Athletes Beyond Bartow: Howard returns to Pirates bullpen, Mosby's Mavs fall in first round

Following a week-plus on the injured list due to knee tendinitis, Cartersville High graduate Sam Howard made his return to the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen this past week.

The left-handed hurler went right back into his role of pitching in nearly every other game for the Pirates. Entering Monday's game against Atlanta, Howard had pitched in 36 of 74 possible games for Pittsburgh — not including the nine he missed while on the 10-day IL.

Away from the diamond, former Canes hoops standout A.J. Mosby wrapped up his first season in The Basketball League. Mosby's Shreveport Mavericks suffered a first-round sweep, but he continued to impress with 41 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the series.

PRO BASEBALL

Sam Howard (Pittsburgh Pirates; Cartersville) — Howard returned from the injured list and pitched two total innings across three outings last week. After allowing an earned run on three hits in two-thirds of an inning June 30 at Colorado, the southpaw posted a pair of scoreless outings against Milwaukee. Howard recorded one out in a brief July 1 cameo, and the former Georgia Southern standout struck out two in a full inning of work two days later.

Connor Justus (Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Miami Marlins organization; Cartersville) — Justus finished 2-for-11 with a walk and a run driven in across three starts for Jacksonville in a series last week at Memphis.

Anthony Seigler (Hudson Valley Renegades, New York Yankees organization; Cartersville) — The former first-round pick went 1-for-10 last week in three appearances against Jersey Shore. Seigler's lone hit was a double, and he also drew a walk.

PRO BASKETBALL

A.J. Mosby (Shreveport Mavericks; Cartersville) — The Mavericks suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of the Houston Push in the opening round of The Basketball League playoffs. Houston earned a slim 102-99 victory in Game 1 Thursday on the road before rolling to a 127-98 win in Game 2 Saturday at home. Across the two games, Mosby scored 41 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out 11 assists. He also recorded a steal in each contest.

-- contributed by Nicholas Sullivan, The Daily Tribune News