Rox root for Ayla on 'Idol'

You can't blame the Brockton Rox, the region's only independent professional baseball team, for being not-so-impartial observers when it comes to watching the television hit ''American Idol."

The Rox are unabashedly rooting for Wrentham native Ayla Brown. In fact, they announced last week that Brown is the team's official ''American Idol" candidate.

The team knows Brown's talent as a vocalist. In June 2004, she displayed it by singing the National Anthem before a Rox game at Campanelli Stadium.

After the Rox posted their endorsement of Ayla on their site, they received this response from Ayla: ''Dear Brockton Rox: This is Ayla. Thank you to you and the team for adopting me as your Idol. The competition will be tough. I hope I make it through a few rounds at least. Thanks again. Ayla"

Brown -- a senior at the Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, and the daughter of state Senator Scott Brown, (R-Wrentham) and WCVB-TV (Channel 5) reporter Gail Huff -- has advanced to the final cut on ''Idol" as one of 12 female singers.

She is also an athlete in her own right. A star of the Noble basketball team, she has accepted an athletic scholarship to play for the women's team at Boston College in the fall.

The Rox will open their Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball season on May 25.

There must be a Stonehill College-Sports Illustrated connection because Skyhawk athletes are popping up in the national magazine's Faces In The Crowd feature at a notable rate.

The latest to be featured is freshman hockey player Brendan O'Brien, who made an appearance in Monday's edition of the magazine.

O'Brien, a native of Braintree, was named the Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Week seven times this season and led the Skyhawks in scoring with nine goals and 26 assists in 20 games.

Just three weeks ago, women's basketball sensation Kelsey Simonds of Bridgewater made her debut in the magazine. Simonds, another freshman of influence, a six-time selection as Northeast-10 women's basketball Rookie of the Week, appeared in the Jan. 23 edition.

In all, five Stonehill student-athletes have been featured in Sports Illustrated since May 2003. They include women's lacrosse All-Americans Katie Lambert (class of 2003) and Lauren Stone (class of 2006), and ice hockey standout Rob Pascale (class of 2004).

The men's soccer coach at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell is bringing in one of the most talented classes of freshman players next year -- and one of them is from this area.

Coach Ted Priestly reports Weymouth High School midfielder Jarred Goldstein is among his seven recruits, all from within Massachusetts.

''This has been a tremendous day for our program and bodes very well for the future of UMass-Lowell soccer," Priestly stated moments after submitting the signed letters. ''Each of these players has a legitimate chance of earning a spot on the field next season, and they are all committed to doing just that. To be a successful team, we need to have true competition at every position, and today ensures that we will have that competitive atmosphere every single day."

Seventeen players, including 10 of 11 starters from last year's 10-5-4 squad, are expected back next season.

Jen Harlow is having a successful season as a member of the Wheaton College women's track team.

The former East Bridgewater High School All-Scholastic high-jumper soared over the bar at 5 feet 6 inches to win the competition Feb. 12 at the Valentine Invitational at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center.

The jump allowed the junior All-American to reach an NCAA provisional standard for the fifth time in six meets this season. She wasn't the only local athlete to excel at the meet. Former Thayer Academy standout Chizoba Ezeigwe of Brockton, a Wheaton freshman, had a breakout performance, reaching an NCAA provisional standard -- falling just short of a pair of school records. Ezeigwe's time of 57.88 seconds in the 400-meter dash was a provisional qualifier. She was just .01 second shy of a provisional qualifying time in the 55-meter dash.

Sarah Cox had quite a season for the women's basketball team at Trinity College in Connecticut, but it was bittersweet.

The former Norwell High School All-Scholastic was outstanding on the court. The junior guard wrapped up the season with a career-high, 28-point effort Feb. 18 in a 72-42 loss to Wesleyan in the first round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference playoffs.

But it was a dissatisfying season because the Bantams finished with a disappointing 8-15 record.

Cox, who left Norwell High School as its all-time leading scorer, led Trinity in field goals (150), foul shooting (118 of 145 for an outstanding 82 percent clip), rebounding (6.7 per game), and blocks (36).

She has the right bloodlines for athletics. Her uncle, Ralph Cox, was an outstanding hockey player at Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, received All-America honors at the University of New Hampshire, had a sound pro career, and was the last skater cut from the 1980 ''Miracle-on-Ice" US Olympic hockey team.