Credit for this initial report goes to our colleague Rob Lafary. He says it looks like the pro baseball career of former Batesville Bulldog Zach Britton is over. Zach had been playing the last 2 seasons with Class Double-A New Hampshire, in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, but it appears that over the weekend the 2017 high school grad announced his retirement from professional baseball. He’d been with the Jays a total of 4 seasons. Zach reportedly played 55 games for New Hampshire this year, averaging .205 at the plate, with 4 homers, 28 RBI’s, 5 stolen bases and 24 runs scored. It’s known he had some tough times with injuries the previous 2 seasons, but there’s no official word out on the record as to just why the 25-year-old’s retiring. Again thanks to Rob Lafary for his information you can read more of in the Osgood Journal.
It’s already the pre-season for high school football, and the Indiana Football Digest has put out its guesses at who’s going to be near the tops of each classification. In 5A, where Decatur Central’s the early choice to be Number 1, the East Central Trojans are rated 8th, moving up a class following their back-to-back 4A state championship seasons. In Class 3A, the Digest says the sectional champion Batesville Bulldogs will be some guys to be reckoned with, ranking them number 8 going into the fall. They project Heritage Hills at the top of 3A. And in Single-A, look out for more defending sectional champs, the North Decatur Chargers. They’re rated 2nd in the class, just behind Number 1 South Putnam. The polls considered more “official,” from the state Coaches’ Association and the AP, are expected out in a couple weeks.
Indiana’s looking to be well-represented at the upcoming Paris Olympics, starting Friday. Multiple American athletes have at least some ties to the state. They’ll include, among many, volleyball coach Matt Anderson of Zionsville, who’ll be playing for the US men, not coaching, after his team picked up a bronze medal 8 years ago. 27-year-old Sarah Bacon’s expected to do well in women’s diving. She’s said to be strong individually and in synchronized competition. Canyon Barry of Fort Wayne will be competing in 3 on 3 men’s basketball. His dad was a pro legend, Rick Barry. Purdue grad Devynne Charlton will run the hundred-meter hurdles for the Bahamas. She holds the world record in the 60 meters. And IU junior Mariah Denigan will compete in the tough open-water swimming, after taking All-America honors last year.
The Reds continue their split-personality season, looking pretty bad when they lose, but phenomenal when they win. Last night was a good example of the positive, with All-Star pitcher Hunter Greene throwing 7 shutout innings at the Braves, to win 4-1 in Atlanta. Greene’s ERA this month’s down to a tiny .45, with 7 wins, only 7 hits allowed, and 24 strikeouts. The series continues down south this evening, the Reds broadcast arriving on your radio at 6:50, on the Sports Voice, 103.9 WRBI.
Great news for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis… more than 70,000 fans showed up for NASCAR’s return Sunday. And they got a great show, Kyle Larson winning the race in double overtime. That crowd was a 15% increase from a 200-miler on Indy’s road course last year. Many NASCAR Cup series drivers said they could feel the excitement about their return to the Brickyard after 4 years, some adding they always feel the love of the Hoosier State when they come back. Speedway owner Roger Penske says the number of tickets sold just in the week before the race, showed interest in it returning to the levels of 10 to 12 years ago, a big and he believes important, difference. The Brickyard’s said to already be on the agenda for 2025.
After Colton Herta won the Indy Toronto race through the Canadian city’s streets over the weekend, the IndyCar points standings now show Alex Palou continuing to lead with 411 points, only 49 ahead of Will Power’s 362, and a logjam that includes Will. Again he’s at 362, but Scott Dixon’s now only 4 behind him at 358, and Herta is only 4 more points back in 4th place at 354. Pato O’Ward’s now dropped to 5th, at 340. IndyCar has a bit of a break in its schedule for a few weeks now, their next race set for August 17th at Madison, Illinois.
