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AMERICAN LEGION SCHEDULE AT HALVERSON FIELD IN BLACK RIVER FALLS

Marathon 6 Ripon 5 - Ripon will now play Jefferson today

BREWERS DUMPED BY REDS

The Milwaukee Brewers have dropped back to seven games below .500, after losing to Cincinnati 10-to-2 yesterday at Miller Park. The Brewers completed a 4-and-2 home-stand, but they were out-scored 24-to-9 in losing two-of-three to Cincy. The Reds scored five times in both the sixth and eighth innings of their series finale. Brandon Phillips hit his fourth career grand slam, and Joey Votto homered and went 3-for-5 on the day. Prince Fielder was ejected in the eighth inning for slamming his helmet to the ground after being called out on strikes. Alcides Escobar had two of Milwaukee’s eight hits, both singles. Ryan Braun had a double and an R-B-I. Chris Narveson took the loss, dropping to 8-and-7. He gave up three runs in five-plus innings. Reds’ rookie Travis Wood got his first Major League win, giving up two runs on five hits in five frames. He struck out six, as he improved to 1-and-1. Cincinnati completed a 4-and-2 road trip, and is now tied with Saint Louis for first place in the National League Central. The Brewers fell to nine games back in third. They’re off today, and will play in Houston tomorrow night.

WIAA STATE SUMMER BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

Only three games were played yesterday as the W-I-A-A state summer high school baseball tournament opened in Stevens Point. Wet grounds delayed the first game for two-and-a-half hours – and the last quarter-final was not played because the lights didn’t work. Germantown will play Waukesha West at nine this morning to finish up the quarter-finals. West Salem was the first to advance yesterday with a 9-to-2 win over New Holstein. Tony Schultz had three hits and three R-B-I’s. West Bend West came back from four runs down to beat Grafton 9-to-7. And Franklin eliminated New Berlin West 5-nothing, as Ryan Geil had three run-scoring singles. In today’s semi-finals, West Salem will play West Bend West. And Franklin will go against either Germantown or Waukesha West. The title game will be played later today.

PACKERS CLOSE TO SIGNING BULAGA

The Green Bay Packers are reportedly close to signing their first-round draft pick. Media reports say extensive negotiations have taken place this week between the Packers and the agent for offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga. All indications are that Bulaga will be signed by the first training camp practice on Saturday. If that happens, the Packers would have all of their 82 players signed by then. Although the N-F-L does not have a general salary cap this year, it still has a rookie cap of three-point-eight million dollars. The Packers have reportedly spent two-point-six million on their other six picks, leaving one-point-two million for Bulaga. Last year, first-round defensive lineman B-J Raji missed 14 practices after his contract talks dragged on for almost two weeks beyond the start of training camp. Meanwhile, the Packers will hold their annual stockholders’ meeting this morning at Lambeau Field. N-F-L Commissioner Roger Goodell will be on hand. And he’ll hold a forum with selected Packer fans this afternoon which will be shown tonight on the N-F-L Network.