The Klamath Falls Gems begin the 2012 West Coast League season with a home games Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at Kiger Stadium. There are many new faces this year, from head coach Josh Hogan and assistant head coach Billy Clontz to a roster of first year players. One is Washington State to Mount...

LA GRANDE, Ore. – With the 2011-12 academic year almost complete, the first Spring Learfield Standings have been released, and several Cascade Collegiate Conference teams made the list. The conference has Concordia (10th overall – 594.25 points), The College of Idaho (20th overall – 434.00 points), Southern Oregon (26th overall – 379.50 points), Eastern...

ARLINGTON, Texas – Justin Smoak and the Seattle Mariners made everyone forget they’re one of the worst hitting teams in baseball. Smoak hit two three-run homers against his former team and the Mariners used a pair of early eight-run innings to rout the Texas Rangers for the second straight game, winning 21-8 Wednesday night.  ...

LOS ANGELES – John Axford is heading toward another huge season for the Milwaukee Brewers – if he doesn’t get burned out in the process. Axford recorded his third save in three days and 10th in 11 chances this season, pitching a hitless ninth inning to close out a 6-3 win for Yovani Gallardo over...

SAN FRANCISCO – Kirk Gibson asked Ian Kennedy if he could keep going, and Arizona’s ace delivered with a career-high 122 pitches. Good timing, too. Closer JJ Putz had slept wrong and arrived with a stiff neck, which he tried to loosen up in the fourth inning to no avail. Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead...

New owner, and now a new star player. The future suddenly looks bright for the New Orleans Hornets. Meanwhile, it was yet another loss – in a historic season full of them – for Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats. The Hornets, recently sold by the NBA to Saints owner Tom Benson, won the...

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh insists the 49ers planned to have Alex Smith as their quarterback even while they examined the possibility of signing then-free agent Peyton Manning. Harbaugh ended his weekly meeting with reporters on Wednesday by addressing what he says is the ”erroneous perception that we were flirting with...

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Facing the reality of losing two of the team’s three six-footers, Oregon Tech women’s basketball was able to get back some height with the signing of a community college transfer. Heidi Halemeier joins the Owls roster from Linn-Benton Community College where she was a double-double player. Scoring 13.5 points and...

SAN FRANCISCO – Melky Cabrera broke a record held by Willie Mays. His manager compared him to Tony Gwynn. That’s the kind of memorable May it has been for the San Francisco Giants’ newest stars. Cabrera got his 50th hit of the month to spark the go-ahead rally and Buster Posey drove in a pair...

ARLINGTON, Texas – Seattle finally got offensive and snapped a five-game losing streak. John Jaso hit a two-run homer early, then added an RBI single in the Mariners’ sixth-run eighth against two of Texas’ top two setup relievers. Seattle ended up matching its highest-scoring inning and game of the season in a 10-3 victory over...