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NorCal regionals: St. Ignatius wins Division II baseball title; Live Oak cruises to D-V softball crown

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

BaseballDivision II finalSt. Ignatius’ pitching is young, but that clearly hasn’t been an issue for the San Francisco school.The Wildcats have a new trophy to prove it.Two days after freshman Chase Gordon allowed one run in a complete-victory victory over Bellarmine, another freshman, Archer Horn, pitched five shutout innings on Saturday to help St. Ignatius beat host Casa Grande 3-0 in the NorCal Division II championship game in Petaluma.Sophomore Beau Schaffer relieved Horn and pitched the final two innings to clinch the title.Fourth-seeded St. Ignatius scored all the runs it needed in the first inning. Leonard Beatie’s bunt single knocked in Gus Parker to make it 1-0.Niko Gomozias followed with a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Dominic Camarillo for a 2-0 advantage.An inning later, Camarillo got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to stretch the margin to three.Horn and Schaffer handled it from there, keeping Casa Grande off the scoreboard as the Wildcats imp...

Acuña hits 464-foot homer in Braves’ 5-2 win over Diamondbacks

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. stole a base when no one was looking, hit a homer to the fans buying beer.Spencer Strider overpowered major league hitters by blowing fastballs past them.When the Atlanta Braves’ two young stars are in the lineup, it’s can’t-miss viewing.Acuña hit a 464-foot home run, Strider struck out seven in six effective innings and the Braves beat the streaking Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 on Saturday night.“You feel like every day — Spencer it’s every five days — you can’t ask for a better seat in the house watching that every day,” said Braves reliever Jesse Sanchez, who worked out of a big jam in the sixth inning.Scuffling at the plate lately, the Braves had 11 hits to end Arizona’s six-game winning streak.Marcell Ozuna and Eddie Rosario had run-scoring singles against Rhyne Nelson (2-4) to help the Braves go up 3-0 through five innings. Atlanta scored another run on a double play in the sixth inning and Acuña followed by hitti...

Darvish dominant, Tatis homers twice in Padres’ 6-0 win over Cubs

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Yu Darvish struck out nine in seven dominant innings, Fernando Tatis Jr. homered twice and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 on Saturday night.“This is as good as stuff we have seen him have all year,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said. “He used his fastball more today, more curveball, the split, then went to kind of his cutters and sliders a little bit later, so he really kept them off-balanced.” Darvish (4-4) rebounded from a May 28 outing at the New York Yankees when he gave up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings in a 10-7 loss.Against the Cubs, Darvish was in complete command all night, giving up just two singles — Chicago’s only hits of the game — and one walk.“The two-seamer,” Darvish said through a translator when asked what was his best pitch was on the night. “All-in-all, I think it was a really good game.”Tatis hit a solo homer in the third and a three-run blast in the eighth for his 11th of the season and 10th multi-homer game in his career. Bo...

Oral Roberts rallies, beats Washington 15-12 at Stillwater Regional, wins 20th straight

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Jake McMurray had four of Oral Roberts’ 24 hits and Jonah Cox went 3 for 4 with a double, a home run and six RBIs to help the No. 4 seeded Golden Eagles rally from an eight-run deficit and beat Washington 15-12 Saturday night at the Stillwater Regional for their 20th consecutive win. Oral Roberts (48-11) awaits the winner of a loser-out game between Washington and Dallas Baptist on Sunday. The Huskies beat the Patriots 9-5 in the regional’s opening game. Johnny Tincher and Sam DeCarlo each hit a home run in Washington’s seven-run first inning and Tincher’s RBI groundout in the second made it 8-0 but Cox hit a three-run shot in the third — ORU’s second home run of the inning — and added an RBI sacrifice fly to cap a three-run fourth that made it 8-7. McMurray scored on an RBI single by Cox that gave the Golden Eagles a 12-8 lead in the fifth in and Cox drove in Blaze Brothers with a single that made it 13-10 in the top of the sev...

Vetrano drives in 5 runs, Boston College beats Nicholls 14-6 at Tuscaloosa Regional

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Joe Vetrano singled, doubled and homered twice to drove in five runs and Boston College pulled away to earn a 14-6 win over Nicholls in an elimination game at the Tuscaloosa Regional on Saturday.The second-seeded Eagles (36-19) advance to face the loser of Saturday’s late game between top-seeded Alabama and third-seeded Troy in an elimination game Sunday.Sam McNulty hit a three-run homer in the second inning to put Boston College in front, but Nicholls manufactured a run in the second on a Wes Toups sacrifice fly and scored two runs in the third on a pair of groundouts. Henry Leake came on in the third inning, relieving starter Chris Flynn, and blanked the Colonels over the next four innings while Boston College rode four home runs to take a 10-run lead. Vetrano hit his first homer in the fourth, Danel Baruch hit a solo shot and Nick Wang belted a three-run homer in the fifth and Vetrano added a three-run shot in the seventh. Leake (5-5) earned the win....

Pilchard pitches Santa Clara past Arizona , 9-3 after weather delay at Fayetteville Regional

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Cade Pilchard started and pitched six scoreless innings to earn Santa Clara a 9-3 win over Arizona in an elimination game in the Fayetteville Regional that was delayed by a lengthy bout with inclement weather Saturday.Weather postponed Saturday’s nightcap, a winner’s bracket game between host Arkansas and TCU. That game must be played Sunday before Santa Clara (36-19) will know who it plays: the loser of the game between the Razorbacks and the Horned Frogs. Pilchard (4-1) started the seventh inning with an 8-0 lead and gave up a lead-off home run by Emilio Corona and a single to Mason White before being lifted. Jared Feikes worked the final three innings.Efrain Manzo hit a solo home run in the third inning and Michael O’Hara and Eamonn Lance each hit two-run shots to stake the Broncos to the lead.White hit a ninth-inning home run for the Wildcats. Aiden May started and worked 4 ⅔ innings for Arizona, allowing just one earned run on five hi...

Panthers not about to panic over Game 1 loss to Golden Knights in Stanley Cup Final

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice might have been channeling his inner Aaron Rodgers when he told the assembled media Saturday night to “breathe.”The Panthers had minutes earlier lost Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final 5-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights, giving up three goals in the third period.Maurice, whose Florida team rallied from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round to beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, knows it’s way too early to hand the Stanley Cup to the Knights. And like when Rodgers told Green Bay Packers fans after a 1-2 start in 2014 to “R-E-L-A-X,” Maurice wasn’t about to hit the panic button.Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas.“The losing team talks about too many of something and the winning team talks about the fabulousness of all other things,” Maurice said. “We lost the first game in the Boston series and went along and got a little better and we lost two more and got a little better.”The Panthers had appeared to ...

Gauld’s late PK goal helps Whitecaps tie Sporting KC 1-1

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Ryan Gauld scored on a penalty kick late in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.Gauld’s PK score came in the 88th minute. It was his second goal of the season for Vancouver (5-5-6).Sporting KC (4-8-5) grabbed the lead in the 20th minute when Alan Pulido took a pass from Erik Thommy and scored for a second time this season.The Whitecaps entered play with three straight wins over Sporting KC after going 3-11-4 through the first 18 meetings. Vancouver set a club record for goals in a 6-2 home win over the Houston Dynamo last time out. It was the most goals ever scored by a team from Canada.Sporting KC saw its first two-match win streak of the season end.Yohei Takaoka finished with one save for the Whitecaps. Kendall McIntosh saved two shots in his fifth start for Sporting KC.Sporting KC returns home to play Austin FC on Saturday. Vancouver will host FC Cincinnati on Saturday....

Opposition leads anti-government march on day symbolizing Poland’s democratic achievements

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s largest opposition party is leading a march Sunday meant to mobilize voters against the right-wing government, which it accuses of eroding democracy and following Hungary and Turkey down the path to autocracy. Donald Tusk, the country’s former prime minister, has called on Poles to to march with him for the sake of the nation’s future. His party and security officials predicted that tens of thousands of people will join the demonstration. Media not aligned with the government said it could be among the biggest protests in post-communist Poland.Supporters of the march have warned that elections this fall might be the last chance to stop the erosion of democracy under the ruling party, Law and Justice.In power since 2015, Law and Justice has found a popular formula, combining higher social spending with socially conservative policies and support for the church in the mostly Catholic nation. However, critics have warned for years that it...

What to know as Prince Harry prepares to take on a British tabloid publisher in court

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:19:01 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry is going where other British royals haven’t for over a century: to a courtroom witness stand. The Duke of Sussex is set to testify in the first of his five pending legal cases largely centered around battles with British tabloids. Opening statements are scheduled Monday in his case. Harry said in court documents that the royal family had assiduously avoided the courts to prevent testifying about matters that might be embarrassing. His frustration and anger at the press, however, impelled him to buck convention by suing newspaper owners — allegedly against the wishes of his father, now King Charles III. If Harry testifies as scheduled Tuesday in his lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, he’ll be the first member of the royal family to do so since the late 19th century, when Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, testified twice in court. The man who would go on to become King Edward VII testified in the divorce pro...