Fall League

The Baltimore Bays are going indoors.After finishing 5-11 in the U.S. Interregional Soccer League's outdoor season and missing the playoffs, the Bays are planning for an indoor season that will run from mid-November through February.With what coach Kevin Healey calls "pretty much the same team we had this summer," the Bays will play "about 16 games" against a division of USISL teams yet to be determined.Outdoor Atlantic Division opponents Greensboro (N.C.), Charleston (S.C.) and Delaware are possibilities.

St. Frances has made it to the Catholic League final for the sixth time during the 1990s, but this one ranks as the Panthers' most unlikely appearance.No. 19 and fifth-seeded St. Frances (12-9) stunned top-ranked and top-seeded Towson Catholic, 47-46, last night in the semifinals of the 28th Catholic League tournament.St. Frances, 4-1 in tournament finals, meets No. 4 and second-seeded Archbishop Spalding (28-4) in tonight's 7: 30 final at the Towson Center.Spalding was a 62-42 winner over the No. 3 seed, St. Maria Goretti (31-6)

Officials are not expecting any attendance boom for the new Maryland Fall Baseball League, but if the books almost balance, they will be satisfied."It can help baseball," said Peter Kirk, chief executive officer of Maryland Baseball Limited Partnership, Inc., which will oversee operations."

For most sports, the offseason actually means a genuine dormant period when little of consequence happens and other athletic pursuits take center stage. In the NFL, though, the drumbeat never stops and the spotlight always shines. The dust had hardly settled from the Steelers' Super Bowl victory when the NFL combine was grabbing attention from baseball spring training. A few weeks later, drama over football's labor agreement overshadowed college basketball conference tournaments. And for many fans, the highlight event of April is the first round of the NFL draft, which is being held in just two weeks, rather than the first pitch of a new major league season.

Shaquille O'Neal kissed Caron Butler on the head, got a technical for hanging on the rim and thumped Andray Blatche into a knee-buckling injury. He also scored 29 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Of course, a 36-year-old center playing back-to-back games at the end of a long road trip isn't much of a problem when the opponent is the new worst team in basketball. O'Neal and the Phoenix Suns wrapped up a six-game East Coast swing last night with a 103-87 win over the Washington Wizards, who suffered the indignity of falling behind the Oklahoma City Thunder to take sole possession of the NBA cellar.

It's hot. It's August. Deep summer.It's time for swimming pools and barbecues, picnics and iced tea.And it's time to start thinking about the fall/winter bowling season.Here's what in store for the tenpin -- and duckpin -- bowlersat the Carroll County lanes:* County Lanes, Westminster ShoppingCenter, 857-1977 or 876-8430.Tom Biebl is the manager, and Ken Frock Jr. is the assistant manager, mechanic and lane maintenance man."The new system of bowling is in place," Frock said."There's at least three units of oil on the lanes down 23 1/2 feet from the foul line."

As you watch Ryan Conrad zip around the lacrosse field, dodging defenders and pounding the net with an endless variety of shots, it's easy to forget his age. Talk to him on the phone, however, and the Loyola High sophomore sounds like, well, a high school sophomore. A great many things in his life are summed up by the catchall adjective "amazing!" Young players such as Conrad - equal parts precocious and normal teenager - stand at the center of a debate raging across the lacrosse landscape.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- After playing a strong World Baseball Classic with the Netherlands, Orioles top position prospect Jonathan Schoop is slated to return to major league camp on Tuesday, where manager Buck Showalter said he intends to get a few more looks at the 21-year-old before optioning him to the minors. “I'd like to get him some at bats here to take a little look at him,” Showalter said Thursday. “We've gotten very few peeks at him.” Schoop, who tied for the Netherlands team lead with 2 homers and 6 RBIs in eight WBC games, initially started at second base for the Netherlands, then moves to third when Jurickson Profar joined the team.

The Orioles' top position prospect, Jonathan Schoop, was scheduled to see back specialist Lee Riley at Johns Hopkins on Tuesday to receive further evaluation on a lower back strain that has landed him on the seven-day minor league disabled list. Schoop, rated the Orioles' No. 3 prospect by Baseball America, was hitting .268/.331/.386 with three homers and 18 RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk before he was placed on the DL on Thursday. It is believed that Schoop's back problems are rooted from continuing growth spurts the 21-year-old infielder has experienced for the past two years.

Starting pitcher Brian Matusz, selected by the Orioles with the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, made his debut in the Arizona Fall League yesterday. The left-hander didn't allow any hits in three scoreless innings for the Surprise Rafters against the Mesa Solar Sox. Matusz walked one and had one strikeout. He threw 45 pitches (26 strikes). (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/osondeck)