Teams

Luckily, they don't trot out the old “defense wins championship” cliché as much in baseball circles - but there's no denying there have been teams who improve their 'D' and then find increased success . So, as we continue to poke and prod at the Orioles' competition in the American League East, it's worth a quick check of how these teams have been addressing their glovework in the offseason. Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com wrote this week about the propensity of John Farrell (and his third base-infielders coach Brian Butterfield)

One criteria that the selection committee looks at for the NCAA tournament is strength of schedule, which can either enhance or devalue a team's bid for an at-large spot in the tournament. Bucknell, which captured the Patriot League's bid for a berth in the tournament, has tried to strengthen its schedule, but according to coach Frank Fedorjaka, programs in the Top 10 aren't being too cooperative. “We've got 12 of the top 31 teams ranked in the country on our schedule this year, but none of them are in the Top 10. Frankly, nobody will accept an invitation,” Fedorjaka said Wednesday in a conference call.

A week after the bracket for the NCAA tournament was revealed, the first-round outcomes appeared to validate the selection committee's seeding decisions. Seven of the eight seeded teams emerged victorious this past weekend, and Maryland's 13-6 rout of No. 8 seed North Carolina isn't considered an upset in many corners. But four of the favorites found themselves trailing in the first quarter or at halftime. No. 6 Denver fell into a 7-5 hole against Villanova at intermission; Bucknell led No. 7 seed Virginia 4-1 by the end of the first quarter; and Hartford and Hofstra took leads of 3-1 and 2-0 against No. 2 seed Cornell and No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins, respectively.

It didn't take long to discover that a balloon wasn't going to work. After breaking first one egg in a hot-air balloon like contraption, then another attempting to stuff it into a balloon filled with cotton balls, friends Sarah Krammer, 12, Lucy Yezulinas, 12, Jessica Lang, 13, and Megan Jones, 12, nixed that idea completely. "It exploded," Sarah, 12, said, of the egg inside the balloon. "It got a little sticky. " Several eggs later, the team of seventh graders from St. John Catholic School in Westminster created a contraption that successfully protected a large egg from cracking upon a drop of 4 meters.

The Amateur Softball Association's 18-and-under girls national fast-pitch tournament concluded Sunday at Cedar Lane Park with two California teams -- the Raiders of Santa Monica and the Batbusters of OrangeCounty -- battling for the championship.The Raiders won their eighth title in 10 years by beating the Batbusters, 4-1, behind Cheryl Longeway's four-hit pitching.About 3,000 people paid to see the five-day, double-eliminationtournament, which involved 70 teams from 24 states and was played at Cedar Lane and Centennial Park.

Besides the prospect of playing in a major-league ballpark or creating space for themselves in the Baseball Encyclopedia, the primary draw for the replacement players was money. Lots of quick cash.Now they may never get the big payoff, because owners may postpone or even cancel the replacement games. Going ahead with replacements could cost some teams at least $960,000.Each replacement player receives a $5,000 signing bonus, payable April 16. Many teams have already signed all or most of their replacement players, so that money is gone.

For the most part, the race outside the real race generally has created more optimism than interest as far as the Orioles are concerned. And it may be nothing more than false hope.This wild-card business might work someday, but not until some teams other than the division leaders are able to post records beyond mediocrity. More than a little luster is tarnished when more than half the teams competing for a fourth playoff spot are below .500.That's the case in the American League, home of the runaways.

DEAR CAL -- I am a coach for my son's instructional league baseball team (7- and 8-year-olds). It seems like I have been given all the new boys in the league, and our team has been outscored 110-32 in eight games. My kids are in the field for a half-hour at a time while other teams are batting through their order most innings. How can my players learn when they aren't really getting a chance? Do you have suggestions on how I can address this issue? Chris Harris, Westminster DEAR CHRIS -- There's no question that the 7-8 age group is very much developmental - even for the teams at that level that consider themselves "travel" programs.

The county Planning Commission has amended its list of appointees to teams revising the master plan to include more than 30 residents who participated in a growth workshop in April.Four teams, with as many as 35 volunteers each, will attempt to find solutions to Carroll's growth problems.The commission expanded the number of members of each team to at least 11. Other appointees include representatives from industry, agriculture and community organizations.Teams will address adequate facilities, economic development, farmland preservation and land use. As the county reworks its 30-year-old master plan, a blueprint for growth, officials hope the teams can offer insight into problems caused by a burgeoning population.

Many of the Baltimore area's top high school girls lacrosse players were selected for the South District teams to compete Memorial Day weekend at the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association National Schoolgirl Tournament near Philadelphia.This year's tournament, running May 28 and 29 at Germantown Academy, includes more teams than ever.The South teams, to include players from Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Virginia, will compete against teams from Chesapeake, which includes Anne Arundel County and part of Howard County, as well as teams from New England, Long Island, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Ohio, California and Colorado.