Published: August 06, 2009 12:26 am      

Local sports briefs 8/6/2009

BASEBALL

Bulldogs’ Boslet earns award

Highland Bulldogs outfielder Cory Boslet received the 2009 Marlon Mackel Memorial Award for sportsmanship during the recently concluded AAABA League season.

A Greater Johnstown High School graduate, Boslet is a sophomore at Slippery Rock University.

The award and $1,000 scholarship honor the former area umpire who died in an automobile accident in 2005.



BASKETBALL

Blue Thunder captures gold

The Pa. Blue Thunder captured a gold medal at the Keystone State Games Under-14 Tournament in York from July 31 to Aug. 2.

The Blue Thunder went 4-0 with victories over the Rim Rockers (54-27), Central Pa. Runnin Rebels (58-34); and twice over the Maryland Hurricanes (62-30) and (59-48 in the title game).

AAU players on the Blue Thunder roster with area ties are Jamie Cekada (Conemaugh Valley); Carly Gruss (Conemaugh Valley); Jen Percinsky (Conemaugh Valley); Jillian Kegg (Bishop McCort); Julie Marks (Forest Hills); Courtney McCalley (Conemaugh Valley); Katie Reckner (Conemaugh Township); and Kaija Holtzman (Richland).

The AAU coaching staff includes Patrick Gruss, Tom Gruss, Tom Kegg and Mary Marks.



FOOTBALL

Arena League halts operations

The Arena Football League has shut, this time indefinitely.

The league, which previously called off play for the 2009 season but had said it planned to return in 2010, sent a terse, one-paragraph statement to its teams late Tuesday announcing it had suspended operations.

The statement said the AFL’s board had been “unable to reach any consensus on restructuring the league over the past eight months.”

The 22-year-old indoor league had lost its commissioner and two teams since the end of last season. It reached a new agreement with its players this year, but that

wasn’t sufficient to persuade enough AFL owners that the league could return to profitability.