LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Demopolis’ (Ala.) Abbey Latham, Grapeland’s (Texas) Taylar Mullen and Casey Overfield of San Ramon Valley (Calif.) were selected the first MaxPreps/NFCA National High School Player of the Week of the 2017 spring season. The trio is recognized for their accomplishments in games played Feb. 20-26.

South Region
Latham played a key role in Demopolis’ six wins to start the season. The senior catcher hit .733 (11-for-15), homered in each of the first five contests, knocked in 12 runs and scored 11 times. She recorded four multi-hit, multi-run and multi-RBI games, slugged 1.800 and reached base at a .765 clip. Against Fruitdale, Latham was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, homer, two RBI and three runs scored. She added a season-high three RBI against Washington County and Southern Choctaw.

South Central Region
In six games last week, Mullen, who batted .833 (15-for-18), notched multiple hits in every contest, scored 13 runs and swiped 12 bases for the Sandies. She recorded three hits and stole three bases on three occasions, while scoring three times twice. Going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, the senior captain posted the trifecta in a 16-0 victory over LaPoynor. She tripled in a victory over Alto, added a double versus Trinity and knocked in two runs with three steals against Latexo.

West Region
Overfield hit .700 (7-for-10) and tossed a no-hitter in helping the Wolves start 2017 with three victories. In an 11-0 triumph over Tamalpais, Overfield was a walk shy of a perfect game as she struck out two in six innings of work. The senior captain helped herself out at the plate with three hits, including her first home run of the season, two RBI and three runs scored. Additionally, she swiped five bases against the Red Tailed Hawks. Overfield opened the season by scoring the game’s lone run in the bottom of the sixth in a 1-0 win versus Kennedy. Two days later she was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI in a 6-2 victory over Deer Valley.

The 2017 MaxPreps/NFCA High School Players of the Week are announced on NFCA.org every Monday during the spring season, with one representative chosen from each of the five regions. During the spring campaign, a player from each of five separate high school regions is selected.

MaxPreps is a free stat tool that is available to high school coaches across the country and is one of the most recognized and respected high school athletics websites on the internet. Coaches who enter their team’s stats on Max Preps will not only be nominating their players for this award, but they will be getting their team’s information out to thousands of high school sports fans, as well as college coaches across the country.

To obtain a coach’s login, please contact:  coachsupport@maxpreps.com or call (800) 329-7324 x1. To enter a team’s stats on the MaxPreps website, please click here.

2016-17 Max Preps/NFCA Players of the Week

2/27
Abbey Latham | Demopolis (Ala.) HS (South)

Taylar Mullen | Grapeland (Texas) HS (South Central)

Casey Overfield | San Ramon Valley HS (West)

 

Fall
10/24 – Madison Preston | Centralia (Mo.) HS

10/17 – Rylyan Nelson | Sterling (Colo.) HS

10/10 – Ainsley Tolson | Trenton (Mo.) HS

10/3 – Rylie Unzicker | Millard South (Neb.) HS

9/26 – Kayla Poynter | Walnut Grove (Ga.) HS

9/19 – Jordyn Hays | Grand Junction (Colo.) Central HS

9/12 – Olivia Douglas | Hastings (Neb.) HS

9/6 – Kerrigan Gamm | Osage (Mo.) HS

8/29 – Lindsey Malkin | Broomfield (Colo.) HS

8/22 – Madison McPherson | Marion County (Ga.) HS

 

A thermal spring in Yellowstone National Park is spewing garbage and serving as a reminder of how awful tourist behaviour can be.

According to park officials, a number of random items have been found around the mouth of the Ear Spring geyser, including coins, old cans, and even an old pacifier, believed to be from the 1930s.

Ear Spring on Yellowstone’s Geyser Hill went from being dormant on Sept. 14 to spewing steam and hot water between six and nine metres high the next day — the highest it’s reached since 1957.

But in addition to scalding hot water, random items have been forced out, which park officials believe either fell in the geyser’s vent or were thrown in by tourists.

Officials shared photos of some of the found items which, in addition to the pacifier and cans, include a concrete block, cigarette butts, a bear warning sign, and a Pyrex funnel with tubing.

“Foreign objects can damage hot springs and geysers. The next time Ear Spring erupts we hope it’s nothing but natural rocks and water. You can help by never throwing anything into Yellowstone’s thermal features!” read a post on the Yellowstone Facebook page.

For years, Yellowstone visitors have been reprimanded for not staying on official paths, not to mention other stunts that show no regard for the environmental fragility of the park.

In 2016, an Oregon man died after he attempted to take a dip in a particularly acidic hot spring. His body was never recovered. Officials said the body dissolved before they were able to get to the remains.

And just a few weeks ago a Colorado man was arrested after allegedly attempting to urinate into the Old Faithful geyser.

With files from The Associated Press

Also On HuffPost:

Ubisoft has added gangs of armoured Rabbids to For Honor for a 24 hour limited-time event.

The hyper-active, buck-toothed creatures are pretty much Ubisoft’s mascot, and they will be acting as enemies and storming the gates in For Honor until 9pm PT / midnight ET / 5am UK / 2pm AEST. You’ve not got long to get involved, but anyone who does will get a melee pack reward.

While the event is clearly themed around April Fools, it is completely playable and not a joke in any form other than the fact that it’s absolutely bananas. There are plenty of fake April Fools jokes out there today, though, so keep your eyes peeled.

This Rabbids event is part of For Honor’s third year of content drops, known as Year of the Harbinger. Harbinger, of course, means something that proclaims an arrival. Of all the things For Honor could introduce, we didn’t realise that it would be proclaiming the arrival of a swarm of rodent samurai. Rabbids are rodents, right?

Matt Purslow is IGN UK’s News and Entertainment Writer, and will now petition Ubisoft to make a For Honor + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle game. You can follow him on Twitter. 

SPOILERS ahead for Captain Marvel.

Kevin Smith is officially part of the MCU thanks to a reference to Mallrats in Captain Marvel.

Kevin Smith took to Instagram and posted a very emotional picture and message that thanked Marvel for the inclusion of the script of Mallrats, which was being read by the one-and-only Stan Lee in one of his famous cameos.

“Just saw @captainmarvelofficial. I am a blubbering mess. After a lifetime spent referencing the movies, the movies just referenced me! Many thanks to @marvelstudios, #ryanfleck, #annabodin, and to my friend @therealstanlee for the cinematic shout-out! But if I’m now part of the @marvel Universe, I have only one question: Did I survive The Snap? #KevinSmith #captainmarvel #marveluniverse #marvel #marvelstudios #gratitude #kevinfeige #ryanfleck #annaboden”

The reference was more than just a silly nod as Captain Marvel takes place in 1995, the same year that Mallrats was released. Even more awesome is the fact that Stan Lee was also featured in a short but important role in Mallrats, which was written and directed by Kevin Smith.

Stan Lee’s cameo in Captain Marvel is obviously bittersweet as the legendary comic icon died at the age of 95 last November.

Captain Marvel is the latest MCU film and the last to be released before Avengers: Endgame. In our review, we said “Captain Marvel’s big screen debut puts a fresh spin on Marvel’s Phase One origin story formula.”

As for Kevin Smith, he does appear to have survived Thanos’ Snap as he recently began pre-production on the Jay and Silent Bob reboot and is also working on a Jay and Silent Bob VR series.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who loves to see these cameos and nods to the greats of the entertainment industry. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst.

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Staff at an elementary school in Kamloops, B.C., were faced with a gym full of crying children after about 135 were stung by a swarm of wasps during their Terry Fox run today.

Diana Skoglund, communications manager for School District 73, says the Dufferin Elementary students were stung after running over a ground wasp nest.

The cross-country running team uses the trail every day but staff believe the high volume of kids today disturbed the nest.

Skoglund says parents and emergency responders were called immediately and all of the children were gathered in the gym to be treated with ice packs and sting remedy.

None of the kids with known anaphylaxis had extreme reactions, but two who had not been identified with anaphylaxis had strong reactions and were taken to hospital for observation.

Skoglund says many of the children went home with their parents, but many others returned to class after lunch.

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game is coming to iPhones later this year, with an Android release to follow “at a later date.”

“We’ve been preparing long and hard to adapt Gwent to smartphones,” said GWENT game director, Jason Slama. “Beautiful visuals aside, we’ve tailored much of our technology, including GOG Galaxy which powers Gwent’s multiplayer, to support mobile devices.

“I think our vision for bringing Gwent to smartphones combines the best we have to offer both in terms of graphics and gameplay. I can’t wait to share more details on the subject with you later this year.”

Gwent’s single-player campaign launched as a standalone game last December, while the first card expansion, Crimson Curse, announced earlier this month, will be dropping tomorrow.

Crimson Curse will add over 100 cards to the game on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Shabana is a freelance writer who enjoys JRPGs, wine, and not finishing games. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Angelo State continued its rise and finally reached the top spot in this week’s NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Rambelles (30-2), who received 14 first-place votes and 398 points, climbed to No. 1 for the first time since the 2012 season.

Angelo State enjoyed a program 26-game winning streak during its ascension to No. 1. Behind strong pitching and timely hitting, the Rambelles opened last week with four close shutout victories, beginning with two over Oklahoma Christian (2-0, 3-0). In Lone Star Conference play Angelo’s Brandy Marlett and Kenedy Urbany shut down the high-octane offense of No. 12 West Texas A&M in a pair of 1-0 wins, before falling in the series finale to the Lady Buffs, 3-0, in eight innings.

Shifting up one spot each was No. 2 North Georgia and No. 3 Southern Arkansas as previous No. 1 Humboldt State fell to No. 4. The Nighthawks (27-7) rebounded from a week-opening Peach Belt Conference loss at Flagler to post five straight league road victories. The Lady Muleriders (25-3) swept through Great American Conference play, closing out its series with a pair of wins over Southern Nazarene before claiming all four on the road at Southwestern Oklahoma State.

The Jacks (21-4), who still garnered two first-place votes, fell from No. 1 since taking over the spot in the first regular season poll. HSU dropped three-of-four at Cal State San Bernardino, salvaging a win in the final game of the California Collegiate Athletic Association series.

Valdosta State returned to No. 5 after a one-week absence. The Blazers (24-6) hosted Union University in Gulf South play, sweeping the Bulldogs (5-0, 10-2, 4-0). St. Mary’s (20-6) moved to No. 6, while Chico State (17-4) stayed put at No. 7 after splitting a CCAA series at San Francisco State.

Moving back into the top-10 at No. 8 is Saint Leo with Pfeiffer and Indianapolis coming in at No. 9 and 10. The Lions (25-7) went 4-1 with two wins over then-no. 18 Caldwell (5-0, 12-3). The Falcons (27-3) enjoyed a 5-1 week, posting three shutouts with its only defeat coming at the hands of then-No. 23 Limestone in Conference Carolinas play. Following an 8-0 week, the Greyhounds (21-5) rose 10 spots, having won eight straight and 14 of their last 15 games.

Joining the poll this week is No. 21 Southern New Hampshire, No. 23 Minnesota State and No. 24 Colorado Mesa, while Missouri Western, Caldwell and Shorter fell out.

The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Records reflect games played through Sunday, March 19.

 

2017 NFCA Division II Softball Coaches Poll
Week 6 | March 22, 2017

Rank School Points 2017 Record Prev. Rank 1 Angelo State (14) 398 30-2 2 2 North Georgia 370 27-7 3 3 Southern Arkansas 362 25-3 4 4 Humboldt State (2) 359 21-4 1 5 Valdosta State 346 24-6 6 6 St. Mary’s 285 20-6 8 7 Chico State 267 17-4 7 8 Saint Leo 260 25-7 11 9 Pfeiffer 258 27-3 14 10 Indianapolis 231 21-5 20 11 Harding 228 25-3 16 12 West Texas A&M 220 23-6 12 13 West Virginia Wesleyan 200 12-2 15 14 Southern Indiana 191 19-5 10 15 Lenoir-Rhyne 180 28-5 5 16 Central Oklahoma 167 18-4 9 17 Tampa 150 21-5 19 18 Cal State Monterey Bay 149 19-4 21 19 Wayne State (Mich.) 129 21-5 24 20 Dixie State 89 26-7 13 21 Southern New Hampshire 64 11-5 RV 22 Limestone 61 24-4 23 23 Minnesota State 46 22-4 RV 24 Colorado Mesa 43 20-4   25 Missouri-St. Louis 42 20-8 17

 

Dropped Out: No. 18 Missouri Western, No. 22 Caldwell, No. 25 Shorter

New to Poll: No. 21 Southern New Hampshire, No. 23 Minnesota State, No. 24 Colorado Mesa

Receiving Votes:  Shorter (34), LIU Post (22), Missouri Western (15), West Chester (14), UAH (7), Le Moyne (4), Pittsburg State (3), Lubbock Christian (2), Anderson (2), Saginaw Valley State (1), California Baptist (1).

The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Records reflect games played through