Sports digest

ysu

Horizon softball meet

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State softball team will begin play in the Horizon League Softball Tournament Thursday at 11 a.m.

The Penguins (8-40, 4-19 Horizon) will clash with tournament host and No. 5 seeded Butler (23-26, 12-11). The Penguins are the No. 8 seed in the nine-team field.

The winner of Thursday’s game will play No. 2 seeded Cleveland State also on Thursday at 6 p.m.

area

Presidents top seeded

WEXFORD, Pa. — Washington & Jefferson College is the top seed and will host the PAC baseball tournament, scheduled for Thusday-Saturday at Ross Memorial Park in Washington, Pa.

The Presidents (28-11, 13-5 PAC) will face fourth-seed and defending PAC champion Grove City (16-17, 9-9 PAC) in the opening round of the four-team, double-elimination tournament Thursday at 3 p.m.

The other opening round contest will be between second seed Thomas More (28-10-1, 12-6 PAC) and third seed Thiel (26-12, 12-6 PAC).

Mercer Raceway opens

MERCER, Pa. — Mercer Raceway Park will kickoff a full schedule of events Saturday.

For details, call (724) 964-9300 or (724) 662-1310.

All-PAC softball

WEXFORD, Pa. — Three local women have been selected to the Presidents’ Athletic Conf. all-star softball team.

Sophomore second baseman Chelsea Butler of Lakeview High and Bethany as well as junior utility player Jennifer Emery of Laurel High and Westminster made first team.

Senior third baseman Amy Cornicelli of Howland High and Westminster earned second team honors.

state

Browns sign Furrey

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns have signed free agent wide receiver Mike Furrey, who spent the past three years with Detroit.

Furrey entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent and signed with Indianapolis in 2000. He also played in the Arena League before spending three seasons with St. Louis. In 2005, he started 11 games at safety and returned punts for the Rams.

Furrey, who was a walk-on at Ohio State in 1995 before transferring to Northern Iowa, caught 98 passes — second highest in the league — for 1,086 yards and six touchdowns for the Lions in 2006.

nation

Injury threatens horse’s racing career

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The injury that kept I Want Revenge out of the Kentucky Derby will keep him from racing for months and threaten his career if he doesn’t respond well to therapy, the horse’s veterinarian said Tuesday.

Foster Northrop said swelling in I Want Revenge’s right front ankle once considered only mild progressed over the weekend, and an ultrasound and MRI showed additional ligament damage. The morning-line Derby favorite was undergoing a bone scan and other tests Tuesday.

Desert Party injured, out indefinitely

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Derby also-ran Desert Party will have surgery for a bone chip in his left front ankle and is sidelined indefinitely.

The 3-year-old colt owned by Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed finished 14th behind Mine That Bird in Saturday’s Derby at Churchill Downs.

Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford says he doesn’t expect the injury to be career threatening.

The chip was discovered during a series of X-rays taken after the Derby. Crisford says he isn’t sure when the injury occurred.

Lions offer LB Foote

DETROIT — Larry Foote says the Detroit Lions have made him a contract offer and the linebacker’s first choice is to sign with his hometown team.

Foote said Tuesday night he met “everybody” at Lions headquarters in Allen Park, Mich., earlier in the day and that his agent, Ken Kremer, was working on completing a deal.

Vindicator staff/wire reports