By Greg Halbleib
The Pontiac High School Athletic Department is taking nominations for the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The inductees will be announced during the Pontiac Holiday Basketball Tournament and inducted during a home basketball game in 2017. Nomination information and forms will be available at all home football games, home volleyball matches and home girls and boys basketball games. Forms are also available from the Pontiac H.S. athletics web page under the Pontiac Athletics Hall of Fame heading and in the athletic director’s office.
The CornBelters are back in action after a two-day break, but they’ll play two tonight in suburban Cincinnati against the Florence Freedom. The Belters will know more today about the status of left fielder Dillon Haupt and second baseman Justin Fletcher, who were injured and left the game Saturday. Outfielder Mitch Elliott was placed on the 7-day disabled list after injuring his hamstring on Sunday. Tonight’s doubleheader is on WJBC.com beginning at 4:20.
The Chiefs split with Cedar Rapids with a 10-1 opening win and a 7-2 nightcap loss.
The Cardinals won in Houston 8-5 behind home runs from Tommy Pham and Jedd Gyorko. The brief series ends this afternoon as right-handers Carlos Martinez and Doug Fister start on the mound.
The Cardinals will be without outfielder Matt Holliday and reliever Seth Maness as they try to capture an NL wild-card berth. Holliday will undergo right thumb surgery that could sideline him for the rest of the regular season. Maness is slated for season-ending Tommy John surgery after becoming one of 12 Redbirds on the disabled list.
The Cubs swept the Brewers 4-0 and 4-1. The series continues tonight at Wrigley Field with right-hander Jimmy Nelson starting for Milwaukee against Cubs lefty Jon Lester.
The White Sox lost at Cleveland 3-1. It’s the South Siders’ seventh straight loss to the Indians. They’ll rematch tonight as Anthony Ranaudo starts on the hill for the Sox and Indians hand the ball to Carlos Carrasco.
In the Olympics, United States gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman finished as the top two in the floor exercise. Biles ends her trip to Rio with four golds and a bronze while Raisman takes home two silvers and a gold. The American women earned nine medals, most ever by the U.S. in a single Olympics.
USA’s Danell Leyva took the silver in men’s parallel bars. Runner Jenny Simpson is the first U.S. woman to medal in the 1,500 meters, taking bronze. Americans Christian Taylor and Will Claye went 1-2 in the triple jump for the second straight Olympics.
The U.S. women’s basketball team has cruised into the semifinals by blowing out Japan 110-64.
Kerri Walsh Jennings lost for the first time ever in Olympics beach volleyball as she and partner April Ross fell in two sets to Brazil. The USA duo plays for bronze today.
The United States continues to lead all medal categories with 28 gold, 28 silver and 28 bronze. The 84 total medals are 33 more than runner-up China. Britain is second with 19 gold medals.
