PORTLAND – The Boston Red Sox announced Thursday that first-round draft pick Craig Hansen has been assigned to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Hansen, a right-handed pitcher, was Boston’s second first-round selection in the June 2005 draft. To make room on the Sea Dogs’ 24-man roster, left-handed pitcher Brantley Jordan was transferred to Single-A Greenville.

Hansen, 21, was rated as the No. 10 overall prospect and the No. 4 pitching prospect in this year’s draft, according to Baseball America. The 6-foot-5, 185-pounder was honored as the 2005 Big East Conference Pitcher of the Year after going 3-2 with 14 saves and a 1.68 ERA in 31 appearances as a junior at St. John’s University.

He struck out 85 in just over 64 innings of work, an average of 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Hansen held opponents to a .173 average and allowed only one home run. In Baseball America’s annual Best Tools survey, the Glen Cove, NY native was listed as having the best breaking ball and the second-best fastball among draft-eligible college pitchers.

O’Leary new soccer coach at Bowdoin

BRUNSWICK – Bowdoin College officials have announced the hiring of Fran O’Leary as the next head coach of the men’s soccer program. A veteran of collegiate soccer, O’Leary was most recently the head coach at Division I George Mason University. O’Leary replaces Brian Ainscough, who accepted a position at Northeastern University last week.

The Polar Bears are consistently ranked among the top 25 soccer programs in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and have reached double digits in wins during each of the past five seasons. Bowdoin will open its 2005 season Sept. 10 at Bates.

O’Leary is no stranger to Division III soccer, having started his career at Elmira (N.Y.) College, where he posted a stellar 38-11-2 mark from 1989 to 1991. In 1992, he became the head man at Kenyon (Ohio) College, where he recorded a 32-4-4 record and led the team to a berth in the 1993 NCAA Semifinals. The Dublin, Ireland native was named the Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year before earning his first Division I head job at Dartmouth.