PITTSBURGH — The Butler Valley Dawgs third-grade-and-under hockey team will play between the first and second periods of Monday night's Penguins-New Jersey Devils game at the Consol Energy Center.

Butler County residents playing for the Dawgs include Connor Strobel of Butler, Ian Morrison of Connoquenessing Township, Tyler Horniacek of Summit Township, Al McKee and Mitchell Hurst of Mars, Adam Marcink of Prospect, Alex and Lance Cotton of Clinton Township, Hunter Graham of Penn Township and Noah Hoche of Cranberry Township.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have released right-hander Dinesh Patel, one of two pitchers from India who signed in 2008 despite never having played baseball.Left-hander Rinku Singh, who advanced from rookie ball to short-season Class A last summer, remains in their organization.Patel had an 8.59 ERA in 7Z\c innings last season in rookie ball.Pittsburgh also released two Taiwanese prospects signed out of high school in 2009: right-hander Sheng-Cin Hong and first baseman Chih-Wei Hsu.

SAN FRANCISCO — The 49ers signed former Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed for Sunday's game at Green Bay, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today.Reed will join the team for practice today, according to his agent and multiple reports.He was 15-for-22 in field goals when the Steelers let him go.

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs legend and longtime WGN Radio announcer Ron Santo has died. He was 70.WGN reports that Santo died in an Arizona hospital from complications of bladder cancer. Santo was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 18 and later lost both legs to diabetes.Santo was a nine-time all-star in his 15-year career. The third baseman was widely regarded as one of the best players never to gain induction into the Hall of Fame.