The ERSA Express 93 Red boys' soccer team, with players from the ERSA 96 Red, won the Midwest Regional National Cup 2012 U19 premier bracket last weekend in Chicago and is ranked No. 3 in the United States. ERSA won 3-0 over Rockford United, 2-1 over EG Arsenal and 4-1 over the Sockers before whipping Spring Branch myFC from Texas 4-0 in the final Monday. Geovanni Villa scored seven goals in the tournament for the Express, and Tad Whitaker and Mario Perez added two apiece. Leudy Franco and David Perez also scored. Isael Gutierrez, Diego Nunez, Miguel Villa and goalkeeper Abel Mendiola led the defense that allowed only two goals in four games. Express 93 Red is ranked No. 1 in Tennessee.
• The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's soccer schedule for this season was announced Thursday, and it begins with three home matches at Finley Stadium. The opener is set for Friday, Aug. 17, in a first-ever meeting with nearby Tennessee Temple University. "We're excited to get them on our schedule this year," 13th-year Lady Mocs coach J.D. Kyzer said in a UTC release. "With two teams from the same city facing off, we hope this will be a great atmosphere of women's soccer." The Lady Mocs will host Tennessee Tech on Aug. 19 and Alabama State a week later. UTC is 11-4 against Tech with four wins in a row but never has faced Alabama State. "It will be good to have these three home matches to start the season," Kyzer said. "We will be prepping for the season on Davenport Field, and it helps to start the year with so many games on the field where you prep. Also, with a large number of incoming players, it will help them get acclimatized to the collegiate game." UTC will play nonconference games at Lipscomb, Austin Peay and Gardner-Webb before opening Southern Conference play Sept. 21 and 23 at Davidson and Georgia Southern. The Lady Mocs' first home league game will be against Wofford on Sept. 27. Home admission is free.
Baseball
• Many area recreation teams and others from as far away as Atlanta and Cookeville are coming to Catoosa County this weekend and next for the inaugural Rick Honeycutt Youth Baseball World Series. Opening ceremonies will be held tonight and next Friday at 6 at Lake Winnepesaukah's Jukebox Junction. The tournaments will run Saturday morning through Tuesday afternoon. This weekend has 37 teams entered in 6-, 9- and 11-under age divisions at the Fort Oglethorpe Recreation complex. Fifty are entered for next week's 7s, 8s, 10s and 12s tournaments at the Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold recreation fields, and more will be accepted through Wednesday. Entry costs $100 per team; see www.rickhoneycuttworldseries.com. Honeycutt, the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was a Lakeview High School star before going on to the University of Tennessee and then embarking on a long major league career. "We hope to build on it and make it big," organizer Shawn Crawford said. "All the proceeds will go back into a fund for next year's tournament."
• The Chattanooga Cyclones SM baseball team coached by Aaron Simmons and David Mead went 4-2-1 at the 18U World Wood Bat National Championships that ended Thursday in Marietta, Ga. The tournament included 192 teams. The Cyclones tied the South Metro Bandits 0-0, beat the Texas Twins 10-2, lost 9-5 to the Chi-Town Cream, chilled En Fuego Baseball 11-1 and the Carolina Spikes 10-1, defeated the South Florida Elite 5-2 and lost 5-1 to the East Cobb Blue Jays in their pool final. Team members included Matt Allen, Michael Allen, T.J. Binder, Sheldon Brogden, Jeff Burke, Chris Caffrey, Dakota Hudson, Hunter Hudson, Cody Rhinehart, Ben Rollins, Brent Smith, Zach Thompson, Drew Toth, Bobby Towne and Jordan Whitmire.