1230 WBVP and 1460 WMBA’s Bob Barrickman and Bruce Frey have the call from West Allegheny High School of this 2019 WPIAL Class 1A First Round high school girls basketball playoff game as the Spartans battle the Maples.
If you can’t tune into the broadcast on 1230 WBVP and want to hear the broadcast streaming live over the Trib-Live High School Sports Network click on the logo below at 6:00 p.m. for for the pre-game. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m……….
AP source: Machado, Padres agrees to $300M, 10-year deal
By BERNIE WILSON, AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) — All-Star infielder Manny Machado has agreed to a $300 million, 10-year deal with the rebuilding San Diego Padres, the biggest contract ever for a free agent, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced. Machado can opt out after five years and become a free agent again, the person said.
Machado’s deal, if completed, would be the second-largest in baseball history behind Giancarlo Stanton’s $325 million, 13-year deal signed with the Miami Marlins ahead of the 2015 season. Among free agents it tops Alex Rodriguez’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees from 2008-17.
Records may be broken soon. Free agent outfielder Bryce Harper could top Stanton’s deal in coming days or weeks.
Speaking at spring training in Peoria, Arizona, Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler said: “We do not have a deal with any free agent player. We are continuing discussions, and that’s all we have to say.”
Teams draw a distinction between an agreement subject to a physical and a finalized deal.
However, general partner Peter Seidler, without confirming the deal, said: “Ron and I, we love the city of San Diego, we love sports in San Diego, we’re also well aware of the history. There’s never been a championship … We as an organization, we want to completely change that. We want our franchise to win year after year after year. And we’re going to do whatever we can rationally do to make that happen.”
The Padres haven’t had a winning season since 2010 and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2006. They haven’t won a playoff series since the 1998 NLCS against Atlanta.
And they’ve had the city’s big league sports scene to themselves since the NFL’s Chargers moved to the Los Angeles area two seasons ago.
The Padres have been rebuilding mostly with prospects and draft picks, although they are making a stunning move early in spring training for the second straight year after reaching a $144 million, seven-year contract last February with first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Machado is expected to fill the team’s gaping need at third base. He began last year with Baltimore, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the All-Star break and struck out to end the World Series loss to Boston.
With the 26-year-old Machado on board, the next big move for the Padres is expected to be the promotion of shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., the 20-year-old son of a former big leaguer and the No. 2 overall prospect in baseball.
A four-time All-Star, Machado hit .297 last year and set career bests with 37 homers and 107 RBIs. A four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner, he has a .282 career average with 175 homers and 513 RBIs in seven big league seasons.
The Chicago White Sox were among the teams that pursued Machado.
“Still in a bit of disbelief. The one thing I can say — I just told Rick (general manager Han) this and I will tell Jerry (owner Reinsdorf) and our coaching staff and players — I feel we put our best foot forward. Jerry, in particular, really stepped up,” he said.
“If the acceptance of the offer that I’m seeing is true, then actually our offer had the opportunity for Manny to surpass that. But in the end we went after the guy and we didn’t get him. We’re disappointed but, hey, we are positioned . the reason why we were going after him in the first place is because we feel we are positioned to do some good things here going forward. We wanted to accelerate that to a large degree and that’s why we made the overture we did,” he said.
Machado also met with the Yankees, a team that had expressed concern over Machado’s remarks about hustling — not hustling, actually — during the playoffs.
After failing to run out a grounder in the NL Championship Series, Machado said: “Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ and run down the line and slide to first base.”
Machado tried to clarify his remarks after the season, saying, “looking back, it doesn’t come across how I meant it.”
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner took notice of Machado’s initial comments, labeling them “troubling.”
“If we’re interested in any player, to sit down with them face to face and ask him, ‘Where did this come from? What was the context around the entire interview? Was there a point? How do you justify it?'” Steinbrenner said in November.
“Because that ain’t going to sell where we play baseball,” he said.
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum and AP freelance writer Jack Thompson contributed to this report.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Quigley Catholic takes on Mapletown in their first-round matchup at West Allegheny tonight on Beaver County Radio. Pregame on WBVP, WMBA & TribLive is at 6:00. Local teams are listed below in bold.
GIRLS
Monday’s Scores (All Class 4A)
Quaker Valley 41, Freeport 38
Keystone Oaks 51, Belle Vernon 41
Elizabeth Forward 51, Knoch 42
McKeesport 51, Greensburg Salem 37
Southmoreland 40, Apollo-Ridge 37
6:30pm
[1A] Quigley Catholic vs. Mapletown (at West Allegheny) [WBVP/WMBA]
[1A] Vincentian vs. Leechburg (at Hampton)
[1A] California vs. Sewickley Academy (at Canon-McMillan)
[1A] Avella vs. Aquinas Academy (at Keystone Oaks)
[5A] Plum vs. Thomas Jefferson (at North Allegheny)
[5A] Penn-Trafford vs. Trinity (at Mt. Lebanon)
8:00pm
[5A] South Fayette vs. Franklin Regional (at Keystone Oaks)
[5A] Mars vs. Woodland Hills (at Hampton)
BOYS
Monday’s Scores (All Class 5A)
Woodland Hills 69, West Allegheny 60
Shaler 76, McKeesport 60
Montour 60, Hampton 44
Chartiers Valley 68, Albert Gallatin 51
Franklin Regional 66, Thomas Jefferson 41
8:00pm
[6A] Seneca Valley vs. Fox Chapel (at North Allegheny)
[6A] North Allegheny vs. Canon-McMillan (at West Allegheny)
[6A] Butler vs. Connellsville (at Canon-McMillan)
[6A] Peters Township vs. Penn-Trafford (at Mt. Lebanon)
GIRLS (All Games In Class 4A, First Round)
6:30pm
Quaker Valley vs. Freeport (at North Allegheny)
Apollo-Ridge vs. Southmoreland (at Norwin)
Elizabeth Forward vs. Knoch (at Mt. Lebanon)
Belle Vernon vs. Keystone Oaks (at Peters Twp.)
McKeesport vs. Greensburg Salem (at Fox Chapel)
BOYS (All Games In Class 5A, First Round)
8:00pm
West Allegheny vs. Woodland Hills (at Mt. Lebanon)
Chartiers Valley vs. Albert Gallatin (at Peters Twp.)
Franklin Regional vs. Thomas Jefferson (at Norwin)
Shaler vs. McKeesport (at Fox Chapel)
Montour vs. Hampton (at North Allegheny)
Denny Hamlin cruises to 2nd Daytona 500 victory in 4 years
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Denny Hamlin came to the Daytona 500 determined to honor his late car owner with a victory.
He delivered with a storybook tribute for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Hamlin won NASCAR’s biggest race for the second time in four years Sunday, leading JGR in a 1-2-3 sweep of the podium in overtime. The race and the season have been dedicated to J.D. Gibbs, Joe Gibbs’ eldest son who died last month after battling a degenerative neurological disease.
J.D. Gibbs helped his father start the race team, ran it while Joe Gibbs was coaching the Washington Redskins, was a tire changer on the team’s first Daytona 500 victory and the one who discovered Hamlin during a test session at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Hamlin was hired to drive the No. 11 — the number J.D. Gibbs used when he played football — and J.D. Gibbs’ name is on the Toyota.
When Hamlin stopped his car along the frontstretch to collect the checkered flag, he immediately credited J.D. Gibbs.
“The whole family, they did so much for me over the course of my career, and this one is for J.D,” Hamlin said. “We are desperately going to miss him the rest of our lies. His legacy still lives on through Joe Gibbs Racing and proud to do this for them.”
Hamlin was met in victory lane by the entire Gibbs family, including J.D.’s widow and four sons.
“He meant a lot to me and it’s hard for me not getting choked up because I’ve been choked up about 100 times about it,” Hamlin said. “Just to have Melissa (Gibbs) and all the kids here, it’s just crazy.”
Joe Gibbs, the Hall of Fame NFL coach with three Super Bowl victories, ranked the tribute win to his son first in his career accomplishments.
“It is the most emotional and biggest win I’ve ever had in my life, in anything,” Gibbs said. “It was the most important night in my occupational life. I know J.D. and everybody in my family was emotional.”
Kyle Busch and Erik Jones finished second and third as JGR became the second team in NASCAR history to sweep the Daytona 500 podium. Hendrick Motorsports did it in 1997 with Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven.
Busch, now winless in 14 Daytona 500s, was initially openly disappointed in falling short.
“He’s got two, I’ve got none, and that’s just the way it goes sometimes,” Busch said.
But he reiterated the JGR and Toyota goal of working together to win the race and noted he didn’t have much of a shot at beating Hamlin because the field had been decimated by a flurry of late accidents.
“Was trying to make sure one of us gets to victory lane, first and foremost,” Busch said. “There wasn’t enough cars out there running at the end. I don’t know how it would have played out.”
The Cup Series slogged through three uninspiring exhibition races during Speedweeks to cause concern over a potentially disappointing main event. Jim France, who took over as chairman of NASCAR last August, used the pre-race driver meeting to ask the drivers to liven up the activity. Hamlin and Chase Elliott were the rare drivers to use the bottom lane in the exhibition races while the rest of the field ran single-file along the top.
“I hope a few of you drivers out there will get down on the bottom with Denny and Chase and put on a good show today,” France told the field.
The drivers obeyed and delivered an action-packed and wreck-filled running of “The Great American Race.”
There was an accident on pit road, a 21-car crash, 12 cautions and five wrecks in the final 20 laps of regulation. The race was stopped twice for cleanup totaling nearly 40 minutes in the final stretch. During the second red-flag, one of NASCAR’s track-drying trucks broke down while cleaning oil off the racing surface.
Hamlin and Busch alternated as the leaders during the handful of late restarts, and the final rush to the checkered flag was a push to hold off Ford driver and reigning NASCAR champion Joey Logano. The Ford camp went 1-2-3 in both of Thursday’s qualifying races and was favored to win the Daytona 500.
Logano, who started his career at JGR, settled for fourth and also took a moment to honor J.D. Gibbs.
“I’m not a Gibbs driver but for what J.D. has done for my career is the reason why I’m sitting here today,” Logano said. “As bad as I want to win it, it is pretty cool to think that the first race after his passing, to see those guys one, two, three, it just says he’s up there watching and maybe gave (those) guys a little extra boost there at the end.”
Michael McDowell was fifth in a Ford but aggravated Logano by not working with him in the two-lap overtime sprint to the finish.
“I just told him that my team doesn’t pay me to push Joey Logano to a win,” McDowell said.
Ty Dillon was sixth in the highest-finishing Chevrolet.
The race featured eight drivers making their Daytona 500 debuts and rookie Ryan Preece, a short track racer from New England, was best in class with an eighth-place finish. Ross Chastain, the eighth-generation watermelon farmer who lost his main ride for this year when the FBI raided his sponsor right before Christmas, finished 10th,
Jamie McMurray, the 2010 winner, led six laps and was in the mix until he was collected in one of the late accidents. He finished 22nd in his final race before retirement.
William Byron and Alex Bowman were the youngest front row in race history but had little to show for it after the race. Bowman finished 11th and Byron, the pole-sitter, was 21st.
Hamlin last year suffered through his first winless season in the Cup Series and made a crew chief change during the offseason. When he won the 500 in 2016 it was his debut race with crew chief Mike Wheeler, and this victory came in his first race with Chris Gabehart.
Hamlin’s first Daytona 500 victory was in a photo finish against Martin Truex Jr. and the celebration was a blur. This one, he said, he will enjoy.
“I think I was so dumbfounded about everything that happened the first time with the photo finish and everything,” Hamlin said. “This one lets me soak it in a little bit more. I’m going to have a terrible hangover tomorrow, but I’m going to enjoy it the rest of my life.”
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More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang each had two goals, and the Pittsburgh Penguins climbed back into playoff position with a 6-5 win over the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Brian Dumoulin also scored for the Penguins (31-21-7), who leapfrogged the Carolina Hurricanes for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Mats Zuccarello had two goals, and Kevin Hayes and Mika Zibanejad scored over the game’s final 5:46 for the Rangers, who couldn’t complete a second rally after erasing a 3-1 deficit to tie it late in the second period.
The Rangers were not able to take the lead during a four-minute power play that spanned the second intermission. Forty-nine seconds after that penalty expired, Letang took a feed from Sidney Crosby and beat goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
Malkin then scored twice in a span of 2:31 to give him four goals in two games since serving a one-game suspension for a stick-swinging incident.
Crosby had three assists to give him 11 points in his past five games, helping to atone for the high-sticking double-minor that gave the Rangers a prime chance to take the lead.
The Penguins had won just seven of their previous 17 games to fall in danger of missing the postseason for the first time since 2005-06.
Malkin has had, by his standards, an off season. But he has points in seven consecutive games that he has played over the past month, interrupted by missing five games with an upper-body injury and the one game because of suspension.
Letang opened the scoring 16:11 into the game. He has 15 goals, one off his career high set in 2015-16.
It was the first time all season the Penguins got four goals from defensemen.
Zuccarello’s goals were his 10th and 11th, each tying the game. Ryan Strome also scored for New York, which had won three of its previous five.
NOTES: The Rangers scratched D Brady Skjei (lower-body injury sustained during Friday’s game), C Brett Howden (MCL sprain) and RW Jesper Fast. Fast scored during Friday’s win but has reportedly been dealing with an undisclosed injury. … Penguins D Chad Ruhwedel was in the lineup for the third consecutive game after having not played prior to that since Nov. 19. … Penguins LW Tanner Pearson was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive day after he had been in the lineup for every game since his acquisition from the Los Angeles Kings in November.
UP NEXT
Rangers: New York wraps up a four-game trip Tuesday at Carolina.
Penguins: Continuing a stretch of four divisional matchups over a five-game span, the Penguins play at New Jersey on Tuesday.
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
[table id=5 /]
Jameson Taillon named Pirates’ opening-day starter
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Jameson Taillon will be the Pittsburgh Pirates’ opening-day starter.
The right-hander will pitch March 28 against the Reds at Cincinnati, manager Clint Hurdle said Saturday. It will be the first opening-day start of Taillon’s four-year career.
Taillon was 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA in 32 starts last season.
“It’s a big honor to kick off the season for the boys, try to set the tone,” Taillon said at the Pirates’ spring training camp. “Obviously, I care about the body of work but it’s a big honor. Growing up as a fan of baseball, there was a certain (aura) about being the opening-day starter.”
Chris Archer will start the home opener April 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“We put two men in play to represent the club and get us out of the blocks well in the first four games of the season,” Hurdle said.
Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove will pitch the second and third games at Cincinnati. The Pirates are undecided on a fifth starter.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Ready, Aim, Tweet; Brown fires at Roethlisberger, Tomlin
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Antonio Brown’s laundry list of issues with the Pittsburgh Steelers appears to include a problem with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s leadership style and how head coach Mike Tomlin treated the Pro Bowl wide receiver during the regular-season finale against Cincinnati.
Brown, who has requested a trade, took to Twitter on Saturday to vent in what amounted to his first expanded public comments since a falling out with the organization that has left his future with the club very much in doubt.
Asked by a Twitter user about the root of his conflict with Roethlisberger, Brown responded “No conflict just a matter of respect! Mutual respect! He has a owner mentality like he can call out anybody including coaches. Players know but they can’t say anything about it otherwise they meal ticket gone. It’s a dirty game within a game. #truth.”
Roethlisberger does not hesitate to take teammates to task publicly, a right the two-time Super Bowl winner says he has earned. While rarely overtly critical of Brown this season, Roethlisberger on one occasion declined to name Brown specifically when asked about the benefits of having a No. 1 receiver, instead naming just about every receiver on the roster.
Brown also called out Tomlin for the way he handled Brown during the course of the final week of the regular season. The team sent Brown home two days before the game and ordered him to get some rest and have his knee examined. Tomlin said afterward Brown did not have the exam and did not communicate with the team until early on the morning of the day of the game when his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, contacted Tomlin and said Brown would be available to play.
Brown arrived at the stadium in time but did not dress after the team made him inactive. He watched the first half from the sideline but was not around postgame after Pittsburgh won 16-13. The victory, however, did not help the Steelers extend their season. They missed the playoffs after finishing 9-6-1.
“After the coach tell the team I quit while nursing some bumps then invite me to watch the show with same guys thinking I quit,” Brown tweeted . “I can not stand with that! I’m the bad guy doe (sic) we miss post season think about it.”
Brown is expected to meet with Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II — who has declined to disparage Brown despite futile attempts to communicate with the nine-year pro — in coming days. Any such sit-down — if it even happens — appears to offer no chance at reconciling.
Brown tweeted he “Loves Steelers Nation everything to my heart” but said “no more” when asked any comeback might be in the offing.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/tag/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Blackshear’s 29 power No. 22 Virginia Tech by Pitt 70-64
By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kerry Blackshear Jr. was mid-answer when the sight of a couple of Virginia Tech teammates recording his postgame interview with phone in hand became a bit too intrusive.
“I’m panicking, boy,” Blackshear said. “You’ve got to get that off me.”
It was the first time all day the junior forward looked rattled. Blackshear poured in a season-high 29 points during a near flawless performance to lead the 22nd-ranked Hokies to a 70-64 victory over slumping Pittsburgh on Saturday.
The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Blackshear overwhelmed the undersized Panthers. He made 8 of 9 shots from the field, including all three of his 3-point attempts, and went 10 of 11 from the free throw line in addition to grabbing nine rebounds as Virginia Tech (20-5, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) reached the 20-win mark for the fourth consecutive season.
The last three wins have come despite missing senior point guard Justin Robinson, who remains out indefinitely with a toe injury. After an initial wobble — the Hokies lost two of their first three without Robinson — they have found their footing behind Blackshear.
“We have to play through him,” Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said. “He’s our best defender. He’s our best scorer. He’s our best passer. He’s our best playmaker and he has the best basketball IQ on our team.”
The Hokies relied on it when necessary against the Panthers. Blackshear scored a career-high 31 on 12-of-16 shooting last year against Pitt and was even more efficient this time around. Jumpers. Putbacks. Layups. Dunks. He was dominant from nearly start to finish no matter who the undersized Panthers put on him.
“I think they did a really good job of throwing different looks,” Blackshear said. “A couple of times I was like, ‘Oh wow.’ I didn’t know who was guarding me. They did a really good job of monstering, double-teaming the post but I found whoever was open.”
Though Pitt (12-14, 2-11) kept scrapping — at one point 6-3, 185-pound freshman Trey McGowens threw Blackshear to the floor as the two battled for a loose ball — the Panthers dropped their ninth straight.
Xavier Johnson led Pitt with 18 points. Sidy N’Dir chipped in 12 points and six rebounds but every time the Panthers appeared ready to make a push, the Hokies responded. When Johnson’s 3-pointer drew the Panthers within 48-46 with 7:28 to go in the second half, Virginia Tech knocked down three straight 3s of its own —including one by Blackshear to extend the advantage to 59-47.
“It’s an example of a veteran team, a team that’s been together and had some experience, that’s used to winning, to step up and make plays when we had momentum,” first-year Pitt coach Jeff Capel said.
Pitt eventually cut it to 63-56 on a pair of free throws by Johnson with 1:58 remaining and created a turnover in the backcourt when N’Dir stepped in front of a pass. Panther guard Kham Davis drove to the basket for a layup but the bucket was waved off when officials called Davis for a charge.
Blackshear immediately converted two free throws at the other end to make it 65-56 and Virginia Tech did just enough down the stretch to win its fourth consecutive meeting with Pitt.
CAVALIERS AWAIT
The Hokies’ poise down the stretch allows them to briefly exhale before a visit by fourth-ranked Virginia on Monday. The Cavaliers rolled in an 81-59 victory on Jan. 15. The Hokies know they need to be better in all phases this time around.
“Got to keep our poise,” Blackshear said. “I think they score just as good as anybody in the country. Defend just as good as anybody in the country. It’s going to be a big game. Cassell is going to be rocking. We look forward to it.”
STAYING UPBEAT
A year after going winless in the ACC, Pitt’s initially promising 2-2 start in the conference under Capel has faded though he remains impressed by his team’s effort.
“I understand how hard this is going to be and it’s not a quick fix,” Capel said. “We won a couple of games early and it changed some expectations for all of us. I think I’ve had a pretty good perspective on this. It’s hard. It’s really hard. It’s frustrating. We want to be better, but we’re getting better.”
BIG PICTURE
Virginia Tech: The Hokies seem to have overcome the offensive issues that plagued them as they tried to deal with the absence of their second-leading scorer in Robinson. Virginia Tech shot 51 percent (21 of 41) from the floor and 10 of 21 from 3-point range after shooting 48 percent in a win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
Pitt: The problem for the Panthers is in some ways a matter of mere physics. The Panthers lack the size to create any sort of offensive threat inside, allowing teams to play zone and force them to chuck it from deep. Defensively there’s little they can do against a legitimate post presence like Blackshear.
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech: The Hokies fell behind by 22 in the first half in the initial meeting with the Cavaliers and never recovered.
Pitt: Visits Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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This story has been corrected to show that Blackshear’s first name is Kerry.
