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Fifth-seeded N.C. State plays in No. 1 seeded Miami’s group in this week’s ACC baseball tournament, the league announced Sunday. Duke will play Tuesday against Wake Forest. North Carolina missed the tournament after losing its weekend series with the Wolfpack. Pairings and game times were set for the championship, which gets underway Tuesday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Miami (43-10, 21-7) earned the No. 1 overall seed and will head…

Buy Photo Morris County Challenger Little Leaguer Tyler Martin, 12, of Basking Ridge, catches a ball as the Pirates faced the Red Sox on Sunday.(Photo: Alexandra Pais/Correspondent)Buy Photo MORRISTOWN – Geoffrey Gallotto sat in his wheelchair, aluminum baseball bat cocked across home plate. As his father lofted pitches toward him, Gallotto took swing after swing, shaking the New York Mets baseball cap hanging off the back of the chair. When…

K.J. Pilcher The Gazette More stories from K.J. CEDAR RAPIDS — Baseball has played a major role in Spencer Van Scoyoc’s life. The family tradition is well known. His grandfather, Jim Van Scoyoc is a member of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, leading Norway to seven state titles and winning 850 games. His dad, Aaron Van Scoyoc, competed in college, getting drafted by the…

Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere: Outfield Fly Rule runs down the qualities the Braves should be looking for in their next manager. The 3rd Man In has an interview with MLB.com prospect guru Jim Callis, who answers questions regarding the upcoming draft. Clubhouse Corner profiles and chats with Diamondbacks pitching prospect Tyler Wagner. Super Two Sports argues that the Phillies should trade for Brewers star outfielder Ryan…

Get all of Michael Beller’s columns as soon as they’re published. Download the new Sports Illustrated app (iOS or Android) and personalize your experience by following your favorite teams and SI writers. The Blue Jays mashed their way to the ALCS last year on the strength of the league’s best offense. With MVP Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion leading the way, the Blue Jays led the majors with a .344…

Vardy’s goal against Turkey took his tally to three for England Jamie Vardy’s late strike gave England victory over Turkey in their first warm-up match for Euro 2016, but Roy Hodgson’s side were fortunate to win a game in which they looked far from convincing at the back. As dangerous as England were going forward they also struggled defensively, and it took a brilliant reaction save from Joe Hart to…

The tactic predates the Declaration of Independence, tracing most famously to 1773 and the Boston Tea Party. Boycotts have been a part of American life ever since. Recently entire states – Florida, Arizona, South Carolina – were targeted for boycotts, to varying effect, due to legislative acts taken or avoided. Now, thanks to HB2, the so-called “bathroom law,” North Carolina is in the crosshairs of a spirited boycott of similar…

If you’re a fan of the NBA, then you’re probably familiar with ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe who has been writing about the Association. He joined Grantland in 2012 and when ESPN put the kibosh on the site, he remained with the Worldwide Leader to cover the NBA. In addition to his articles, fans can see Lowe on ESPN’s daily NBA-centric show, The Jump hosted by Rachel Nichols. Slate’s Josh Levin recently wrote…

An accurate metaphor for what happened to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race format. Photo credit: Brian Lawdermilk/Stringer/Getty Images The “All-Star” event in any sport is a special one, since the best competitors get to battle it out with not much at stake but their pride. NASCAR has one also, and they try to make the race unique by using a new, oddball format each year. This year was so bad,…

Good morning everyone and welcome to this historic encounter as the U.S Men’s National Team face Puerto Rico for the very first time. Neither team has played since March so it will be interesting to see how much rust they can shake off as they commence the beginning of a busy summer. This is an interesting fixture as this is a chance to see what the future holds for Team…

NASCAR re-jiggered the format of Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race in the hopes of pumping more drama into the event. The changes only appeared to cause confusion and hard feelings at Charlotte Motor Speedway. So, after Joey Logano passed Kyle Larson with three laps to go to win his first All-Star Race (and the $1 million that went with it), only one thing was completely clear: The idea of driving from…

Media playback is not supported on this device Defiant Van Gaal ‘proud’ of Man Utd Cup triumph Louis van Gaal left Manchester United’s London hotel on Sunday without being told by the club that Jose Mourinho is set to succeed him as manager. The BBC understands that Saturday’s FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace was Van Gaal’s last game in charge. The 64-year-old has now travelled back to Manchester…

Bismack Biyombo had a monster Game 3 as the Toronto Raptors got back into their Eastern Conference Finals series after losing the first two games in Cleveland. He had 26 rebounds and four blocks and hit three of the six shots he took. But Raptors coach Dwane Casey thinks Biyombo should have had even more of an impact, if only the refs called the game the same way for both…

Race 1 winner Homeboykris (3) collapsed and died following the post race winner’s circle celebration at the Preakness Stakes.(Photo: Tommy Gilligan, USA TODAY Sports) BALTIMORE — Race horses die. Few of us pay attention, but it happens relatively often: various studies have found the number to be about 1,000 a year, or about 1½ deaths per 1,000 starts. They get injured during a race, and are put to sleep, sometimes right on the…

New tires are king at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and so is Joey Logano. A NASCAR All-Star Race gimmick conceived by driver Brad Keselowski put six-time champion Jimmie Johnson and defending Cup champion Kyle Busch at the front, but on old tires, for the final segment. They held those spots for less than two corners. Kyle Larson and Logano, two of the first three cars on new tires, quickly overtook the…

CHICAGO (May 21, 2016) – U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has named the 23-player roster that will compete in the historic 2016 Copa America Centenario. The roster includes 15 players from the 2014 FIFA World Cup squad, and a total of 18 who have already appeared in Qualifying for Russia 2018. Veterans like team captain Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey marshal the group boasting loads of…

When qualifying was rained out for tonight’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET on FS1) it spawned confusion among fans and even some racers. Would the field for tonight’s race be set by the morning’s practice speeds or by owner points? Denny Hamlin jumped on Twitter to get an answer and he got one from the top — as NASCAR executive vice president and chief…

Brock Nelson takes a shot against Cam Talbot of Canada in the semifinals at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on May 21, 2016 in Moscow. The United States fell to Canada 4-3 in the semifinal round of the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on…