Winter gives up last flurry of news as spring nears

The days are getting are longer and warmer, and results from spring sports are sprinkling into my inbox with regularity now, even as the winter season still has some business to finish.

Here's a sampling of what area athletes are doing at various schools:

SOFTBALL

Mansfield freshman pitcher Caitlin Klobosits (Whitehall) has helped her team get off to a school-record tying 9-0 start by going 4-0 in the circle with a 0.61 ERA in 23 innings. The lefthander allowed just two earned runs in her 23 innings while scattering 14 hits. She threw a five-inning one-hitter with nine strikeouts in a win over Eastern Nazarene and fanned seven and allowed just one run in a win over Gettysburg. Klobosits also had seven strikeouts while allowing just four hits and an unearned run in a complete-game win over Randolph.

Keystone College freshman softball player Abby Cohen (Freedom) has been named the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) player of the week. Splitting time between shortstop and third base, Cohen led the team with a .526 batting average (10-for-19). She had five doubles, a triple and home run, while driving in eight runs and scoring four.

GOOD ENDING

Connecticut senior ice hockey player Tiffany Good (Saucon Valley) ended her career after helping build the most successful graduating class in program history. The Huskies were 79-32-19 and Good recorded three goals and three assists as a four-year member of the varsity. UConn made the Hockey East Tournament finals this year and Good had an assist on the game-winning goal against Northeastern in the quarters.

Good, who played in 131 of a possible 142 games in her career, netted her first career goal in the third game of the 2009-10 season and was a consistent defensive forward through the season.

BACK ON TRACK

La Salle University sophomore Steph Bearish (Southern Lehigh) returned to the track this winter after missing all of the cross country season due to hip stress fracture in August. Bearish placed third in the 3K (9:57.69) and sixth in the mile at the Atlantic 10 championships last month.

LAX LEGEND

Marywood junior Nick Parks (Emmaus) tallied his 100th career point by scoring the game-winning goal in his team's 8-7 win over Wesley College on Sunday. He's the first Pacer ever to reach the 100-point plateau. The attackman leads Marywood in scoring with 13 points on seven goals and six assists and had four goals and one assist in Sunday's game.

ANOTHER WARD REWARD

Ursinus freshman basketball player Jon Ward (Parkland) was named the D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic Region co-rookie of the year. Ward shared the honor with Cory Lemons of Cabrini.

Ward averaged 13.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while recording a team-high 23 blocks.

Also honored on the same D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic Region team were DeSales' Darnell Braswell (Allen) as player of the year, Cabrini's Kevin Misevicius (Emmaus) as a first-team selection and Wilkes' Tom Kresge (Pleasant Valley) as a second-team choice.

THE SPIRIT OF BASKETBALL

When the annual Perryman/Keglovits All-Star Classic, featuring the best of Monroe County high school basketball, is held Monday night at East Stroudsburg University, the ''Spirit of Basketball'' award will be presented to Bob and Patty Kennedy.

The Kennedys are the founders of the famous Pocono Invitational Basketball Camps, an institution in the sport that has helped to develop thousands of players.

Through their camps, the Kennedys exposed the areas's rising high school basketball stars to pros like Julius Erving, Calvin Murphy, Kelly Tripuka, Moses Malone, and Adrian Dantley and many more.

They also were influential in the rise of women's basketball by bringing in Carol Blazejowski, Mimi Griffin, Ann Donovan, Theresa Grentz and many more women's hoops pioneers.

INJURY PREVENTION CLINIC

The Lehigh University track and field team and Running School is hosting a Performance and Injury Prevention Clinic for all area athletes, coaches and trainers from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Rauch Fieldhouse on the Goodman Campus.

The special guest is Jim Wharton, an internationally known trainer, therapist, and author who established his practice in 1989 and changed the face of human performance. He has worked with luminaries in the sports world from pro football players to Olympic gold medal winners.

Another highlight will be the use of DartFish video to set up for biomechanical analysis. This is the same product that the U.S. Olympic team and other pro teams use to determine biomechanical efficiency.

Having a high school athlete early in his or her career get into the correct ''position'' will lead to greater efficiency with less effort, resulting in better performance.

To register, e-mail Marc Solda at LehighValleyTC@gmail.com.

FROM KEITH GROLLER