The Diamondbacks plan to use D’Antona as a pinch-hitter for the remainder of this season. To make room on the 40-man roster, Arizona moved fan-favorite Eric Byrnes from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.

So why the promotion in his sixth professional season? Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com that D’Antona’s dominant performance with the AAA Tucson Sidewinders warranted a chance at the big leagues.

In his second year with the Sidewinders D’Antona, 26, was leading the club in batting average (.367), hits (126), on-base percentage (.407), slugging percentage (.612), and doubles (31) at the time of his call up.

D’Antona recently represented the Diamondbacks organization at both the Futures Game in Yankee Stadium and the Triple-A All-Star game in Louisville, KY. D’Antona won the Triple-A Home Run Derby and delivered the go ahead RBI in the Pacific Coast League’s 6-5 victory over the International League in the Triple-A All-Star Game.

“There’s a guy that deserves a shot at the big leagues,” Melvin told MLB.com. “You look at his Triple-A numbers and they’re off the charts. Through hard work and great performance, he deserves a shot at the big league level.”

Max Pacioretty is a college dropout. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be sitting at home wondering what to do with the rest of his life. Sure, he’s at his parent’s home in New Canaan right now, but he knows he’ll be spending this fall in Canada.

Pacioretty, the first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadians in 2007, has given up his final three years of collegiate eligibility with the University of Michigan to sign with the NHL team.

Pacioretty will be in training camp with the Canadians this September, and is expected to start the season with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs.

“Max Pacioretty is a young player with a lot of skills, who has the potential to play in the NHL,” said Montreal general manager Bob Gainey in a press release. “We are very happy to have him under contract for years to come. We feel he is ready to make the jump to professional hockey, and we will make sure to provide him with all the resources which will benefit his long-term development as a player.”

As a freshman at Michigan, Pacioretty was named the CCHA Rookie of the Year, and was named to the College Hockey News All-Rookie team and the CCHA All-Rookie team. He finished fifth in U.S. college hockey among rookies in points (39) and points per game (1.05). He was also Recipient of the Mickey and Wally Grant Scholarship for Men’s Ice Hockey.

The 6-foot-2, 199-pound left winger finished second on the team in plus-minus and powerplay goals with nine. Pacioretty also scored three game-winning goals and registered 109 shots on goal.

Pacioretty was a member of the US National team which finished fourth at the 2008 World Junior Championship presented in Czech Republic.

“We’re certainly disappointed that Max Pacioretty has chosen to forgo his eligibility at the University of Michigan at this time,” said Michigan associate head coach Mel Pearson in a statement. “Max was a positive force on our team last season. We would like to wish him well in his pursuit of his dream to play in the National Hockey League.”

Olt was named the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s co-player of the week, and celebrated by winning the league’s Home Run Derby with 11 blasts.

Olt, a freshman at UConn, is doing everything he can to get the Westerners in the playoff picture. His week consisted of a .429 average with 12 hits including 2 doubles, 3 home runs and 13 RBIs. He also had a stolen base.

And in the NECBL All-Star Game at Torrington on Sunday, he also hit a 2-run homer in the game that lifted the South to a 5-2 win.

This summer, Olt posts a .294 batting average in a team-high 31 games played. He currently leads the Westerners with 126 at-bats, 27 runs scored, 37 hits, eight doubles, six homeruns and 30 RBIs. Entering his sophomore year at UConn, Olt has led the Westerners with a .516 slugging percentage and a .348 on-base percentage, while also picking up 41 putouts and 78 assists.

“I am pleased that Ted will remain part of the Fairfield athletics family by accepting the associate director of athletics position,” Director of Athletics Gene Doris said. “I am grateful for his hard work and dedication that built our men’s lacrosse program into a competitive and respected program both regionally and nationally. Ted’s decision to retire from coaching was a difficult one, but I am sure he will bring the same vigor to his new position that has made him successful in everything he has done. This position has been in our athletics strategic plan and it became obvious that Ted is the right person to fill it. He will continue to have our support in his fight against cancer and will take some well earned time for himself before transitioning into his new role.”

“This was a difficult choice for me, but in the end, I had to do what was best for me and my family,” Spencer said. “I feel a strong commitment to the student athletes who I recruited this past spring and who will return for the 2009 season. In speaking with the team, I know that I have their support in making this change and I am thankful to have been associated with such a group of fine young men.”

Spencer completed his 13th season at the helm of the Fairfield University lacrosse program in 2008 and owned a 93-90 overall record at the school. He coached the team during the spring despite undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments for cancer. The team finished the campaign with a 4-9 overall record and a 1-5 mark in its third season as a member of the ECAC Lacrosse League.

With Spencer at the helm, the Stags competed in two NCAA tournaments (2005 and 2002), as well as to two Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) titles. He was named the GWLL Coach of the Year in both of those seasons.

Before joining the GWLL, Spencer led the program to three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championships (1996-98). The program qualified for four straight ECAC tournament appearances from 1996-99, and captured the tourney title in 1998 and 1999. He was named the MAAC Coach of the Year in 1996.

Players have flourished under his guidance and three have earned All-American Honorable Mention honors. Seven continued their playing careers in Major League Lacrosse, including Greg Downing, Mike Bocklet, and Nate Bauers in 2007.

Spencer’s new duties as associate director of athletics will include general athletic administrative oversight responsibilities and support of the athletic department’s external relations including the support of student-athlete recruitment programs, representing the Director of Athletics at external functions, and working with the University’s Advancement Division on development activities in support of Fairfield Athletics.

Doris said that the University will immediately begin a national search for the head men’s lacrosse position.

Running late for football practice after an interview with a local newspaper, former New Canaan lineman Steve Johnson acquired the nickname “Hollywood” from several teammates in his final season as a Rams.

Although Johnson won’t be traveling to the west coast, track and field fame may be in his future as he heads to the University of Connecticut this fall.

“I’m very excited,” Johnson said. “I’m totally undecided on what I want to do. I know that I want to help people. I’m leaning towards pre-med or pre-kinesiology.”

Academics aside, Johnson also plans to continue in track and shot-put. Setting a record for himself in shot-put of 52-feet, 9-inches in the State Open, Johnson placed second in the state and fifth in New England. Yet, he has always felt that he could improve his game.

“In college I’m going to work on getting mentally focused,” he said. “It’s going to take a majority of the time at UConn so I probably won’t do any club sports.”

Still, Johnson has played a variety of sports throughout his athletic career.

“I played soccer and baseball when I was a kid and I tried lacrosse but didn’t like it,” he said. “When I was in ninth grade I did track and hurdles. I was awful.”

Johnson also did wrestling and played football in high school but found his niche throwing the shot-put.

“What makes a good shot-putter is long arms. If you’re lanky it’s better,” Johnson said. “Sophomore year I didn’t do bad but I wasn’t that good. And then I kept on lifting. Junior year I really came out of my shell and I got sixth in FCIAC. Then I kept on lifting and here I am today.”

Johnson received the coveted Sikorsky Award at the senior athletics picnic this past spring for his accomplishments.

“I felt really honored to get it because it was such a great payoff,” Johnson said. “It’s a really prestigious award.”

Selected to play for the Fairfield County All-Star football team, Johnson dropped out in order to avoid injury before heading off to do Division I track in college.

In the meantime before setting off to school, Johnson works out for about 90 minutes each day in between working at the Waveny Park Pool snack bar and spending time with his friends. He also plans on shot-putting with several athletes from Danbury.

“I’m just trying to be focused on staying close to my friends and trying to make some good memories before I go [to school],” Johnson said.

Team USA softball had just completed its 9-0 win over the Stratford Brakettes on Sunday, and pitcher Rachele Fico was all smiles when she went to hug her high school teammates.

And on top of that, the 17-year-old Masuk prodigy graciously signed a few autographs for some young admirers.

Hard to believe that just a few minutes earlier, Fico had give up five earned runs on four hits and a walk in just one inning of work.

For those who have followed Fico’s near flawless high school career, the performance may have come as a shock. But there’s a big difference between your average CIAC player - or a regular opponent of the Brakettes - than Olympians like Caitlin Mendoza.

And for that matter, the batters Fico faced in the Canada Cup earlier this month as a member of the Florida-based Gold Coast Hurricanes - like Japan, Venezuela, and Chinese Taipei - were not too shabby.

“It’s been so much fun, I’ve had some awesome learning experience facing some of the best teams in the world,” Fico said about her Canada Cup experience. “I’m taking what I do in the game and learning from it and hopefully I’ll grow from it.”

And Fico fortunately has not let her softball growth and advancement go to her head. According to her friends and members of the Brakettes, she’s still the same Rachele Fico who would rather see her team win a game than get personal accolades.

In fact, her father, Ralph Fico, told reporters Sunday that his daughter’s reaction to being named a high school All-American this season was, “Oh, cool.”

So it’s no wonder Fico, who has already given a verbal agreement to Louisiana State University, wasn’t intimidated during her one inning against the USA Olympic team.

“I was just so excited to play against the number one team in the country, and I just went out there and had fun,” Fico said.

Peter Cox is surrounded by more than 100 kids in football uniforms. Most of them are from Bridgeport, some from surrounding areas, and other are visiting family from as far away as Kansas.

It’s a two-week camp that Cox, who works in the resource center and coaches football at Bridgeport Central High School, was able to set up through the National Football League’s Junior Development Program.

The cost for the kids — nothing. And they get to learn about more than football, they’re taught about life skills.

How many of these 12 to 14 year old boys will play football at Central. But the number of kids whose lives Cox will help shape will continue to grow.

In a city where teenage boys from a single-parent home can either walk the straight line or get tempted to join a gang, Cox has spent his last 11 years as a father figure and mentor to many Hilltoppers. The number he has got into college grows each year.

And from the Class of 2008, at least nine will go on to play college football.

“If you’re ever looking for a feel-good story, there’s one right there,” Central head coach Dave Cadelina said a few weeks back at the FCIAC Strongest Man competition.

“He’s not an Xs and Os kind of guy,” adds Central assistant coach John Carolina. “But what he’s done for our kids off the field has been amazing.”

So why does Cox do it? It’s not for the recognition. But he did see a difference almost immediately when he came over to Central from Amity Regional in Woodbridge. And he has his roots in Bridgeport, having gone to Bassick as a teen.

“In the suburban school, you have the parent involved. In the inner city, you become the mentor, the father, and everything else,” Cox said.

Cox said took one of his current players to the doctor Wednesday, with a note from the player’s mother saying he’s the guardian, “or as she said ‘coach/father,’” so the doctor could be release him to play football this season.

“So the doctor at first wasn’t going to do anything, but when he looked at the record and say the letter the mom wrote about me, and with my signature, he was fine’” Cox said.

And Cox does more than that for the student-athletes, much more than trips to the doctors and helping kids with applications and SAT scores. The 69-year-old former drill sergeant also brings the kids on road trips to various colleges so they can experience what campus life is like.

The hope is that they will enjoy the experience, and want to be on campus after four years of high school.

“My car is four years old in December, and I’ve got 146,000 miles on it,” Cox said like it’s no big deal. “That’s my passion — to make sure they do well in school, to make sure they do well in their SAT courses, then get them into college.”

Tomorrow there’s a trip to Lackawanna College in Scranton, PA, where he’s going with recent Central graduate Dewayne Guscott. Coming along for the ride — Rashaad Bass, an Ansonia lineman who will room with Guscott this fall. They are heading out to meet with the coaching staff and fill out some paperwork.

And Guscott is just one of many thankful past and future Hilltoppers who understand what Cox has done to help out.

“Without Coach Cox, I probably wouldn’t even be in college,” Guscott said. “He puts in so much work – I can’t even count how many times we’ve been to McDonalds, driven us to a college, or that he’s called up a college so he’d get our names in a coach’s ear.”

Guscott has estimated Cox’s fuel bill to be around $7,000 since his freshman year. And that’s included trips from South Carolina to Maine.

“When I first met him, he was kind of a hard ass, telling us not to quit on him,” Guscott said. “Now it’s all love. He’s like a father, and I feel like a son to him.”

One of those Central players who Cox convinced not to quit is Trevardo Williams, who has a full ride to UConn waiting on the table after he preps this year at Canterbury School. He’s convinced none of his good fortune would have happened without Cox’s support.

“He’s the one responsible for us going to college,” Williams said. “When we need a ride, he gives it to us. When we need some guidance, we’ll go to him, he’s the one we can rely on.”

Williams said he’s also thankful for Cox, who gave him the advice to do a year of prep school before taking his offer to play at UConn.

“I could have different choices, and what he told me made me think twice about the choice I made,” Williams said. “With him being there, I just feel like I’ve accomplished something, like someone is on my side, guiding me.”

Timmy Reece, who is heading off to play football at American International College, says it’s more than the miles Cox puts on the car that makes his a hero to the football community.

“Not a lot of people go the extra mile,” Reece said. “Coach Cox does. I remember my freshman year, [former running back] Akeem Wright’s grades were so bad that Coach Cox found a school for him all the way out in California. Not a lot of coaches do that.”

Reece, too, will soon be brought to college in Cox’s white van. And when Cox drops him off in Springfield, he says it will be like saying good by to a dad.

“He’s the type of man you’d want in your corner at all times,” Reece said. “I love him like a father because that’s what he is to us.”

And while Cox does see himself as a father figure to many of Central’s players, he also feels he’s helping to do God’s work.

“It’s like God sent him down here, and he says that’s why he does it. He’s such a devout Christian,” Guscott said. “He thinks this is his way of paying back God for all he has given, and he wants to give back to people. He’s just a nice person.”

Though Cox’s work has been appreciated by the community, it may be he doesn’t think he’s done anything to help out just yet. Or that he’s found his life’s calling.

“It’s worth it, 100%,” Cox said. “If I can help one kid, it’s worth it.”

And though the Chargers won’t take the field until 2009, Wallace said his first year as a football player will be a busy one. They will compete as a pseudo-junior varsity program in 2008.

“We’re going to be playing quality teams like Yale and have a chance to build some camaraderie before the real season starts in 2009,” Wallace said.

Wallace was a captain this past season for the Green Wave, and had 105 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, six sacks, and four forced fumbles. He was also first team all-state and all-SWC.

And as much as he is looking forward to being a student athlete at New Haven, he wants to prove his worth to his Fairfield County teammates tonight.

“It means a lot for me to be chosen to play for this team, I am proud to represent my town,” Wallace said. “I can’t wait to prove why I belong on this team when game time comes around and I knock some heads around.”

It’s not easy for Timothy Reece to find a pair of decent shoes for his size 17 feet. But it was a normal head size that helped him get a spot of the Connecticut team that defeated Rhode Island in the Governor’s Cup back on June 27.

Reece, who will play on both the offensive and defensive lines tonight for Fairfield County in the Hall of Fame Classic at West Haven High School, was just in the right place at the right time.

“It’s funny because I went to the practice [in Southington] to see [Central teammates] DeWayne [Guscott] and Trevardo [Williams] play, and they were looking at me. And after the practice they called me over and told me to try this helmet on. They said, ‘if it fits, you’re on the team,,” Reece said.

And as it happened, the helmet was a perfect fit.

“DeWayne and Trevardo were kidding me that it was the easiest tryout ever,” Reece said. “I guess you cold say it was a Cinderella story, but I proved I should have a spot.”

Reece was a first-team All-FCIAC offensivve lineman this season, and was on the second team as a junior. He has started for three seasons under head coach Dave Cadelina.

But it’s the relationship he has with assistant coach Peter Cox that Reece and his teammates talk about just as much.

“We have a great coaching staff all the way from the head coach down to the water boy,” Reece said. “Coach Cox has been a big influence on our lives. He drives us back and forth to the All-Star games, and he helped us get into college. It’s good to have those people on your side.”

Reece will be heading to American International College in Springfield, MA, in a few weeks to continue both his athletic and academic careers. He will be reunited with former Central linemate Terrance Mercer, who will be a junior at AIC.

“AIC was attractive to me because I wanted to be close to home, not to mention they are looking good this year,” Reece said. “Terrance got me interested, so I’ll be chilling with him while we hope to win a title.”

But first, Reece wants to help Fairfield County break its five-game losing streak against the New Haven County all-stars. Even if he didn’t qualify to play because of his helmet size.

“It’s good to be chosen to be a player in the All-Star game,” Reece said. “When you get called upon, it’s your responsibility and duty to your school and your town, and in this case, your county.”

Former Wilton lineman Joe Smith was told to dislike people only because of the color of their football uniform. But he’s become good friends with someone who wears the red and black on New Canaan, former Ram Kyle Duncan.

And that has nothing to do with the Hall of Fame Classic, which has Smith (left) and Duncan as teammates on the Fairfield County team which will play New Haven County at West Haven High School tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.

Smith and Duncan will take their games - and their personal belongings - to Bowdoin in a just a few weeks.

“I feel pretty fortunate to be able to go up to Maine with someone I already know, and that he’s a nice kid, and we have some similarities,” Smith said.

That includes postseason accolades. Both were CHSCA All-State offensive linemen in their respective divisions. Both started on the defensive line, too.

“I kind of get a preview of what the next four years are going to be like, even though I’m going to be on the defensive side of the ball and he’ll be on offense,” said Duncan (left). “I really think [Bowdoin] should be getting two quality football players.”

Smith chose Bowdoin over several NESCAC and Ivy League schools, and says he was very close to heading to Cornell. But he knew Bowdoin was the school for him when he set foot on campus for the first time.

“I know I’m not going to play in the NFL,” Smith said. “I wanted to balance the academics and the athletics.”

But right now, Smith is taking a crash course in New Canaan’s spread offense. After four years of starting in the three-point stance, Smith is adjusting to a two-point stance.

But Duncan, who went through the adjustment two seasons ago, has helped mentor his new friend - and his Fairfield County teammates.

“Going to the two point stance, it’s kind of weird and you are back on your heels a little bit, but the kids here have really started to pick it up well,” Duncan said. “He’s a great offensive lineman. If he was in this spread system for even a year of so, he would have just been great.”

Another plus for Duncan and the Fairfield County team - three of the five offensive linemen from the Class MM state champion Rams will be protecting former Rams quarterback Charlie Westfal.

“It’s absolutely awesome. I never thought I’d get a chance to play again with Mike Glass and Charley Donnelly ever again,” Duncan said. “Especially when we’ll be protecting Charlie Westfal. It’s like old times, it’s great.”

Smith plans to major in psychology, while Duncan is looking at a major in government and legal studies.