YSU

YSU
Baseball
YOUNGSTOWN -- Infielder David Leon of Hickory High is one of four early signees for 2008.
Leon (5-foot-10, 165 pounds) hit .423 with 49 runs scored and 43 RBIs for the BB Rooners summer team, and he hit .453 for Hickory as a junior.
"David swings the bat well from the left side, runs well and he has very good skills in the middle infield," Florak said. "He is somewhat of a sleeper because he just turned 17, but he has a very high ceiling."
Also signing with the Penguins were catcher Eric Doyle of Centerburg (6-3, 215) and pitchers Matt Tucker (6-6) of Westerville North and Cody Dearth of Bellevue.
LOCAL
Mooney footballtickets on sale
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mooney High is selling discounted tickets for Friday's state championship football game with Plain City Jonathon Alder at Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
Mooney is selling tickets in the school office today and Thursday from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Price for each reserved seat is 7.
Because the game kicks off at 11 a.m., there will be no sale at Mooney on Friday. Gate price is 9.
Phantoms
BOARDMAN -- Phantoms center Chad Boeckman was named North American Hockey League North Division player of the week.
Last weekend, Boeckman registered three goals and two assists in the Phantoms' three-game sweep of Marquette (Mich.)
Boeckman has a seven-game point scoring streak, recording five goals and six assists over that span. For the season, he has eight goals and 11 assists in 26 games.
The Phantoms play host to the U.S. National Team Friday and Saturday. Friday's face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and Saturday's is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The first 300 fans attending Saturday's game will receive a free ticket to Youngstown State's playoff game against Illinois State at Stambaugh Stadium.
Swogger namedto second team
MISSOULA, Mont. -- Josh Swogger, a senior quarterback for the University of Montana football team from Ursuline High and Vienna, has been selected to the All-Big Sky Conference second team.
Swogger, who transferred to Montana from Washington State to play his final season, has led Montana (11-1) to a No. 2 ranking in the nation in NCAA Division I-AA, and into the second round of the post-season playoffs.
The Grizzlies won their playoff opener last Saturday over McNeese State, 31-6, behind Swogger's career-high four touchdown passes, and will play host to Southern Illinois (9-3) Saturday in a second-round game at 2:30 p.m. The Grizzlies are riding an 11-game winning streak.
Swogger was 18-of-26-1 passing for 259 yards in his three quarters of playing time against McNeese State.
Through 12 games, Swogger has completed 161 of 301 (53.5 percent) passes for 2,262 yards and 15 TDs with 10 interceptions for a 126.41 passing efficiency.
Deer numbers
Despite the warm weather, hunters in the Mahoning Valley bagged more deer during the first day of deer season this year than they did a year ago.
Deer kills in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties Monday totaled 1,838 compared to 1,765 a year ago, according to statistics provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Monday was the first day of deer gun season in Ohio.
Columbiana registered the largest rise in deer kills of the three counties with an increase of 64 deer this year compared to an increase of 36 in Mahoning County and a decrease of 27 in Trumbull.
Ohio had 2.4 percent more deer killed this year than a year ago on the opening day of deer gun season.
Correction
Two Trumbull County schools have advanced to the state final since 1992. A story in Tuesday's paper failed to mention McDonald, which lost to St. Henry in the Division V state championship game in 1994.
NATION
Bettis' father dies
WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Johnnie Bettis, the father of retired NFL running back Jerome Bettis, died Tuesday at a suburban Detroit hospital, police said.
Johnnie Bettis, 61, of Detroit, apparently suffered a heart attack while driving in a suburb north of the city, police Lt. Carl Fuhs said.
Bettis managed to pull his sport utility vehicle off the road and bring it to a stop. Another motorist stopped and administered CPR, and a passing nurse and physician also stopped to help, Fuhs said.
Bettis was taken to Huron Valley Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:58 p.m., hospital spokeswoman Annessa Carlisle said.
She said she did not know the cause of death or whether an autopsy would be performed.
Vindicator staff/wire reports