EDDYVILLE One area softball team entered the night with 24 wins on the season. The other entered with 24 losses.

One area softball team is hoping to end this summer as a state champion, a place the other area program has once been and hopes someday to be return to.

Sabrina Morrison, the first-year head coach of the Cardinal Comets, knows how the players of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont are feeling right now just weeks away from the start of the postseason. Like the Rockets of 2017, Morrison was part of a program at Cardinal in 2003 and 2004 that had high hopes of ending a season with a state championship trophy in their position.

It will take some time for Morrison to lead the Comets back to that point as a head coach. That was evident on Friday as No. 3 EBF rolled to a 10-0 win in five innings over Cardinal, improving to 25-6 on the season while dropping the young Comets to 2-25 in Morrison's inaugural head coaching year.

"EBF has a very experienced ball club, but we'll get there," Morrison said. "I think it helps our girls to see what they can do against those really good ball clubs.

"For the first two or three innings, we were right in there holding our own with one of the best in the state."

Friday's game saw plenty of young participants as the Rockets were playing without normal starters Randie Richmond (rest), Haegen Boyer (college visit) and Jade Johnson (separated shoulder). One of those young EBF players that stepped up was eighth-grader Lillie Hynick, who ripped a double and a triple off Meghan Fitzsimmons driving in four runs including a bases-clearing hit in the third that gave the Rockets a 4-0 lead.

"When I was up to bat, I knew I had to do something to get our offense going," Hynick said. "It was my first start. I was really nervous at the start. I calmed down after the first inning and got more confidence before I stepped up for my second at-bat."

Head coach Tony Fenton talked about Friday's game, which turned out to be a chance for Rocket softball fans to get a glimpse at the future of the program. That, however, wasn't the plan Fenton went into the game with.

"We were shorthanded coming into the night for a variety of reasons, so we needed those girls to step up for us," Fenton said. "It proved to be a good opportunity for those young players. Lillie came up with a pair of timely hits exactly when we needed it. Not bad for a first varsity start."

Hynick's first big hit came as a result of three errors in the third inning that allowed EBF to finally snap a scoreless tie. Entering the bottom of the third, the young Comets were hanging right with the highly-ranked Rockets as Fitzsimmons pitched around two early hits thanks to flawless Cardinal defense.

Briana Ver Steegh scored EBF's first run after reaching on a hit and moving to third base on a ball misplayed in the outfield. Thanks to a wild pitch, Ver Steegh crossed home plate to put the Rockets up 1-0 and turned the tide of the game for the Comets as five more errors over the next two innings allowed seven unearned EBF runs to score.

"It just seems like, when we have one error, all the heads just drop," Morrison said of her young softball team. "Our girls have to learn it's OK to have a mistake here and there. The biggest thing right now is our girls just don't believe in themselves. As coaches, we believe they can. It's just a mental thing we're trying to work on, but it's just a matter of those girls gaining more experience. If they execute moving forward, they can overcome a mistake every once in a while."

Third-ranked (2A) Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont returns to the diamond at home on Monday night to continue its pursuit of a South Central Conference title hosting Davis County. EBF needs to win games on Monday with the Mustangs and on Thursday at Clarke while hoping Albia loses at least one road game next week at Clarke or at Centerville. Cardinal, meanwhile, will host Danville in Southeast Iowa Superconference play on Tuesday night.

Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @CourierScott.

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Third-ranked Rockets roar past Comets - Ottumwacourier

Comets suffered a 26-point defeat at the hands of the high-flying Witches on Thursday, but Whitehead, who was stand-in manager for Comets forgettable trip, believes Workington did not do themselves justice, but urged his riders to move on quickly.

The west Cumbrians host Newcastle at Derwent Park tomorrow (1pm start) before hotfooting it over to the Diamonds Brough Park home for the second leg at 7.30pm.

Whitehead said: You cant take it away from the track, youve got to leave it there and get on with it.

We are a better team than that. We did better after the interval but the match was lost by then.

The guys struggled but not for lack of effort so they were all disappointed and its a long way to come and leave with nothing.

I think the best rider on the night for us was probably James Sarjeant.

He did his usual thing with the tapes which is so frustrating because he can ride and, when I told him he had to miss every gate after that and race, he did well.

Comets were not helped by Thomas Jorgensens battle with a knee injury picked up while riding for his new Premiership side Kings Lynn on Wednesday night.

The Danish rider eventually succumbed to his knock and withdrew from the meeting before his final heat but hopes to be available for tomorrows cup action.

And rare mechanical problems added to their woes as Craig Cook missed the two minutes ahead of his tactical ride due to a rare carburetor issue.

It was just one of those nights, Whitehead added.

We had no luck and the referee seemed to make some strange decisions, especially when he excluded Mason Campton instead of Kyle Newman.

Kyle hasnt been riding very well but chose the meeting against us to find form again.

It was disappointing but Ipswich are a good side.

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Comets' co-promoter: We must put the Ipswich defeat behind us - Times & Star

Thesunmay have a companion star that periodically bombardsEarth with storms ofcomets and asteroids, scientists fromLund University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said Thursday.

New studies of Earths impact craters found asteroids tended to hit roughly every 26 million years, adding to evidence that mass extinction events could be driven by a dim companion star to our sun named after the Greek goddess of revenge, Nemesis. Under this theory, the next apocalyptic asteroid will hit Earth in 10 million years.

How likely is Nemesis to actually exist? The evidence seems to have gone back and forth in recent years, Lindley N. Johnson, NASAs Planetary defense officer who helps devise plans for the U.S. government to stop an asteroid or comet, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Nemesis theoretically has an extremely elliptical orbit,swinging by our sunonce every 26 million years and redirecting the orbits of asteroids and comets to bombard Earth. Researchers have never found Nemesis, but such a star would be exceedingly difficult to detect.

Nemesis would be a faint redor brown dwarf star,orbiting our sun at a distance of about 1.5 light years.The majority of stars in our galaxy actually belong to systems with more than one star.

We see dwarf stars but it is difficult to get the 3-D orbital data for such a star in our galaxy as humans do not have the time base to predict such long-scale interactions even with great observational data and that certainly does not exist for any but the closest stars, Dr. Joseph A. Nuth, a senior asteroid scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, toldTheDCNF.

Nemesis gravity could alter the orbits of swarms of comets or asteroids in the outer solar system, placing them on a collision course with Earth.

Stellar interactions should effect Oort cloud comets, not asteroids except as secondary products of a comet storm hitting the inner solar system, Nuth said. Basically you need a massive gravitational perturbation or lots of collides to get this.

We probably cant handle a single asteroid on 5 10 years warning, Nuth said. A comet or asteroid storm coming with less than a decade warning would require dropping everything else and going to full defense as a planet and it still probably would not be enough.

The best way to stop an asteroid or comet from hitting the Earth may be to send a spacecraft up to intercept it. NASA, however, would need at least five years to construct a reliable spacecraft and man it. If more than one asteroid or comet were coming at Earth, stopping them all in time could be impossible.

Impact of an asteroids as large as 1 kilometer in size are estimated to cause global effects, i.e. enough dust, debris and/or water vapor expelled into Earths atmosphere to block sunlight and negatively affect the climate world-wide, Johnson said. An event that caused mass extinction would need to be significantly larger than that.

In 2016, NASA and other federal agencies simulated a response to an asteroid striking Earth. Officials were unable to deflect an asteroid on course to hit Earth with four years of warning. An asteroid or comet wouldnt need to be that large to potentially wipe out humanity.

The event 65 million years ago, the mass extinction of dinosaurs, is thought to have been caused by a 10 kilometer (6 mile) sized asteroid, Johnson said. Our population models indicate we have already discovered all asteroids of this size currently within the inner Solar System, i.e. within the orbit of Mars.

The amount of damage an asteroid or comet impact could do is linked not just to the size of the object, but also to the geology of the area where it strikes.

For years, paleontologists hypothesized that the size of a mass extinction might be correlated with the size of the bolide itself, Dr. Rowan Lockwood, a William & Mary paleontologist who studies extinction, told TheDCNF. In recent years, paleontologists have realized that the geology at the impact size (i.e., whether its oceanic or continental crust, limestone or sandstone) is probably more important than the size of the bolide. This might explain (for example) why the K/Pg impact [CretaceousPaleogene, which killed the dinosaurs] was so devastating and the the Chesapeake Bay Impact wasnt, despite the large size of the latter.

Asteroids big enough to cause a mass extinction should be roughly 0.6 miles in diameter. NASA outright admits theres not much the agency could do to stop such an asteroid on a collision course with Earth withoutadvanced warning.

See the Torino Scale or the Purdue Simulator but it will generally depend on both size, density and mass, especially in the case of a comet, Nuth said. A dense fast comet many tens of kilometers in radius could certainly do it.

Former NASA administrator Charles Bolden told reporters in 2013 that the only response to a large surprise asteroid on a collision coursewith Earth is to pray.

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Scientists Have Predicted When Earth Will Be Hit By An Extinction-Level Asteroid - The Daily Caller

Workington Comets were humiliated by Ipswich as they fell under the Witches spell in a 59-33 hammering.

Comets suffered their heaviest defeat since the sport returned to Workington on the road at Foxhall last season and it was another night to forget in Suffolk yesterday.

Craig Cook was brought back down to Earth when he wound up last from the gate and could only pass his team-mate Mason Campton as the Witches started with a 5-1 through Danny King and Kyle Newman.

It got worse for Comets as Ipswich went 12 points up as the heats continued.

It didn't get much better as the night went on although Cook and Campton gave any Comets fans still paying attention something to enjoy at least with a 5-1 in heat 11 and a Comets 4-2 followed in heat 12.

But the damage had long since been done and, although King destroyed the tapes in heat 13, Schlein beat Cook and Sarjeant for a 3-3 before the hosts wrapped up the meeting with a 4-2 and another 5-1 to leave Comets with plenty of food for thought.

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Witches cast a spell on Comets as they tumble to defeat - Times & Star

Published Jun 22, 2017 at 4:10pm

Pittsburgh Penguins left winger and Rome native Tom Sestito will remain a Penguin, at least for now.

Sestito was not selected by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the National Hockey League expansion draft on Wednesday, meaning hes still a part of the Penguins organization for the time being.

Last season, he signed a one-year, two-way contract with Pittsburgh.

Also eligible for the expansion draft were Utica Comets forwards Alexandre Grenier, Borna Rendulic and New Hartford native Michael Zalewski; defenseman Andrey Pedan and goaltender Richard Bachman.

None of them were selected by the Golden Knights, who chose defenseman Luca Sbisa from the parent Vancouver Canucks.

The 27-year-old Sbisa has never played a game for the Comets.

The Golden Knights selected one player from each of the 30 NHL teams to create their roster.

Trades can still happen and the NHL free agency period begins on July 1 at noon.

In one of several trades made by the Golden Knights on Wednesday, Minnesota Wild rookie forward and Baldwinsville native Alex Tuch was sent to Vegas for a conditional 2017 or 2018 third-round NHL entry draft pick.

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Sestito and Comets players avoid being drafted by expansion Golden Knights - Rome Sentinel

AN alleged case of racial vilification stemming from Tuesday night's local derby between Orara Valley and Coffs Harbour is now in the hands of Country Rugby League officials.

The Comets lodged an official complaint to Group 2 after young forward Liam Kelly-Wynne alleged a spectator at Coramba Sportsground referred to him as a monkey.

Group 2 president Warren Gilkinson said the issue was now being controlled by the CRL and that the case will be headed to the Anti- Discrimination Board in Newcastle.

Gilkinson said if the charges are found to have merit, he expects the spectator will be dealt with harshly.

"Not allowing racial vilification is part of the code of conduct for both the CRL and NRL," he said.

"We don't stand for discrimination in Group 2 or any abuse."

Coffs Harbour acted swiftly lodging its complaint and said it will support Kelly-Wynne 100% and that it doesn't tolerate racism.

Comets president Steve Gooley said the club appreciated the public apology issued by Orara Valley via social media.

See more here:

Comets act on racism claims - Coffs Coast Advocate

Scientists have spent decades debating whether asteroids and comets hit the Earth at regular intervals. At the same time, a few studies have found evidence that the large extinction events on Earth such as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago repeat themselves every 26 million to 30 million years. Given that theres good evidence that an asteroid triggered the dinosaur extinction, it makes sense to ask whether showers of asteroids could be to blame for regular extinction events.

The question is extremely important if we could prove that this is the case, then we might be able to predict and even prevent asteroids causing mass extinctions in the future. We have tried to find out the answer.

Today, there are approximately 190 impact craters from asteroids and comets on Earth. They range in size from only a few meters to more than 100km across. And they formed anywhere between a few years ago and more than two billion years ago. Only a few, like the famous Meteor crater in Arizona, are visible to the untrained eye, but scientists have learned to recognize impact craters even if they are covered by lakes, the ocean or thick layers of sediment.

But have these craters formed as a result of regular asteroid collisions? And if so, why? There have been many suggestions, but most prominently, some scientists have suggested that the sun has a companion star (called Nemesis) on a very wide orbit, which approaches the solar system every 26m to 30m years and thereby triggers showers of comets.

Nemesis would be a red/brown dwarf star a faint type of star orbiting the sun at a distance of about 1.5 light years. This is not an impossible idea, since the majority of stars actually belong to systems with more than one star. However, despite searching for it for decades, astronomers have failed to observe it, and think they can now exclude its existence.

Yet, the idea of periodic impacts persists. There are other suggestions. One idea is based on the observation that the sun moves up and down slightly as it orbits the galaxy, crossing the galactic disk every 30m years or so. Some have suggested that this could somehow trigger comet showers.

But is there any evidence that asteroid impacts occur at regular intervals? Most research so far has failed to show this. But that doesnt mean it isnt the case its tricky getting the statistics right. There are a lot of variables involved: craters disappear as they age, and some are never found in the first place as they are on the ocean floor. Rocks from some periods are easier to find than from others. And determining the ages of the craters is difficult.

A recent study claimed to have found evidence of periodicity. However, the crater age data it used included many craters with poorly known, or even incorrect and outdated ages. The methods used to determine age based on radioactive decay or looking at microscopic fossils with known ages are continuously improved by scientists. Therefore, today, the age of an impact event can be improved significantly from an initial analysis made, say, ten or 20 years ago.

Another problem involves impacts that have near identical ages with exactly the same uncertainty in age: known as clustered ages. The age of an impact crater may be, for example, 65.5 0.5m years while another is be 66.1 0.5m years. In this case, both craters might have the same true age of 65.8m years. Such craters have in some instances been produced by impacts of asteroids accompanied by small moons, or by asteroids that broke up in the Earths atmosphere.

The double impact craters they produce can make it look like they hit a time when there were lots of asteroid impacts, when actually the craters were formed in the same event. In some cases, clustered impact craters are spaced too far apart to be explained as double impacts. So how could we explain them? The occasional collision of asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter might trigger short-lived showers of asteroids impacting the Earth. Only a few of these showers are necessary to lead to the false impression of periodicity.

In contrast to previous studies, we restricted our statistical analysis to 22 impact craters with very well defined ages from the past 260 million years. In fact, these all have age uncertainties of less than 0.8%. We also accounted for impacts with clustered ages.

Our article, recently published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, shows that, to the best of our current knowledge, asteroid impacts do not happen at regular intervals they seem to occur randomly.

Of course, we cant be sure that there isnt any periodicity. But the good news is that, as more impact craters are dated with robust ages, the statistical analysis we did can be repeated over and over again if there is such a pattern, it should become visible at some point.

That means that there is presently no way to predict when a large asteroid collision may once again threaten life on Earth. But then when it comes to facing the apocalypse, maybe not knowing is not so bad after all.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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The statistical likelihood that asteroids will destroy us all in 10 million years - Quartz

Comets captain Craig Cook took the British title from Danny King at Belle Vue on Monday night and the pair will go head-to-head in the Championship at the Witches Foxhall Stadium tonight.

Jackson said: Obviously, Danny goes very well around Ipswich but Craig has had some great meetings there, as well.

It should be quite enthralling speedway between those two.

Its quite unlike our track but I think the team weve got this year might just do a bit better than we have recently there.

They are one of the strongest teams on paper.

After a strong May which saw them climb into the play-offs places, Comets have raced just one fixture so far this month, so Jackson is keen for them to shake off the rust.

Reserve Rob Shuttleworth has recovered from the effects of his crash while racing against the Witches at Derwent Park last month, while Matt Williamson and James Sarjeant will swap places in the team order due to new averages which have come into effect since Comets last meeting.

Jackson said: Matt is confident and, although he realises its going to be harder, he also knows its going to be the next step in his progression.

Now hes in the main body of the team, he wants to stay there because hes got plenty of ambition.

James started off in the top five and was struggling a little bit so hopefully this will help get his confidence back.

Jackson will be absent for tonights meeting, with Comets co-promoter Steve Whitehead taking on managerial duties.

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Workington manager Tony Jackson: Comets clash with Ipswich ... - Times & Star

IF State of Origin players are allowed to lay around in the ruck tomorrow night as long as they were in tonight's Group 2 clash at Coramba, expect a slow Origin.

While Coffs Harbour was happy to walk away with the two points and take an 18 point advantage from the first Ken Orr Memorial Shield clash of the season against Orara Valley, there's very little both sides can take away from a scrappy affair.

As is expected in a clash between such long time rivals, there was no shortage of enthusiasm and passion from the combatants but it was a try either side of half time that edged the contest in Coffs Harbour's favour.

With only 10 seconds to go until the half time bell was going to be sounded at Coramba Sportsground, Coffs Harbour centre Alex Wilson crossed the try line to make the scores 18-6 in the Comets' favour.

In the first set after the resumption, Coffs Harbour was handed a piggy back down the field from a penalty before Josh Boyd scored to stretch the margin that only two minutes of football earlier was eight points out to 18, effectively sealing the result.

Orara Valley coach Col Speed was disappointed with a few aspects of the match but the amount of effort his team produced wasn't one of them.

"Even to the final whistle, everything that was thrown at us basically the boys kept putting their hands up," Speed said.

"We were just alweays on the back foot, always having to defend. The 50/50 calls unfortunately don't go to the teams that are down the bottom.

"We've just got to work hard to get those ones turned around but we'll keep plugging away."

Comets playing-coach Kerrod Selmes said the fact it was a clash of old rivals meant he expected a hard fought affair.

"Probably a lot of people have been taking them lightly but I never did. A Col Speed-coached side is always going to give it to you," Selmes said.

While both sides were more than willing to discuss the referees, the major talking point from the match was the alleged racial abuse Coffs Harbour forward Liam Kelly-Wynn received from a spectator.

The Comets have already said they will lodge an official complaint which will force Country Rugby League officials to investigate the incident.

Looking forward both coaches have said it will be a light training run on Thursday before the teams back-up again this weekend.

Coffs Harbour will play at Macksville on Saturday without centre Brogan Melrose who was taken from the field on a stretcher after suffering an ankle injury.

Orara Valley has another local derby this weekend when they play at Sawtell on Sunday.

COFFS HARBOUR 28 (Alex Wilson 2, Chad Isles, Coen van Dugteren, Kerrod Selmes, Josh Boyd tries; Nathan Curry 2 goals) def ORARA VALLEY 10 (Matt Dennison 2 tries; Hayden Spinks goal).

Excerpt from:

Comets draw first blood in battle for Shield - Coffs Coast Advocate

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Comets, meteors, and asteroids are often grouped together since they are all basically the same thing: small pieces of rock and/or ice that aren't part of a major planet.

Credit: S. Deiries/ESO

Comet McNaught over the Pacific Ocean. In this extraordinary picture taken from Paranal Observatory, the incomparable view offered by Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), which reached its perihelion in January 2007, unexpectedly becoming the brightest comet in the previous 40 years. The majestic comet, accompanied by the crescent Moon (on the right) is setting at twilight over the sea of clouds which typically covers the Pacific Ocean, only 12 km away from the observatory. Comets are objects composed mostly of ice and dust that grow tails when they approach the sun. All comets have a nucleus, which is the hard rock/ice object. When a comet nucleus nears the sun, solar energy begins to heat the ice and vaporize it. The gas flies off the comet, sometimes violently enough to break the nucleus apart, and throws dust up with it. The gases form a cloud around the nucleus called the coma. Some of the gas is stripped of electrons and blown back by the solar wind. This forms a bluish colored ion tail. The dust particles are pushed away from the comet by solar radiation, forming a dust tail that can be many millions of miles long. The dust tail is the easiest to see with the unaided eye, but occasionally the ion tail is visible as well. Each time a comet passes close to the sun, it loses more of its ice. Eventually, after many passes, the comet may no longer have enough material to form tails. Its surface will be covered by dark dust and it will look more like an asteroid.

Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM, CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

Comet 67P, Rosetta's target. Mosaic of four images taken by Rosetta's navigation camera (NAVCAM) on 19 September 2014 at 28.6 km (17.8 mi) from the centre of comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko.The images used for this mosaic were taken in sequence as a 22 raster over an approximately 20 minute period, meaning that there is some motion of the spacecraft and rotation of the comet between the images.Comets come from two places in the Solar System: the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt. The Oort Cloud is a spherical halo of comets surrounding the Solar System at a distance of around 50,000 Astronomical Units. (One Astronomical Unit equals the distance from Earth to the Sun.) Comets from the Oort Cloud have long orbital periods and can enter the solar system from many different directions. The Kuiper Belt is a ring of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune (30-100 AU). It lies (more or less) in the plane of the solar system and is a reservoir for the short period comets that we see. The first Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) were discovered in the early 90s, and they captured the interest of astronomers because they are probably the oldest, most pristine material in the solar system. Studying KBOs is difficult because they are distant and very small, but more have been discovered over the last few years as telescope and instrument technologies have improved. Astronomers now know of a few hundred KBOs, including a large object called Quaoar which is half the size of Pluto. Quaoar is the largest solar system object discovered since Pluto and Charon, and it reinforces the idea that there might be other large KBOs that are still undiscovered.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Full View of Vesta. As NASA's Dawn spacecraft takes off for its next destination, this mosaic synthesizes some of the best views the spacecraft had of the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn studied Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012. The towering mountain at the south pole -- more than twice the height of Mount Everest -- is visible at the bottom of the image. The set of three craters known as the "snowman" can be seen at the top left. More information about Dawn is online at http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov.Asteroids are the small rocky objects in the Solar System. The largest asteroid is Ceres, which is 933 kilometers (580 miles) across. The smallest asteroids that we've observed in detail are only tens of meters in size, but there are probably a great number of small rocks in space that are currently too small for us to detect. Many asteroids, including all of the largest asteroids, orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter in the Asteroid Belt. The Trojan asteroids share Jupiter's orbital path, but stay 60 degrees ahead or behind Jupiter. Near-Earth Asteroids orbit the sun in the vicinity of the rocky terrestrial planets and pose the greatest threat to Earth. We think that the total mass of all the asteroids combined is less than that of the Moon.

The asteroid population is amazingly diverse - each one seems different! Some asteroids such as Mathilde are very light and are probably "rubble piles" made up of lots of small particles loosely held together. Other asteroids are metallic (for example Psyche) or pieces of solid rock (Eros, visited by the NEAR spacecraft, is an example) . Sometimes asteroids have small moons or travel in equal-sized pairs. Most asteroids have unusual shapes because they have experienced many collisions and do not have a strong enough gravity to pull themselves back into a sphere. Asteroids are not visible to the unaided eye, but some can be seen with small telescopes or even binoculars.

Credit: slworking2 on Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Perseid meteor and the Milky Way in Borrego Springs, California.Meteors are the short, white trails across the sky that we call "shooting stars." They are caused by small pea-sized pieces of inter-planetary dust that burn up when they slam into the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds. Meteor showers happen when Earth passes through the orbital path of a comet that left a lot of dust behind. Earth plows through the dust, and the particles form meteors as they hit the atmosphere. Occasionally a small rock may fall through the atmosphere, causing an extremely bright and colorful streak across the sky called a fireball. (These are often mistaken for comets, but comets do not streak across the sky quickly; they are usually visible for many days.) Sometimes fireball rocks are not completely vaporized, and they impact Earth's surface. A rock that fell from space this way is called a meteorite.

If you have a question about another area of astronomy, find the topic you're interested in from the archive on the side bar or search using the below search form.If you still can't find what you are looking for, submit your question here.

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Comets, Meteors, & Asteroids - Curious About Astronomy ...

How do you go from space technology - in this case a machine built for Europe's Rosetta mission to analyze Comet 67P - to using that same technology to detect bedbugs in hotels or "sniffing" cancer?

Well, my background is as an analytical chemist, so I'm used to working in laboratories, building systems to answer a scientific question. And going into space is no different. You have a scientific question. You look at what resources you do and don't have, the budgets you're working with, and while money is not usually an issue in space, it tends to be the size and volume, the mass, the power and energy budget, the temperatures you have to work under, shock and vibration - on a rocket there are really bad vibration and shock loads. And to answer those questions you have to build a multidisciplinary team of people. You can't just have chemists or physicists, you have to have a mixture, including engineers and software engineers. So when you come to look at terrestrial challenges, you're in a good position to look at them from 360 degrees. There are less "unknown unknowns."

What was Ptolemy, the technology you developed for Rosetta's Philae lander?

The Philae lander had a miniature gas chromatograph isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The gas chromatograph is what separates the compounds to allow you to take a complex mixture and separate it into simple compounds. So on the comet it is things like water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and the organic compounds that are present in the dust - the kind of stuff we're all built from. The mass spectrometer identifies those compounds. And the isotope ratio allows to look not just at the chemistry, but also tells you a little bit about the history of the molecules you're looking at.

We had intended to use it to "fingerprint" the water on the comet. Water on Earth has a measurable ratio of hydrogen and deuterium, it also has a measurable ratio of oxygen isotopes, and we can fingerprint these ratios very accurately. By taking standards on the mass spectrometer to the comet we could compare the fingerprint on Earth to the fingerprint on the comet. Because the idea was whether water on Earth came from this comet?Sadly, due to our landing, we didnt get a chance to analyse ice core samples and determine these ratios though ROSINA, on the orbiter, did and they concluded that the signature was not the same. There are a trillion comets though.

But the Rosetta mission is over now. And the problem with space research, though, is that while it sounds exciting, many people don't see how it relates to everyday life on Earth - even if you're looking for the origins of water on our planet. But you've come across an application that does affect people daily, and yet they still might not know it. So tell us how you came to use this equipment to sniff out bedbugs and cancer.

Ptolemy up close. This machine could have compared water on Earth with water on a comet

It was serendipity. I took a phone call in a car park and I thought the guy, Jason Littler, was a nutter to start with, because he said to me, "I can smell bed bugs." And I was like, "Okay, really?" But I went away, did my due-diligence, looked it up, and found that you can. And actually the chemicals are quite amenable to the technology we already had, but we did have to make a few changes.

And what about sniffing cancer, in particular prostate cancer?

There was a study by Carolyn Willis in the British Medical Journal in 2004 which used dogs to sniff cancer. It was the first clinical trial that showed statistically that the dogs were not doing it by chance. The dogs were given seven pieces of filter paper onto which the researchers put urine and only one of those [samples] was positive. The dogs were trained to learn the smell for cancer and their performance was better than chance. They should have had a 14 percent chance, but they were much higher.

I then contacted Carolyn. I said I had a machine that could look for chemical signatures, and can we try it. So working with my PhD student, Diane Turner, and Dr Michael Cauchi, who was then at Cranfield University, we were able to develop an assay and an algorithm that did what the dogs did, and that was to look for patterns of compounds above the urine. There are over 970 compounds in the headspace above a urine sample. But it's very complicated. There's no individual biomarker that is either there or not there. What happens is the pattern changes. So you need big computers to develop the algorithms, but once you have them, they can run through a sample and within a few seconds tell whether the patient is positive or negative.

How soon do you expect to see the technology used in detecting cancer?

We are at least 5 years away from it being used in practice, probably nearer ten. The work on cancer has only been done with a commercial instrument. Once we understand the marker compounds then it is our intention to develop a point of care diagnostic device for a range of diseases, including cancer. We are at the beginning of the journey. We have the proof-of-principle data to show it has clinical potential. But there is a long road of qualification trials before it ever becomes used in practice. But, as with the Rosetta mission, where we spent 10 years chasing the comet, we are patient people.

Dr Geraint Morgan is with the Department of Physical Sciences at The Open University in the UK. The interview was conducted at the 2017 UK Space Conference in Manchester, UK.

Link:

Of comets and canines: transferring technology from space to 'sniff' out cancer - Deutsche Welle

The Workington Comets and Great Britain captain was the early favourite to come out on top in the British title chase and he dropped just one point in his five heats to qualify for the final.

Cook looked like becoming a four-time runner-up when he missed the start and his Belle Vue team-mate Steve Worrall dived for the inside line.

But he wound it on to burst to the front and, from then on, the result was never in doubt.

The delight and relief was etched on his face as his win sunk in, in front of a bumper crowd and the BT Sport television cameras.

He said: Its been a long time coming and to do it in that style, I didnt get it on a plate. Stevies a trapper and I was half tempted to take gate two because I knew what hed do, I knew hed clamp me.

I took a gamble on the gate with a little bit more grip on it but it didnt work out.

Cook paid tribute to his dad Will and sponsors after the meeting as thoughts turned to his upcoming wild card appearance in the British Grand Prix and Augusts GP Challenge, which could see him become a fully-fledged GP rider in next years series.

Ive worked extremely hard, this is my life, he added.

My team and I will be working extremely hard together. I want to be World Champion.

Comets team manager Tony Jackson travelled down to the National Speedway Stadium to support Cook and helped give his captain the bumps in front of a jubilant crowd.

He said: Absolutely brilliant. What a night, and no more than he deserves after all the hard work that he has put in.

He was so determined to finally get this title, which is one he has been unfortunate to miss out on in recent seasons due to circumstances not necessarily of his own making, but now he has finally done it and they cant take that away from him.

He was clearly the best rider on show all evening and he just took one ride at a time, with his pit crew making adjustments as needed, and we kept him abreast of what he needed to do with regards to the points situation.

Then he just went out and did the business with some incredible racing."

Following on from his success in the GP semi-final qualifier in Italy on Saturday, this caps an incredible three days for him, added Jackson.

He has raised the bar again this season and to claim the wild card berth at Cardiff is the icing on the cake.

He has had that wild card berth in the past.

But this year he is much more ready for it and could really do something he certainly wont be going there just to make up the numbers thats for sure and there are bound to be lots of Comets fans that are now planning a weekend in South Wales in July to cheer him on.

Comets are back in Championship action at Ipswich tomorrow night (7.30pm start) before Sundays back-to-back Knockout Cup ties home and away against Newcastle Diamonds.

Continued here:

Comets captain aiming for world glory after winning his maiden British title - News & Star

Posted by Will Sullivan on Thu, 15 Jun 2017

Comets hurtling through space 3.54.5 billion years ago may have deposited heavy isotopes of xenon into Earths atmosphere. This clue to the isotopes mysterious origins suggests that comets visited Earth in its earliest days, that the moon and atmosphere are younger than we originally thought, and that comets might have delivered the first organic material to our fledgeling planet.

While there are only trace amounts of xenon in the atmosphere, the noble gas doesnt chemically react with other elements, meaning its a relatively stable marker whose origin is easy to trace.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

But the presence of a surprisingly high percentage of heavy xenon isotopes in Earths atmosphere has hampered our understanding of our planets origins. Scientists previously couldnt find any plausible sources for these heavier isotopessolar wind and meteors, for example, only contain lighter isotopes.

The new data comes from gas collected during the Rosetta mission, which flew a spacecraft near the surfaceof 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a member of the family of comets controlled by Jupiters gravity. The samples contained a mixture of three noble gases, krypton, argon, and xenon. This comets xenon contained the same perplexing heavy isotopes, suggesting that Earth may have received a fraction of its xenon from comets. The model that best fits the atmospheres xenon makeup estimates that about 22% of it came from comets.

These new findings allow scientist to correct small errors in dating the planets evolution. Heres Leah Crane for New Scientist:

On Earth, we presumed the presence of this isotope was primarily a result of decaying iodine. We know the rate at which iodine decays, so we use the quantity of xenon-129 to gauge the time at which planetary events took place. But if 22 per cent of the xenon in Earths atmosphere was transported by comets, models based on iodine decay arent accurate. They overestimate the age of Earths atmosphere and the moon.

Since this study only examines data from one comet, missions to other comets will need to verify the results. But this cometary xenon further links Earths birth with the rest of the solar system. Results from other comets will provide further details of Earths formative years and perhaps even an explanation for how the first organic molecules arrived on Earth.

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Ancient Comets May Have Delivered Xenon To Earth - NOVA Next

Rosetta finds comet connection to Earth's atmosphere

The challenging detection, by ESA's Rosetta mission, of several isotopes of the noble gas xenon at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has established the first quantitative link between comets and the atmosphere of Earth.

Rosettas operational mission ended in September 2016, but for the scientists and instrument teams the mission is far from over. Scientists have only scratched the surface analysing the amount of data produced by the mission. As this information is scrutinised, new discoveries are made, including a surprise final extra image taken by the OSIRIS camera during the spacecrafts controlled descent onto the comet.

We present a summary of the campaign of remote observations that supported the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission. Telescopes across the globe (and in space) followed comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from before Rosetta's arrival until nearly the end of mission in September 2016.

The finding shows that oxygen can be generated in space without the need for life, and could influence how researchers search for signs of life on exoplanets.

A 100 foot-wide (30 meter), 28-million-pound (12.8-million-kilogram) boulder, was found to have moved 460 feet (140 meters) on comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko in the lead up to perihelion in August 2015, when the comets activity was at its highest...

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Rosetta | International Mission to a Comet, In Search of ...

FORT DODGE The Class 2A No. 15 BCLUW softball team split with a pair of 5A teams on the opening day of the Fort Dodge Tournament here Friday, beating Sioux City East 12-2 in five innings before falling to Iowa City West, 8-6 in six innings.

In the opener against Sioux City East, Samantha Ubben struck out 10 and surrendered four hits and one earned run in the win for the Comets (16-6). Leah Yantis connected on her fifth home run of the year, a solo shot, to help BCLUW jump out to an 11-2 lead after three innings.

Ubben also went 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI, while Easton Swanson was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs and Sara Sharp finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Jenna Willett also had three hits, and Yantis was 2-for-4.

The Comets fell behind Iowa City West 5-0 after three innings before rallying to within one, 5-4, in the fourth. The Women of Troy held off BCLUWs comeback for the 8-6 win in a game that ended one inning early because of the tournaments time limit.

Lauren Anderson got the pitching loss for the Comets, allowing eight earned runs on 12 hits. Jordyn Beeghly, Olivia Hughes and Swanson each had two hits for BCLUW.

The Comets start todays play with an 11 a.m. game against Ankeny.

STC tops Redhawks, falls to Mustangs

TAMA The South Tama County softball team ended a 12-game losing skid by defeating North Tama 6-5 in the first game of Fridays varsity doubleheader, but the Trojans fell 6-0 to East Marshall in game two.

Saylor Upah went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Allison Yuska finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, two stolen bases and two runs scored to lead STC (2-19) in the victory over North Tama. The Trojans used a four-run fourth inning to capture a 6-2 lead that withstood North Tamas late surge.

Ashlynn Ellenbecker earned the win in the circle for South Tama, allowing three earned runs on seven hits. She struck out three and walked none.

In the nightcap, East Marshall erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth inning to break open a one-run game. The Mustangs tacked on another run in the seventh with Juliana Arifi homered for the fifth time this season.

Kodie Hoskey struck out 13 and hit one batter in the win for the Mustangs (10-10). Arifi had a double in addition to her homer, Madison Farrington had a two-run double, Hoskey had an RBI single, and Melinda Puumala drove in one run with her two singles.

Yuska was 2-for-3 with a double to lead the Trojans at the plate. Destinie Johnson got the loss, allowing seven hits and five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. She walked five and struck out five. Brittney Breya struck out two in 1 1/3 innings.

GMG softball suffers sixth-straight L

TRIPOLI The GMG softball team suffered its sixth-straight loss, falling 14-4 in six innings to Tripoli in Fridays Iowa Star Conference contest.

The host Panthers scored at least once in each at-bat, overcoming GMGs three-run first inning with five runs in the bottom half of the opening frame.

Emily Vaughn sustained the loss in the circle, allowing eight earned runs on 14 hits and 12 walks, striking out two. Vaughn was one of the Wolverines offensive leaders, going 2-for-3 at the plate. Eve Gallentine was 2-for-2 with a run scored, and Maesa Groth had a two-run single for GMG (4-13, 3-8).

Nine-run inning propels West Marshall

ACKLEY A nine-run explosion in the second inning boosted the West Marshall baseball team to an eventual 14-3 victory against AGWSR in Fridays NICL West Division contest.

The Trojans (15-3, 7-0) needed only five innings to finish off the Cougars (4-5, 3-4) for the regular-season sweep.

David Disney went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for West Marshall. Cody Mead finished 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored, while Cameron Bannister helped his own cause with a two-run single. Ross Randall went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, while Chandler Sponseller went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.

Bannister pitched all five innings for the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits and three walks, striking out five. Caleb Bartling got the loss for AGWSR as he was unable to escape the second inning.

Josh Bartling had a double while Luke Starr, Matt Pfaltzgraff and Nathan Karsjens each singled for the Cougars.

6-run sixth lifts Mustangs past Comets

BEAMAN Jordan McAnulty and Jacob Svendsen combined on a three-hitter as the East Marshall baseball team defeated BCLUW 7-1 in NICL West Division action here Friday night.

The Mustangs (4-13, 2-5) broke a 1-all tie with six runs in the top of the sixth inning, sparked by a bevy of BCLUW errors. The Comets (9-6, 5-2) made seven errors in all, while the Mustangs had none. Logan Mann took the loss.

McAnultys two-run single in the sixth was the big blow in the decisive inning for East Marshall. He was the only Mustang to have two hits, while six others had one single each. Seven different players scored.

Brad Barkemas solo home run in the bottom of the first was the lone tally for BCLUW. Barkema also doubled and Troy Dolphin had a single to account for the Comets three hits.

CONRAD Jordyn Beeghlys three-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning cleared the bases and lifted the ...

IOWA CITY Iowa will have a logo displayed at midfield in Kinnick Stadium next season for the first time in ...

STATE CENTER Nat Markle delivered a five-hitter and the West Marshall baseball team rallied for three runs in ...

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SPORTS SHORTS: Comets split with pair of 5A squads - Marshalltown Times Republican

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Jun 17, 2017

T-R PHOTO BY ANNE VANCE Marshalltown pitcher Tate Kuehner (11) gives chase as third baseman Sam Irwin (23) makes a sliding catch at the base of North Polks dugout during the fourth inning of Fridays non-conference baseball game at MHS. North Polk shut out the Bobcats, 2-0, for its first win in the series since 2013.

The Bobcats failed to pounce on what limited opportunities they encountered, and the Comets cashed in for the win.

North Polk junior right-hander Jake Johnson held the Marshalltown baseball team to one second-inning single, and the Comets danced around two errors to take out the Bobcats, 2-0, in Fridays non-conference contest at the MHS diamond.

Johnson (4-0) struck out three, walked none, and started 16 of the 24 batters he faced with a strike. His fastball moved about the strike zone and his defense made enough plays behind him when it counted to hold the Bobcats (9-13) scoreless for the ninth time this summer and the fifth time in their last six outings.

Designated hitter Dru Dobbins led off the bottom of the second inning with a single through the middle and advanced as far as third before Johnson escaped unscathed. Sam Irwin started the fifth by reaching on an error and stole second base but was stranded there, and the Bobcats last and best scoring chance arrived in the home half of the sixth. Dylan Eygabroad got on via an error, and he stole second with leadoff batter Nate Vance at the plate. But Vance popped out in foul territory, Tate Kuehners bunt was caught by a hard-charging first baseman, and Eygabroad was picked off second before Jordan Smiley had a chance to drive him home.

Marshalltown had just three runners on base, leaving two stranded in scoring position, and North Polk (12-4) picked up a win in the series for the first time since 2013.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE Marshalltown shortstop Dylan Eygabroad (15) prepares to tag out North Polks Adam Moxley (5) attempting to steal second base during the fourth inning of Fridays baseball game.

Weve been on the other end of that too where we havent been capable of keeping games close, so for us I guess it was good to play a close one, said MHS head coach Steve Hanson, but were not real pleased with the result.

We havent hit it and we had one base hit and they made two errors and that was it. So its pretty lonely. We dont have many opportunities, so when you have one you cant squander it as we did in the sixth inning. We had one hit and three baserunners, so thats a big, big deal, and that blew up a great opportunity and we didnt take advantage of it.

North Polk managed a mere seven hits against Marshalltowns pitchers Kuehner and Wade Canaday but five of them went for doubles. The Comets got a pair of second-inning doubles from Jeff Lamp and Mason Russell to account for their first run, and back-to-back two-out doubles by Anthony Capaldo and Colby Cupp closed North Polks scoring in the fifth.

Kuehner (2-2) struck out four, walked one and allowed two runs on five hits, while Canaday surrendered two hits and struck out one.

Their kid pitched better than ours, their team swung it better than ours, we played better defense than them but that didnt change the outcome any tonight, said Hanson. [Johnson] didnt walk anybody so I didnt find a flaw in any of the innings. He threw strike one, he kept us off-balance a little bit, but primarily hes a fastball guy and its not an overpowering fastball, but he moved it around and we did nothing so give him a lot of credit.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Johnson also had one of two North Polk singles. Lamp finished 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored, and Capaldo was 2-for-3 with a double and a run.

Marshalltown has the weekend off before playing eight games in six days next week, including home doubleheaders Monday against Fort Dodge and Wednesday with Mason City. The Bobcats swept both teams on the road earlier this season, but they dont expect to do it again if they dont score any runs.

If we play well we can match up, and if we dont play well we wont match up, said Hanson. Thats kind of been the story of our existence here for the first month of the season. If we dont pitch it well and consequently give up too many opportunities, were not going to score 15 runs so we have to be really efficient with what we do offensively and then we have to make that hold up and thats a lot easier said than done.

Well have our hands full, and if we dont swing it any better than [tonight], if you give up a run, that might be too many. Its a really fine line that we have to manage right now and its a difficult thing to do.

North Polk 2, Marshalltown 0

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

At Marshalltown

North Polk 010 010 0 2 7 2

MHS 000 000 0 0 1 0

Jake Johnson and Matthew Antle; Tate Kuehner, Wade Canaday (6) and Miguel Torrez. WJohnson (4-0). LKuehner (2-2). 2BNP: Jeff Lamp 2, Colby Cupp, Mason Russell, Anthony Capaldo. LOBNP 4, MHS 2.

FORT DODGE The Class 2A No. 15 BCLUW softball team split with a pair of 5A teams on the opening day of the Fort ...

CONRAD Jordyn Beeghlys three-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning cleared the bases and lifted the ...

IOWA CITY Iowa will have a logo displayed at midfield in Kinnick Stadium next season for the first time in ...

STATE CENTER Nat Markle delivered a five-hitter and the West Marshall baseball team rallied for three runs in ...

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Bobcats can't catch Comets - Marshalltown Times Republican

STEVEN SIMPKINS|for the Daily News

Coleman softball coach Chad Klopf gathers his team together for a talk prior to Friday's Division 4 semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford on Friday in East Lansing.

Coleman softball coach Chad Klopf gathers his team together for a talk prior to Friday's Division 4 semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford on Friday in East Lansing.

Coleman's Faith Barden prepares to deliver a pitch against Ottawa Lake Whiteford, while Comets' first-baseman Brianna Townsend (1) and third-baseman Jaden Berthume crash from the corners during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal in East Lansing.

Coleman's Faith Barden prepares to deliver a pitch against Ottawa Lake Whiteford, while Comets' first-baseman Brianna Townsend (1) and third-baseman Jaden Berthume crash from

Coleman pitcher Faith Barden winds up during Friday's Division 4 semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman pitcher Faith Barden winds up during Friday's Division 4 semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman's Autumn Tubbs crosses the plate for the Comets' only run on an RBI single by Brianna Townsend during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman's Autumn Tubbs crosses the plate for the Comets' only run on an RBI single by Brianna Townsend during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford

Coleman second-baseman Kenzie Miller catches a popup during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman second-baseman Kenzie Miller catches a popup during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman's Faith Barden takes a swing during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman's Faith Barden takes a swing during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman's Abigail Tubbs makes a catch in the outfield during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Coleman's Abigail Tubbs makes a catch in the outfield during Friday's Division 4 softball semifinal vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford in East Lansing.

Comets' softball season finally comes to an end with 6-1 loss to Whiteford in state semifinals

EAST LANSING It wouldve been easy for Coleman softball coach Chad Klopf to view Fridays loss in the Division 4 semifinals as the end of something special. Instead, he sees it as the possible start of something even more special.

Its another step (toward the ultimate goal of a state championship), Klopf said after his Comets fell 6-1 to Ottawa Lake Whiteford at Michigan State University three days after beating Holton 5-0 in the quarterfinal round to reach the final four for the first time since 2005.

Its similar to the way we looked in the quarters in the past, and we got over that hump this year, Klopf added, referring to Colemans losing twice in the quarterfinals in the early 2000s before winning it all in 2005. Hopefully, with the youth we have and the experience we have, we can get back here and try it again.

Just getting to the semifinals was quite a feat, considering the loss of arguably the most talented senior class in program history last year. And Whiteford hard-throwing sophomore pitcher Lindsey Walker and power-hitting senior centerfielder Erin Manley made sure the Comets went no farther this time around.

Walker threw a complete-game three-hitter with one walk and nine strikeouts to get the win and never allowed Coleman to get into a groove at the plate. Meanwhile, Manley crushed a pair of long home runs, neither of which left any doubt that they were leaving the yard.

Shes been phenomenal for a sophomore, Bobcats coach Kris Hubbard said of Walker. Last year, she threw hard and threw a change(up), but this year shes a (diversified) pitcher. She loves softball, and she works hard at it and spends a lot of time at it, and she has good composure for a sophomore.

Coleman senior catcher Liz Dana, the Comets leadoff hitter, was shocked to learn that the tall, strong Walker is only a 10th-grader.

Oh, god, shes only a sophomore? I would not have thought that, Dana noted. ... She had a lot of good pitches. She was a little quicker than (the) Holton (pitcher we faced on Tuesday), so I guess we werent really prepared for that. We just couldnt get around with our bats and hit off of her.

It didnt take long for her teammates to spot Walker a lead she would not relinquish three batters, to be exact.

After Karsyn Berns-Moore led off the game with a triple to the right-centerfield gap and Baylee Baldwin reached on a fielders choice, Manley blasted a monstrous three-run shot well over the rightfield fence for a 3-0 lead. The Comets answered with their only run of the game in the bottom of the second when Autumn Tubbs tripled to the right-center fence and Brianna Townsend drove her in with an infield single to cut it to 3-1.

But Walker responded by retiring 14 of the next 15 hitters she faced, and Coleman didnt get another runner into scoring position until the seventh inning. By that time, Whiteford had added a sizzling line-drive homer to rightfield by Manley in the fifth inning and a two-run single by Walker in the top of the seventh to make it 6-1.

Im so proud of this team for getting this far, for getting a step further (than last year), said Dana, Colemans lone senior. And next year (our returners) have something to shoot for still, but Im proud to be part of a team that got this far. ... The family aspect (is what Ill miss most). We goof around, and we all love each other so much, and its just a blessing to be on this team.

Although the Comets entered this season with only three returners with significant varsity experience, both Dana and Klopf said that getting all of the way to the semifinals was not particularly surprising to them.

We knew we could get here. Some of the girls are in travel ball, so they work all summer, and some them work all winter, Dana said. We knew we had the talent and the work ethic to get past the quarterfinals.

Klopf agreed.

We knew what we had in (returning pitchers/infielders) Faith (Barden) and Jaden (Berthume), and we knew Liz (Dana) would be a good leader. ... And defensively, with Makailyn Monson in centerfield, the pitchers feel pretty comfortable that they can throw whatever they want, and ... as the season has gone on, our infield has gotten stronger and stronger. Last year was more of an offensive team, and this year is more of a defensive team and pitching team.

Barden took the loss, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing five runs on six hits and four walks.

Manley was 2-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt to go with her two homers, four runs batted in, and three runs scored for Whiteford, while Berns-Moore had two hits and scored twice, and Walker walked twice to go with her two-run single.

For Coleman, Tubbs was 2-for-2 with a walk.

While the Bobcats (33-6) advance to face Indian River Inland Lakes a 9-0 winner over Kalamazoo Christian on Friday in Saturdays championship game, Coleman ends at 35-7.

Klopf said some of his players werent thrilled to receive consolation medals afterward until he put things into proper perspective.

We gave them their final four medals, and some of them were like, Oh, participation trophies, he said. But we explained to them that there are only four (teams that earn semifinalist medals) in our division and 16 total (across all divisions), and there a lot of teams that would want to be here.

Klopf added that things look very bright indeed for the Comets next season.

Its going to be tough to fit (new) people in. Were going to have to figure it out, because weve got a couple of freshmen who started the whole year for us, and all of our sophomores have done a wonderful job ... and Kalie Weidman and Autumn (Tubbs) are both juniors who have come up and shined throughout the tournament, he noted. Its going to be a tough lineup to crack. Well have to find the right person to fit behind the plate (and replace Dana as catcher), and then well see what we can do.

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Comets' softball season finally comes to an end with 6-1 loss to Whiteford in state semifinals - Midland Daily News

Ben Birnell

A former Hamilton College hockey coachdismissed an opportunity to return tothe Mohawk Valley.

Norm Bazin, who coached the Continentals mens hockey team from 2008 to 2011 beforejoining his alma mater UMass-Lowell, recently turned down an offer from the Vancouver Canucks to be the Utica Comets head coach. The news was first reported by the Lowell Sun on Wednesday.

"It was just a personal decision," Bazin said in a briefphone interview with the Observer-Dispatch on Wednesday."It had nothing with Vancouver or Utica. Theyre both great organizations."

Bazin said the interview process with the Canucks was good, but had no further comment.

The Comets head coaching position has been available since late April when Travis Green was promoted to the Canucks top job. The Comets also have an assistant opening after Nolan Baumgartner joined Greens Canucks staff on June 7. Both Green and Baumgartner were members of the Comets coaching staff for the first four seasons. Jason King, who joined the Comets as an assistant before the 2016-17 season, remains on the Comets staff.

The 46-year-old Bazin has found success with UMass Lowell, a program that finished 5-25-4 in the season beforehebecame head coach.Bazin has led his team to three Hockey East playoff championships, five NCAA Tournament appearances and a Frozen Four trip in 2013. Bazin, who has a 151-68-21 record in his six seasons, was named Hockey East Coach of the Year in March.

Bazin, a native of Notre Dame de Lourdes, Manitoba, joined Division III Hamilton College after starting his coaching career in 1996 as an assistant at Lowell and eight seasons at D-I Colorado College as an assistant. Bazin played at UMass-Lowell from 1990 to 1994.

In three seasons at Hamilton, Bazins teams compiled a 38-31-7 record. Bazin was the New England Small College Athletic Conferences Coach of the Year in his first two seasons and was a finalist for the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year Award in 2011.

Follow @OD_Birnell on Twitter or call him at 315-792-5032.

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Former Hamilton coach Bazin turns down Utica Comets job - Utica Observer Dispatch

Kansas City Comets' ownership lawsuit clouds future Kansas City Comets majority owners walk away from team Comets co-owner kicks his own team out of its practice facility Kansas City Comets ownership legal battle takes another twist Elegant Mission Hills Estate

Team unity for the Kansas City Comets has been lacking in the front office.

Kory Brinton The Upper 90

A lawsuit between the owners of the Kansas City Comets was dismissed by the parties this week, and the team now is looking to add new investors.

Brian Budzinski has emerged as the sole owner of the professional indoor soccer team, which plays games at the Silverstein Eye Center Arena in Independence.

Team unity for the Kansas City Comets has been lacking in the front office.

Kory Brinton The Upper 90

Budzinski sued fellow owners Greg and Brad Likens, saying they excluded him from leadership decisions, causing him to suffer $3.75 million in damages. He also claimed damages for the team never paying a $1,667-a-month fee for practicing at the Kansas City Soccer Dome, which he owns. The Likens brothers filed a countersuit, arguing that Budzinski breached his contract by not performing marketing duties and hasn't lived up to an agreement to pay 50 percent of operating losses up to $50,000 a year.

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Comets ownership ends legal battle, looks for investors - Kansas ... - Kansas City Business Journal

BURY Comets' Division Two side has continued to sweep all before it in recent weeks, with league wins against Edinburgh and Astley and Tyldesley sandwiching a victory in the Northern Junior KO Cup.

In Edinburgh, the side hardly put a foot wrong in an 89-57 victory, winning 10 of the 15 heats and only once dropping points to the opposition.

Adam Turnbull put in a captains performance, riding unbeaten from his four races, ably backed by Adam Taylor, Kaysar Mohammadi and Louis Turner.

One feature that has set this team apart in the past couple of seasons though has been the squad mentality and every rider made a strong contribution throughout the match.

Bury's Division One team found it tougher up at Redbraes in a 99-77 defeat against the defending league champions.

A number of key riders were missing as Will Owens and Neil Howarth led the way for Comets, Howarth soldiering on despite suffering a couple of heavy falls.

The match was competitive throughout, with the full squad again contributing to keep Edinburgh's score under 100 points.

In the Division Three race, Harry Radford rode unbeaten in the grand prix format, with excellent backing from Dawar Mohammadi against the four Edinburgh representatives.

Bury's Division One at home to Astley and Tyldesley was punctuated by heavy showers, which seemed to affect the Comets more significantly as they went down to a 97-82 defeat.

With 12 of the 18 heats drawn, the match was relative close throughout, but A&T proved the more consistent.

Bury's Kris Ramsden was top scorer across the two teams, continuing his excellent form this season, while Danny Taylor showed good form, his score trimmed by a gate exclusion.

The Division Two fixture was also closely fought until late in the match as the Comets shared the rides amongst the full squad.

Adam Turnbull rode unbeaten, with some excellent work against A&Ts number one Max Evans.

Strong backing came from Adam Taylor, Louis Turner and an excellent Kaysar Mohammadi, who took three rides despite fasting during Ramadan.

Some great rides late in the match by Asim Hussain and Steve Mann finally tipped the balance in Bury's favour as they claimed a 79-69 win to stay top. Harry Radford and Josh Neath also made strong contributions from the reserve slots.

The Division Three match saw A&T field 12 riders in the grand prix format, making victory theirs almost from the outset against the Comets' team of five.

In the under-13s category, Harry Radford, Josh Neath and Charlie Thacker all made a significant contribution, while at u10s, Kaci Neath rode unbeaten.

Bury's most impressive performances over the past few weeks came in the Northern KO Cup at Northumbria, where the juniors claimed victory and the senior team finished third.

The junior side retained their title after a three-way battle against Sheffield and Stockport.

The match saw the return of James Elston, who looked sharp in scoring 12 from the reserve slot.

All five riders worked well together to ensure a four-point winning margin over Stockport, who took second after a run-off with Sheffield.

The Comets beat fourth-placed Sheffield by a point to finish on the podium in the senior competition, which was won by Stockport who finished on 48, nine ahead of Bury and four in front of second-placed Astley and Tyldesley.

Danny Taylor top scored for the Comets, with good backing from Neil Howarth, while Kris Ramsdens score was severely trimmed by a couple of exclusions.

Sunday sees the start of the Northern Fours and Grand Prix at Goshen, starting at noon, with training continuing midweek and on Saturday morning.

Results

Northern League

Division One: Edinburgh 99 Bury 77

Bury scorers: Will Owens 17 (6), Neil Howarth 15 (5), Danny Taylor 12+1 (6), Adam Turnbull 8+1 (3), Eryk Motala 7+1 (3), Adam Taylor 7+1 (5), Alan Plimley 4 (3), Asim Hussain 3+1 (2), Kaysar Mohammadi 3 (2), Louis Turner 1 (1).

Division Two: Edinburgh 57 Bury 89

Bury riders: Kaysar Mohammadi 17+1 (from five rides), Adam Turnbull 15+1 (4), Adam Taylor 14+1 (4), Louis Turner 10 (3), Steve Mann 10 (4), Eryk Motala 9+1 (3), Harry Radford 5+1 (2), Asim Hussain 5+1 (3), Alan Plimley 4 (2), Dawar Mohammadi DNR.

Division Three: Edinburgh 42 Bury 28

Bury scorers: Harry Radford 16 (4), Dawar Mohammadi 12 (4).

Division One: Bury 82 Astley & Tyldesley 97

Bury scorers: Kris Ramsden 21+1 (6), Danny Taylor 17 (6), Adam Turnbull 13+1 (6), Adam Taylor 11+1 (5), Neil Howarth 10 (6), Asim Hussain 6+1 (5), Kaysar Mohammadi 4 (2).

Division Two: Bury 79 A&T 69

Bury scorers: Adam Taylor 15+3 (5), Adam Turnbull 14+2 (4), Louis Turner 13+1 (5), Asim Hussain 12+1 (5), Kaysar Mohammadi 9+1 (3), Harry Radford 7+1 (3), Steve Mann 6 (3), Josh Neath 3 (2).

Division Three: Bury 53 A&T 134

Bury scorers: Kaci Neath 16 (4), Harry Radford 14 (4), Josh Neath 10 (4), Charlie Thacker 8 (4), Rowan Neath 5 (4).

Northern KO Cup

Juniors: Bury 49, Stockport 45, Sheffield 45, Northumbria 20.

Bury scorers: James Elston 12 (4), Danny Taylor 12 (4), Adam Taylor 10 (3), Adam Turnbull 8 (3), Kaysar Mohammadi 7 (2).

Seniors: Stockport 48, Astley & Tyldesley 45, Bury 39, Sheffield 38, Hull 37, Northumbria 29.

Bury scorers: Danny Taylor 13 (4), Neil Howarth10 (4), James Elston 6 (2), Kris Ramsden 6 (4), Adam Turnbull 4 (2).

See the article here:

Comets juniors blaze a trail in Division Two - Bury Times