August 16, 2022 3:47 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Rodolfo Castro has been suspended for one game by Major League Baseball on Tuesday for having a cellphone in his back pocket during a game last week. Castro also was fined an undisclosed amount. The penalty had been set to take effect Tuesday night when the Pirates hosted Boston. The 23-year-old Castro appealed the penalty and can play until the process is complete. Castro’s phone flew from his pocket when he made a head-first dive into third base at Arizona on Aug. 9. Castro apologized, saying it was an honest mistake. MLB has cracked down on technology use by players in the wake of the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal on their way to winning the 2017 World Series championship and part of the subsequent season.
August 16, 2022 3:52 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – The Texas Rangers have fired manager Chris Woodward with the team on pace for its sixth consecutive losing season. Woodward has managed the team for almost four seasons. The move came with Woodward two games short of his 500th game with the Rangers. He finished with a 211-287 record in his first managerial job. Woodward was under contract through next season, and the team held an option for 2024. Third base coach Tony Beasley was named the team’s interim manager. Texas is 52-63 after beating Oakland 2-1 on Monday night.
August 16, 2022 3:50 am
Alabama is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 for the second straight season. That is also the ninth time overall, second most in poll history. The Crimson Tide received 54 of 63 first-place votes. Ohio State is No. 2 with six first-place votes. Defending national champion Georgia is third with three first-place votes. Clemson is No. 4 and Notre Dame rounds out the top five. The Tide’s preseason No. 1 ranking is the seventh in 15 years. Since the preseason rankings started in 1950, only Oklahoma has been No. 1 in the initial poll more than Alabama.
August 15, 2022 2:06 am
An errant pickoff throw in the fifth inning led to the only run of the game as Palmview, TX edged Washington County, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at the PONY League World Series. With one out in the Palmview fifth, Nicolas Valdez singled sharply to right and moved to second when the ball wasn’t cleanly fielded. One out later, reliever Cayden Laskosky tried to pick Valdez off second and the throw went into centerfield with Valdez scoring. Palmview managed only three hits in the game but advances to take on Monterrey, MX in the winners’ bracket. Washington County picked up only two soft singles in the game, both by AJ Andronas. His second hit and a sacrifice bunt put the potential tying run at second with one out in the top of the seventh. Two infield pop-outs ended the game. Washington County stranded seven baserunners, including leaving the bases loaded in the third, two more in the fourth. The hosts drop into the elimination rounds, facing San Jose Monday afternoon.
Behind the complete game two-hit pitching of Jaxon Jenkins, Bay County, MI eliminated Guaynabo, PR, 3-1 Sunday afternoon. Jack Wetters singled with one out and move to third on Andrew Shufelt’s double. Ryan Brey walked to load the bases. Ben Briggs hit into a force play at home for the second out. Losing pitcher Khenluis Lopez uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Shufelt. Aiden Revette’s infield single scored Brey. Briggs scored with the Guaynabo shortstop threw wildly trying to get the out at first. John Lopez homered for the Caribbean champs’ only run. Jenkins worked seven innings, allowing one run, two hits (none after the second inning), while striking out 12 and walking one. Bay County had only two hits after the second as well, back-to-back singles to open the fifth, ending the day for Lopez. Carolos Aponte and Luis Matos retired nine straight batters. Guaynabo’s stay at the World Series ends as the first team eliminated. Bay County moves to Monday’s elimination round against Hagerstown, MD.
San Jose banged out a dozen hits, jumping in front early and cruising to an 11-0, five-inning win over London, eliminating the European champions. Enrique Sotelo drove in four runs for San Jose, Ethan Williams picked up a pair of RBIs with five other batters driving in a run for the winners. Sotelo, Toby Torres, Marcus Garcia and David Hall each had two hits. Adriel Ceja worked 2.1 innings to get the win, lifted in the third to stay eligible to pitch later in the tournament. San Jose takes on Washington County, Monday afternoon in an elimination game.
The 70th PONY League World Series continues with four games, two elimination contests during the day, two winners’ bracket battles in the evening. Hagerstown, MD takes on Bay County, MI at 10:00 am followed by Washington County vs. San Jose, CA at 12:30 pm. Unbeatens Johnstown, PA and New Taipei City, TW meet at 5:30 pm followed by Monterrey, MX and Palmview, TX. All the action of the DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series will be heard live on WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here.
World Series website link: Click Here
August 15, 2022 3:52 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Thairo Estrada hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning and the San Francisco Giants edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 in a back-and-forth game. Evan Longoria, whose wild throw gave Pittsburgh the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, started the rally in the bottom half with a leadoff single against Wil Crowe. After pinch-runner J.D. Davis was forced out at second on a grounder by Mike Yastrzemski, Estrada cleared the wall in left-center for his 11th homer. Bryan Reynolds homered, doubled and drove in five runs for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row. They went 2-8 on a road trip that covered nearly 6,000 miles from Baltimore to Arizona to San Francisco.
August 15, 2022 3:54 am
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Will Zalatoris is finally a winner on the PGA Tour. It wasn’t easy at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Zalatoris got into a playoff with Sepp Straka. Zalatoris had to make a 15-foot par on the second extra hole to stay in it. And then he hit a shot that bounced on the rocks and stayed put. Straka hit off the rocks and went into the water. Both wound up going to the drop zone, and Zalatoris won with a 7-foot bogey putt. Lucas Glover was among four players who advanced in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
August 13, 2022 11:30 pm
Washington County, Johnstown and Monterrey, MX won Saturday games at the DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series. All three advance to winners’ bracket games.
LJ Zidek led a 15-hit attack that awakened after Washington County squandered multiple early opportunities. Zidek went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, a triple and three RBI. MJ Maruschak and Nico Patragas stroked back-to-back RBI doubles to put the Hosts in front to stay. Both had two doubles on the day. Trailing 6-0 and held to just one hit through five innings, London plated three runs only to see Washington County answer with three of its own. Zach Schrader got the win, throwing four shutout innings, striking out seven. Washington County will take on Palmview, TX in Sunday’s first game, set for 12 noon. London plays San Jose, CA in a Sunday afternoon (5 pm) elimination game.
Earlier Saturday, Monterrey returned to Lew Hays PONY Field for the first time since winning the 1972 championship. The Mexico champions allowed a run in the San Jose first, then scored the next six markers to control the game. Four different players drove in runs for Monterrey to make Miguel Hernandez a winner. The starter allowed one run and four hits, all singles over 4.2 innings of work San Jose settled for one run in the first despite having runners at 2nd & 3rd with just one out. In the seventh, Tommy Moran doubled with two on and one out to give the West Zone champions a chance. But the third-baseman lost track of runners in front of him and was retired between 2nd & 3rd for the second out. Monterrey had nine hits, all singles, to move to a Monday night winners’ bracket game against the Washington County/Palmview winner.
Host Area champion allowed leads of 7-1 and 12-7 slip away only to get a walk-off single from the 9-hitter, downing Hagerstown, 13-10, in eight innings. Brock Bryson and Drew Irons combined to hold Hagerstown to one run and two hits over the first five innings. The East Zone champions plated six runs, four of them after two out in the sixth to shake Johnstown, tying the game. Bryson keyed a five-run bottom of the frame with a two-run home run. Hagerstown pulled even, taking advantage of three hits, four walks and an errant throw to the plate to score five times, sending the game to extra innings. After Hagerstown stranded the bases loaded, Irons singled to open the Johnstown eighth and stole second. After a hit batter and a strikeout, Grady Clark delivered a soft-serve single to right to score the game-winner. Clark started but was replaced for four innings before returning to deliver the hit and the win. Eric McAllister, the sixth Johnstown pitcher got the win, working a scoreless eighth inning. Shawn Higgins allowed only one of Johnstown’s runs but took the loss. Johnstown plays New Taipei City Monday night (5:30 pm) in the winners’ bracket. Hagerstown’s next game is a Monday morning game (10:00 am) against the Bay County, MI / Guaynabo, PR winner.
The 70th PONY League World Series continues with three games Sunday. Washington County takes on Palmview, TX at 12 noon followed by the first two elimination games in the 10-team tournament: Bay County, MI vs. Guaynabo, PR at 2:30 pm, San Jose, CA vs. London, England at 5:00 pm. All the action of the DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series will be heard live on WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here.
World Series website link: Click Here
August 14, 2022 7:45 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Logan Webb struck out nine in eight sparkling innings, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0. Webb allowed five hits and walked two in his second straight win. He pitched seven effective innings in a 6-4 victory at Oakland last weekend. Camilo Doval got three outs for his 17th save. Greg Allen walked with one out, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. But Rodolfo Castro lined to left for the final out. LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a solo homer, helping San Francisco to its fifth win in seven games.
August 14, 2022 7:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kenny Pickett threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Vaughns with 3 seconds to play and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 32-25 on Saturday night in the preseason opener for both teams. Pickett, Pittsburgh’s first-round pick in 2022, is competing with Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to replace retired two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger as the Steelers starting quarterback.
August 13, 2022 1:08 am
Hagerstown, MD opened the 2022 PONY League World Series with a 6-5 win over Bay County, MI. Hagerstown built 2-1 and 6-2 leads, then held off Bay County’s late rally, allowing two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh before stranding the tying run on base. Starter Jackson Coulter allowed just one earned run over 4.2 innings, striking out 11 batters to get the win. Rylan Swartz singled in Hagerstown’s first two run in the first, then pitched the final inning for the save. Four different players drove in runs for Bay County which stranded two in the sixth after pulling to within two. Starter Dawson Lavender took the loss. Hagerstown takes on Johnstown, PA Saturday at 6 pm. Bay County faces Guaynabo Sunday afternoon (2:30 pm) in the tournament’s first elimination game.
In the nightcap, New Taipei City won Taiwan’s 17th straight game at the World Series, downing Guaynabo, PR, 6-1. The Asia-Pacific champions plated single runs in the first four innings while holding Guaynabo to just two hits. The Caribbean champions stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, then committed a pair of errors in the field, allowing Taiwan to push two more runs across. Guaynabo’s only run came after two out in the seventh, and that due to an error on a fly ball. New Taipei City’s second baseman Gao had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Yang started for the winners, working three innings to pick up the win. He also had two hits, scored one run and drove in another. New Taipei City is off until Monday evening (5:30 pm) against the Hagerstown/Johnstown winner. Guaynabo faces an elimination game with Bay County Sunday.
The 70th PONY League World Series continues with three games Saturday, starting with San Jose, CA against Monterrey, MX at 1:00 pm. Washington County takes on London at 3:30 followed by the Johnstown/Hagerstown game at 6:00 pm. All the action of the DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series will be heard live on WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here.
World Series website link: Click Here
