Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Baseball

South Atlantic League

Lexington Legends
vs. Greensboro Grasshoppers

What: Three-game series

When: Monday through Wednesday (7:05 each night)

Where: Whitaker Bank Ballpark

Tickets: Call (859) 422-7867

Major League affiliates: Houston Astros (Legends), Miami Marlins

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Monday, RH Chris Devenski (7-6, 4.52) vs. RH Jake Esch (0-1, 6.17); Tuesday RH Mike Foltynewicz (14-3, 2.78) vs. RH Jose Urena (8-5, 3.38); Wednesday, LH Luis Cruz (9-6, 3.89) vs. RH Josh Hodges (7-8, 3.73).

Matt Smith

Grasshopper to watch: All-star 1B Matt Smith (6-foot-3, 230 pounds, age 24, bats/throws right, from Milan, Ga.) leads Greensboro with a .495 slugging percentage and is tied for fourth in the league with 17 home runs. Batting .278 over 78 games, he has driven in 65 runs and scored 57. Thirteen of his 82 hits have been doubles, and he has 146 total bases to go with an .852 OPS.  Smith wrapped up a four-year career at Ole Miss in 2011. Over 228 games, he batted .321 for the Rebels, with 41 homers, 183 RBI and 185 runs scored.

Brandon Meredith

Legend to watch: OF Brandon Meredith (6-2, 230, 22, b/t right, from San Diego) is having a solid season, batting .284 with 15 homers, 48 RBI and 52 runs over 82 games. Included are 18 doubles, four triples and 156 total bases. He also has stolen 11 bases in 14 attempts, while compiling a .385 on-base percentage, .522 slugging and .906 OPS. For 16 games this month, Meredith is batting .310 with four homers, 13 RBI and 14 runs. Selected by the Astros in the sixth round of the 2011 draft out of San Diego State University, he played 35 games last year for Tri-City of the New York-Penn League. He wound up batting .244 with a homer, 10 RBI, 24 runs and seven stolen bases.

Radio: WLXG-AM 1300

Former University of Kentucky softall All-American Molly Johnson was named Friday to the United States National Team.

Molly Johnson (Staff file photo, 2009)

Johnson, a shortstop, became UK’s first softball All-American in 2009, when she broke three school records (81 hits, 53 runs, .498 on-base percentage) and set career highs in nine offensive categories. She completed her UK eligibility in 2010 and served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats this year.

This will be her third consecutive season representing Team USA. She also played for the USA Futures squad last year.

The 2011 National Team has an 18-player roster and one alternate.

The team will open play against the USA Softball Junior National Team on Saturday, June 25, with a doubleheader exhibition series at Plant City, Fla. Exhibition doubleheaders against the Junior Nationals also are set June 29 at Salem, Va., and July 1 at Bowie, Md.

Then, it will be on to international play.

Team USA will go to Surrey, British Columbia, for the Canadian Open Fast Pitch International Championship, July 9-17. That will be followed by the World Cup of Softball VI, July 21-25, at Oklahoma City.

The Americans will be after their ninth Pan American Games gold, Oct. 17-23, at Guadalajara, Mexico.

South Florida’s Ken Eriksen will coach the National Team, assisted by Olympic gold-medalists Tairia Flowers and Stacey Nuveman. Flowers is head coach at Cal State Northridge, while Nuveman is an assistant at San Diego State. Completing the coaching staff is Oregon head coach Mike White.

The National Team roster (with school attended): Valerie Arioto (California); Whitney Canion (Baylor); Kaitlin Cochran (Arizona State); Lauren Gibson (Tennessee); Kelly Grieve (Tennessee); Taylor Hoagland (Texas); Ashley Holcombe (Alabama); Molly Johnson (Kentucky); Stacy Johnson (Iowa); Megan Langenfeld (UCLA); Jenae Leles (Arizona); Michelle Moultrie (Florida); Christine Orgeron (Louisiana Lafayette); Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma); Brittany Schutte (Florida); Jordan Taylor (Michigan); Rhea Taylor (Missouri), and Chelsea Thomas (Missouri). Alternate: Jessica Shults (Oklahoma).

The University of Louisville has been recognized with the U.S. Olympic Achievement Award.

Swimmers Elaine Breeden of Lexington and Caroline Burckle of Louisville earned recognition for their respective universities, Stanford and Florida.

The U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. National Governing Bodies for Sport and National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics joined together to create the award, which recognizes the colleges and universities whose student-athletes and coaches have won Olympic medals.

Ron Mann

A total of 43 colleges and universities contributed to U.S. medal successes at the last two Olympics — the 2008 Beijing Summer Games and 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Schools are recognized based on two criteria: having a current student-athlete who was part of a medal-winning performance or a coach who was a credentialed member of the U.S. Olympic Team delegation and his/her athlete or team won a medal. Ten schools met both criteria, 16 had a student-athlete and 22 had a coach.

U of L’s Ron Mann was part of the U.S. coaching staff in athletics (track and field) at Beijing.

The U.S. Olympic Achievement Award will be presented every two years following the Olympic Games.

Below are the lists of the universities, athletes and coaches that will be honored.

Colleges/universities — Alabama, Arizona, Boston College, Cal-Berkeley, Cal-Irvine, Concordia, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Harvard, Humboldt State, Illinois, Iowa, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northeastern, Northern Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Santa Monica College, Seton Hall, Shelton State, South Carolina, Southern Illinois, St. John’s, St. Mary’s, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee State, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, Southern Cal, Wesleyan, Wisconsin.

Coaches (with sport and school) — Harvey Glance, athletics, Alabama; James Li, athletics, Arizona; Frank Busch, swimming, Arizona; Mike Candrea, softball, Arizona; Teri McKeever, swimming, Cal-Berkeley; Jamie Morrison, volleyball, Concordia; Mike Krzyzewski, basketball, Duke; Gregg Troy, swimming, Florida; Jack Bauerle, swimming, Georgia; Sue Woodstra, volleyball, Humboldt State; Jon Valdez, gymnastics, Illinois; Terry Brands, wrestling, Iowa; Ron Mann, athletics, Louisville; Kerry McCoy, wrestling, Maryland; Bob Bowman, swimming, Michigan; Dave Flint, hockey, Northeastern; Myles Avery, gymnastics, Ohio State; Mark Williams, gymnastics, Oklahoma; Randy Jepson, gymnastics, Penn State; Erica Walsh, soccer, Penn State; Marv Dunphy, volleyball, Pepperdine; Kim Keenan-Kirkpatrick, athletics, Seton Hall; Dawn Staley, basketball, South Carolina; Connie Price-Smith, athletics, Southern Illinois; Yury Gelman, fencing, St. John’s; Rob Browning, volleyball, St. Mary’s; John Rittman, softball, Stanford; Jim Boeheim, basketball, Syracuse; Chandra Cheeseborough, athletics, Tennessee State; J.J. Clark, athletics, Tennessee; Bubba Thornton, athletics, Texas; Eddie Reese, swimming, Texas; Gail Goestenkors, basketball, Texas; John Speraw, volleball, Cal-Irvine; Jeanette Bolden, athletics, UCLA; Jillian Ellis, soccer, UCLA; Jodi McKenna, hockey, Wesleyan; Mark Johnson, hockey, Wisconsin.

Athletes — Lacey Nymeyer, swimming (one silver), Arizona; Kelly Stack, hockey (silver), Boston College; Molly Schaus, hockey (silver), Boston College; Nathan Adrian, swimming (gold), Cal-Berkeley; Tim Hutton, water polo (silver), Cal-Irvine; Caroline Burckle, swimming (bronze), Florida; Walter Dix, athletics (two bronze) Florida State; Emily Cross, fencing (silver), Harvard; Jonathan Kuck, speedskating (silver), Illinois; Tobin Heath, soccer (gold), North Carolina; Joceyln Lamoureux, hockey (silver), North Dakota; Monique Lamoureux, hockey (silver), North Dakota; Adam Wheeler, wrestling (bronze), Northern Michigan; Jonathan Horton, gymnastics (silver, bronze), Oklahoma; Stephen Strasburg, baseball (bronze), San Diego State; Ronda Rousey, judo (bronze), Santa Monica College; Deontay Wilder, boxing (bronze), Shelton State; Elle Logan, rowing (gold), Stanford; Julia Smit, swimming (silver, bronze), Stanford; Elaine Breeden, swimming (silver), Stanford; Jessica Steffens, water polo (silver), Stanford; Ricky Berens, swimming (gold), Texas; David Walters, swimming (gold), Texas; Christine Marshall, swimming (bronze), Texas A&M; Lauren Cheney, soccer (gold), UCLA; Amy Rodriguez, soccer (gold), Southern Cal; Klete Keller, swimming (gold), Southern Cal; Rebecca Soni, swimming (gold, two silver), Southern Cal; Kameryn Craig, water polo (silver), Southern Cal; James Krumpholz, water polo (silver), Southern Cal; Meghan Duggan, hockey (silver), Wisconsin; Hilary Knight, hockey (silver), Wisconsin.

Kentucky’s men are No. 19 and Louisville’s women are 14th in the first regular-season U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings of NCAA Division I teams.

The Florida State men and Texas A&M women retained the No. 1 spots awarded in the pre-season. Oregon is No. 2 in both men’s and women’s rankings.

The UK men dropped two spots from the pre-season. The Wildcats are last among seven Southeastern Conference teams ranked among the top 20.

The top 25 men’s teams include seven each from the SEC, Pac-10 and Big 12, plus two each from the ACC and Big Ten.

Louisville’s women climbed four spots from the pre-season. The Cardinals are the first of three Big East teams among the top 25.

The SEC leads the women’s poll with six teams among the top 25. The Big 12 has four teams, followed by the Big East, Pac-10 and ACC with three each.

Both Louisville and Kentucky will be in action this weekend at UK’s Rod McCravy Memorial Meet.

Friday’s schedule is limited to four field events — men’s high jump, women’s pole vault and weight throws for men and women.

Saturday’s card begins at 10:30 a.m. with the women’s high jump and long jump. The first track event, semifinals of the women’s 60-meter hurdles, is set for 12:30 p.m.

MEN                                                                                   WOMEN
Rank (previous rank) School (points)                     Rank (previous) School (points)

 1. (1) Florida State (135.17)                                        1. (1) Texas A&M (189.67)
 2. (3) Oregon (124.74)                                                 2. (2) Oregon (120.25)
 3. (2) Florida (120.22)                                                  3. (5) Brigham Young (117.86)
 4. (8) Texas A&M (118.10)                                           4. (3) LSU (105.16)
 5. (4) Nebraska (107.17)                                             5. (4) Florida State (103.16)
 6. (9) LSU (106.59)                                                       6. (10) Penn State (91.38)
 7. (5) Arkansas (94.10)                                                7. (9) Clemson (85.29)
 8. (7) Arizona State (89.48)                                          8. (12) Tennessee (82.15)
 9. (6) Oklahoma (88.97)                                               9. (6) Florida (79.60)
10. (11) Baylor (67.78)                                                 10. (17) Arkansas (75.59)
11. (14) Texas Tech (65.59)                                       11. (7) South Carolina (74.18)
12. (10) Minnesota (62.80)                                         12. (11) Nebraska (66.28)
13. (13) Virginia Tech (61.23)                                     13. (8) Washington (65.98)
14. (19) Georgia (57.62)                                              14. (18) LOUISVILLE (63.40)
15. (12) South Carolina (57.45)                                 15. (21) Oklahoma (61.68)
16. (38) Indiana (53.65)                                              16. (16) Baylor (61.40)
17. (16) Stanford (48.07)                                             17. (26) Arizona (58.12)
18. (15) Auburn (47.67)                                               18. (13) Virginia Tech (56.30)
19. (17) KENTUCKY (47.42)                                        19. (27) Auburn (53.31)
20. (101) Arizona (41.20)                                             20. (23) Southern Illinois (53.29)
21. (18) Washington State (40.92)                            21. (14) Connecticut (47.74)
22. (20) California (40.72)                                           22. (20) Indiana State (46.28)
23. (22) Kansas State (40.59)                                    23. (22) West Virginia (44.97)
24. (21) Oklahoma State (39.64)                               24. (19) Illinois (44.91)
25. (36) Washington (37.87)                                      25. (25) Texas-El Paso (44.56)

Cardinals 21st, Wildcats 26th in softball pre-season poll

Louisville is No. 21 and Kentucky is one spot shy of making the ESPN.com/USA Softball Pre-Season Collegiate Top 25 poll released Tuesday.

Topping the list is defending NCAA champion Washington (51-12 last season), taking 17 of 20 first-place votes.

U of L (48-11) is one of two Big East teams ranked, one spot behind DePaul. The Cardinals open their season Feb. 12 in the Marriott Tournament at Houston. In order, U of L will face Kansas, No. 15 Baylor (twice), Houston and No. 16 Ohio State.

UK (34-23) had the most votes of “others receiving votes” – 26th overall. The Wildcats begin play Feb. 11 in the Kajikawa Classic where they will face, in order, host and No. 7-ranked Arizona State, San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton, Western Michigan and No. 11 California.

Five Southeastern Conference teams are ranked ahead of UK: No. 2 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Georgia, No. 13 LSU and No. 18 Tennessee.

Rank, Team (first-place votes), 2009 record, points

 1. Washington (17)         51-12   479
 2. Alabama (1)                 54-11   457
 3. Michigan                       47-12   430
 4. Arizona (1)                    46-17   424
 5. Florida                           63-5     407
 6. UCLA (1)                       45-11   396
 7. Arizona State                47-19   387
 8. Georgia                         47-12   363
 9. Missouri                        50-12   337
10. Oklahoma                    41-16   306
11. California                     38-20   282
12. Stanford                       48-11    256
13. LSU                           34-18-1    234
14. Georgia Tech               46-15   215
15. Baylor                            40-22   214
16. Ohio State                     47-11   187
17. Northwestern               31-15   167
18. Tennessee               40-18-1   163
19. Florida State                 44-16   128
20. DePaul                          39-14   107
21. LOUISVILLE                  48-11    93
22. North Carolina              47-13    91
23. La.-Lafayette                 45-13    84
24. Fresno State                 28-20    70
25. UMass                           41-10     55
Others receiving votes: KENTUCKY (26), Jacksonville State (17), Auburn (14), North Dakota State (14), Nevada (12), Oregon (11), Oklahoma State (10), Texas (8), Cal Poly (7), Notre Dame (7), Nebraska (6), Texas A&M 5, Ball State (4), Brigham Young (4), San Diego State (4), Long Beach State (3), Purdue (2), New Mexico State (1), Virginia Tech (1), Western Michigan (1).

SCORE one for the ol’ coach

Jeff Bennett

Former UK baseball coach Keith Madison, now national baseball director of SCORE International, is helping raise funds for the non-profit organization through an online sale of baseball memorabilia. The pair of items come courtesy of Jeff Bennett, relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays and an annual supporter of SCORE. The sale on eBay runs through January.

Descriptions follow.

1. 2009 official MLB Rawlings baseball, with 22 autographs from the World Series champion New York Yankees. Signatures include Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Mariano Rivera, Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, Jorge Posada, (World Series MVP) Hideki Matsui, Andy Pettitte, AJ Burnett, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher, Joba Chamberlain and Manager Joe Girardi.  Online, see: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=220543520321&Category=73418&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D1

2. 2009 official Mark Teixeira-autographed baseball bat. The bat was donated from Teixeira’s personal game collection, straight from the Yankees clubhouse, and is signed in permanent silver ink. Online, see: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220546270071