Local Sports for Monday

LOCAL
Sectional baseball
STRUTHERS -- Sebring pitcher Matt Kerns struck out 10 and walked just one, throwing a two-hit shutout to lead the Trojans to a 6-0 victory against Lowellville in a Division IV baseball sectional final on Saturday at Cene Park.
Michael Weekly had three hits, Steven Rastetter had two and Chuck Quinn had two hits and two RBIs for the Trojans (9-12), who will play Windham on Thursday at Cene.
REGION
Cavs' Hughes out
CLEVELAND -- For the second straight game, the Cavaliers will be without guard Larry Hughes.
The starting guard will remain with his grieving family following the death of his 20-year-old brother, Justin, from heart failure on Thursday.
Cleveland coach Mike Brown said the club is planning to attend the funeral on Tuesday in St. Louis before heading to Detroit for Game 5.
With Hughes out, Flip Murray will start his second straight playoff game. Murray started 25 games during the regular season, filling in while Hughes recovered from two finger operations. The Cavs went 18-7 with Murray as a starter.
Pirates moves
PITTSBURGH -- Chris Duffy, the Pittsburgh Pirates' starting center fielder when the season started, was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis following an 8-2 loss to Florida on Sunday.
Duffy went 0-for-4 in the loss, only the second time he has played since May 6. He is batting .194 and has lost his starting job, for now, to Nate McLouth.
To replace Duffy, the Pirates recalled utility infielder Mike Edwards, who was 2-for-7 with them earlier this season.
The Pirates announced the move after manager Jim Tracy and general manager Dave Littlefield met for more than an hour following their second loss in as many days to Florida. The Pirates' 11-27 record is their worst after 38 games in 54 years.
NATION/WORLD
Nadal beats Federerto win Rome Masters
ROME -- Rafael Nadal still has the edge against Roger Federer. The gap is closing, though.
In a showdown between the world's top two players, Nadal beat Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker Sunday to successfully defend his Rome Masters title and tie Guillermo Vilas' record 53-match winning streak on clay in the Open era. Nadal, a 19-year-old Spaniard ranked No. 2, won 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in 5 hours, 5 minutes. He improved to 5-1 against the No. 1-ranked Swiss. Federer dropped to 39-3 this year, with his only losses coming to Nadal. Nadal also won a matchup at Dubai in March.
In the Monte Carlo final last month, Nadal beat Federer in a fourth-set tiebreaker. Both tournaments are clay-court warmups for the French Open, which starts in two weeks. Another of Nadal's wins over Federer came in the semifinals at Roland Garros last year.
"Obviously I would have liked to win, but I already knew after Monaco I was extremely close," Federer said. "I think this is another step closer."
Federer led 4-1 in the fifth set and the top-ranked Swiss wasted two match points at 6-5, both with errant forehands.
"I should have won," Federer said. "He caught me right at the finish line."
Nadal has won nine straight tournaments on clay. His 16th title also tied him with Bjorn Borg for most titles won as a teenager.
Nadal can break the record with a win against Tommy Haas in the first round of the Hamburg Masters next week.
Rain postponesIndy qualifying
INDIANAPOLIS -- Frustration is mounting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Drivers and fans will have to wait another week for qualifying.
Rain, which has cut short or canceled every practice session since the track opened for Indy 500 practice last Tuesday, held off just long enough Sunday to give everyone a little taste of what they're missing. Defending Indy champion Dan Wheldon and Sam Hornish Jr. both managed to post speeds above 228 mph -- the fastest so far this month -- during a brief practice session that was supposed to be only a warmup for the start of qualifications for the May 28 race.
Two-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves, Hornish's teammate, and Scott Dixon, Wheldon's teammate, added laps over 227 as 24 drivers took advantage of the short dry spell and nearly perfect track conditions -- overcast skies, no wind and temperatures in the low 50s -- to get in some practice laps in anticipation of qualifying.
Vindicator staff/wire reports