Oneil Cruz’s RBI single in 11th inning lifts Pirates to 5-4 win over Orioles

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Oneil Cruz watches his walkoff single during the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Oneil Cruz singled home the winning run in the 11th inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Cruz drove in automatic runner Henry Davis from second base. Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins temporarily kept the game tied when he made a diving catch of Ke’Bryan Hayes’ line drive, but Cruz followed with a single to right off Jonathan Heasley. Josh Fleming retired the side in order in the top of the 10th for the win. Joey Bart homered in his first at-bat with the Pirates, and starter Bailey Falter pitched six shutout innings.

PIAA Championship High School Basketball Scores: Scranton Prep vs Blackhawk (Girls) Saturday March 23, 2024

Saturday – March 23, 2024:

 

 

            1230WBVP-AM, 99.3 FM, beavercountyradio.com-PIAA Girls 4A Championship

Scranton Prep

Blackhawk

44

56 Final

                                                                       Class 4A Boys      
Archbishop Carroll

Lincoln Park

50

80 Final

                                                                         Class 3A Boys      
                                                                         Class 2A Boys      
Holy Cross

Aliquippa

52

74 Final

                                                                          Class 1A Boys      

Link for Girls Piaa 4A Final: Blackhawk vs. Scranton Park, 03/23/24 at 11:30 AM

99.3, 1230 WBVP, 1460 and beavercountyradio.com‘s Mike Azadian and Bruce Frey have the call of the WPIAL Girls Class 4A Final from the Giant Center in Hershey as Blackhawk battles Scranton Prep. Air time on Beaver County Radio today, March 23, 2024 is set for 11:30 AM with Tip of scheduled for 12PM .
If you can’t tune into the game you can click the link below to listen on-line via beavercountyradio.com:


You can also down load our free apps:

CCBC Players of the Game: Friday March 22, 2024

 

99.3 FM, 1230 WBVP and beavercountyradio.com’s CCBC Players of the Game for Holy Cross vs Aliquippa High School Basketball PIAA 2A State Championship

Your CCBC Players of the Game:

Holy Cross: Mike Hughes

Aliquippa: Josh Pratt

You can see all of the past CCBC Players of the Game for High School Sports by clicking on the CCBC Logo Below:

 

 

Lincoln Park Over Archbishop Carroll 80-50 To Capture State Title: Thursday 3/21/2024

Story by Ryan Gerazounis, Beaver County Radio

(Hershey, PA): 

The plot was simple for the Lincoln Park boys basketball team on Thursday night. Win and they will be back to back PIAA 4A State Champions. In their way representing the eastern side of the state, the Archbishop Carroll Patriots.

From the onset the Archbishop Carroll basketball team which starts all freshmen and sophomores looked to be overwhelmed by Lincoln Park. In the first quarter Brandin Cummings and Meleek Thomas got things started by scoring a combined twenty of the Leopards 25 points. Lincoln Park Park held a comfortable 25-10 lead after one. The second quarter mirrored the first with more dominating play by the Leopards. This time Mikey Crawford contributed eight points to help Lincoln Park take a twenty-nine point 51-22 lead into the half.

The second half proved to be more competitive on the Patriots behalf. Holding Cummings and company to only thirteen points while managing to score 12. Trailed 64-34 after the third quarter. However a statement making performance by Brandin Cummings in the fourth quarter left no doubt which team was going to walk away victorious. Cummings hit four of his seven tree pointers in the quarter along with another bucket to score fourteen of Lincoln Park’s final sixteen. The Lincoln Park Leopards would shut the door on the Archbishop Carroll Patriots and successfully defend their PIAA State Gold by a final score of 80-50.

The Leopards finish their 2023-24 campaign by going 28-3 overall. Defending their PIAA 4A title by going back to back.

Brandin Cummings lead all scorers with 37 points. Followed by teammates Meleek Thomas with 16 and Mikey Crawford with 15. Leading the way for Archbishop Carroll was Ian Williams with 12 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link for Aliquippa and Holy Cross Boys 2A Final: 03/22/24

99.3, 1230 WBVP, 1460 and beavercountyradio.com‘s Mike Azadian and Bruce Frey have the call of the WPIAL Boys Class 2A Final from the Giant Center in Hershey as Aliquippa battles Holy Cross. Air time on Beaver County Radio today, March 22, 2024 is set for 1:30PM with Tip of scheduled for 2PM .
If you can’t tune into the game you can click the link below to listen on-line via beavercountyradio.com:


You can also down load our free apps:

Steelers trade Kenny Pickett to the Eagles

FILE – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett (8) scrambles out of the pocket with Arizona Cardinals cornerback Kei’Trel Clark (13) defending during the first half of an NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023. The Pittsburgh Steelers are trading Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press on Friday, March 15, 2024. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The brief and tumultuous Kenny Pickett era in Pittsburgh is over. The Steelers are trading the quarterback to the Philadelphia Eagles, multiple sources told The Associated Press. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not official. Pittsburgh will receive a third-round pick in this year’s NFL draft and two seventh-round choices in the 2025 draft in exchange for Pickett and Pittsburgh’s fourth-round pick this year. The move comes just hours after the Steelers signed nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson to a one-year deal.

Patriots parting with Bill Belichick, who led team to 6 Super Bowl championships, AP source says

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Six-time NFL champion Bill Belichick agreed to part ways as the coach of the New England Patriots on Thursday, bringing an end to his 24-year tenure as the architect of the most decorated dynasty of the league’s Super Bowl era, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because it has not yet been announced.

ESPN first reported the decision. A news conference is planned for later in the day in which team owner Robert Kraft and Belichick will address the decision.

Belichick, 71, became just the third coach in NFL history to reach 300 career regular-season wins earlier this season, joining Hall of Famers Don Shula and George Halas. With 333 wins including the playoffs, Belichick trails only Shula (347 wins) for the record for victories by a coach.

But the Patriots ended this season 4-13, Belichick’s worst record in 29 seasons as an NFL head coach. It supplanted the 5-11 mark he managed in his last year in Cleveland in 1995 and again in his first year in New England in 2000. Including the playoffs, he ends his Patriots tenure with a 333-178 overall record.

With his cutoff hoodies and ever-present scowl, Belichick teamed with quarterback Tom Brady to lead the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, nine AFC titles and 17 division championships in 19 years. During a less successful — but also tumultuous — stint with the original Cleveland Browns, Belichick earned 37 of his career victories.

It’s not immediately clear who Kraft will tap to replace the future Hall of Famer.

Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo won a Super Bowl ring playing under Belichick and has interviewed for multiple head coaching vacancies since becoming a New England assistant in 2019. Mayo turned down a few interviews last offseason before signing a contract extension to remain with the Patriots.

Mike Vrabel, who was fired earlier this week by the Tennessee Titans and won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, is also expected to be a candidate for the head coaching job.

Belichick had been grooming offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to replace him before McDaniels left following the 2021 season to become the coach of the Raiders. He has since been fired by Las Vegas. Belichick’s two sons, Steve and Brian, are also on the coaching staff.

Belichick’s exit from the Patriots comes just a day after another legendary coach and his longtime friend Nick Saban announced he’d retire after winning seven national championships at the collegiate level. Saban worked for Belichick’s father, Steve, in the 1980s as a coach at Navy. Bill Belichick went on to hire Saban as his defensive coordinator when he became Cleveland’s head coach in 1991.

The six Super Bowl wins tie Belichick with pre-merger mentors Halas and Curly Lambeau for the most NFL championships. Belichick also won two rings as Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.

But the Patriots have stumbled to a 29-38 record since Brady departed following the 2019 season and missed the playoffs in three of those four seasons. Beginning in 2001 when Brady became the starting quarterback, the Patriots missed the playoffs only once (2008) when Brady was injured. This marked New England’s fifth consecutive season without a playoff victory.

Belichick’s subsequent solutions at quarterback haven’t panned out.

Brady’s initial replacement, Cam Newton, didn’t resemble the player who won the 2015 MVP award and was cut after a 7-9 finish in 2020. Meanwhile Brady won his seventh Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that same season.

Potential long-term replacement Mac Jones, a 2021 first-round draft choice, was a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie and led New England to the playoffs. But he regressed in Year 2 when Belichick put longtime defensive assistant Matt Patricia in charge of the offense. Jones didn’t fare much better this season when Bill O’Brien returned as offensive coordinator. He was benched four times before being replaced as starter by backup Bailey Zappe for the final six games.

That left the Patriots looking at a lengthy rebuild, with no candidate on the roster to bring stability to the sport’s most important position.

Belichick, who also served as the de facto general manager with final say on personnel decisions, was celebrated for his ingenuity managing the salary cap during the run of Super Bowl success. It included getting stars like Brady and others to accept cap-friendly contracts or adjust their deals to accommodate the signing of other players.

But that acclaim has waned in the years since Brady left, as a run of draft picks and high-priced free agents didn’t live up to expectations. In addition, Belichick has seen several members of his personnel and scouting departments leave for other jobs. The list includes his former player personnel director, Nick Caserio, who was hired as Houston’s general manager in 2021.

Now it won’t be Belichick making the decisions for the Patriots on or off the field.

The only child of a World War II veteran who spent three decades as a Navy assistant coach, Belichick is a football historian with an encyclopedic knowledge of strategy from the sport’s early days to current NFL trends. His players said his attention to detail never left them unprepared.

Belichick has been a master of the NFL rule book, unearthing loopholes in clock operations and offensive line formations that — though entirely legal — cemented his reputation as a mad genius.

But his legacy in New England also includes two major cheating investigations — and other, minor ones — that cost him and the team draft picks and more than $1 million in fines. Opponents accused the Patriots of everything from hacking their headsets to cutting corners on injury reports.

His friendship with former President Donald Trump, which Belichick insisted was not political, landed the coach on the list to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom in the waning days of the administration. After the outcry against the U.S. Capitol siege, Belichick announced “the decision has been made not to move forward.”

Michigan overpowers Washington 34-13 as Jim Harbaugh delivers a national title

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrates with the trophy after their win in the national championship NCAA College Football Playoff game against Washington Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer

HOUSTON (AP) — Jim Harbaugh raised the championship trophy as gold and white confetti sprayed over his team and “We Are the Champions” blared.
Nine years after he took over at Michigan, Harbaugh delivered on the lofty expectations he brought with him to his beloved alma mater.
Blake Corum ran for 134 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns as Harbaugh and the top-ranked Wolverines — undeterred by suspensions and a sign-stealing case that shadowed the program — completed a three-year surge to a national title by beating No. 2 Washington 34-13 Monday night in the College Football Playoff.
“We’re innocent and we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent. And I’d like to point that out,” Harbaugh said when asked about off-field issues, jumping in to answer a question posed to his players. “And these guys are innocent. And overcome that? It wasn’t that hard because we knew we were innocent.
“(The season) went exactly how we wanted it to go. It went exactly how we wanted it to go.”
The Wolverines (15-0) sealed their first national title since 1997 when Corum, who scored the winning touchdown in overtime against Alabama in the Rose Bowl, blasted in from the 1-yard line with 3:37 left to put Michigan up by 21 and set off another rousing rendition of “The Victors” from the band.
After a third consecutive playoff appearance, Harbaugh won the championship so many expected when he took over a struggling powerhouse in 2015 — despite missing six regular-season games this season while serving two suspensions.
“That man, he’s the reason we’re here today,” Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said of his coach.
And Harbaugh did it with a team his old coach, Bo Schembechler, would have adored. The Wolverines ran for 303 yards against Washington (14-1), and their rugged defense held Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies’ prolific passing game to just one touchdown while intercepting the Heisman Trophy runner-up twice.
“There are more than 100 Michigan men who are on this team,” Harbaugh said. “What they’ve done is amazing. They will forever be known as national champions.”
Penix’s remarkable six-year college career ended with maybe his worst performance of the season. Usually unfazed by pressure, Penix was not nearly as precise against a Michigan defense that took away his signature deep throws.
“That was a spectacular game by our defense,” Harbaugh said.
The Indiana transfer who came back from two knee surgeries and two shoulder injuries was roughed up by the Wolverines, limping at times, stepped on another time.
Asked how he was feeling, Penix said, still undaunted: “Better than I was three years ago.”
Penix finished 27 for 51 for 255 yards and a touchdown as the Huskies had their 21-game winning streak snapped.
“They’ve given me everything they possible can,” coach Kalen DeBoer said of a group of players who went 4-8 just two seasons ago and 25-3 since he took over in 2022.
McCarthy had a modest game, throwing for 140 yards and running for 31. But it was enough for him to improve to 27-1 as a starter for the Wolverines.
Michigan gave Washington a taste of life in the Big Ten, where the Pac-12 champions are heading next season, and the Huskies were up for the grind for a while.
Two long touchdown runs by Donovan Edwards and 229 yards rushing in the first quarter put the Wolverines up 17-3 early in the second and conjured up memories of last year’s historic Georgia blowout of TCU.
Washington stabilized and didn’t allow the Wolverines another point in the first half. After the Huskies stopped Michigan on a fourth-and-2 from the UW 38 with 4:46 left in the second quarter, Penix went to work.
He found Jalen McMillan on a fourth-and-goal with 42 seconds left for a 3-yard touchdown. After being on the verge of getting buried by the Wolverines, the Huskies fans sang along to “Who Let the Dogs Out,” happily down only 17-10 at half.
Will Johnson’s interception of Penix on the first play of the second half gave Michigan another opportunity to open up a two-touchdown lead, but the Huskies forced a field goal by James Turner to make it 20-10.
“Today was a complete, complete team effort,” Corum said.
Michigan nursed a touchdown lead until halfway through the fourth quarter, when it put together a 71-yard drive, capped by Corum’s tackle-breaking 12-yard touchdown that finally gave the Wolverines some room with a 27-13 lead and 7:09 left.
Corum, the engine of the ground-and-pound offense and heart and soul of a team loaded with fourth-, fifth- and even sixth-year players, missed the CFP last year with a knee injury. He was named offensive player of the final national title game in before the College Football Playoff expands from four teams to 12 next season.
“Michigan, this is for you,” Corum told the Wolverines fans.
Michigan seemed to be steaming toward a third consecutive Big Ten championship when in October it was revealed the NCAA was investigating the program for potentially breaking rules that prohibit in-person scouting of opponents and using video equipment to attempt to decode opponents’ play signals.
The scandal turned Connor Stalions, the low-level Michigan recruiting staffer accused of orchestrating the scheme, into a household name and threatened to derail the Wolverines’ season.
The NCAA process will linger well into 2024 and it is unknown what penalties Michigan could face. The Big Ten, though, decided to act quickly and punished Michigan by suspending Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season, including matchups with Penn State and rival Ohio State.
With offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore taking Harbaugh’s place, it became Michigan vs. Everybody and nobody could stop the Wolverines.
Harbaugh returned for the postseason, completed the mission and got to celebrate with his 84-year-old father, Jack — himself a former college football coach — as he accepted the trophy.
Michigan became the first college football program to record 1,000 victories when it beat Maryland in November and won its third national title in January.
“Who has it better than us?” Jack Harbaugh asked the fans during the trophy ceremony. They replied with a boisterous: “Nobody!”
Now the question is whether Harbaugh has coached the team he once quarterbacked for the last time, with the NFL seemingly beckoning again.
Harbaugh said it felt good to no longer be the only coach in the family without a national championship. His father won a Division I-AA title with Western Kentucky and brother John won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens by beating Jim’s San Francisco 49ers 11 years ago.
“I can now sit at the big person’s table in the family,” Harbaugh said.
As for what’s next?
“I just want to enjoy this,” he said. “I hope you give me that. Can I have that? Does it always have to be what’s next, what’s the future?”
___
Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Evgeni Malkin leads Penguins past Flyers 4-1 in Scrappy Contest

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in a scrappy contest on Monday night.

Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson and Chad Ruhwedel also scored for Pittsburgh, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 36 saves.

“I thought we got better as the night went on,” Nedeljkovic said.

Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers, who have lost seven of nine.

“They were the better team,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “We weren’t good enough in either end.”

The game was feisty between the in-state rivals, with several scrums around the net and in the corners after plays. The teams combined for 11 penalties that totaled 24 minutes.

Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang was bloodied 5:43 into the third after he threw Philadelphia’s Garnet Hathaway to the ice before getting a stick in the face from Nicolas Deslauriers. Twenty-six seconds later, Scott Laughton and Malkin were scuffling along the back boards.

The Flyers honored their late founder and owner Ed Snider on Saturday, and Snider certainly would have approved of the physical play from the Flyers, whose tough fighting style earned them the nickname “Broad Street Bullies” when they won back-to-back Stanley Cups during Snider’s tenure in 1974 and ’75.

Perhaps Philadelphia was showing its frustration after Malkin capitalized on a turnover by defenseman Egor Zamula and netted his 15th of the season 4:29 into the third to put Pittsburgh comfortably in front 4-1.

“We’ve been playing really well as of late and it makes it easy, makes it fun,” Nedeljkovic said. “That’s how you want to play.”

The Penguins will have a chance to even the four-game season series when they host Philadelphia in the final contest between the teams on Feb. 25.

Rakell opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the contest with a power-play tally after an early tripping penalty on Sean Couturier. Karlsson’s shot from long range through a screen almost seven minutes later beat goalie Carter Hart, who made 36 stops.

Tippett got the Flyers on the board with 5:05 left in the first period with a rare power-play goal for Philadelphia. The Flyers entered last in the league by converting on just 10.2% (13 of 128) of their chances this season. But Tippett finished on a wrist shot from the right circle after a beautiful setup from Zamula.

“We’re just struggling scoring,” Tortorella said. “We don’t have enough people going offensively.”

surprising trade was announced in the first period. The Flyers acquired defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in 2025 from Anaheim for high-scoring college left wing Cutter Gauthier.