It has been a difficult first two weeks of the High School football season for the Archbishop Hoban Knights.

Hoban is 0-2 following losses to Gonzaga College High School (21-2) and Benedictine (21-14).

This week, it's another tough game for the Knights as they take on the Boardman Spartans Friday night at Dowed Field on the campus of Archbishop Hoban High School.

The Spartans are 0-2 coming into Friday's game.

The injury bug has bitten the Knights since the season began. Hoban Head Coach Ralph Orsini lost defensive end Greg McMullen in Week One. Orsini's other bookend on the defensive line, LaTroy Lewis, is out for the remainder of the season with a broken left foot.

Lewis was going after a fumble in last Friday's game against Benedictine when he broke his foot. He's been getting support from his Hoban teammates and from players at the University of Tennessee, where he will play next season.

Coach Orsini is hoping that his team will 'Circle the Wagons' and battle till the end of the end of the season.

You'll be able to hear the Boardman-Hoban game Friday night beginning at 7 o'clock on 1590 WAKR.

It doesn’t matter the sport, good defense leads to victories.  That was the case for the Copley Lady Indians on the pitch Wednesday night as they defeated Revere 2-1 in a Girl Soccer match-up. 
 
‘Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Copley head coach Wally Senk knew things had to change.  ‘We had to dig a little deeper than normal.  They did everything I asked them to do and we got the result”.
 
Copley put pressure on the Revere back line for the first 15 minutes of the second half and finally found the back of the net.
 
Copley senior forward Sasha Haverchak stole the ball from the Revere defense to left of the 18-yard penalty area.  Haverchak spun around a pair of Revere defenders and let a 25-yard shot go along the ground.  Revere goalie Lauren Hursh stopped the shot, but did not secure the ball.  The shot eventually trickled behind Hursh and into the net to tie the match at one.
 
With the score tied, Copley didn’t relax; they kept the defensive pressure on the Lady Minutemen.  Their efforts paid off with six minutes remaining in the match.
 
Once again, Sasha Haverchak stole the ball from the Revere back line and set sail down the right sidelines.  She found junior midfielder Amanda Revesz about 18 yards from the net. She let the shot go and it found the upper right hand corner of the net to give the Lady Indians a 2-1 lead. 
 
Senk called the game-winning goal “a great finish by Revesz.  She picked her spot and hit it.  As soon as she hit it I knew it was in.   It was a great effort by her.  She’s only a junior and she’s leading the team with four goals. 
 
Revesz says she took advantage of a Revere turnover.  “I got a great pass from my teammate (Sasha Haverchak).  The timing was right.  I settled down and really focused.
 
Revere’s only goal came in the first half.  Sophomore forward Marissa Milazzo carried the ball down the right side, cut left and found senior midfielder Amy Feher alone in from the net.  Her 15-yard shot found the back of the net to give Revere a 1-0 lead.
 
The road for Copley will get a lot tougher on Saturday. They’ll take on Walsh Jesuit Saturday afternoon.
 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
Copley (3-1-2, 2-0)  0-2 = 2
Revere (3-1-0, 1-1) 1-0 = 1
 
FIRST HALF:
 
R – Amy Feher (Marissa Milazzo) 34:36
 
SECOND HALF:
 
C:  Sasha Haverchak (unassisted) 55:41
C:  Amanda Revesz (Sasha Haverchak) 74:05

Justin Verlander won his 10th straight startand earned his 22nd victory overall, helped when Victor Martinez hit a late grand slam that sent the Detroit Tigers over the Cleveland Indians 8-6.

Verlander (22-5) gave up a pair of two-run homers to Shelley Duncan and trailed 4-2 before Detroit rallied against JustinMasterson (11-9) and the Indians' bullpen.

The slam by Martinez highlighted a five-run comeback in the seventh inning.

Verlander leads the majors in wins and is 20-2 since May 1st.

The Tribe has now lost seven games to the Tigers this season. The season record stands at 9 wins for the Tigers and 6 wins for the Indians with three games still to be played.

The Indians are now in third place in the AL Central Division, nine-and-a-half games behind Detroit. The Tribe still has 22 games to play in the regular season.

The Indians begin an 11-day, 10-game road trip tonight in Chicago. First pitch is at 8:10 pm. Lefty David Huff will pitch for the Indians against Gavin Floyd.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Cleveland Indians announced Akron Aeros LHP KELVIN DE LA CRUZ has been named the Indians Minor League Player of the Week for the week of August 28 – September 3.

This past week, De La Cruz recorded 2 saves for the Aeros as he tossed 5.1 scoreless innings, yielding just 1 hit while striking out 6 and walking 2. After making 16 starts this season in Akron, De La Cruz missed over a month of the season with left shoulder inflammation and was moved to the bullpen following his return, where he proceeded to toss 7.0 scoreless innings covering 6 appearances (2H, 0R, 4BB, 11K) while registering a pair of saves. On the year, De La Cruz was 5-6 with 2 saves and a 4.19 ERA (86.0IP, 70H, 42R/40ER, 57BB, 95K) in 23 games/16 starts. He limited left-handed hitters to a .143 (13-91) average against and with runners in scoring position batters hit just .178 (16-90) against him.

A native of the Dominican Republic, De La Cruz was signed by the Indians as a non-drafted free agent in 2004. Last year he went a combined 7-8 with a 5.01 ERA (127.2IP, 120H, 71ER, 72BB, 105K) in 26 starts between Kinston and Akron after being limited to just 19.2 innings in 2009 due to a left elbow injury.

De La Cruz is the sixth Aeros player to be named Indians Minor League Player of the Week this season joining Nick Hagadone, Tim Fedroff, Matt McBride, Beau Mills, and Matt Packer as players who have received this honor.

The Cleveland Indians Minor League Player of the Week award has recognized an individual performance from within the Indians Player Development System throughout 2011. This is the final Player of the Week award for this season. All players from the Tribe’s minor league affiliates have been eligible for this weekly award.

KELVIN DE LA CRUZ - 2011 STATS

W-L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG
Week of 8/28-9/3 0-0 0.00 3 0 2 5.1 1 0 0 0 2 6 .0672011

Season 5-6 4.19 23 16 2 86.0 70 42 40 3 57 95 .227

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has activated OF TREVOR CROWE from the 60-day Disabled List. To allow room on the 40-man roster for Crowe the Indians designated OF JERAD HEAD for assignment.

Crowe has yet to appear at the Major League level after undergoing surgery on his right throwing shoulder on March 30 after missing all of spring workouts and exhibition contests with soreness in the region. He rehabbed the first half in Cleveland before beginning a rehab assignment at Rookie Arizona on August 20th followed by Triple-A Columbus stint, hitting a combined .263 (10-38) with 10RS, 2HR & 9RBI in 11 rehab games prior to today’s activation. He is starting in left field today batting 9th wearing #4.

The Major League roster remains at 29 players and the 40-man roster is still at 40.

The Kenmore Cardinals are one of the early season surprises on the gridiron in the City Series. 

Kenmore is 2-0 following victories over Normandy and Norton in the last two weeks. 

Want to know how Head Coach Ed Peltz and his staff have gotten to 2-0?  "We played a lot of young kids last season", said Peltz.  "It was the work they put in during the off-season and they did a good job with that, and in the pre-season, they worked hard". 

"We emphasized ever since the beginning of off-season workouts of being 1-0.  That was our focus", said Peltz. 

The Kenmore offense features two tailbacks, juniors Justin Jones and Marcus Lindsey.  DeShaun Ballinger is the quarterback.  The receiving corps is led by seniors Chris Moore and Ben Gulley.  Peltz says the offensive line 'has done a nice job'. 

The Kenmore defense has allowed only 6 points this season.  The Cardinal defense is led by linebackers Deon'Tae Moore and Steven Vinson.

But, Peltz says "In all honesty, it's been a team effort".

Friday night's game will be an early season test for the Cardinals as they take on the Green Bulldogs on the road.  Peltz says "They'll be a tough test for us.  We'll have to play it one play at a time".

Four suspended players have beenreinstated at Ohio State for the 15th-ranked Buckeyes' game on Saturday against Toledo.

Coach Luke Fickell confirmed yesterday that linebacker Jordan Whiting, who had been suspended last December for last week's opener for accepting cash and discounted tattoos from a local tattoo-parlor owner, will be available to play this weekend at OhioStadium.

Fickell also said that tailback Jordan Hall and cornerbacks Travis Howard and Corey Brown have also been reinstated after being held out of last week's game for taking less than $300 in gifts from a charity.

Fickell said he was uncertain of those three players' status in the future.

Hall and Howard had been listed as starters for the game against the Zips until they were suspended.

The Buckeyes still have four players who are suspended through the first five games of the 2011 season. They are running back Dan Herron, staring offensive tackle Mike Adams, returning receiver DeVier Posey and backup defensive lineman Solomon Thomas.

The Buckeyes (1-0) are coming off a 42-0 win over Akron.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Victor Martinez drove in three runs and the Detroit Tigers beat Cleveland 10-1 last night to drop the Indians 8.5 games back in the AL Central.

Rick Porcello (13-8) was staked to an 8-0 lead after the top of the second inning as the Tigers knocked around Cleveland starterFausto Carmona (6-14). Porcello gave up three hits and one run over 6 1-3 innings.

He allowed only a single to Jason Kipnis in the second before Kosuke Fukudome homered to open Cleveland's seventh. For Fukudome it was his third home run in an Indians' uniform, his second in two game.

Detroit has won five straight and is 15-4 since August 19th. The Tigers have won their last six meetings with Cleveland after the Indians took six of the first eight.

Cleveland has lost four of six and is 40-54 since holding a seven-game lead in the Central on May 23rd.

The teams complete the three-game series this afternoon at Progressive Field. Justin Masterson starts for the Indians and Justin Verlander is Detroit's starting pitcher. Verlander's record this season is 21-5.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Cleveland Browns helped to beef up their left side of the offensive line over the weekend. The Browns signed free agent offensive linemen Artis Hicks, who was released by the Washington Redskins.

A veteran of nine NFL seasons, the 6-4, 325-pound Hicks first entered the league as an undrafted free agent with Philadelphia in 2002. He was traded to Minnesota prior to the 2006 season and signed with Washington as an unrestricted free agent in 2010.

During his NFL career, Hicks has played in 110 regular season games, including 68 starts. He also has appeared in seven playoff contests, starting three of them. His 68 starting assignments during the regular season have come at left tackle (8), left guard (27), right guard (30) and right tackle (3). Last year with the Redskins, he played in 15 games with 10 starts at right guard.

Browns head coach Pat Shurmur said “Yes, we brought in Artis (Hicks). I was with Artis in Philadelphia early in his career and then he’s moved on and played. He’s a very veteran guy that’s played guard and tackle. We’re going to get him up to speed as quickly as possible and we think of him as a guy who can play guard or tackle.”

The Browns' have lost starting left guard Eric Steinbach for the year due to back surgery. Rookie Jason Pinkston has been starting in his place. Shurmur is not worried about Hicks playing left guard. “I think he’ll get it. He’s a pro so he’ll pick it up quickly.”

The Browns open the regular season on Sunday September 11th at Browns Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Just days after The University of Akron volleyball team went 3-0 in the Akron Invitational, senior middle blocker Tina Dimitrijevs claimed the Mid-American Conference East Division Offensive Player of the Week award, as announced by the league office on Monday.

Dimitrijevs had a big weekend, as the Zips (3-4) picked up their first wins of the season while taking the tournament title.

The Broadview Heights, Ohio, native tallied 33 kills to go along with just three errors in 56 attempts for a hitting percentage of .536. She averaged 3.30 kills/set while playing in all 10 sets during the Akron Invitational. Against St. Francis (Pa.), UA set a new program record for hitting percentage with a mark of .465, helped largely by Dimitrijevs, who hit .750 for the match after swatting nine kills in 12 attempts with no errors.

Against Bradley, the Zips were down 24-22 in the third set after taking the first two, and Dimitrijevs stepped up to notch three kills in the final four points to give Akron the win. Against Canisius, she recorded a season-high 16 kills to just two errors in 26 attempts for a .538 percentage as the Zips rallied to win the final three sets after dropping the first.

Dimitrijevs stands third in the conference in hitting percentage with a mark of .395 for the season. Overall, she owns 62 kills and an average of 2.70 kills/set. She also leads the Zips with 19 total blocks and 77.0 points.
Akron will be back in action on Sept. 9 & 10 at the UW-Milwaukee/Marquette Invitational.