Sports In Brief: Curve named host of 2006 AA All-Star Game; Portland set to coach on Big Ten foreign tour

Curve named host of 2006 AA All-Star Game

The Altoona Curve, the Class AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been selected as the host for the 2006 Eastern League All-Star Game. The announcement was made by Eastern League President Joe McEacharn as part of an on-field ceremony prior to Friday's game at Blair County Ballpark.

The annual all-star classic will be held at Blair County Ballpark on Wednesday, July 12, 2006, and will be surrounded by several ballpark and community events. Among the events tentatively scheduled include the 2006 Eastern League All-Star FanFest, which will feature fan autograph sessions and meet-and-greets with all-star players.

The 2006 Major League All-Star Game will be hosted by the Curve's parent club, the Pittsburgh Pirates, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh the day before the Eastern League All-Star Game at Blair County Ballpark.

The minor league all-star game will feature the stars of the Southern Division -- Altoona, Akron, Bowie, Erie, Harrisburg and Reading -- against the top players from the Northern Division -- Binghamton, New Britain, New Hampshire, Norwich, Portland and Trenton. Each team will be comprised of 24 players, with every Eastern League team being represented by at least one pitcher and one position player. The teams will be selected through a combination of fan balloting and selections from managers, media and team personnel.

Portland set to coach on Big Ten foreign tour

Twelve student-athletes have been selected to participate on the Big Ten Conference's 2005 Women's Basketball Foreign Tour, which will travel to Belgium and the Netherlands, July 17-27. The squad will play five games in 11 days.

Penn State coach Rene Portland and associate head coach Annie Troyan will lead the squad, which includes Nittany Lions players Adrienne Squire and Kamela Gissendanner, both sophomore guards. Also joining the squad are Illinois' Danyel Crutcher, Indiana's Cyndi Valentin, Iowa's Crystal Smith, Michigan State's Katrina Grantham and Victoria Lucas-Perry, Minnesota's Liz Podominick, Northwestern's Ifeoma Okonkwo, Ohio State's Stephanie Blanton, Purdue's Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Wisconsin's Janese Banks.

Michigan was unable to send a player due to summer school enrollment.

Last year, the Big Ten Foreign Tour squad went 4-0 in Australia, marking its second consecutive undefeated Tour. The team has gone 46-18 since the inception of the Tour in 1992, which has been held annually except for 2003.