch-hitter the first half of the season.
He was sent to the minors July 21 and did not return to the team.
Caron returnsto Penguins
PITTSBURGH -- Goalie Sebastien Caron and center Shane Endicott returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and defenseman Sergei Gonchar was moved to the injured reserve list.
Gonchar missed his third consecutive game with a strained groin.
Caron had been out since Nov. 7 with a strained quadriceps muscle. Endicott played for the first time this season Saturday night against Philadelphia after spraining an ankle early in training camp.
Gonchar joined defenseman Dick Tarnstrom (knee) and forward Andre Roy (facial injuries) on the injured reserve list.
NATION
Prosecutorsseek samples
SAN FRANCISCO -- Federal prosecutors want access to hundreds of urine samples of Major League Baseball players seized in 2003 as part of the BALCO steroid scandal investigation.
Authorities had a warrant for 10 players' samples, but ended up seizing samples of hundreds of players from three laboratories.
Federal judges have prohibited the government from using the samples as part of its ongoing probe of the Bay Area Laboratory-Cooperative, which counted dozens of prominent athletes among its clients, including Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Olympic track and field star Marion Jones.
Five people have been criminally charged, four of whom have pleaded guilty, including Barry Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson.
A fifth person, the man authorities allege developed "the clear," the steroid at the center of the scandal, was indicted two weeks ago and has pleaded not guilty.
No athletes have been criminally charged.
Authorities asked a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to give them access to all the samples, which were taken in 2003 as part of a professional baseball survey to gauge the prevalence of steroid use. The samples were supposed to be destroyed.
MLB this week adopted a strict drug-testing policy that calls for the permanent banishment from baseball for repeat offenders of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
The appeals court did not indicate when it would rule on the case.
Government prosecutor Erika Frick told the court that prosecutors are entitled to the samples even if their seizure was a "callous disregard" of the Constitution.
Players' association attorney Elliot Peters said "the searches were unreasonable."
The judges questioned whether the players' union had legal standing to act on behalf of the players.
They also questioned whether the government filed its appeal to late and whether authorities violated constitutional search and seizure rules.
Court documents in the case are sealed.
Vindicator staff/wire reports