League

Lenny Dykstra, the troubled ex-Phillies star, is expected to be released from a California prison Sunday, 15 months into his three-year term, according to sources. Dykstra, 50, pleaded no contest in October 2011 to three grand theft auto charges and one count of filing a false financial report, the latest in a series of downfalls in a tragic slide. After attending a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, he was sentenced to three years in prison on March 5, 2012. "I was surprised they let him out before the three years, to be quite frank with you," said Christopher Frankie, author of Nailed: The Improbable Rise and Spectacular Fall of Lenny Dykstra . "Because he blatantly disobeyed the court, and a lot of the stuff was very brazen.

Ben Davis, the former Malvern Prep star whose pro baseball career spanned 16 years in the major and minor leagues, and 60 feet, 6 inches of turf and dirt, has retired. The strong-armed catcher was drafted by the San Diego Padres with the second overall pick in 1995, and he played with three major-league teams from 1998 to 2004, batting .237 in 486 games. He was with eight minor-league clubs after that. Davis' hitting woes continued in the minors, and he converted into a pitcher after Baltimore cut him in 2008.

The National Lacrosse League yesterday named Wings forward Athan Iannucci as the league's most valuable player. In his second season, Iannucci led the league in goals with an NLL-record 71 and points with 100. He also tied for the league lead in game-winning goals (five) with Sean Pollock of the Minnesota Swarm. Iannucci's 71 goals surpassed the record of 61 set by Minnesota's Gary Gait in 2003.

The National Basketball Association Players Association this morning filed a class action anti-trust suit in federal court in Newark, N.J., against the league and its 23 member teams. The suit asks the court to declare the NBA's draft, salary cap and right of first refusal invalid, and asks for damages to be paid to any players hurt by those mechanisms. "We're saying the anti-trust laws are being violated and that it is time to end those restrictions," said Larry Fleisher, general counsel to the Players Association.

With about 10 games remaining in the season, Cryhten Langhorne's name began to appear more and more frequently in Willingboro boys' basketball box scores. It seems that the junior had begun to impress Paul Collins with more than his superior leaping ability. Langhorne had tacked on a mid-range jump shot, which meant additional opportunities to score. If summer league play is any indication, Langhorne just might be primed to emerge as a bona fide scorer. The 6-foot-2 senior leads the Chimeras in the Cherry Hill Recreation league with a 25 points-per-game average.

Parity should be the name of the game in the race for the Colonial Conference field hockey championship this season. With such teams as Collingswood, Gateway, Haddonfield and Haddon Heights boasting experienced lineups, the league race figures to be tight all the way. And those teams will not be able to rest easy, because Audubon, Haddon Township and Woodbury seem capable of pulling surprises. Collingswood, which claimed the league title with a 17-1 record and was 19-2 overall last season, has nine returning letter-winners under coach Sandra Ritter.

Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants and Stars Umpiring in the Negro Leagues & Beyond By Bob Motley with Byron Motley Sports Publishing LLC. 212 pp. $16.95 I would love to sit down for an hour or so with Bob Motley and jaw about our memories of old-time baseball. He spent much of his life umpiring in the Negro Leagues, and relates his experiences there to his son, author Byron Motley. I lived across the street from Philadelphia's Shibe Park, and knew most major league players before I started school.

Success was sweet for the Mets of the Fairmount Sports Association Little League, who took the league championship Tuesday night. The Mets and the Yankees were tied in the best-of-3 series going into the championship game. The 12-team league is made up of children ages 7 to 9. After the win, the victors launched a messy celebration.

Women's Professional Soccer announced Monday that it has suspended the 2012 season due to "legal issues" and an "ongoing dispute" with a former owner. WPS was formed in 2009 following the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The Independence, owned by David Halstead and coached by Paul Riley, last season lost in the WPS championship game for the second straight year. "This is what responsible business enterprises do, and it's what the WPS and Philadelphia Independence are going to do," Halstead said in a statement.

Frustrate and dominate. That describes what Villa Joseph Marie has done to soccer opponents in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies this season. Whether it was the cat-quick moves of striker Megan Verdeur, the acrobatic saves by goalkeeper Kerriann Kane, or the pesky play by midfielder/defender Alysha Mallon, the Jems left no doubt about their league superiority. Last night was different. But as dominant teams do, they still found a way to win. Steph Lawall's penalty kick in the 78th minute gave Villa Joseph Marie a 2-1 victory over St. Basil Academy in the league championship match at La Salle University.

Severino Gonzalez's season was supposed to begin this week in Williamsport. It will not, but only because it started more than a month ago at high-single-A Clearwater, a minor-league level two steps above Williamsport. "To be honest, he was in extended spring training and we were going to send him to Williamsport, but they had a need at Clearwater," said Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan. "We sent him there to give them some protection and him some innings. He far and away exceeded what we thought he would do. " Gonzalez, a 20-year-old native of Panama, entered the weekend with a 1-0 record and a 0.40 ERA in nine appearances.

This is the time of year when rosters change at the minor-league level, and the number of teams in action expands from four to six. Players excelling are often challenged by being sent to a higher level. Players struggling at a higher level can be demoted in the hope that they'll have success and regain confidence at the lower level. The Phillies have players in both categories as their two rookie-league clubs - Williamsport of the New York-Penn League and the Gulf Coast League Phillies in Clearwater, Fla. - begin play this week.

The most difficult task for young pitchers is to have command of the strike zone, and failure to do so keeps so many in the minor leagues. Lehigh Valley righthander Phillippe Aumont is a classic example. The Phillies rave about his stuff, but his inability to throw strikes consistently caused his demotion to the IronPigs. He averaged 6.9 walks per nine innings this season when the Phillies sent him down. "He is like a lot of others in that they are a work in progress," Lehigh Valley manager Dave Brundage said.

For sports leagues, the result of taking an aggressive anti-doping stance and backing it up with real programs is that cheaters will definitely be caught, something that is good for the long-term health of the game, but can be painful and bad for business in the process. In this country, among the four major professional sports, Major League Baseball has been the most successful - or perhaps the most willing - in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs. Maybe that is the result of the bad burn suffered by the sport when it giddily accepted the popularity boost during the record-destroying Steroid Era. The other three sports, all of which also have to make their headway in collective bargaining against intransigent players' associations, can't match baseball's strides.

ON SATURDAY afternoon, Charlie Manuel was concerned enough about Jimmy Rollins' sore right foot that he pinch-ran for him in the ninth inning of a 4-3 game with Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick was later picked off at second base on a blown call by the umpires, eliminating the potential tying run just before Cesar Hernandez doubled to rightfield. Yesterday, Manuel assumed that Rollins would be out of commission, so he drew up a lineup with Freddy Galvis starting at shortstop. But Rollins informed the manager that he felt well enough to play.

LONDON - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will take their increasingly acrimonious rivalry to a new level Saturday in the first all-German Champions League final. Relations between Germany's top two teams were always likely to be fraught ahead of their clash at Wembley Stadium, but a power struggle off the pitch has increased the stakes for the biggest prize in European club football. Dortmund, in particular, is unhappy with Bayern's transfer dealings as Mario Goetze, one of Dortmund's top players, is switching to the Bavarian side next season, and top scorer Robert Lewandowski is apparently keen to follow suit.

MOTHER NATURE assured yesterday that one specific comment will not be heard next week after the 2013 Public League baseball final. "If only we'd been able to use our top pitcher . . . " When Franklin Towne Charter and Frankford bang heads Tuesday at 3:45 at Richie Ashburn Field, in South Philly's FDR Park, the pitchers will be the same guys who posted strong outings in the semis, and they'll be going on significant rest. In Monday's semis, senior righthander Tim Hart spun a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts as Towne muffled Girard Academy Music Program, 4-2. In a 3-2 success over Prep Charter, Frankford senior righthander Carlos Ramirez allowed five hits.

HERE'S GUESSING Dominic Cuoci will never seek a switch in uniform numbers from 10 to 15 or 16. For him, those might as well be 13. Twice in recent mound stints for La Salle High's baseball team, the 6-2, 205-pound junior righthander sniffed no-hitters semi-deep into games . . . only to bid adieu while going for out No. 15, then 16. "I started to realize I had one going once we got to the fifth inning," Cuoci said Tuesday, referring to...

IT WILL BE Frankford vs. Frankford Offshoot for the Public League baseball championship today, 3:15, at Richie Ashburn Field, in South Philly's FDR Park. The Pioneers' foe, Franklin Towne Charter, is located on the former Frankford Arsenal property, in Bridesburg, and draws many of its students from the same neighborhoods. FTC opened in 2000 and joined the Pub for baseball in 2004. Kyle Riley has been the coach for all 10 seasons. This will be a charter school's first appearance in the championship game.