One of the best things about the iPhone is being able to keep up with the latest news while on the go. If you’re a sports fan, you’ll want the latest scores too. You’d think there’d be a million great apps by now to pull down sports scores and news, but choices are still pretty slim. We’ve taken a look at six apps for sports scores and news, and our two Editor’s Picks are Sportacular and ESPN ScoreCenter. Check out the reviews below.

Sportacular

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Sportacular (free, iTunes link) is a our top pick for gettings sports news and scores on the iPhone. It’s fast and easy to use, its interactive features are fun, and a recent update added push notifications. And, the notifications can be configured so you won’t get spammed. Our one complaint about the app is that its graphics and interface need a redesign, as webapps are calling, and they want their style back.

Sportacular’s interface prioritizes scores over other information. The first screen you see upon launching is the day’s scores. If a game is in progress, tapping on it will bring up live coverage. Once the game is over, the app shows a game summary along with tabs that allow you to see more stats like boxscores and play-by-plays. You can also browse to previous days’ scores.

The app added push notifications in a recent update, and it’s one of the best implementations of the service I’ve seen in an iPhone app yet. The notifications are highly configurable, letting you choose from various levels of alerts, from receiving only a final score to being a updated every inning (or quarter) of a game.

Sportacular has two fun interactive features: Facebook Connect and My Picks. Facebook Connect simply allows you to chat or make smack talk with other Facebook users about during games.

The My Picks feature lets you vote on which team you predict will win. You can view votes by overall total or broken down my region (to weed out the hometown bias). The app stores a personal history so you can see just how horrible you are at picking winners.

Vote on who you think will win the game.

Although not pretty, Sportacular does a good job of gathering headlines and excerpts from various major news sources like SI.com, ESPN.com, Yahoo, etc, and presenting them in an easy-to-scan format. Tapping on a headline launches a browser window within the app and loads the article from its original source. The only downside to this method is it can be slow.

Conclusion: Sportactular isn’t the prettiest of apps, but it’s easy to use and has several unique features, including push notifications, that distance it from the competition.

ESPN ScoreCenter

Rating: 8.0 out of 10