Category: Sports

Keselowski routs field to earn win at Martinsville Speedway

Keselowski routs field to earn win at Martinsville Speedway
By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Brad Keselowski gave Team Penske and the new Ford Mustang its third Cup victory through the first six races of the season by routing the field at Martinsville Speedway.
Keselowski led 446 of the 500 laps around the shortest track on the NASCAR schedule and was only challenged a handful of times by Chase Elliott — the only driver to pass Keselowski on the track Sunday.
Although Elliott led 49 laps, a late caution sent the field to pit road and Keselowski beat Elliott back to the track. Elliott could never get close enough to challenge Keselowski for the win again.
“The car was really good. Just a great day for a team,” Keselowski said. “Just one of those days you dream of as a race car driver, where you’ve got a great car.”
The 446 laps led is the most for a winning driver since Kyle Petty led 484 to win at Rockingham in 1992. It was the most laps Keselowski has ever led in a single race, passing the mark of 312 laps out front at Texas Motor Speedway in 2015.
He credited the offseason work by Ford, which rolled out a new Cup car at the start of the season, and the Team Penske pit stops that got him off pit road first every time he came in for service.
“Ford worked really hard in the offseason to build these cars and make them real strong and so far, so good,” said Keselowski. “It’s just a great day for our team, awesome execution on pit road. Those guys work really hard.”
Ford has three wins this season, all from Team Penske, while Toyota won the other three races.
Martinsville, a paperclip-shaped track at 0.526 miles, typically forces drivers to gouge each other out of the way. The tight confines of the tiny Virginia track raises the aggravation levels for most of the field and usually leads to bumping, banging and busted-up race cars. But NASCAR’s new rules package, in its first stop at a short track, seemed to hamper drivers’ ability to close on the leader and it limited passing opportunities.
The one time Elliott did pass Keselowski, he studied Elliott’s lines and took notes for when he was back out front.
“He was certainly faster on that short run, and when he passed me I learned just enough,” Keselowski said. “The pit crew got me back in front of him on the next to last pit stop, and I seemed to kind of apply the lessons.”
Keselowski started the race third behind teammate Joey Logano, who led the first five laps of the race. Keselowski briefly nudged Logano out of the groove on the sixth lap and took off for the rout that earned him his second Martinsville grandfather clock.
Elliott finished second in a Chevrolet from Hendrick Motorsports — the first top-five finish for a Hendrick driver this season.
“I felt like we were about as even with him as we could be,” said Elliott, who second-guessed the timing of one of his attempts to pass Keselowski.
“When he did get the lead, there was a little advantage to being out front, being able to work traffic … I tried to move up there at the end, and I don’t know if I could have got to him. Maybe if I moved up a little sooner, maybe next time.”
Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch had won two consecutive Cup races before Sunday, the Truck Series race Saturday at Martinsville, and was seeking a weekend sweep. Busch notched his fifth top-five finish of the season while making his 1,000th career NASCAR national series start.
“We fought hard for today’s finish, not a finish that we wanted to get,” Busch said. “Thought we had a chance to win actually, but could have been a whole lot worse. We’ll go on.”
Penske driver Ryan Blaney was fourth, while Gibbs driver and five-time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin was fifth.
Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer were sixth and seventh, Gibbs driver Martin Truex Jr. was eighth, then SHR drivers Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10.
Ford drivers took six spots in the top 10, while Gibbs and Toyota claimed three of the slots.
JOHNSON SLUMPS
Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with nine victories at Martinsville, but his struggles spanning more than a year continued Sunday. He was lapped during the second stage and finished 24th. Since winning the fall 2016 race, Johnson has not finished higher than 12th.
NO REPEAT WINNER
Clint Bowyer was the defending race winner and worked his way to fifth as he exited pit road from a pit stop in the third stage. But he was penalized for speeding onto pit road and dropped to the back of the pack on the restart.
“Well, there went that,” he moaned over his radio.
Bowyer was flagged for speeding on the next round of pit stops, too, and finished sixth.
UP NEXT
NASCAR goes to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Kyle Busch won the race last April.
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More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski announce

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski announces retirement
By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer
BOSTON (AP) — The New England Patriots’ gentle giant has decided to hang up his cleats.
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said Sunday that he is retiring from the NFL after nine seasons.
Gronkowski announced his decision via a post on Instagram , saying that a few months shy of his 30th birthday “it’s time to move forward and move forward with a big smile.”
“It all started at 20 years old on stage at the NFL draft when my dream came true, and now here I am about to turn 30 in a few months with a decision I feel is the biggest of my life so far,” Gronkowski wrote in his post. “I will be retiring from the game of football today.”
Drew Rosenhaus, Gronkowski’s agent, confirmed his client’s decision to retire.
The tight end, who turns 30 in May, leaves as a three-time Super Bowl champion who established himself as one of the most dominant players at his position.
But he has been dogged in recent seasons by back, knee, ankle and arm injuries that have limited his ability to stay on the field.
It led him to hint at retirement following New England’s Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles to end the 2017 season and again last month after the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Los Angeles Rams.
In his Instagram post, Gronkowski thanked the Patriots organization, coach Bill Belichick and New England’s fans for their support during his nine NFL seasons.
“Thank you for everyone accepting who I am and the dedication I have put into my work to be the best player I could be,” Gronkowski wrote.
Gronkowski’s teammates almost immediately began to flood social media with well-wishes.
“Love you man!!” quarterback Tom Brady wrote on Instagram, along with an emoji of a goat to refer to Gronkowski as the greatest of all-time. “Couldn’t be a better person or teammate!!!!”
It was a sentiment shared by receiver Julian Edelman.
“The other goat,” Edelman posted on his Instagram page.
Though he won’t have the longevity of some of his contemporaries at tight end, Gronkowski is expected to get strong consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame when eligible.
Gronkowski was one of Brady’s favorite targets after being drafted in the second round of the 2010 draft.
He had his fourth career 1,000-yard receiving season in 2017 and was an All-Pro for the fourth time that season.
But at times he looked like a shell of himself during the Patriots’ Super Bowl run this past season. Gronkowski finished the 2018 regular season with just 47 catches for 682 yards and three touchdowns.
He had one of his best games of the season in the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Rams, hauling in six catches for 87 yards, including two receptions on New England’s only touchdown drive during their 13-3 victory.
A fan favorite in New England for his gregarious and playful persona that included awkward dance moves and touchdown celebrations, Gronkowski was one of the most dominant tight ends of his era.
His 12 career postseason touchdown receptions are the most by a tight end in NFL playoff history. His 81 career postseason catches are also best among tight ends.
He’ll also retire with 79 career TD catches — regular season and playoffs — which is third all-time by a tight end behind only Antonio Gates (116) and Tony Gonzalez (111).
Brady and Gronkowski connected on 78 TD passes. It is the second-most scoring connections between a quarterback and a tight end in NFL history behind only Philip Rivers and Gates (89) and is fifth overall between quarterbacks and all pass-catchers.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

McCann scores twice to help Penguins hold off Stars, 3-2

 

DALLAS (AP) — Jared McCann scored twice, including the go-ahead goal on a spinning short-handed play in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Saturday night.

McCann has 11 goals in 26 games since coming over in a trade with Florida, and now leads the Penguins with three short-handed goals. He has four overall this season.

The Penguins stayed even with the New York Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division with 93 points, a point behind Washington.

The Stars finished a five-game homestand with their fourth loss, three in regulation. Dallas holds the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference by two points over Colorado with Minnesota a point behind the Avalanche.

Dallas was looking for its first lead after Jack Johnson was called for holding and the Penguins were just trying to clear the puck when Teddy Blueger poked it away from John Klingberg at center ice. McCann took the pass as he was spinning and flipped the puck over Anton Khudobin.

Matt Murray, who made 29 saves, kept the Penguins in front by stopping a shot from Tyler Seguin and keeping the puck between his legs behind him as he was sprawled on the ice with Alexander Radulov trying to poke it into the net.

The Stars had a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 80 seconds after Bryan Rust was called for holding, but couldn’t get one past Murray. Khudobin had 27 saves.

Jake Guentzel opened the scoring with his team-leading 38th goal for Pittsburgh in the first period.

The Stars scored two tying goals in the second. Seguin easily beat Murray on a cross-ice feed from Radulov barely a minute into the period. Andrew Cogliano pulled Dallas even at 2-2 with 80 seconds left by beating Murray in transition after taking a pass in stride from Klingberg.

The Penguins had a goal waved off in the second period when Teddy Blueger was called for goalie interference Erik Gudbranson’s shot from outside the circle. Gudbranson’s chance came after a wild scramble in front of the net ended with Taylor Fedun sweeping the puck out the crease when Khudobin was beaten.

NOTES: Stars D Jamie Oleksiak was a healthy scratch in his first game against Pittsburgh since the Penguins traded him back to Dallas in January. The Stars sent Oleksiak to the Penguins in December 2017. Both deals involved a fourth-round pick. … Not long after scoring the game’s first goal, Guentzel was stopped on a one-timer right in front of Khudobin. … Stars F Jason Spezza was a healthy scratch for the second time in three games.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Finish four-game trip Monday at the New York Rangers.

Stars: Start four-game Canadian swing Monday at Winnipeg.

Scoring Updates: Pens vs. Stars, Saturday March 23, 2019 at 8 p.m..

 

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CCBC Players Of The Game: March 23, 2019

CCBC Players of the Game:

Trinity: Chance Westry

Lincoln Park: Isaiah Smith

Lincoln Park Holds On To Win 3A Boys Basketball Championship!

 

Trinity made it uneasy for Lincoln Park in the final four minutes. Of course they did.

As Tom Hays said during the broadcast,”If it was so easy, everyone would be state champions!”

But it isn’t. And only one team emerges as the 3A Boys Champions in 2018-19, and it is the Lincoln Park Leopards.

The Leopards earn their second set of gold medals despite nearly blowing a 16-point lead in the 4th quarter to District 3 Champion Trinity, surviving 73-72 at the GIANT Center in Hershey. Shamrocks freshman guard Chance Westry led all scorers with 40 points, and had a chance to make it 43 with 1.2 seconds left…but he missed it, and Lincoln Park was able to hold off the late fury. The Leopards were led by Isaiah Smith who had 20 points, including five 3-pointers. Westry & Smith were named the final CCBC Players of the Game for our broadcast season.

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Tom Hays has the full scoring recap for Beaver County Radio:

Scoring Updates PIAAA 3A Boys Championship: Lincoln Park vs. Trinity, Saturday March 23, 2019 at 2 p.m..


 

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Link for PIAA Boys Basketball Class 3A Championship – Lincoln Park vs Camp Hill Trinity on WBVP/WMBA and Trib-Live High School Sports Network Saturday March 23, 2019 at 2:00 p.m..

 

1230 WBVP and 1460 WMBA’s Bob Barrickman, Tom Hays and Bruce Frey have the call from the GIANT Center in Hershey of this 2019 PIAA Class 3A Boys High School Basketball State Championship Game as the WPIAL champion Leopards battle the District 3 champion Shamrocks.

 

If you can’t tune into the broadcast on 1230 WBVP and 1460 WMBA and want to hear the broadcast streaming live over the Trib-Live High School Sports Network click on the logo below at 1:30 p.m. for for the pre-game. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m……….

 

CCBC Players of the Game March 22, 2019

CCBC Players of the Game:

Moon: Connor Ryan

Archbishop Wood: Rahsool Diggins

Moon Wins 5A Boys State Championship with 74-64 win over Archbishop Wood!!

In a game that took place at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA it was Moon taking on Archbishop Wood in the 5A Boys PIAA State Championship. It was a game that was back and fourth for four quarters. Moon jumped out to a 16-11 lead after 1. The Archbishop Wood crawled back into it and cut Moon’s lead to 2 at the half. Then Archbishop Wood started to take over and took a lead after 3 51-44. Then it was all Moon, down by as many as nine and made a great comeback that made them State Champions. Moon wins the 5A State Championship, their 2nd state title over all(2004).

 

Listen to Tom Hays Recap Here: