Sports overtime: A wrapup

Web posted January 12, 1998

From Staff and Wire Reports

Atlanta Braves left-hander Denny Neagle hit two home runs and was the winning pitcher Sunday as the National League beat the American League 17-10 in the Pepsi All-Star softball game at Cathedral City, Calif.

The 17th annual event featured major league players competing in a seven-inning slow-pitch softball game. It was played before a sellout crowd of over 3,000 at Big League Dreams Sports Park, and will be televised nationally on Jan. 31.

The game raised $50,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

Neagle, who won 20 games for the Braves last season, hit home runs in consecutive innings to become the first pitcher in the history of the event to homer twice.

Neagle also pitched four innings to earn the victory. San Francisco's Shawn Estes pitched the final three innings and got a save.

Pittsburgh's Jason Kendall also had two homers for the NL team. San Francisco's Jeff Kent and Los Angeles' Todd Hollandsworth hit one homer apiece for the winners.

Boston's Jim Leyritz and Chicago's Robin Ventura each hit two homers for the AL.

Among other players participating were Mike Piazza, Randy Johnson, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Charles Johnson and Brady Anderson.

RUNNING:

Westminster Schools junior Anna Day won the women's 5-kilometer Race Cross Island for Red Cross on Hilton Head Island, S.C., on Saturday.

Day, a member of the Westminster cross country team and an all-area runner last fall, finished the race in 19 minutes, 36 seconds.

GYMNASTICS:

Athletes from Aiken Gymnastics and Hayden's International Gymnastics Academy of Evans will compete in the USA Gymnastics Atlanta Crown Invitational starting Friday in Duluth, Ga. More than 700 gymnasts from 20 states are in the field.

MARATHON:

Brazilian Santiago De Araujo won the Walt Disney World Marathon at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Sunday, beating defending champion Dick Hooper of Ireland by 35 seconds.

Luybov Klochko from Ukraine won her second women's Disney title in 2 hours, 44 minutes, 47 seconds. She won the 1996 race in 2:45:12.

Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first Olympic women's marathon champion in 1984, won the women's half-marathon in 1:18:12. Keith Brantly, a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic marathon team, won the men's event in 1:09:58.

BOXING:

Mike Tyson has begun training for a possible rematch with Evander Holyfield, saying he doesn't want to go down in boxing history just as a fighter who bit off a chunk of the champion's ear.

``As long as I live I will regret what happened that night,'' Tyson told The Express on Sunday in his most extensive interview since the June fight. ``But I cannot change anything; I can only start again and hope that I get another chance.''

Tyson was stripped of his license after the fight but is eligible to regain it in July. He said promoter Don King is working on a strategy to persuade Nevada boxing officials to lift the suspension.

RUGBY:

In an eerie similarity to the recent Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield heavyweight title fight, a rugby player had part of his ear bitten off during a match in Bath, England.

Rugby union officials would not say exactly what happened, but Ashley Rowden, who refereed Saturday's match between Bath and London Scottish, said Scottish player Simon Fenn had part of his left ear lobe bitten off.

``In my experience as a referee, I have never experienced anything like it -- the player was clearly missing some part of his ear lobe -- and it looked quite bad,'' Rowden said. ``There was a lot of blood.''

HORSE RACING:

Shoop outdueled Mama Dean in a wire-to-wire battle to win the $44,000 allowance feature for older fillies and mares at Aqueduct in New York on Sunday.

Only three-quarters of a length separated the first two at the finish. It was another half-length to National Treasure.

Carrying 118 pounds and C.C. Lopez, Shoop covered 1 1-16 miles in 1:46 2-5 and earned $26,400 for Barbara Davis.