SOFTBALL: GATORADE HONORS MCDUFFEEJunior
Paige Mcduffee has been named Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year. The 5-9 lefthander overcame nagging injuries to lead The Woodlands (Texas) to a 44-1 record and its first Class 5A state title, not to mention the top spot in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Softball Rankings. The UCLA recruit compiled a 37-1 record with 227 strikeouts and a 0.97 ERA. She also batted .405 and drove in 42 runs.
* Ladywood (Livonia, Mich.) star
Briana Combs pitched three consecutive perfect games during the Division 2 state tournament. However, after retiring 54 consecutive batters, she ran into a determined Lakeshore (Stevensville, Mich.) team that handed her a tough 3-2 eight-inning loss in the state semifinals. She was accidentally spiked in the fifth inning, but was able to finish the game.
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Lauren Gevaart fired a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts as Mattawan (Mich.) routed Anchor Bay (Fair Haven, Mich.), 12-0, to win the Division I state championship.
* Tom Prince posted his 500th coaching victory as
Sergeant Bluff-Luton (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) defeated West (Sioux City, Iowa), 12-1.
BASEBALL: IOWA STREAK AT RECORD 60Martensdale-St. Mary's (Martensdale, Iowa) routed Winterset (Iowa), 18-3, to set a state record with its 60th consecutive victory. The record of 59 had stood since 1992.
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Central Hardin (Cecilia, Ky.) crushed Mercer County (Harrodsburg, Ky.), 21-2, in five innings to win its first state title in any boys sport during its 20-year history. It was the biggest winning margin in finals history for the 36-4 champs, who batted a lofty .405 as a team. Senior
Austin Walters was named MVP following two pitching victories and a grand slam as a pinch hitter in the finale.
GOLF: KENNEDY JUST MISSES RECORDBilly Kennedy of Alpharetta, Ga., shot 11-under-par 269 to win the FJ Invitational in Greensboro, N.C. The Clemson University recruit was just one stroke shy of the American Junior Golf Association 72-hole record which was set in 2001. His victory also qualified him to compete in the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship in August.
* Ariya Jutanugarn of Bangkok, Thailand, set an AJGA 72-hole record by shooting an outstanding 17-under-par 271 to win the Rolex Girls Junior Championship in Byron, Minn. She had 21 birdies during her four rounds.
SWIMMING: FRANKLIN GETS WIN AFTER COUGHLIN DQ*
Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) rising sophomore Missy Franklin won the women's 100-meter freestyle in 54.33 seconds during the Santa Clara (Calif.) International Grand Prix. Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin actually won in 54.1, but was disqualified for staying under water too long. Franklin has won a series–best 17 races during the 2010-11 Grand Prix series.
