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‘It was nerve-wracking’ – Mitty softball survives extra-innings, advances to CCS Open semifinals

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

SAN JOSE – With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Mia Rodriguez had just one job: put the ball in play and hope McKenna Woliczko made it across home plate safely. Rodriguez knew the stakes: a hit would send Archbishop Mitty to the Central Coast Section Open Division semifinal against Hollister. “My knees were literally shaking,” Rodriguez said. “It was nerve-wracking.”Nerves would not prevent Rodriguez from slapping a ball into the infield, sprinting to first while giving her freshman teammate enough time to slide into home plate and score the winning run in Mitty’s 3-2 victory over Sequoia. “As soon as she laid that down, it was coming at me but I was like ‘I’m making this,’” Woliczko said. SAN JOSE – Archbishop Mitty player McKenna Woliczko (10) signals she is safe after scoring the winning run. Sequoia and Archbishop Mitty played in a CCS Open Division softball game at Archbishop Mitty high school in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, May 20, 2023 (Joseph Dycus/...

CCS baseball playoffs: Live Oak’s two aces too much for Archbishop Mitty

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

SAN JOSE — Live Oak started a hard-throwing UCLA-bound pitcher on Saturday and had another flamethrower, one bound for Stanford, available just in case.In other words, the Morgan Hill school did not need much offense even though its opponent in the opening round of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs was Archbishop Mitty, the second seed.Ethan Lopez provided the early punch, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning, and starting pitcher Landon Stump and reliever Aidan Keenan took care of the rest as seventh-seeded Live Oak advanced with a 7-2 victory on a sun-splashed day on Mitty’s home field.The Acorns (18-9) will play Hollister, a 6-1 winner over St. Francis on Saturday, in the semifinals on Wednesday at the home of the San Jose Giants, Excite Ballpark.Mitty finished 21-8.“Have some really talented players and they showed up today and got it done,” Live Oak coach Matt Brotherton said. “It’s been a long time coming getting a victory in th...

SF Giants rookie catcher’s first MLB hit a lone bright spot in loss

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO – Patrick Bailey picked up his first Major League hit Saturday, a single to right field that gave what had been a dormant Giants offense some life against the Miami Marlins with two outs in the eighth inning.But after a Bryce Johnson bunt single moved Bailey to second base, Thairo Estrada grounded out to third base to end the brief threat.It was one of just two opportunities with runners in scoring position enjoyed by the Giants, whose offense was stymied in a 1-0 loss to the Marlins before an announced crowd of 31,993 at Oracle Park.Estrada had the only other hit for the Giants, who had their four-game winning streak halted as they were shut out for the fifth time this season.The Marlins took the lead in the eighth inning, as a J.D. Davis error at third base on a ground ball allowed Garrett Hampson to get aboard. After a sacrifice by Xavier Edwards moved Hampson to second, a single to right off Giants reliever Tyler Rogers scored Hampson for the game’s only run.Marlin...

Smith’s 2-run homer in seventh inning lifts Diamondbacks over Pirates 4-3

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pavin Smith hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.Smith’s third homer of the season came off Robert Stephenson and helped the Diamondbacks overcome a 3-2 deficit after Pirates ace Mitch Keller was pulled following six strong innings.Ketel Marte also homered for Arizona, which won for the sixth time in its last eight games. Ke’Bryan Hayes accounted for all the Pirates’ scoring with a bases-loaded triple that brought home two runs. He has back-to-back games with at least three RBIs for the first time in his career.Keller allowed two runs and three hits while retiring 16 batters in a row between the first and sixth innings. He struck out eight and walked none, but Pirates manager Derek Shelton removed him after 84 pitches with a 3-2 lead. Keller had pitched 16 scoreless innings while winning his previous two starts.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. greeted Stephenson (0-2) with a...

Chevrolet, McLaren soar as Rahal struggles on 1st day of Indy 500 qualifying

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ganassi, Ganassi, Ganassi. It was practically the only name mentioned as the four-car organization returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway poised to defend last year’s Indianapolis 500 victory. Arrow McLaren Racing pushed them aside on the first day of Indy 500 qualifying. Felix Rosenqvist, a former Chip Ganassi Racing driver, no less, led the McLaren charge Saturday by posting the fastest four-lap average. His late afternoon run of 233.947 mph was the third fastest four-lap qualifying effort in race history.He bumped new teammate Alexander Rossi from the top spot — a position he’d held nearly six hours. “It was pretty mind blowing how we found so much speed,” Rosenqvist said. “What a run. Just a fun time to be in an Arrow McLaren. We are definitely looking good right now.”When the gun fired to signal the end of the day, all four McLaren drivers were inside the top 12 and advanced into Sunday’s shootout for the pole. Ganassi also landed all four...

Twins put 2B Jorge Polanco on 10-day IL with hamstring strain

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Minnesota Twins placed second baseman Jorge Polanco on the injured list Saturday.Polanco was put on the 10-day IL retroactive to Thursday because of a strained left hamstring. He is hitting .284 (27 for 95) with four home runs, seven doubles and 14 RBIs in in 23 games.This is the second time this season Polanco is missing time because of a left leg injury. He missed the first 19 games of the season because of inflammation in his left knee.With Polanco unavailable, infielder Edouard Julien was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday. Julien made his major league debut on April 12 and hit .222 (6 for 27) with two homers and four RBIs in eight games.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Rybakina wins Italian Open; Rune to play Medvedev in men’s final

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

ROME (AP) — Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina won the Italian Open when Ukrainian opponent Anhelina Kalinina retired due to a left thigh injury early in the second set of the rain-delayed final on Saturday.Rybakina was leading 6-4, 1-0, 15-0 when Kalinina called for a trainer and grasped her left leg as she teared up. She then decided she couldn’t continue.The final began at almost 11 p.m. on Saturday and ended just after midnight on Sunday.“I’m really sorry that I couldn’t play,” Kalinina said during the trophy ceremony as the crowd whistled after waiting under the rain for hours before the night session started. “I was trying to do my best.”Holger Rune will face Daniil Medvedev in the men’s final on Sunday.The 20-year-old Rune rallied past Casper Ruud 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2 and Medvedev performed a little celebratory dance after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 7-5 in a semifinal that was suspended twice in the first set for a total of nearly 4 ½ hours due to rain.Ryba...

Corbin wins consecutive starts, Nationals beat Tigers 5-2, stop 4-game skid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Corbin won consecutive starts for the first time since last summer and Lane Thomas had a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth inning that led the Washington Nationals over the Detroit Tigers 5-2 Saturday and stopped a four-game losing streak.Corbin (3-5) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings against the Tigers, the only big league team he had never faced. He struck out three, reaching 1,500 in his career when he fanned Jonathan Scoop in the sixth.Coming off a win over the New York Mets, Corbin won consecutive starts for the first time since beating Cincinnati on Aug. 28 and the Mets on Sept. 3.Carl Edwards Jr., Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan finished with hitless relief, with Finnegan getting his ninth save in 11 chances to finish a game that took 2 hours, 3 minutes.Jeimer Candelario homered and hit a run-scoring double for Washington, which fell behind when Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run homer in the first.Alex Faedo (0-2) gave up three runs and ...

PGA Live Updates | Scottie Scheffler finally makes a birdie but still lagging behind

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — It took 14 holes, but Scottie Scheffler finally made a birdie Saturday in the PGA Championship.The third round has been a battle among Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland, who started the rainy day tied with Scheffler. Brooks Koepka has moved into contention. He was one shot behind with two holes to play. Bryson DeChambeau is lingering.Scheffler started with a three-putt bogey on No. 1, made another bogey from the bunker on No. 2 and then dropped shots on the sixth and seventh with errant tee shots. He didn’t make birdies and fell as many as five shots behind.He holed a 12-footer for birdie on the 14th to get within four shots. Only nine players are at par or better, and that remarkably includes California club pro Michael Block. He made consecutive birdies and was in ninth place — six out of the lead — going to the 18th. The last time a club pro was among the the top 10 after 54 holes in the PGA Championship was 33 years ago at Shoal Creek.___Canadian Core...

Jefe mercenario ruso dice que controla Bakhmut, pero Ucrania lo niega

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:23:51 GMT

KIEV, Ucrania — El jefe del ejército privado ruso Grupo Wagner aseguró el sábado que sus fuerzas han tomado el control de la ciudad ucraniana de Bakhmut después de la batalla más larga y encarnizada de la guerra ruso-ucraniana. Funcionarios de la defensa ucraniana lo negaron.En un video publicado en Instagram, el jefe del Grupo Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, sostuvo que la ciudad quedó bajo control total ruso hacia el mediodía.Prigozhin habló flanqueado por media decena de efectivos, con el trasfondo de edificios en ruinas y el ruido de explosiones a la distancia. Cumbre del G7: Zelenskyy llega a Hiroshima mientras líderes sancionan a Rusia Rusia lanza 30 misiles de crucero contra objetivos en Ucrania; derriban 29, según funcionarios Sin embargo, después de la aparición del video, la viceministra de Defensa ucraniana Hanna Malier dijo que continuaban los combates.“La situación es crítica”, admitió. “Por el momento, nuestros defensores...