SportShorts: NIB-12 West names all-conference softball team

SOFTBALL

NIB-12 West names all-conference team

Sterling had four players and Dixon had one named as unanimous selections to the Northern Illinois Big 12 West All-Conference team.

Cassidy Gillihan (sr. of), Ashli King (sr. c), Karlie Mellott (so. ss) and Stephanie Kester (jr. p) were unanimous selections for Sterling. Senior outfielder Sydney Seggebruch was Dixon’s lone unanimous selection.

LaSalle-Peru pitcher Ally Smith was named MVP.

For a complete list of the NIB-12 West all-conference team, see B4.

HORSE RACING

I’ll Have Another favorite at Belmont

In his bid to win horse racing’s elusive Triple Crown, I’ll Have Another today was named a 4-5 favorite for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.

Immediately after the No. 11 post position and odds were announced, I’ll Have Another’s connections tweeted, “We drew post # 11 – Brilliant.”

Dullahan, third at the Kentucky Derby (a length and a half behind I’ll Have Another), was the second choice at 5-1. He’ll start from the No. 5 post position. He did not run in the Preakness on May 19.

MLB

Orioles sign Moyer to minor-league deal

The Orioles have signed 49-year old LHP Jamie Moyer to a minor-league contract.

Moyer is expected to start for Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday. The Colorado Rockies released Moyer and he cleared waivers, making him a free agent.

Moyer was 2-5 with a 5.70 ERA with the Rockies.

NFL

Former players consolidate lawsuit

More than 2,000 former NFL players and their families will file a “master complaint” in court today, consolidating their nearly 100 concussion-related lawsuits against the NFL.

The complaint will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleging that the NFL “deliberately and fraudulently concealed from its players the link between football-related head impacts and long-term neurological injuries.”

Webster sentenced to 20 years

Nate Webster, a former NFL linebacker with the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals, was sentenced Wednesday in Cincinnati to 12 years in prison for having sex with an underage girl.

Webster, 34, was convicted in April of four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, charges that carried a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. He turned down a plea bargain that would’ve reduced his sentence to 4 years.