Numerous national media reports have stated that the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves have tentatively agreed to a deal that would send Mark Teixeira, the pride of Mount St. Joseph and the MIAA, to the Braves and back to the Atlanta area where he was a college All-American for Georgia Tech.

Teixeira, 27, who is eligible for free agency after the 2008 season, has hit 153 home runs in five big league seasons and has been coveted property since his breakout 2005 campaign when he started in the all-star game and set career highs for home runs (43) and RBI’s (144).  Teixeira is a also a two-time gold glove first-baseman.

This year, Teixeira missed 27 games in the first half of the season as he suffered with an injury to his left quadriceps.  However, he has still managed to hit .297 with 13 home runs and 49 RBI’s.

The deal, which is pending the Rangers’ review of medical records of minor league pitcher Matt Harrison, sends Teixeira and left-handed reliever Ron Mahay to Atlanta in exchange for four young players, headlined by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Playing for Steve Nichols, their high school head coach, McDonogh’s
Mamadou Kansaye and Marquez Fernandez scored the Baltimore goals in the
final.  In addition, Geaton Caltabiano, a rising sophomore at Mount St.
Joseph, capped a strong tournament by assisting on Fernandez’s overtime
game-winner, in the 98th minute of the contest.

Also playing a major role for the Bays was Loyola goalkeeper Tim
Pietsch, who started on varsity as a freshman for the Dons.  Pietsch,
who Nichols described as “brilliant,” won the Golden Gloves award as
the top goalkeeper in the national tournament.

â??This team is brilliant and we’re going to get a lot better,” said
Nichols.  “These kids already have great talent and a solid foundation,
but as they grow and gain experience, their future will get even
brighter.

“We have all the way through the U-19’s, so I expect this group to be
here [the nationals] several more times.  They have to keep working
hard and improving, but they have a chance to be very special.”

Overall, the Bays were 3-0-1 at the nationals.  In their first game, an
injury time goal by West Coast FC, provided the only blemish as the two
teams played to a 1-1 tie.  Kansaye scored the Baltimore goal in that
contest, last Wednesday.  On Thursday and Friday, Caltabiano scored the
game winning goals in victories over Chicago, 2-1, and Raleigh, North
Carolina, 1-0, as the Bays claimed their spot in the final.

Attention to detail, a tireless work ethic and a
passion for teaching are among the qualities Manny Branco acquired
during his three years as an assistant to Arundel High coach Bernie
Walter.

â??I
was an assistant to Bernie in 2002 and in 2003, and again last year
[2007,] and I learned a lot from him,� said Branco, 29, who will apply
what he learned as the new head coach of Annapolis Area Christian
School of the MIAAâ??s B Conference.

Branco,
who led Anne Arundel Countyâ??s Southern High to two Class 2A South
Region titles in three seasons as the Bulldogsâ?? head coach, was named
to that position on Friday by athletic director Joe Palumbo.

â??Heâ??s
young, experienced and heâ??s exited  — thatâ??s a great combination for
our program,� Palumbo said of Branco, who inherits a squad that returns
its entire roster from a team that went 7-8 last spring.

â??I
have a passion for teaching and coaching, and I think this is a a great
opportunity under a good athletic director,� said Branco, a 1995
graduate of Meade High, where he starred as a second baseman. â??I really
feel as though this is a program that is on its way up, athletically.�

During its recent dynasty, Loyola has frequently been ranked in the national top 25 in the small schools category, but this marks the first time the team, led by longtime head coach Keith Schertle, has cracked the national Top 25 in a poll of all the nation’s public and private swimming programs.

The Dons placed second in the National Catholic Swimming Championships and third in the Eastern Swimming and Diving Championships, last winter, and had seven swimmers earn All-American honors.  That list included recent graduates Andrew Balhoff, Andrew Quesenberry and Zac Cooper, as well as rising senior Evan Danz, rising juniors Sean Roddy and Greg Pelton and rising sophomore Hugh Davison.

For the coming year, the Dons will feature the four returning All-Americans, as well as three prized freshmen – Oliver Bennett, Alex Porter and Aaron Jones.

Nick
Schenkâ??s left shoulder still ached, his ears were swollen and the
inside of his upper lip still was raw from the friction against his
braces.

â??Iâ??m
all beat up,� Schenk said yesterday, 24 hours after having wrestled to
a fifth place finish nationally at 112 pounds. â??I had a rough draw [on
Tuesday] against the No. 2 guy in the country and lost my first match.
But I showed a lot of toughness, I guess, by winning some more matches.�

The
effort of Schenk, a rising sophomore at McDonogh, produced an overall
14-2 record along with All-America status for finishing among the top
eight in his weight class in the freestyle portion of the 37^th
annual Accelerated Cadet Nationals at North Dakota State Universityâ??s
Fargo Dome in Fargo, N.D.

At
McDonogh last winter, Schenk posted what is believed to be a
school-best 43-0 record for victories by a freshman on the way to
winning titles in the MIAA, Private Schools States and National Preps
tournaments.

â??No
one likes to lose, but I look at this as gaining a lot of experience
because my side of the brackets was stacked with a lot of talented
guys,� said Schenk, who entered high school as the most decorated
wrestler in Maryland’s junior league history. â??It taught me that you
just have to keep your composure and maintain a tough mindset through
everything.�

After the two golfers parred the first hole, Miller birdied the 405-yard, par three second hole to take a 1-up lead.  Lim squared things with a birdie of his own on the third hole, but he doubled bogeyed #4 and bogeyed #6, while Miller maintained par and claimed a two-hole advantage.

From there the two golfers matched each other stroke for stroke and Miller maintained his lead heading into the par 3 12th hole.  Lim parred 12 and 13, while Miller surrendered his lead with a bogey and a double bogey.  Miller bounce back to win the 14th and 16th holes, each time going 1-up, but he dropped 15 and 17, before faltering at the decisive final hole.

Miller qualified for the United States top amateur event earlier this month at Chevy Chase Club and posted a 148 during two days of stroke play to become one of 64 golfers to advance to single elimination match-play bracket, where he was paired opposite of Lim.  Miller actually outscored Lim by three strokes over the 18 holes, but in match play points are earned by winning holes.

Miller is attempting to win the most prestigious amateur tournament sponsored by the United States Golf Association and join the ranks of the world’s #1 player Tiger Woods, who won the event three times before launching his professional career.

Miller, 17, will play Hyun Seok Lim of California in today’s opening round, teeing off at 12:21 pm.  If victorious, Miller will need to win two matches in each of the next two days to reach Friday’s final.

After opening with a 75 in the first round, on Monday, Miller improved to shoot a 73 yesterday and finished +6.  The event began with 156 golfers who had reached the field through a series of qualifying events held all over the country.  Miller qualified by placing second at the Chevy Chase Club earlier this month.

Korea’s Seung Yui Noh, who posted a two round stroke play score of 136 (-6) is the top seed in the match play competition.

The creation of former Cardinal Gibbons baseball coach Lou Holcomb, who owns Diamond Recruiting, the showcase features a skills combine and an all-star game â?? two events which have become regular stops for college recruiters from throughout the region.

The combine portion of the event, which is divided into two sessions, is open to any player in the classes of 2008, 2009 and 2010 and will take place at Joe Cannon Stadium on Friday, August 3.  Players from Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which comprise the North Region will participate in the morning sessions, with pitchers and catchers going from 10 am to noon, followed by the position players from 12:30-2:30 pm.

The South Region, featuring Virginia, Washington, DC, North Carolina and South Carolina will take the stage in the late afternoon, with the pitchers and catchers working out from 4-6 pm, followed by the position players from 6:30-8:30 pm.

During the combine, the players will work through a number of drills, skills competitions and performance measurements.  It is the work in these sessions which will be judged, allowing the staff to select the players who will participate in Monday’s All-Star Game, which will be played at noon at the University of Maryland’s Shipley Field.

Abiamiri, who had 10.5 sacks as a senior at Notre Dame and was a two-time winner of the school’s Defensive Lineman of the Year Award, inked the contract in time to guarantee that he will be on hand when the Eagles open training camp on Friday.

“I think I have a good combination of size, speed and power that lets me be versatile enough to be an every down defensive end,” said Abiamiri. “I can play the run, pass and you don’t have to take me off the field in any situation.”

Abiamiri, one of the most heavily recruited defensive lineman in Baltimore history, was the 2003 Baltimore Defensive Player of the Year while at Gilman.  He and Gilman classmate Ambrose Wooden, who was the 2003 Offensive Player of the Year, both ended up at Notre Dame.  Abiamiri was a four-year starter.  Wooden, who started as a wide receiver, ended up red-shirting his freshman year and eventually broke into the starting lineup as a defensive back last fall.  He will return to South Bend this fall to complete his final year of college eligibility.

Scores
were kept and bracket winners were named, as technically this was a
competition, but in reality team’s were on hand to get plenty of reps
with their passing game and begin the transition from summer
conditioning to more football related activity, as the start of
training camp looms just ahead.

The recent heat wave which has
gripped the Baltimore area subsided just a bit this weekend and a
slight breeze provided near ideal conditions for the workouts.  No pads
were worn and plays were ended by a simple two-hand touch.  Lineman
were conspicuous by their absence and most lineups were a liberal mix
of varsity, junior varsity and even freshman players.

“It’s a
beautiful day and its great to see some football,” said Boys’ Latin
head coach Ritchie Schell, who left his team largely to his assistants
as he focused on his duties as host of the event.  “We’re excited about
the season.  The [MIAA] B Conference is loaded and we have a tough
non-conference schedule as well, but we’ve progressed to this point
with our program and we look forward to the challenge.”

Schell’s
Lakers went just 1-3 on Saturday, but senior quarterback Charlie
McComas, who will run the BL offense full-time this fall, after sharing
the position with Grady Gamble the last two years, looked sharp in the
drills.

Boys’ Latin was in Bracket B with St. Mary’s and Severn,
two other teams which expect to contend in the B Conference this fall,
and both clubs got plenty of reps in for their younger players.