Metro Sports Report

Puk, Hammer sit as Prairie sweeps Wash

The buzz at Washington High School prior to a pair of Mississippi Valley Conference games against Prairie Monday night was about A.J. Puk and Brennan Hammer, a couple of star players who were not in uniform due to injuries.

Prairie swept the twinbill from the struggling Warriors, 15-5 and 12-0.

Washington star Puk has been sidelined with a broken thumb, but he did manage to go to a showcase event in Minneapolis last week to show the scouts his pitching skills. It was feasible because he's left-handed and the broken thumb is on his right hand.

Former Metro preps in pro baseball

RYAN SWEENEY (Xavier, Boston Red Sox) -- Placed on 15-day disabled list June 17 with broken bone in foot. Year to date -- BA - .292, AB - 171, R - 19, H - 50, RBI - 13, 2B - 17, 3B - 1, HR - 0, SB - 0.

SCOTT SCHEBLER (Prairie, Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers), MWL) -- There were no games scheduled Monday in the Midwest League, which is on its all-star break through Wednesday. Scott has hit safely in five straight games, during which he is 10-for-21 with seven RBIs, four doubles and a home run. Scott is tied for the Midwest League lead in triples (6). Year to date -- BA - .274, AB - 270, R - 37, H - 74, RBI - 43, 2B - 20, 3B - 6, HR - 5, SB - 10.

KELLEN SWEENEY (Jefferson, Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays), NWL) -- Started at third base Monday and was 1-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in Vancouver's 9-1 win at Spokane. Vancouver totals -- BA - .125, AB - 16, R - 4, H - 2, RBI - 0, 2B - 1, 3B - 0, HR - 0, SB - 0.

Roth doubles his fun with Linn-Mar

Jimmy Roth drove in two runs and made a couple of nice plays at first base Friday night when the Linn-Mar Lions swept a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader from Prairie.

The next morning, he traded his spikes for sneakers and played for Linn-Mar in the 2012 Corridor Classic Basketball Tournament, the first of five games for the Lions in the weekend tournament that was held at Kennedy, Xavier and Jefferson.

Monday night, Roth will don his spikes again and grab his first baseman's mitt for Linn-Mar's big doubleheader at top-ranked Kennedy with first place in the MVC at stake.

"It's busy," said Roth, a 6-foot-5 senior-to-be. "It's a lot of fun at the same time."

Roth mixes the two sports as best he can during the summer, but said baseball takes priority during the baseball season. He plays basketball when he can.

Whole new world in sports reporting

If you’re a sports fan, the thirst for information is almost unquenchable these days.

In this got-to-have-it-now society, traditional deliverers of news have changed their approach and numerous non-traditional forms of reporting have exploded on the scene. It’s a virtual smorgasbord of choices any more for the sports fan.

Forty years ago, when Watergate made headlines, a newspaper broke the news. The Washington Post, with bylines from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, gave us the first news of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Reporters at every major television and radio station, and news magazines, followed.