Jul 31, 2018 3 min read

W&J enters top

20 polls

The Washington & Jefferson football team is in the top 20 of all four Division III football preseason polls released for 2018, and senior offensive lineman Andrew Reo (Canton, Ohio/Canton McKinley) has earned Preseason All-America honors.

Street & Smith’s magazine has the Presidents ranked the highest, beginning the season at No. 9. College Football America Yearbook is next with W&J ranked No. 12, while D3football.com and Lindy’s magazine slot the Presidents at No. 15 and 18, respectively.

Reo, a Second Team All-South Region as well as First Team All-PAC and ECAC selection last year, was tabbed a First Team Preseason All-American by Street & Smith’s and landed on the D3football.com Second Team. The 6-1, 300-pound right guard has appeared in 29 games as a President, making 20 starts, all in the last two seasons.

He missed three games late in 2017 with an injury, but returned in time for W&J’s 46-23 NCAA Second Round loss against Frostburg State at Cameron Stadium.

At The Meadows

Lakeisha Hall zipped to the front from post 6 and powered to victory – her second straight and fourth in the last six – in Tuesday’s $18,000 Filly & Mare Preferred Handicap Pace at The Meadows.

Last week, Lakeisha Hall used a pocket trip to out-finish the leader, Fox Valley Charm. On Tuesday, their positions were reversed, but Lakeisha Hall would not let Fox Valley Charm by in the Lightning Lane, downing her by 1/2 length in 1:51.3 for Dave Palone. McDazzle found late racing room for show.

Ron Burke trains Lakeisha Hall, a 5-year-old daughter of Third Straight-Lantana Hall who lifted her career bankroll to $548,879, for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi LLC and Jack Piatt II.

Palone collected four wins and Mike Wilder three on the 13-race card.

Cloninger dies at 77

Former major league pitcher Tony Cloninger, perhaps best known for hitting two grand slams in a game, has died. He was 77.

Cloninger died Tuesday. He had worked as a consultant for the Boston Red Sox since 2002 and the team announced his death Saturday.

Cloninger was a high school star in the North Carolina community of Denver, then went 113-97 during 12 seasons in the big leagues, mostly with the Braves.

The right-hander was 24-11 for Milwaukee in 1965, the club’s last season before moving to Atlanta.

On April 12, 1966, Cloninger threw the first pitch for the new Atlanta franchise. Pitching at what was then called Atlanta Stadium, he started on opening day and tossed all 13 innings in a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh – a home run by Willie Stargell broke the tie.

It was later that season, with a bat, that Cloninger put himself into the record book.

Playing at Candlestick Park, Cloninger became the only pitcher to hit two grand slams in the same game. He drove in nine runs that day, in fact, getting three hits as the Braves routed San Francisco 17-3.

Cloninger hit five of his 11 career home runs in 1966.

Traded to Cincinnati during the 1968 season, he went to the World Series with the Reds in 1970. Cloninger started and took the loss at Baltimore in Game 3 – he was pulled in the sixth, and later that inning Dave McNally connected off reliever Wayne Granger to become the first pitcher to hit a grand slam in the World Series.

Cloninger finished up as a reliever with St. Louis in 1972.