Sports Round-Up by Paul Beitler

Bluffton to honor winter athletes
The Bluffton High School winter athletic awards program will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15, in the cafetorium. Parents, family, friends, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend.

Plummer to ref at semi-state
Bluffton high school basketball referee Bob Plummer has been assigned by the Indiana High School Athletic Association to officiate in the boys’ Class 3A South Semi-State in Seymour on Saturday.

Parker sharp in D-backs’
outing before reassignment
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona Diamondbacks’ right-hand pitcher Jarrod Parker pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three batters in Saturday night’s 5-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies in a split-squad spring training game.
Parker, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, was called on to replace Diamondbacks’ starter Zach Duke after being hit on his left hand by a line drive off the bat of Charlie Blackmon in the second inning.
Then on Sunday, Parker was one of six players assigned to the Diamondbacks’ minor league camp.
Parker, who was the Diamondbacks’ top pick in the 2007 Major League draft, is being closely watched by the Diamondbacks in his rehabilitation from surgery.

Imel leads IPFW golfers
Orlando, Fla. — Drew Imel fired a two-under par 70 and climbed eight spots to finish in second place and lead the IPFW men’s golf team to a second-place finish in the Mission Inn Spring Fling at the Mission Inn Resort.
Imel’s final round 70 came within a stroke of his IPFW career-best as the sophomore posted the first runner-up showing of his career. Imel tallied an opening round 76 before a second-round even-par 72 moved the Bluffton native into 10th place. Sunday’s 70 saw Imel climb eight strokes to the runner-up position. Finishing at two-over 218, Imel bettered his career-best mark by three strokes.

Norwell baseball camp slated
Registration forms are available for the Norwell baseball spring break camp for boys in grades 2-5 during spring break on March 23-25. The camp will be held in the auxiliary gym from 10-11:30 a.m. each day. Cost is $30. There is a $5 discount for families with more than one child. For information about the forms call Kelby Weybright at 260-543-2213, ext. 7002, or 260-273-9326, or e-mail Kelby.Weybright@nwcs.k12.in.us.

Register for Wells County Jr. League
Registration and evaluation for the Wells County Junior League Baseball 10-and-under and 12-and-under divisions is from 5-7 p.m. on March 17 at the Norwell auxiliary gym. Cost is $60. All players, regardless of league experience, are encouraged to attend. Contact Jeremy Collins at 260-227-1100 for more information.

Girls’ softball sign-up scheduled
Girls in grades 2-9 may sign up for the Wells County Fastpitch Softball League at 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15, at the Boys & Girls Club across from Bluffton High School.

Order Bluffton letter jackets
Bluffton High School athletes may order letter jackets at 9 a.m. during home room on Thursday, March 17. A sales representative will be available for fittings. Any athlete majoring in a sport may order a jacket on this date with a down payment of $50. All patches must be paid for when ordering and are priced at $15 each. All checks should be made payable to Bluffton High School.

March Madness gets facelift
By The Associated Press
The Big East will have its hooks in practically every nook and cranny of the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball bracket.
The NCAA selection committee released its newfangled, 68-team draw and included a whopping 11 teams from the Big East.
Leading the way for the Big East was Pittsburgh, seeded first in the Southeast even though it didn’t win a game in the conference’s postseason tournament.
All 68 teams in the NCAA tournament are aiming for one destination — the Final Four in Houston, set for April 2. At the Las Vegas Hilton, Ohio State was made an early 7-2 favorite to cut down the nets at Reliant Stadium after the title game on April 4.
The Buckeyes (32-2) of the Big Ten were the top seed overall, with Kansas (32-2) of the Big 12 next, while defending champion Duke aced out another Big East team, Notre Dame, for the fourth and final top seed. Led by one of the country’s best guards, Nolan Smith, the Blue Devils (30-4) are trying to become the first team since Florida in 2006-07 to repeat as national champions.
The tournament got a facelift this year, including the addition of three more at-large teams that will open the tournament in what the NCAA is calling the “First Four.” Those games — UAB (22-9) vs. Clemson (21-11) and Southern Cal (19-14) vs. Virginia Commonwealth (23-11) — will take place Tuesday and Wednesday.