ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos and free agent center Will Montgomery have agreed to terms on a 1-year deal.
Montgomery is a ninth-year pro who played the last five seasons with the Washington Redskins. He was drafted by Carolina in 2006 out of Virginia Tech when Broncos coach John Fox was Panthers coach. He also played for the Jets from 2007-08.
During his career, Montgomery has started 46 games at center, 10 at right guard and seven at left guard.
The Broncos are shuffling their offensive line this offseason. They allowed left guard Zane Beadles to leave for Jacksonville in free agency and might move center Manny Ramirez over to make room for Montgomery. They also could move right tackle Orlando Franklin inside.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Running backs Calvin Strong of Omaha North and Jake Paulsen of Cozad are winners of the Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers Over-the-Top Award as the top offensive players in Nebraska high school football last season.
Strong ran for more than 3,000 yards, and Paulsen became a three-time 1,000-yard rusher. The award is given annually to one player from the east side of the state and one from the west side.
Stanford’s Ty Montgomery will receive the Jet Award as the nation’s top return specialist, and Omaha Westside alumnus and former NFL and Nebraska player Pat Fischer will receive the Jet Legacy Award.
The awards banquet is April 10 at Ralston Arena. Proceeds go to the Johnny Rodgers Career and Technical Education Scholarship at Metropolitan Community College. Tickets are available at www.ralstonarena.com.
MIAMI (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi pitched six innings and the Miami Marlins made the most of five hits to beat the Colorado Rockies for the second night in a row Tuesday, 4-3.
The Marlins’ 2-0 start hints at big improvement from last year, when they began 14-41 en route to a 100-loss season. The Rockies are 0-2 after finishing last in the NL West in 2013.
Miami’s rotation — the youngest in the majors — stifled the Rockies for the second game in a row. Eovaldi (1-0) allowed two runs and struck out six after Jose Fernandez limited Colorado to one run in the season opener. Eovaldi gave up six hits, walked one and reached 99 mph on the radar gun.
Sandrina (left) and Sabrina (right) Hallahan are joined by Lady Knights head coach Sally Thalken as they ink Letters of Intent to play volleyball at Kansas Wesleyan University
North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights’ Sabrina and Sandrina Hallahan signed a National Letter of Intent Tuesday afternoon to play volleyball next year at Kansas Wesleyan University, a NAIA institution, for their junior season.
“I am really excited,” said Sandrina. “We didn’t expect to go to the same school, but it just kind of happened and I am excited it did. I don’t think we are ready to be separated yet.”
“When we visited the school, I really liked the girls on the team,” said Sabrina. “I felt like I fit in after we played with the girls. I also really liked the coaches.
The Hallahan’s will join a Lady Bobcat team that went 26-13 overall in 2013, including a 16-2 conference record. The Lady Coyotes ended their season in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship.
“The Hallahan’s came to North Platte and gave us two really good years,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “I think Sandrina will be able to help in the middle. Sabrina has worked really hard the last two years to get better and will be able to help on the outside.”
“It will be a new level of competition for these girls, but they are not afraid of hard work.”
Sandrina Hallahan was named to both the All-Region Division II and All-Tournament Division II Teams. Hallahan finished the season second on the team with 292 kills for the Lady Knights on a hitting percentage of .229. Hallahan also finished second on the team with 80 blocks. Hallahan had 34 kills in four games at the Region IX Division II Tournament to go along with seven blocks.
Sabrina Hallahan was named to the All-Tournament Division II Team. Hallahan had 25 kills in four games at the Region IX Tournament and had 22 digs in a game against Southeast Community College. Sabrina was second on the team with 381 digs andfinished the year with 238 kills, 283.5 points and 25 blocks.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. doesn’t see any reason to lament his lot in life right now.
Despite dealing with a torn left ACL that sidelined him for the Super Bowl and probably cost him $1 million in salary next season, the Denver Broncos’ most versatile cornerback was thrilled to sign his one-year restricted free-agent tender Tuesday.
It will pay him $2,187,000 next season — or more than 1,000 times the $2,000 signing bonus he received four years ago as an undrafted college free agent.
Had Harris not gotten hurt in the playoffs, the Broncos would have probably had to use the highest tender on him — a one-year deal worth more than $3.1 million that carried a first-round pick as compensation. Instead, they were able to use the second-highest tender available.
NEW YORK (AP) — The percentage of Major League Baseball players born outside the United States declined slightly for the second straight season.
The commissioner’s office said Tuesday that 223 players among the 853 on opening-day rosters and inactive lists were born outside the 50 states. At 26.1 percent, the share is down from 28.2 percent last year and 28.4 percent in 2012.
Players come from 16 countries and territories, the most since 2008.
The Dominican Republic has topped the list each year since MLB began tracking in 2005. But its 82 players are down from a high of 99 in 2007.
Venezuela was next with 59, followed by Cuba, which set a high with 19 — four more than its previous mark set last year.
DENVER (AP) — Zach Randolph had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Mike Conley added 19 points and the Memphis Grizzlies kept pace in the playoff race with a 94-92 win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
The Grizzlies moved into a three-way tie with Dallas and Phoenix for seventh in the Western Conference. Memphis plays both teams once more — at the Suns on April 14 and home against the Mavericks in the regular-season finale two days later.
Courtney Lee also scored 19 points for Memphis, which stopped a two-game skid.
Timofey Mozgov tied a career high with 23 points to go with 10 rebounds and Kenneth Faried had 17 points for the Nuggets, who have dropped four in a row.
MIAMI (AP) — Jose Fernandez looked just as good as he did last year in the season opener, and the Miami Marlins’ batting order looked much improved.
Fernandez struck out nine and allowed one run in six innings Monday, and Marlins newcomer Casey McGehee drove in four runs with two doubles to help Miami beat the Colorado Rockies 10-1.
The sellout crowd of 37,116 was the largest yet at Marlins Park, which opened two years ago.
The 21-year-old Fernandez earned the victory while becoming the youngest NL opening-day starter since Dwight Gooden in 1986, according to STATS. And he picked up where he left off last season, when he went 12-6 and was voted NL Rookie of the Year.
The right-hander’s strikeout total matched Josh Beckett’s team record for an opener. Fernandez threw 73 strikes and only 21 balls to 23 batters.
MIAMI (AP) — Colorado Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood will be placed on the disabled list Tuesday and will miss his scheduled start Wednesday at Miami because of a strained left hamstring, manager Walt Weiss said.
Right-hander Jordan Lyles will be recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs to take Chatwood’s turn, Weiss said before Monday’s opener.
Chatwood was hurt running out a triple in a spring training game Friday. He threw fine in a bullpen session Sunday, Weiss said, but is having trouble covering first base.
Colorado already is without right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, expected to be sidelined until early May because of a shoulder injury.
The move involving Chatwood might be retroactive, meaning he would be out less than 15 days, Weiss said.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos and free agent center Will Montgomery have agreed to terms on a 1-year deal.
