• Donegal graduate Chris Heisey is off to a red-hot start for the Carolina Mudcats, the Cincinnati Reds' team in the Class AA Southern League.

Through Friday, Heisey was leading the league with a 1.140 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), considered by many to be the best measure of offensive production.

Heisey, who is the Mudcats' center fielder and leadoff hitter, was also first in on-base percentage (.484) and slugging percentage (.657). He was second in batting average (.382).

Heisey was 39-for-102 with five homers, 11 doubles, 21 runs scored and 15 RBIs.

Ex-Phillies third baseman David Bell is the Mudcats' manager.

Heisey, 24, starred at Messiah College and was selected by the Reds in the 2006 amateur draft.

Last year, Heisey was a midseason and postseason all-star selection in the Class A Florida State League. He hit .287 with seven homers and 51 RBIs for Sarasota.

He finished the 2008 season by hitting .316 in 19 games after being promoted to Class AA Chattanooga.

• Manheim Central defensive end Dakota Royer was ranked No. 80 last week in Sporting News Today's list of top 100 college football recruits for 2010.

Sporting News Today is an online publication of Sporting News magazine.

Royer (6-3, 220) is rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com. He is on the roster for the 2010 Under Armour All-American Game Jan. 2 in Orlando, Fla. The third annual game will be televised by ESPN.

• Dan Plack, who makes NFL draft predictions for the Sunday News, picked 27 of the 32 players who went in the first round. He picked the correct team for five of those 27. The first 26 players chosen in the draft were all listed in Plack's predicted first round.

The first-round picks he didn't have: Connecticut running back Donald Brown, who went to the Colts with the 27th pick; Louisville center Eric Woods (Bills, 28), North Carolina wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (Giants, 29), Rutgers wide receiver Kenny Britt (Titans, 30) and Missouri defensive tackle Evander Hood (Steelers, 32).

• Here's a sign that professional hockey's rich may soon be getting richer:

Five of the eight teams that made the NHL conference semifinals also had affiliates in the AHL conference semifinals.

Those five NHL teams and their affiliates: Washington Capitals, Hershey Bears; Pittsburgh Penguins, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins; Detroit Red Wings, Grand Rapids Griffins; Boston Bruins, Providence Bruins; and Vancouver Canucks, Manitoba Moose.

• The Washington Capitals' playoff roster is filled with former members of the Hershey Bears.

Monday, the Capitals called up defensemen Karl Alzner and Tyler Sloan from the Bears. Friday, the Capitals called up forward Jay Beagle from the Bears and returned Alzner to Hershey.

Nine other ex-Bears are on the Capitals roster: forwards Eric Fehr, Tomas Fleischmann, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich and David Steckel; defensemen John Erskine, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz; and No. 3 goaltender Brent Johnson.

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Jim Hersh is sports editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at jhersh@lnpnews.com.