Nov 7, 2017 4 min read

Wild Things

re-sign Pollock

The Washington Wild Things announced Tuesday that they have re-signed catcher Kyle Pollock.

Pollock will be back for a third season with the Frontier League team. He spent two seasons with the Kansas City Royals’ organization before being released and signing with the Wild Things for the 2016 season. He was named to the Frontier League All-Star Game this summer, when he batted .255 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI. He also had 16 doubles and threw out 29 percent of opposing base stealers.

“Quality catching is very hard to find and we believe we have best in the Frontier League here in Washington,” said Wild Things general manager Steve Zavacky. “Kyle greatly deserved the honor of being an all-star in 2017, pairing his defensive abilities to limit the running game with the offensive fireworks we expected when we signed him. He takes a lot of pride in developing young pitchers and he has a great relationship with our manager, Gregg Langbehn.”

Pollock said he has no second thoughts about coming back to the Wild Things for a third season.

“I’m stoked. … I had a blast the last two seasons… I am looking forward to making another run at a playoff berth. I know a lot of guys are coming back as well and I think that will be a tremendous positive for the team atmosphere.”

Pollock joins pitchers Chase Cunningham, Frank Trimarco and Jake Eaton as players who have re-signed for 2018.

All-PAC volleyball

Washington & Jefferson College junior Madison Lydic led a group of four Presidents named to the All-Presidents Athletic Conference volleyball teams.

Lydic received first team recognition while sophomore Makenzie Coughlin and junior Abbey Eich were named to the the second team. Sophomore Mallory O’Brien received honorable mention.

After being named to the second team last season, Lydic earned first team recognition by leading the Presidents with a .313 hitting percentage and 84 blocks, both ranking second in the PAC. Lydic was also the team-leader in kills (283).

Coughlin is a first time All-PAC performer after serving as the Presidents’ libero. She compiled a team-best 511 digs and led the PAC with 5.74 digs per set. Coughlin set a career high with 36 digs against Geneva and had 12 matches with at least 20 digs. She was second on the team in assists (42) and first in aces (22).

Eich earned her third consecutive conference honor. She had 235 kills on a .275 hitting percentage, both second on the team, and tied Lydic for most matches with double-digit kills (14).

O’Brien led W&J with 861 assists, an average of 9.67 assists per set, both ranking second in the PAC. She has 1,455 career assists, which is fifth on the Presidents’ all-time leaderboard. O’Brien also played a key role on defense as she had 278 digs, fourth on the team.

Waynesburg junior Cassidy Guiser received honorable mention.

In the NBA

Eric Bledsoe will get a fresh start in Milwaukee. The Phoenix Suns get a chance to speed up their rebuilding project.

The Suns traded their disgruntled guard to the Bucks for big man Greg Monroe and two 2018 draft picks on Tuesday, hours before Milwaukee played in Cleveland.

The 27-year-old Bledsoe had not been with the Suns since Oct. 22 when he posted “I Don’t wanna be here” on Twitter, the same day the Suns fired coach Earl Watson. He had been averaging 15.7 points per game, second behind Devin Booker, and was the team’s on-court leader.

He was sent home by the Suns after the tweet, reducing the team’s leverage because everyone in the league knew Phoenix was trying to trade him. Bledsoe had asked to be traded before the season, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough has said. The NBA fined the eight-year NBA veteran $10,000 for the tweet.