League

BOSTON -- The Orioles traded veteran reliever Luis Ayala to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, receiving minor league left-handed reliever Chris Jones in return. But the move was less about unloading Ayala than it was allowing the Orioles the opportunity to keep Rule 5 pick T.J. McFarland while moving to a seven-man bullpen. It lets the team go to back a four-man bench after playing short-handed since Saturday. The Orioles purchased the contract of outfielder Chris Dickerson from Triple-A Norfolk, and he replaced Ayala on the 40-man and 25-man rosters.

Rebecca Rigger, a League of Women Voters activist who monitored the Baltimore County Planning Board, died of a heart attack March 25 at her Monkton home. She was 85. Born Rebecca Rogers in Big Island, Va., she was raised at an apple orchard in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She earned a bachelor's degree from what is now James Madison University, where she was editor of the college newspaper. As a young woman, she moved to eastern Baltimore County and taught at Middle River Junior High School.

Karl Marx is credited with saying that religion is "the opium of the people. " But here in the nation's capital, baseball is the drug of choice that rescues political junkies from the unpleasant realities around them. Currently providing relief from the congressional stalemate over the deficit that has produced the "sequester" of spending cuts, job furloughs and general fiscal paralysis is the return of last year's Cinderella baseball team, the Washington Nationals. After rising from traditional doormat to champion of the National League's East Division, the Nats heart-breakingly collapsed in the final game of their first playoff series.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been here before, with fans screaming his name and his teammates shaking their heads at his latest incredible power display. Davis, though, also has been on the other side, when things are going terribly and he's sent to the minors and he's not really sure he can play this game. So that's why, after his eighth-inning grand slam in Friday's home opener - which gave the Orioles' a 9-5 win over the Minnesota Twins and Davis a mind-numbing four homers and 16 RBIs in four 2013 games - the extroverted first baseman was rather subdued.

'Unscathed' is the word Boys' Latin veteran coach Bob Shriver used to describe his No. 1 Lakers' impressive 8-0 start as his team answered every challenge in a demanding non-league schedule to this point. Loaded with experienced talent, the Lakers are not only ranked No. 1 in The Sun's Top 15 poll, but they are also top-ranked team nationally in the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 25 poll. In his 38 years at Boys' Latin, the past 34 as head coach, Shriver has had a number of special teams come through in addition to 450-plus wins, five Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championships and eight more title game appearances. As this week's Coachpeak guest, we asked Shriver, a Boys' Latin and Washington College grad, about his team's fine start, what to expect in the MIAA this season and how the game has evolved in the years he's been coach.  What has impressed you most with the team's undefeated start?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Orioles designated hitter Wilson Betemit underwent successful exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday. The procedure isn't expected to extend Betemit's initial recovery time of six to eight weeks from a Grade 2/3 posterior cruciate ligament tear in the knee. “They went in just to look and repair a couple of minor things, so everything in there was good news," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Thursday. “The anterior cruciate ligament is really good and the PCL looks like it's going to heal.

North Carolina senior midfielder Davey Emala (Gilman) and Maryland sophomore attackman Jay Carlson (St. Paul's) were named Atlantic Coast Conference men's lacrosse Co-Offensive Players of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the conference, while Terps goalkeeper Niko Amato was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Week. Emala scored on all three of his shots and had one caused turnover in North Carolina's 11-10 overtime win over then-No. 12 Johns Hopkins on Saturday.

After six years battling Salisbury as members of the Capital Athletic Conference, Stevenson moved to the Middle Atlantic Conference for the current 2013 campaign. But the conference switch hasn't dulled the emotion that the rivalry has generated in 14 meetings between these two teams. “I don't think the tenor of the rivalry has changed,” Mustangs coach Paul Cantabene said Monday morning. “I still think both teams don't like each other very much, and I still think it's a very big game on the national landscape, and it always has been.

All athletes dream of reaching the big leagues, of playing under the lights in front of thousands of screaming fans. Skyy Anderson, 23, lived that dream. But then it was all taken from her. After a four-year career at Maryland, Anderson was offered a chance to try out for the Philadelphia Independence. But after leaving school and leaving everything behind to pursue that opportunity, the Women's Professional Soccer league collapsed, leaving Anderson with nowhere to go. "I was like, 'I took this year off and now I'm just sitting at home,'" Anderson said.

The Orioles have decided to take advantage of a new rule that allows for the hiring of a seventh coach. Former big league catcher Einar Diaz, who was ticketed to be the field coach at Bowie, will now be an assistant major league coach, helping hitting coach Jim Presley as well as other members of Showalter's staff. “I've had Einar as a player [with the Texas Rangers in 2003],” Showalter said. “Einar is just a solid human being. He'll fit in real well to the clubhouse, pretty seamless.” Showalter said one of the most important things about Diaz is that he's a good batting practice pitcher, something needed with the departure of last year's third-base coach DeMarlo Hale.