Reds

The freshman closed out a banner first season for Roland Park, capturing the individual title at the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland's A Conference championship on Thursday and leading the Reds to their sixth straight team title. Over two days and 18 holes at Fox Hollow Golf Course, Owen shot consecutive 38s for a 4-over-par 76 that was 12 strokes better than three runner-up finishers. She started Wednesday's play with a birdie on the opening hole and ended the championship with a birdie in windy conditions Thursday.

It's widely available, it's moderately priced, and it doesn't require a corkscrew. What more do you need in a red wine? It doesn't hurt that this medium-bodied blend of shiraz (75 percent) and cabernet sauvignon (25 percent) shows plenty of earthy character, with vibrant flavors of blackberry and chocolate. It's not the most complex red on the market, but it's thoroughly enjoyable and ready to drink. A wine for the masses, not the critics. From: Australia Price: $13 Serve with: Grilled meats, pasta

Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman agreed Monday to a $30.25, six-year contract with the Reds, who view him as an addition to their rotation down the road. The 21-year-old gained notoriety during the World Baseball Classic in March, when he pitched well against Australia and badly against Japan, throwing his fastball around 100 mph. Chapman defected in July. He threw a bullpen session for major league teams in Houston last month. Agent Randy Hendricks said between six and eight teams were strongly interested in Chapman.

Salisbury coach Jim Berkman is fond of saying that it's fitting for the only two undefeated teams in Division III - the Sea Gulls (22-0) and SUNY-Cortland (21-0) - to meet in Sunday's NCAA tournament final at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Tyler Granelli has an entirely different motive. The junior faceoff specialist was cut by the Red Dragons in the fall of 2010 after compiling six points and 11 groundballs in 14 games as a freshman in 2009. Granelli elected to transfer to Salisbury and after sitting out 2010 to rehabilitate a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, he has won 66.0 percent (446-of-676)

Only time will tell By Dan Connolly Baltimore Sun Let's see. Aroldis Chapman will take the baseball world by storm with his 100-plus mph fastball and youthful exuberance. After a bit, he'll stop being the flavor of the month, and his lone concentration will be getting major league hitters out on a consistent basis. He'll struggle at times doing that and probably overcompensate and overthrow. He'll eventually have arm trouble, elbow or shoulder, because what he is paid to do — throw a ball 100 times every five days with velocity and accuracy — is not a natural act for an arm. When he recovers from injury, that's when we'll know what the baseball world has in Chapman: Another talented flash in the pan or a lasting commodity that combines natural ability with smarts and conditioning to learn how to pitch and succeed in the big leagues.

National League president Bill White will ask the Cincinnati Reds next week about the former team doctor's allegations that the Reds did not provide quality medical care for players, a league spokeswoman said yesterday.Katy Feeney said league officials have seen only newspaper stories about Dr. Michael Lawhon's parting shot at the Reds when he quit Monday as the team's physician."The league will, I'm sure, look into it and see where it all comes from," Feeney said. "Obviously, players' health is a concern."

Roland Park's Peggy Boutilier feels comfortable anywhere on the hockey field -- except maybe the goal cage.Yesterday, however, that's just where the All-Metro midfielder found herself as the No. 3 Reds made a tremendous last-second stand against unranked Maryvale.Boutilier, who stayed back when Reds keeper Eleanor Cordi stepped up against the attack, lunged to make a stick save with about five seconds left.That preserved a 2-1 victory over visiting Maryvale (0-1-2 overall, 0-1-1 league) in an Association of Independent Schools A Division league game.

The game The Orioles hit four home runs on the way to a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds yesterday at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. The bats First baseman Jeff Conine hit his second home run of the spring in the fourth inning and took over the team lead with his eighth RBI. Catcher Brook Fordyce, third baseman Tony Batista and outfielder Melvin Mora also homered as the Orioles fought back from a three-run deficit. Conine and Fordyce each had two hits in the balanced offensive attack.

First baseman-outfielder Mike Marshall remained absent from training camp yesterday but said he would be back in camp today.Marshall confirmed that he had talked with manager Joe Morgan and general manager Lou Gorman Wednesday about the possibility of walking out because of his frustration as a bench player. But he says the reason he left the park without permission Wednesday was family business.Specifically, Marshall had to attend to his wife, Mary. Winter Haven, Fla., police charged her with "removing a police barrier" Wednesday afternoon at Chain O'Lakes Park.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Cincinnati Reds general manager Jim Bowden put Queen City media on a 48-hour notice Monday that he was prepared to announce a major trade. Speculation immediately sprouted that the Reds and Orioles were discussing a trade involving pitcher Scott Erickson. While the Reds assigned a scout to the Tampa Bay series, vice president of baseball operations Syd Thrift said last night that the two teams have not spoken recently. "Scott Erickson's not going anywhere," Thrift said of the Reds rumor.

It didn't take long for right-hander Jake Arrieta to retreat to the video room inside the Orioles' clubhouse to go over another tough start Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after the Orioles' 6-5 series-finale loss to the Boston Red Sox at Camden Yards, Arrieta could be found inside a dark room full of computers, trying to find answers to explain his up-and-down season. When the 26-year-old right-hander has pitched well, he has shown the potential to become the front-line ace the organization needs, but when he has struggled, he has had heads shaking.

During all the mounting losses, the short outings, the brutal beatings from the opposition that left-hander Brian Matusz endured last season, the Orioles faithful remained fairly kind, with only a smattering of boos for his worst performances. Matusz was, after all, considered a key to the club's future after a solid 2010, and the fan base was just waiting to embrace him again. So when he walked off the Camden Yards field Tuesday after throwing a two-hit gem in a 4-1 win against the Boston Red Sox, the announced crowd of 25,171 -- at least those there to cheer the Orioles -- showed its appreciation with a loud and long standing ovation.

The last time the Orioles met the Red Sox, they played baseball's version of the Boston Marathon - a 17-inning game at Fenway Park that completed Baltimore's first sweep of Boston since 1994. And the last time the Red Sox came to Camden Yards, they left with their season shattered, sending them prematurely into an offseason of upheaval. Its pretty clear that the Orioles have had the Red Sox's number of late, beating Boston in seven of their last eight entering Monday. But these Red Sox arrived at Camden Yards surging, winners of eight of their last 10 games as they try to work their way out of the early-season American League East cellar.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has long promised that Baltimore and the Washington suburbs would each get a new light-rail line and that the Red Line and its Purple counterpart outside D.C. could be built at the same time. But state financial documents recently submitted to the Federal Transit Administration show that O'Malley's promise, to the state's most populous regions, will be difficult — if not impossible — to keep. The General Assembly's recent rejection of the governor's proposed gas tax hike makes it increasingly likely that the state will have to choose to build one line before the other, state and local transportation officials say. With no new tax revenue dedicated to transportation, finding the money for even one of the light-rail lines will be difficult, the officials say. The state hoped to begin construction on both lines in 2015, with the 14-mile Red Line — which would ultimately run from Woodlawn to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center — opening in early 2021 and the 16-mile Purple Line opening between Bethesda and New Carrollton by late 2020.

Their five-game road trip to Kansas City and Washington completed, the Orioles come home for a three-game set against the Boston Red Sox to complete a stretch of 20 games in 20 days. The Orioles' off day Thursday will be welcome in many ways. It will also be the first of three off days over the next nine games. Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he's considering adjusting the starting rotation to give left-hander Wei-Yin Chen or right-hander Jason Hammel extra days rest.

Denison enters this NCAA tournament quarterfinal with a 15-1 record and a six-game winning streak. But the Big Red's only loss of the season occurred April 7 at the hands of Stevenson, which is 17-4 and has won five of its last six contests. The Mustangs are 3-1 all-time against Denison and have won 12 of 13 games at home this season, most recently against Gettysburg in the second round last Saturday night. Here are a few factors that could influence the outcome at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills Wednesday night.

Derrek Lee hadn't hit a homer since May 8, but he certainly remembers what it feels like to make good contact with a pitch. So the second the ball left his bat in the 12th inning, Lee knew exactly what he had just done. He didn't need to see his teammates pouring out of the dugout while following the ball's flight. Lee ended a night in which his team blew a four-run lead and botched numerous scoring chances with a long home run to left field off Cincinnati reliever Jose Arredondo, securing the Orioles' 5-4 victory over the Reds in front of an announced 45,382, the second sellout crowd at Camden Yards this season.

A simple “pull-to-sit” test on infants at six months old may help doctors predict autismand other delays, a new study has found. The study by Kennedy Krieger Institute researchers looked at infants at high genetic risk for autism and found many had weak head and neck control. A large number went on to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, though some had other, more mild language or social delays. The test, added to other developmental measurements already taken of babies, would provide a red flag for parents of all infants, said Dr. Rebecca Landa, study author and director of Kennedy Krieger's Center for Autism and Related Disorders.

When Denison pays a visit to Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills Wednesday night for an NCAA tournament quarterfinal, Stevenson won't be unfamiliar with the Big Red. That's because the two teams tangled on April 7 with the Mustangs emerging with a 12-9 victory. That contest should help Stevenson reacquaint itself with Denison. “I think we've just got to know what they're about,” coach Paul Cantabene said Monday of the Big Red. “They're a very talented team with a lot of older kids playing for them, especially on the offensive end. They're a dangerous team.