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McDermotthonored
NEW WILMINGTON -- Katie McDermott, a junior middle hitter for the Westminster College volleyball team from Austintown Fitch High, has been named Presidents' Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week.
McDermott was a standout last week as she led Westminster to a 2-0 record with three-game sweeps of Thiel and Bethany.
She had 19 kills, nine digs and nine total blocks (six solo blocks and three assists) in both matches combined, and averaged 3.33 kills per game and achieved a .325 attack percentage.
Bocce champs
YOUNGSTOWN -- The team of Schiavoni, Schiavoni and Bush, LPA won the summer championship of the Arco Women's Bocce League.
Anne Clement served as captain of the team while Dolores Mastro was co-captain. Other team members were Laura Mastro, Dee Thomas, Marge Johnson, Sandy Dobran, Rose Vernucci and Renee' Hlebovy.
Tee timesavailable
EAST LIVERPOOL -- Tee times still are available for the Charity Golf Scramble Saturday sponsored by the East Liverpool Christian School.
The tournament will offer $1,700 in team prizes with the first-place team winning $10,000, the second-place team $500 and the third-place team $200. Numerous individual prizes also will be given out.
In addition, the first golfer to register a hole-in-one on the No. 7 hole will be awarded $10,000.
Bob Witmer, ELCS's chief administrator, is serving as chairman of the scramble.
For more information, call (330) 385-5588.
REGION
McClendon offto Detroit
PITTSBURGH -- Former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon apparently won't be out of work long.
McClendon, fired Sept. 6 as he was completing a fifth consecutive losing season as the Pirates' manager, is expected to join new Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland's staff -- possibly as the bullpen coach, according to sources close to the teams.
McClendon will join Leyland's staff after the Tigers get permission from the Pirates to hire him, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. McClendon is technically under contract through the end of the month, but the Pirates are expected to release him since he is no longer working in their organization.
Choke sign was just a joke
CHICAGO -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said he didn't mean to offend the Indians or their fans with his choking gesture during Sunday's regular-season finale in Cleveland.
Guillen was "playing around with fans" when he wrapped his hands around his neck during a pitching change in the sixth inning.
"We joked almost all the game," he said Tuesday before the opener of Chicago's first-round playoff series against Boston. "And all of a sudden the mascot does the sign, and all of a sudden I put my hands like that. And all of a sudden everybody in the nation thought I was telling the fans to choke. I respect this game and respect the Cleveland Indians."
Guillen praised the Indians and their fans, saying, "I never saw anybody lose a game and get a standing ovation. ... They made the Cleveland fans really excited. They made baseball great to watch."
Blue Jackets sign Delmore
COLUMBUS -- Hoping to add depth on the blue line, the Columbus Blue Jackets claimed defenseman Andy Delmore off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
The Blue Jackets sent goaltender Martin Prusek and right wings Steven Goertzen and Brandon Sugden to their American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse.
Delmore had 43 goals and 58 assists with the Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres in 276 career games.
He spent the 2003-04 season with the Sabres, scoring two goals with five assists and 29 penalty minutes in 37 games. He had 18 goals and 15 assists in 71 games with Nashville, tying for the lead among NHL defensemen in goals and power-play goals (14) in 2002-03.
Rangers' Hart steps down
ARLINGTON, Texas -- John Hart stepped down Tuesday as general manager of the Texas Rangers, clearing the way for 28-year-old Jon Daniels to become the youngest GM in major league history.
Hart's resignation came two days after the Rangers finished 79-83, their third losing season in four years under Hart and their fifth since winning their last AL West title in 1999.
Hart, whose teams won six division titles in his last seven years in Cleveland ending in 2001, will be replaced by Daniels, who at 28 years, 41 days, is about 10 months younger than Theo Epstein was when he became Boston's GM on Nov. 25, 2002.
Vindicator staff/wire reports