The idea was to save ground. Instead, locals Bobby Gerhart and Kyle Martel gave ground - although it was grudgingly.

 Gerhart and Martel lost track position during Saturday's Weis 125 ARCA stock-car race at Pocono Raceway's 2.5-mile tricky triangle in Long Pond. Gerhart, who started 12th, finished 14th, while Martel, who began 18th, came in 19th.

 The checkered flag went to Robb Brent, who recorded the first ARCA victory of his career by besting Dakota Armstrong by 2.844 seconds. Brent was the ninth driver this season to notch his initial ARCA win.

 After starting in the middle of the field, neither Martel or Gerhart ever seriously threatened the leaders. At no point in the 125-mile race did the Lebanon County residents crack the top ten.

 Gerhart, who has run more laps at Pocono than any other driver in the history of ARCA racing but never won there, entered the event 23rd in the 2010 ARCA points standings. It was Gerhart's sixth ARCA start this year.

  Martel, 23, came in 43rd in the points race, and now has started three ARCA events during 2010.

 The Weis 125, the 11th of 20 stops on the ARCA schedule, was shortened from 80 to 50 laps to accomodate an earlier truck race.

 It may have been a foregone conclusion. But Jared Odrick is now officially a professional athlete.

 On Thursday, Odrick signed a contract to play professional football for the NFL's Miami Dolphins. In April, the Dolphins made the former Lebanon High standout and Penn State defensive lineman their number-one draft pick and the 28th overall selection in the NFL draft.

 The five-year deal is believed to be worth $13 million, with over $7 million of it guaranteed. The contract that Odrick signed is very similar to the one consumated between center Eric Woods, the 28th selection in the 2009 NFL draft, and the Buffalo Bills.

 The deal was negotiated by Odrick's Miami-based agent, Drew Rosenhaus, with the NFL's draft-slotting pay scale and the uncertaintity of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement taken into consideration. The contract allows Odrick to be on the field when the Dolphins officially open training camp in Davie, Florida on Friday.

 "It was very important to Jared to report on time," Rosenhaus told the Associated Press. "The other day he said to me, 'Do everything you can so I can report Thursday night for the first meeting.'"
  Since being drafted in April, the 6-5, 305-pound Odrick has taken part in all Miami team on-field activities.

 In light of veteran defensive end Phillip Merling's season-ending Achillies Heel injury, Odrick figures to get a shot at starting along the Dolphins' defensive front.

 "There was an added sense of urgency because of the injury to Merling," Rosenhaus said. "We thought there was chance for Jared to be the starting end."

 In some circles, it's known as the 'mother-in-law of sports'. For there is nothing quite as unforgiving as a single-elimination tournament.

 On Monday evening, the Cedar Crest baseball team's splendid 2010 season was short-circuited by a one-run loss. At Fredericksburg's Earl Wenger Memorial Field, the Falcons fell to Downingtown East 4-3 in an opening round game of the PIAA Class AAAA postseason.

 The loss ended the District Three champion Falcons' campaign at 21-6. Downingtown East, the fifth-place finisher out of District One, moved to 19-6 and into Thursday's quarterfinal round.

 Ultimately, Cedar Crest was done in by Downingtown East's three-run, top-of-the-fifth-inning, rally. In the frame, Downingtown East bunched three of their total of four hits and assumed a 4-2 advantage.

 Downingtown East touched CC starter Logan Fullmer for a run in the top of the first, without the benefit of a hit. A walk, a stolen base and two successive ground outs produced a 1-0 edge for the visitors.

 Cedar Crest answered with a run in the home half of the first, courtesy of a long solo homer to right field - a two-out, first-pitch fastball - by junior Derek Fisher. Then in the bottom of the third, Fisher hit a similar single bomb to right to give CC a 2-1 lead.

 The Falcons pulled to within a run at 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth when Kyle Redinger scored on an error. But that was all the CC offense could muster.

 Also enjoying a multiple-hit evening for the Falcons was shortstop Matt Walewski, who went three-for-three.

 It wasn't a spectacular day for local competitors at Pocono Raceway. But it was a very, very solid one.

 Two Lebanon racers were among the top 13 finishers at Saturday's ARCA Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 in Long Pond, PA. Veteran ARCA driver Bobby Gerhart grabbed a top-ten finish with his ninth-place showing, while novice Kyle Martel came in a very respectable 13th.

 The win went to Craig Goess - the first ARCA victory of his career - who bested Mikey Kile by 1.035 seconds through a series of late pit stops. Kile had led 67 of the 80 laps in a race that featured only two cautions and an average speed of 139.238 mph.

 Following Goess and Kile to the checkered flag were Chad Finley, Patrick Sheltra and Frank Kimmel.

 For Gerhart, it was the 113th top-10 finish in his 22-year ARCA career, and the second in just three starts this season. Gerhart had won the ARCA series' season opener at Daytona International Speedway in Florida in February.

 Gerhart, 51, has competed well at Pocono over his career, but has never tasted victory at his home track.

 Martel, 22, has only one top-ten finish in his abbreviated two-year career, and it came at Pocono last season. Saturday represented Martel's second ARCA start of 2010 - he was 12th at Talladega earlier in the year.