Williamsport

WILLIAMSPORT, PA. / / Williamsport makes national and international news once a year -- when the Little League World Series is played here in August. But it's unfortunate that this north-central Pennsylvania city gets forgotten almost as quickly as the last Little Leaguer rounds the bases at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. That's just wrong, because Williamsport is too rich a place to leave unexplored. I know, because I've spent some of the happiest times of my life there. In fact, Williamsport is more like my home than my hometown.

Hot weather rejuvenated Glenelg starting pitcher Jeff Starcher's sore arm. Hot bats and good defense took care of the rest, as defending champion Glenelg won its fifth state baseball title yesterday, defeating Williamsport in the Class 1A final at Joe Cannon Stadium, 12-2.State titles are becoming habit-forming for Starcher and Glenelg.Yesterday, the senior right-hander, the Howard County Player of the Year last season, pitched a complete-game five-hitter. He also pitched a complete-game victory in the championship game a year ago.Glenelg (21-4)

Recently, Glenelg's girls soccer team lost the money for its athletic banquet. It turned out to be a positive.The Gladiators (10-5-1) used the money to rent an artificial turf practice field at the University of Maryland to prepare for the Class 1A championship. That preparation paid off yesterday, when the Gladiators outran Washington County's Williamsport, 3-2, to win the title at UMBC.The Gladiators won their second state title in three years, getting goals from Ashley Hall, Lyndsay Lewis and Katie Kirley to accomplish the feat.

Oakland Mills is like money in the bank.The No. 2-ranked Scorpions won their 10th state title last night in their 11th state final appearance -- the most state titles by any school. And they repeated as Class 1A state champs, posting a two-year record of 34-3-1.And the 2-0 victory over Williamsport of Washington County gave Howard County schools their third state title this season -- a feat also accomplished by Howard County in 1997 -- joining River Hill (3A) and Mount Hebron (2A).The Howard County domination was so complete that none of those three schools gave up a goal during the playoffs this season.

Today's finals at Joe Cannon Stadium, Harmans ParkClass 4ANo. 12 Glen Burnie (17-7) vs. No. 15 Perry Hall (12-11)Time: 9 a.m.Outlook: Schools from Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, which have dominated Class 4A state competition in the 1990s, are in the final again. Bruce Sider, the Gophers' coach for 19 years, are carrying the Anne Arundel County banner for the first time but will be seeking the county's sixth state title in this decade and third in a row (Arundel won last season, Chesapeake in 1997)

Boys soccer finalsClass 2AMount Hebron 1,James M. Bennett 0Class 1AOakland Mills 2,Williamsport 0Girls soccer finalsClass 2ALoch Raven 0,Middletown 0Class 1AGlenelg 3, Williamsport 2Volleyball finalsClass 4ADulaney def. Blair, 15-11, 12-15, 13-15, 15-11, 15-12Class 3A N.-Calvert def. River Hill, 17-15, 17-15, 15-12Class 2ACentennial def. F. S. Key, 15-8, 15-6, 15-11Class 1AWilliamsport def. Allegany, 15-9, 15-4, 15-6Football semifinalsClass 4AEleanor Roosevelt...

Down two games to none, Sparrows Point looked and played more relaxed in the third game of last night's Class 1A volleyball state semifinal against Williamsport."

WILLIAMSPORT -- These should be the best days for management and workers at Redland Brick Inc. The economy is good, and a regional brick shortage means everyone wants what the 127-year-old plant makes.Instead, its kiln is cold. And its workers are outside, walking a picket line.Redland's Cushwa Plant is in the ninth week of a strike that has produced brush fires of violence and a host of bad feelings in the town of 2,103 by the Potomac River in Washington County."The fuse is getting very short," says Mayor John Slayman.

After a slow start on UMBC's AstroTurf yesterday, Oakland Mills adjusted and rallied to win its ninth state soccer championship -- the most by any school.The 4-1 victory over Williamsport of Washington County completed No. 5 Oakland Mills' winningest season at 17-2, but seemed in doubt until Trevor Shea scored the game-winning goal in the 61st minute.Shea (nine goals, seven assists) scored from the 4-yard line on a pass from Kyle Farmer. "The goal started with a corner kick and hit a couple of bodies and I touched it to Shea," Farmer said.

Standing in the way of state championships for No. 4-ranked (( Hammond and No. 5 Centennial are two teams from the Monocacy Valley Athletic League.The Golden Bears (16-1-1) play Williamsport (16-1-1) of Washington County at noon tomorrow for the Class 1A championship. At 5 p.m., the Eagles (12-6-0) take on Middletown (18-2-0) of Frederick County for the Class 2A title. Both games will be at North County High School in Ferndale in Anne Arundel County.Middletown beat Williamsport, 4-0, earlier this season and won the MVAL title for the 11th straight time.

They had been planning the trip for a couple of months now, since they saw the Los Angeles Angels' schedule. On Tuesday, April 28, Nick was supposed to come home. Ask anyone around Williamsport and Hagerstown: They had been gearing up for the hour-plus drive to Baltimore for months now. "That was the plan," said Jereme Leazier, 24, a former classmate of Nick Adenhart's at Williamsport High. "We were always going to be here, even if it wasn't his night to pitch." Sitting in the stands at Camden Yards on Tuesday night, Leazier was one of many fans wearing an Adenhart T-shirt.

WILLIAMSPORT -Catching his breath every few moments, Jim Adenhart explained to the hushed crowd that the greatest day of his life was when his 9-pound, 3-ounce baby boy was born. Then, in detail, he relayed his final conversation with his son last week, after Nick Adenhart had pitched the greatest game of his brief major league career. Father and son were in a hotel together in Southern California when the Los Angeles Angels rookie right-hander, 22, asked his father whether it was OK if he went out with friends for a little while to celebrate.

WILLIAMSPORT - On a crisp, cloudless morning, a tightknit rural community and a contingent of major league baseball personnel representing the country's second-largest city joined at a quaint, red-brick church to honor a young man who bridged divergent worlds. Nicholas James "Nick" Adenhart, the 22-year-old Los Angeles Angels right-hander from Western Maryland who was killed last week in a car accident, was buried Thursday after a private service attended by approximately 200 people. Led by a Maryland state trooper, a procession of 70 cars drove five miles to the interment at the Greenlawn Memorial Park in Washington County.

BASEBALL Little League World Series 8 P.M. [ESPN]: The Hagerstown team that won the Mid-Atlantic region will play a team from Indiana in the first round of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Baltimore baseball fans have an internal clock that normally tells them to shut it down by this time of the summer and turn their rooting interest to the Ravens and the NFL. A decade of losing seasons at Camden Yards has had its effect, though the 2008 Orioles have done a better job of holding fans' attention. But there's certainly no postseason in the offing. However, before you pack away the diamond dreams for the season, you might want to check in on the Maryland representatives in the Little League World Series.

Acquisitions Phillips Edison & Co., the Baltimore-based investor and operator of community shopping centers, has acquired its first property in New Jersey with the purchase of Upper Deerfield Plaza in Bridgeton. Awards The Property Management Association presented The Bozzuto Group, a property management and development company based in Greenbelt, with six awards for marketing and advertising excellence. Contracts Tiburon Inc., a unit of CompuDyne Corp., received a $6.6 million contract from Anne Arundel County to provide an integrated public safety system.

WILLIAMSPORT, PA. / / Williamsport makes national and international news once a year -- when the Little League World Series is played here in August. But it's unfortunate that this north-central Pennsylvania city gets forgotten almost as quickly as the last Little Leaguer rounds the bases at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. That's just wrong, because Williamsport is too rich a place to leave unexplored. I know, because I've spent some of the happiest times of my life there. In fact, Williamsport is more like my home than my hometown.

Folks in Salisbury figure their town is more than just a rest stop for beach-goers. They've got a baseball team to prove it. The kids from West Salisbury have reached the 2007 Little League World Series, which begins today in Williamsport, Pa. One of 16 teams in the international tournament, West Salisbury - the Mid-Atlantic champion - plays Chandler, Ariz., the West winner, in a first-round game at 3 p.m. tomorrow. The game will be televised on Channel 2 (ABC). It's the first trip to Williamsport for West Salisbury (16-4)

LILLIAN ELIZABETH HILDENBRAND, 93, of 16505 Virginia Avenue, Williamsport, MD died Monday, February 26, 2007 at Homewood Health Care Center, Williamsport, MD. Born, January 29, 1914 in Rutherford, New Jersey to the late Giles Earle and Lillian Elizabeth Weber Keller. She was preceded in death by her husband Charles Frederick Hildenbrand in 1991. She was a longtime member of GOVANS United Methodist Church in Baltimore, MD. She was a member of Baltimore County Human Relations Commission, Member of the Ohio Bar, served as President of the Baltimore County League of Women Voters, Member of the Maryland State League of Voters, President of the Friends of the Towson Library and member of three Baltimore County Charter of Review Boards.

THOMAS A. BLOCK, 80, of Port St. Lucie, died February 22, 2006. Mr. Block was born in Carnegie, PA., he moved to Port St. Lucie, FL. 2 years ago from Mt. Joy, PA. Mr. Block was married to his wife Helen for 36 years. He served with the U.S. Navy during WWII, he participated in the Normandy Beach landings, he received the following medals, European Theater Ribbon with 1 Star, American Theater Ribbon and the Victory Medal. Before retiring he was employed with the General Elevator Company in Baltimore, MD for 42 years, he also was an owner of the Block Elevator Company.