The News-Messenger from Fremont, Ohio • Page B1

Monday June 15, 2009 VINCE GUERRIERI MULTIMEDIA EDITOR I 419-334-1042, vguerriegannett.com BASEBALL senior acme Ross takes doubleheader from SJCC BY AMBER SLEEK News-Messenger correspondent FREMONT Fremont Ross's hitting and pitching dominated cross-town rival St. Joseph Central Catholic in a Senior ACME doubleheader sweep Saturday at the Naderer Sports Complex. In the first game, while both teams were missing players due to ACT testing, Ross hurler Allen Lewis pitched a one-hit shutout as the Little Giants blanked the Crimson Streaks 3-0. In the second game, SJCC (1-3) used three different pitchers in an attempt to stop Ross's powerful bats, but the Little Giants carried over their aggressive hitting from Game 1 In Game 1, SJCC pitcher Adam Snider gave up a pair of runs in the first inning when Jake Hies-tand scored on a Crimson Streaks' error after blasting a double to left field. Three batters later, Trent Stout's base hit scored Jordan Garcia, who also reached base on an error.

Lewis dominated the first and second innings by facing only six SJCC batters. It wasn't until there were two outs in the fourth inning when the Crimson Streaks generated a hit off of a Lewis pitch. Parker Rutherford singled to right field and stole to second, SEE ACME I B2 with 10 hits en route to an 11-3 win. Both games lasted five innings. "Everybody has been hitting the ball pretty good all year (and) we kept it up today," Ross coach Steve Blue said.

Little Giants' hitter Derek Waggoner said "We're a beast right now," said Waggoner after Ross improved to 10-1 overall. Blue also credited pitching and defense as part of the reason why his team has been successful so far this summer. "(Our) pitching has been solid all year," Blue said. "We've only lost one. Pitching has kept us in every game." Doug Hise I News-Messenger correspondent Fremont Ross baserunner Brandon Graeter slides safely into the bag as St.

Joseph Central Catholic third baseman Tommy Spader tries to apply the tag during a Senior ACME baseball game Saturday at the Naderer Sports Complex. NBA FINALS "game 5 Bryant, Lakers reign again L.A. celebrates 15th championship behind MVP Kobe NCAA GOLF Lamson to play for Mount St. Joseph News-Messenger reports CINCINNATI The College of Mount St. Joseph recently announced that St.

Joseph Central Catholic senior Craig Lamson will attend the institution this fall to extend this academic and golfing careers. Lamson, who has a 10 handicap, averaged 40 over nine holes and 80 over 18 holes in high school. He won his team's Most Improved Player award his sophomore sea LAMSON BY TOM WITHERS Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. Kobe Bryant has the NBA title he needed most the one without Shaq. Bryant's seven-year chase of a coveted championship is over.

He's got his fourth, and Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson his record 10th, a ring for each finger. One year after failing in the finals, Bryant and the Lakers have redemption, and all the rewards that go with it. They earned their 15th title on Sunday night as Bryant scored 30 points and Pau Gasol added 14 and 15 rebounds in a 99-86 win in Game 5 over the Orlando Magic, who ran out of comebacks. It took longer than Bryant expected, but he has stepped out of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's enormous shadow at last. His fourth championship secured a strong case can be made for Bryant being the league's best player since Michael Jordan hung up his sneakers.

His coach stands alone. Jackson, the chilled-out, bow-legged Zen Master who won six league titles in the 1990s with Jordan in Chicago, now has won No. 4 with Los Angeles and broke a tie with legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach as the winningest coach in finals history. "I'll smoke the cigar tonight in memory of Red," Jackson said. "He was a great guy." Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games.

Together. Nothing was going to stop Bryant, who spent the postseason scowling, snarling, baring his teeth and all but breathing fire at anything in his path. Associated Press Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, left, holds the MVP trophy and Derek Fisher holds the Larry O'Brien NBA championship trophy after the Lakers beat the Orlando Magic 99-86 in Game 5 to win the NBA Finals on Sunday in Orlando, Fla. son. "It is small school," Lamson said.

"(Coach) Joe Sparhawk contacted me and asked me if I wanted to play golf at Mount St. Joseph. He invited me down to Cincinnati and I took the tour. I liked the environment there." During his senior season, Lamson won the Coach's Award, in addition to winning second team All-Midland Athletic League and Division III honorable mention All-Northwest Ohio. He also was won student of the month honors in high school for Student Council and for Lions Club.

"I'm working on getting more distance off the tee," Lamson said. "In college, the courses are longer, the fairways are tighter and I'll need accuracy." He's shooting for drives that range from 270-280 yards. Lamson played for Crimson Streaks' coach Greg Kohler in high school. Craig, the son of Betsy and Jeff Lamson, is planning to major in sports management. Taking his golf game to a new level has given Lamson a new thought process.

"I'm going to need patience because this is a whole new level," Lamson said. "I'll take the role I'm given because I can't expect to play on the A-team right away. It's like playing the game within the game." Mount St. Joseph is a member of the NCAA Division III and in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. "It's so tough to win championships.

We started over from scratch. Here we are again. This really feels like a dream." KOBE BRYANT L.A. Lakers guard which lost center Yao Ming to an injury. The Lakers then took care of Denver in six games, setting up a matchup with the shoot-from-their-hips Magic, who made their first visit to the finals since O'Neal took them there in 1995.

Orlando will be haunted by moments in a series that swung on a few plays and had two overtime games. After losing Game 1 by 25 points, the Magic had their chance in Game 2 but rookie Courtney Lee missed an alley-oop layup in the final second SEE NBA FINALS I B2 For weeks, the All-Star has worn his game face, and only when the victory was his in the final seconds did the finals MVP allow himself to smile. After the final horn, he leaped into the air and was quickly engulfed by his teammates, who bounced around the floor of Amway Arena. Bryant then gave a long, heartfelt hug and shared a few words with Jackson before sweeping up his daughters, both wearing gold Lakers dresses, into his arms. Bryant had come up short twice in the finals before, in 2004 with O'Neal against Detroit, and again last season against the Celtics in the renewal of the league's best rivalry.

The Lakers were beaten in six games, losing the finale in Boston by 39 points, a humiliating beatdown that Bryant and his teammates had trouble shaking. They went to training camp with one goal in mind. This was going to be their season, and except for a few minor missteps, it was. "It's so tough to win championships," Bryant said. "We started over from scratch.

Here we are again. This really feels like a dream." After beating Utah in the first round, Los Angeles was forced to go seven games against Houston, MLB INDIANS 3, CARDINALS 0 Tribe's Lee blanks Cardinals on three hits Associated Press CLEVELAND Cliff Lee focused more on protecting a lead than throwing a no-hitter. Lee (4-6) threw seven innings of no-hit ball before settling for a three-hitter to give the Cleveland Indians a 3-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night. "Whatever, man," Lee said.

"They didn't score any runs, that's the ultimate goal. "I knew I had a no -hitter, but I wasn't real excited or anything. I didn't want to get caught up in it. When we got the win, then I was excited." Lee allowed only two first-inning walks until Yadier Molina opened the eighth with an opposite-field drive down the right-field line that hit off the winning percentage of any pitcher with at least 12 decisions. Cleveland is 15-5 overall in Lee's starts against the NL.

The left-hander was trying to become the first reigning Cy Young winner to throw a no-hitter since St. Louis' Bob Gibson beat Pittsburgh 11-0 on Aug. 14, 1971. After walking Brendan Ryan to open the game and issuing a one-out walk to Albert Pujols, the left-hander settled into a groove. He got out of that early jam by getting Ryan Ludwick on a fly ball to the warning track in right and retiring Nick Stavinoha on a grounder to third.

"I thought Ludwick's ball SEE INDIANS I B2 wall for a double. The left-hander walked around the mound and took a deep breath after seeing the ball go over the head of right fielder Shin-Soo Choo. "I was hoping he would get it," Lee said. "It was nice to get that close to a no-hitter. Maybe I'll get another chance down the road.

"Right then, though, I had to focus. I give up another hit and all of a sudden the tying run is at the plate." Choo said he was playing shallower than usual because Molina had lined a couple of base hits in front of outfielders earlier in the three -game series. "Maybe I was too shallow," Choo said. "But with Lee having a no -hitter, I didn't want one to fall in." Molina's hit broke a string of 20 in a row set down by the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, who was bidding for the first no-hitter at Progressive Field and first by a Cleveland pitcher since Len Barker's perfect game against Toronto on May 15, 1981. Mark DeRosa hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Kelly Shoppach a solo shot in the fifth off Chris Carpenter (4-1), who won the NL Cy Young in 2005.

"De-Ro going deep against a great pitcher like Carpenter was huge," Lee said. "I figured it was going to be a low-scoring game. Carpenter pitched great." Lee improved to 12-2 in in-terleague games the best Associated Press Cleveland Indians' pitcher Cliff Lee works against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday in Cleveland..