Sports Digest: VU players take part in summer baseball leagues

Auto racing

LOGANO WINS AT DAYTONA: Joey Logano used a last-lap push from teammate Kyle Busch to win the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Danica Patrick was in position to race for the win with late help from JR Motorsports teammate Aric Almirola. Her two-car tandem swapped the lead over the closing laps with Elliott Sadler, who was being pushed by Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Tony Stewart.

But Patrick and Almirola fell back into traffic, and the Sadler-Stewart tandem was caught by the Logano-Busch pairing. As Logano closed in on the finish line, a slew of cars began to wreck coming off the final turn.

Patrick was caught in it when Mike Wallace knocked her into the wall and she bounced off into traffic. Sadler and Stewart also were involved in the accident.

Jason Leffler finished second, Reed Sorenson finished third and Busch was fourth. Justin Allgaier was fifth. Patrick wound up 10th.

MOLENAAR CLASSIC TODAY AT ILLIANA: Illiana Motor Speedway will present the 12th annual Molenaar Classic Mid-season Championship events today.

Gates open at 4 p.m., with time trials set for 5:30 p.m. and the first race starting at 7 p.m. The slate of races includes a super late model mid-season championship feature, the Harley Davidson motorcycle ceremonial tribute lap, plus a strong field of turbo stocks, legends, pure stocks and bandoleros. It will be capped by a fireworks show.

The event is held in memory of Harry Molenaar and his wife, Signe. The Molenaars were the founders and 51-year owners of Illiana, creating the original dirt speedway after World War II.

Pro soccer

FIRE CAPTAIN DONS HEADGEAR: Fire midfielder Logan Pause will have some odd-looking headgear when he returns to Major League Soccer play today at Chivas USA.

After missing three games with a concussion, the Fire captain now wears a fabric helmet with exterior padding he hopes will prevent another injury and possible complications later in life.

"I do want a life after soccer," Pause said. "And I want to make sure something like this never happens again."

Last year, repeated head trauma forced the retirement of New England star Taylor Twellman. A serious concussion also forced out D.C. United defender Bryan Namoff and Alecko Eskandarian, like Twellman a former league MVP, stopped playing after a 2009 concussion.

MLS has created a nine-member concussion committee, chaired by Dr. Ruben Echemendia, who worked on concussion issues with the National Hockey League. The committee began work in September 2010.

College baseball

VU PLAYERS TAKE PART IN SUMMER LEAGUES: Seventeen active members of Valparaiso University's baseball team are taking part in summer wooden-bat leagues.

Chris Manning, Kevin Upp (LaPorte) and John Loeffler are all playing for the Terre Haute Rex of the Prospect League. Manning is hitting .400 with nine extra-base hits, Upp has a 4.96 ERA over 16 1/3 innings, and Loeffler is hitting .306 with five doubles and 10 RBIs.

Steven Scoby and Jarad Miller also play in the Prospect League, but they are teammates for the DeKalb County Liners. Scoby is hitting .258 with five steals, while has a 3.68 ERA over 7 1/3 innings.

Will Hagel and Greg Stiller play for the Dodge City A's in the Jayhawk League. Hagel is hitting a team-high .456 with three home runs, while Stiller has five strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings of relief work.

Tyler Deetjen is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA over 15 2/3 innings for the Marysville Gold Sox in the Horizon Air Summer Series.

Bobby Martin, Kevin Wild and Tanner Vavra play in the Northwoods League. Martin is hitting .258 with five extra-base hits for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters and teammate Wild has a 4.15 ERA in 11 reliefs appearances. Vavra is hitting .246 with six RBIs for the Alexandria Beetles.

Andrew Bain and Elliott Martin each play in the Orange County (Calif.) Collegiate League. Bain is hitting .377 for the OC Tides, while Martin is hitting .333 for the OC Whitecaps.

Michael Morman, Connor Buxton and Andy Burns all play in the Chicago Suburban Baseball League. Morman is hitting .317 with 11 RBIs for the Crytal Lake Cardinals, while teammate Buxton has seen limited action out of the bullpen. Burns is hitting .255 with seven steals for the Lexington Snipes.

Billy Cribbs is hitting .500 for the Southern Ohio Copperheads of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.

College football

STATE SETTLES WITH NOTRE DAME IN STUDENT'S DEATH: Notre Dame will pay a $42,000 fine for six safety violations, make an undisclosed contribution to a memorial for a student videographer who died at football practice and start a campaign on the hazards of scissor lifts as part of a settlement with the state of Indiana.

The details were announced Friday. Notre Dame had originally been fined $77,500 and the most serious charge against it was that it knowingly put its employees in an unsafe situation and failed to heed National Weather Service warnings on a day when wind speeds reached 53 mph.

The settlement reduces the charge from a knowing violation to a serious violation.

SCOUT TELLS WEBSITE THAT OREGON COACH OK'D PAY: The owner of a Texas-based scouting service told Yahoo! Sports that Oregon coach Chip Kelly personally approved a $25,000 payment to him that's the focus of an NCAA investigation.

The February 2010 payment to Will Lyles of Houston has been questioned because of his relationship with running backs Lache Seastrunk and LaMichael James. Lyles was paid soon after Seastrunk signed a letter of intent.

Oregon announced in March that it had been contacted by the NCAA to provide documentation about its use of recruiting services.

Spokesman Dave Williford told The Associated Press on Friday that the school maintains it has done nothing wrong.

Prep softball

SOUTH CENTRAL NEEDS A COACH: South Central is seeking qualified applicants interested in coaching varsity softball. Contact athletic director Chad Haschel at chaschel@scentral.k12.in.us or (219) 767-2266, ext. 309. Applications will be accepted until July 31.

Around the horn

Diana Taurasi scored 24 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury past the Sky 97-84 on Friday night. Epiphanny Prince had 19 points and six assists for Chicago, which has lost three straight. ... The Blackhawks agreed to one-year contracts with forwards Andrew Brunette, Jamal Mayers, Brett McLean and Dan Carcillo along with defenseman Sean O'Donnell on Friday. ... Free-agent forwards Jaromir Jagr and Maxime Talbot signed deals with the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. Jagr, 39, a 1990 first-round pick of the Penguins snared a one-year deal worth $3.3 million, and Talbot, 27, who scored a game-winning Stanley Cup goal for the Penguins, signed a five-year deal worth $9 million. ... Nike re-signed Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick to an endorsement deal Friday, nearly four years after dropping him amid his legal troubles. ... Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has undergone a procedure in Germany to try to strengthen his arthritic right knee, according to a report.