ap style sports In general other sports words, phrases boys and girls Use boys and girls to In general football designate teams. Do not use an apostrophe; berth preseason ball carrier lineman the team does not belong to the boys or to runner-up line of scrimmage the girls, but to the school. In most cases, co-captain blitz (n., v.) semifinal onside kick boys or girls is used as part of a noun phrase: defender end line The varsity girls soccer team placed third in halftime sports writer end zone out of bounds (adv.) district. The boys cross country team finished play off (v.) teammate fair catch out-of-bounds (adj.) first at regionals. playoff (n., adj.) timeout field goal pitchout (n.) place kick coach Do not capitalize. “We just didn’t fourth-and-1 place-kicker play to the best of our ability,” varsity girls baseball fullback quarterback basketball coach Angie Hermesmeyer said. ballpark outfielder goal line running back ballplayer passed ball goal-line stand cross country Two words, no hyphen.* split end baseline pinch hit (v.) halfback tailback event titles Capitalize official titles of districts bullpen pinch hitter (n.) handoff tight end and meets, but lowercase shortened titles. center field pitchout kick off (v.) touchback District 26-4A, Big XII Conference, The team center fielder RBI kickoff (adj.) advanced to state. The varsity football team touchdown designated hitter RBIs left guard won the district championship. wide receiver doubleheader rundown linebacker freshman vs. freshmen When referring to the double play sacrifice team, it should be singular. If you are talking fair ball sacrifice fly golf fairway about several players, it should be freshmen. fastball sacrifice hit birdie, birdies The freshman football team was undefeated. green fee first baseman shortstop bogey, bogeys Six varsity players are freshmen. hole-in-one foul ball line shut out (v.) bogeyed tee (n.) halftime Not half time or half-time foul tip shutout (n., adj.) caddie tee off (v.) ground-rule double slugger eagle, eagled junior varsity Capitalize and do not use home plate squeeze play periods when abbreviated. Always abbreviate home run strike soccer when used as a modifier. Otherwise, spell it offside left-hander strike zone forward out. JV baseball, the junior varsity team. penalty box line drive triple play goalie sideline midcourt, midfield Not mid-court, mid-field line up (v.) walk-off goalkeeper midfielder striker lineup (n.) wild pitch numerals In general, spell out one through nine, use figures for 10 and above. Use figures when referring to points, scores and basketball tennis units of measurement. Game 6, 8-point lead, alley-oop goaltending advantage points first quarter, second-quarter lead, first-round backboard half-court pass deuce loss, third place, 12th place, No. 2 player, racket baseline hook shot double-fault 7-yard gain, 4-1 win. serve downcourt jump ball love match set statistics Use figures and hyphens. 60-yard foul line jump shot match point tiebreaker dash, 23-foot jump, 6-foot-5 center, 35-yard foul shot layup touchdown pass. free throw man-to-man free-throw line midcourt playoff (n.) play off (v.) full-court press zone postseason, preseason No hyphen pounds For wrestling stories, do not spell out listing scores writing scores in a story pounds: Michael Page, 115-lbs division Put the winning score first, regardless if Still put the winning score first. semifinal Not semi-final your team won or not. Adding a W or L will indicate if it was a win or a loss. It’s In a 55-54 loss to Hendrickson... teams Do not capitalize team designations. redundant to write 20-21 L. The Cougars bounced back with a 66-61 The team level goes before the gender. The win over Vista Ridge... varsity boys basketball team, the freshman Hendrickson 55-54 L football team. Vista Ridge 66-61 W *cross country – The 2017 AP Stylebook hyphenates cross-country, but notes this is in contrast to the practices of U.S. and international governing bodies for the sport. Most high school state sports organizations and sports writers do not hyphenate. Sources: Lemons, Kel, Balfour Publishing, 2020. The Associated Press Stylebook, 2017..