Spinners, Sox make moves

The Lowell Spinners and the Boston Red Sox have announced key front-office promotions and on-the-field personnel changes. General manager Tim Bawmann and director of corporate communications Jon Goode have been named vice presidents and will continue in their current roles. "Tim and Jon have been great forces in creating and continuing the Lowell Spinners success in the Merrimack Valley community," said Spinners' owner Drew Weber.

Bawmann became general manager in 2004 and has been at the helm as the team built on its streak of consecutive sellouts, now at 270 games. Goode, who joined the Spinners eight years ago in the public relations department, has been behind the successful promotions that have landed the Spinners the 2006 New York-Penn League Larry McPhail Award for excellence in marketing and promotions.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, appointed Jon Deeble to his second stint as manager of the Spinners. He previously managed the team in 2003 and posted a 39-34 record. He succeeds Bruce Crabbe and will be joined in Lowell by pitching coach Ace Adams and hitting coach Alan Mauthe.

Bradley joins Xtreme Combat

Former Timberlane (N.H.) and Penn State All-American wrestler Eric Bradley is venturing into new territory. He recently signed a contract with Showtime to fight in five live bouts with the Elite Xtreme Combat, or EXC, organization. EXC fighters will blend a variety of fighting skills with mixed martial arts and will square off in a chain-linked circular ring called the "cage." Bradley boxed briefly at Penn State while awaiting medical clearance to return to the wrestling team, went 12-0, and won the National Collegiate Boxing Championships in Las Vegas at 195 pounds. Once he returned to wrestling, he earned back-to-back Big Ten honors and twice competed in the NCAAs, where he finished fourth and eighth at 184 pounds. Showtime's first EXC event is scheduled for Feb. 10 in Minneapolis, but the date of Bradley's debut hasn't been announced.

Scholastic odds and ends

Lawrence and perennial state power Charlestown played a heck of a boys' basketball game last week, but the last minute and 54 seconds were played in an empty gymnasium. Lawrence police cleared Wolfendale Gymnasium of more than 400 fans to defuse what threatened to erupt into a brawl after Charlestown's David Riley and Lawrence's Willie Reynoso got into a shoving match after a collision in front of the bleachers. When some of the fans gathered around the duo and other spectators began shouting at each other, the police were called in. It took nearly 45 minutes to clear the gym before the game was allowed to resume. Lawrence won, 63-60, after coming back from a 16-point, second-half deficit. Danny Singh and Alex Oviedo had 21 points each for Lawrence, which clinched the game on a pair of late free throws by Jesus Moore. . . . A couple of milestones were reached recently by local athletes. Greater Lawrence senior Jose Vidal dropped in 31 points, including his career 1,000th, in a 78-59 win over Amesbury. The other reaching new heights was Central Catholic tricaptain Paul Jeskot, who had two goals and two assists to crack 100 points for his career in a 6-2 rout of Acton-Boxborough. . . . Tip of the hat to the girls' basketball team at Notre Dame of Lawrence. It got a combined 35 points from Roselee Mohika, who had 20, and Alysia Clark to beat Nazareth Academy, 43-42, for its first win in history. Notre Dame had lost its first seven games. . . . Pelham sophomore Justin Hojlo was in a world of his own against St. Thomas when he drained seven 3-pointers, scored 37 points, handed out 12 assists, and made seven steals in a 78-73 win in a battle of Class L unbeaten powers . . . In hockey, Cody McCallister had a genuine buzzer-beater in North Andover's 2-1 win over Newburyport. He scored off a rebound with just 0.2 of a second left on the clock to cap a comeback win by the Scarlet Knights. The goal was McCallister's third of the game. . . . Methuen goalie Jonathan Borden came up big with 41 saves in a 3-2 win over Boston Latin.

Campus corner

Bentley women's swim coach Mary Samko of Arlington chalked up her 200th career win recently against Plymouth State. Samko, who has coached both men and women over a 25-year span, now is 200-88 overall, including 117-41 in her 11 years at Bentley. . . . Bentley's men's basketball team continues to roll. The undefeated and No. 4 Falcons rang up and 84-64 victory over Southern New Hampshire for their 14 win. The Lexington duo of Lew Finnegan and Danny Lawson each hit four 3-pointers. Finnegan topped all scorers with 20 points and Lawson added a dozen. . . . The University of Massachusetts at Lowell men's and women's track teams had record-setting performances in the Dartmouth Relays. Freshman Robert Liekweg of Salem, N.H., scored a school-best 4,402 points in the heptathlon. He finished seventh overall. The 4-by-400 relay team of Ryan Leger of Templeton, Clint Cooper of Raynham, and Erick Colon and Andrew Grange, both of Methuen, won in 3:18.34 and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. In the women's division, senior Toni-Marie Henry of Springfield set a school record in the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet 3.25 inches. She finished second overall. UMass-Lowell also got winning performances from Nicole Plante of North Adams in the 3,000 meters and from its 4-by-200 relay team of Gillian Mundry of Methuen, Jessie Colby of Needham, Jacquie Barrett of Woburn, and Sharikka Finley-Moise of Lexington. . . . Becker College sophomore Allison Flynn of Wilmington was the 2006 North Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year. The former Wilmington captain also earned first-team singles and doubles honors.

Around and about

Some folks in Londonderry are feeling good after Florida's 41-14 thumping of Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game last week. That's because native son Dan Mullen was one of the architects behind the Gators' offensive game plan. Mullen is Florida's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and, along with head coach Urban Meyer, devised the offense that had the Buckeyes on their heels all night. Mullen coached at Wagner, Columbia, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Bowling Green, and Utah before landing in Florida in 2005.

Lowell Devils

The Lowell Devils of the American Hockey League have back-to-back matinees at 2 p.m. today against Philadelphia and tomorrow against Worcester at Tsongas Arena.

Sports Notebook ideas or items may be sent to vellante@globe.com.