'Veteran' sailor ekes out US junior women's solo title
If anything, Carolyn Prioleau had experience on her side going into the US Junior Women's Singlehanded Championship, held in Marblehead last week.
She finished fifth last year and was the top returnee in this year's sailing competition, for ages 13 to 18.
After three days of racing Laser Radials out of the Pleon Yacht Club, the championship came down to a tiebreaker, with Prioleau and newcomer Mayumi Roller of the US Virgin Islands knotted at 22 points, which are based on order of finish.
Prioleau came away with the title by having racked up four first-place finishes, out of nine races, to three for Roller, US Sailing Association officials said. The Houston teen was ahead going into Friday's races, but Roller had cut the lead by the day's final event.
"It was really close, up until the last beat," said Prioleau, who had to charge past a half-dozen boats to get within range of her rival at the end.
Prioleau took sixth and Roller third in the last race, giving the Texan the tie and the championship.
Along with her national title, Prioleau took home the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy, named for the woman who as a fleet officer at the Pleon Yacht Club made advancing the sport of sailing her passion.
The race, among the top US sailing events, drew 51 young women from across the country.
O'Brien earns MVP honors in Babe Ruth tournament
Connor O'Brien's life is about as good as it gets for a 13-year-old baseball player. He was playing on his third all-star team this summer, and when Wakefield beat Weymouth, 6-3, last week to win the Babe Ruth 13-year-old Eastern Mass. title, O'Brien, the team's top pitcher, was named tournament MVP.
O'Brien threw a complete game for Wakefield, picking up his second win of a tournament where he posted a 2.00 ERA and hit .417.
Wakefield went to Goffstown, N.H., last weekend to compete in the New England regionals, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. Wakefield lost, 9-1, to a tough team from Norwalk, Conn., before eventually being eliminated over the weekend.
Fenway Park replica named for Swampscott entrepreneur
When the Harold Alfond Fenway Park opens early next month, the Green Monster will be there. It will just be two-thirds the size of the original.
The replica field, nestled near McGrath Pond at Camp Tracy in Oakland, Maine, is named in honor of philanthropist Harold Alfond, a native of Swampscott and founder of Dexter Shoes.
The ribbon cutting is scheduled for Sept. 9, as is a skills clinic and an appearance by Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr.
Little Fenway will be 180 feet down the left field line, 247 feet to center, and 185 feet to right. The Monster will be 20 feet tall with the identical scoreboard as the one in the Boston Red Sox ballyard.
"It's going to be gorgeous," Alfond said in a statement. "I am honored it is being named after me. A lot of children will play there. People in Waterville, Oakland, and all the local areas will love it. It's a great place for the kids to play. Summer kids will love the area."
Ipswich muscle man wins bodybuilding championship
Joe DeMarco's muscles make the average man's look like mosquito bites.
The Ipswich native used them to win the GNC NPC Masters Nationals Lightweight Bodybuilding Championship last month in Pittsburgh.
The 42-year-old fitness trainer has won several championships, but said this title was one of his two goals for the year.
The other was the NPC Team Universe Competition, where he finished third last month in New York, just missing a chance to qualify for the USA World Amateur Championship team.
DeMarco vowed to return next year and "train harder than ever."
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. 