Amateur Co-Ed Sports Platform
San Francisco Sports News
Former Stanford player who spent time with A’s, SF Giants dies in Oakland
BOSTON — Dave McCarty, a member of the Boston Red Sox championship team in 2004 who played with seven MLB teams in an 11-year career, has died. He was 54.
The Red Sox announced McCarty’s death in a statement, saying the former first baseman and outfielder died Friday after suffering a cardiac event in Oakland.
McCarty was in Boston earlier this month and was at Fenway Park as part of the club’s 20-year celebration of the ’04 championship team that claimed the World Series for the first time since 1918.
McCarty played his last three seasons in the majors with the Red Sox from 2003-05. In 118 games with Boston, he hit .286, with five home runs. He appeared in 89 games in Boston’s title-winning season, with 25 starts at first base and six in the outfield, in addition to three pitching appearances.
A native of Houston, Texas, he was selected by Minnesota in the first round, third overall, of the 1991 draft out of Stanford.
After three seasons with the Twins (1993-95), he went on to play for the San Francisco Giants (1995-96), Seattle Mariners (1998), Kansas City Royals (2000-02), Tampa Bay Rays (2002) and Oakland A’s (2003) before closing his career in Boston.
McCarty batted .242 with 362 hits, 36 home runs and 175 RBIs in 630 big league games.
Related Articles- Oakland Athletics | Lengthy Oakland A’s road trip gets off to dismal start
- Oakland Athletics | Fifth inning haunts Boyle as Oakland A’s road trip starts with a dud
- Oakland Athletics | Oakland A’s on a roll heading into challenging East Coast trip
- Oakland Athletics | Esteury Ruiz homers again, A’s beat St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 to avoid a sweep
- Oakland Athletics | Season-low Coliseum crowd of 3,296 watch Oakland A’s fall 3-2 to St. Louis Cardinals
After ending his playing career, McCarty was an analyst for the New England Sports Network from the summer of 2005 through the 2008 MLB season.
Race car in Sri Lanka veers off track killing 7 people and injuring 20, officials say
By Bharatha Mallawarachi | Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A race car veered off the track during a competition in Sri Lanka on Sunday and rammed into a crowd of spectators and race officials, killing seven people and injuring 20 others, officials said.
Thousands of spectators looked on as the mishap took place during a race in the town of Diyatalawa in the tea-growing central hills, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of the capital Colombo.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the mishap.
Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said one of the cars veered off the track and crashed into spectators and officials of the event. Seven people, including four officials, were killed and another 20 were being treated at a hospital, said Thalduwa. He said three of the injured were in critical condition.
Related Articles
- World News | Indonesia volcano continues to erupt, closing nearby airport
- World News | Firefighters work carefully around remains of Copenhagen landmark
- World News | California sees two more property insurers exit from market
- World News | Indonesian eruption sparks tsunami warnings, evacuation
- World News | UAE struggles to recover from record heavy rainfall
About 45,000 spectators had gathered at the race circuit at a Sri Lankan military academy. The event was organized by the Sri Lankan army and Sri Lanka Automobile Sports.
When can SF Giants expect Alex Cobb back after latest setback?
SAN FRANCISCO — Since undergoing surgery on the last day of October, Alex Cobb has had a date in his mind of when he wanted to be back pitching for the San Francisco Giants. Now, he has one that team trainers can agree upon, and to which the ambitious, seemingly age-defying 36-year-old must abide, too.
Transferred to the 60-day injured list Saturday, the earliest Cobb will be eligible to join the Giants’ rotation is May 27.
“Now that they’ve got a date, they’re going to map it out neatly,” said Cobb, who did everything in his power over the offseason to put him well ahead of schedule in his recovery from hip surgery, accelerating his timeline by two months or more and pitching simulated games by the end of spring training.
“It’s like, you’re not allowed to come back. … There’s always, like, this ‘one day earlier, one day earlier’ mindset. And now you can’t.”
Cobb was initially told it would be six months before he even resumed throwing, potentially until the All-Star break before he was game-ready.
“I definitely worked really hard in the offseason to try to be back by now and it didn’t work out, so there’s some disappointment,” Cobb said. “(But) I had surgery on October 31. If on November 1 you told me I would be on this path I would be very happy. I think the overall perspective is still a very positive one.”
After experiencing his first setback, suffering a flexor strain that shut him down for two weeks, Cobb understood there was a possibility the Giants could find a more valuable use for his spot on the 40-man roster. When his shoulder kept tightening up on him when he resumed throwing, that increased the odds of being transferred to the 60. And when Mitch White became available, the Giants pounced to add the 29-year-old righty at the cost of Cobb’s efforts to race back.
Cobb said the move was a “no-brainer,” and manager Bob Melvin acknowledged the right-hander’s “slowdown” — “I don’t want to say setback,” he said — “made it easier” to come to terms with ruling out Cobb until after Memorial Day. It is “probably realistic” to expect Cobb back on May 27, the date he is eligible, Melvin said.
Related Articles- San Francisco Giants | SF Giants settle for split with Diamondbacks after bats go quiet in finale
- San Francisco Giants | Former Stanford player who spent time with A’s, SF Giants dies in Oakland
- San Francisco Giants | Despite throwing just 65 innings last year, Jordan Hicks wants to stay in SF Giants’ rotation for good
- San Francisco Giants | With Alex Cobb in question, SF Giants add San Jose-born pitcher in trade with Blue Jays
- San Francisco Giants | Patrick Bailey’s big bobblehead day helps SF Giants over D’backs
The emergence of a true, five-man rotation in Cobb’s absence also makes it easier to take it slow with the veteran righty.
The biggest question mark entering the season — how Jordan Hicks would handle his transition to the rotation — has turned into their best pitcher, and now they’re just waiting for last year’s National League Cy Young winner, Blake Snell, to round into form.
White, a product of Bellarmine Prep and Santa Clara University, has started 22 of the 62 appearances he’s made in the major leagues and provides another option should a need arise in the rotation but will slot into the bullpen once he arrives.
Although the trade was made official Saturday afternoon — the Giants sent cash considerations to Toronto — White had not yet reported to the team before first pitch Sunday.
20 years after death, Pat Tillman still inspires those who knew him well — and many he never met
Leland High led 35-0 at halftime and coach Terry Hardtke figured enough was enough.
Pat Tillman had scored four touchdowns on offense and was dominating defensively in a Central Coast Section playoff game against Andrew Hill. Hardtke told Tillman he was done for the day.
“I said, ‘No offense, no defense,'” Hardtke recalled. “He gave me this sorrowful look.”
When the second half began, to Hardtke’s surprise, Tillman was on the field to receive the kickoff. Tillman ran it back for his fifth touchdown of the game on the seventh time he touched the ball. While teammates celebrated, Tillman made a beeline for Hardtke.
“He said, ‘Coach, you said nothing about special teams,'” Hardtke said.
Hardtke confiscated Tillman’s helmet and shoulder pads. Tillman followed orders and sat out the rest of a 66-14 win en route to an eventual CCS title.
To Hardtke it was quintessential Tillman, doing everything that was asked of him and then doing even more.
“I don’t look at that as defying what I said,” Hardtke said. “I look at it as his approach to the way he lived his life and the way he played the game.”
It was 20 years ago, on April 22, 2004, that Tillman was killed at age 27 by friendly fire in a firefight in Spera, Afghanistan, as part of the U.S. Army Second Ranger Battalion. Tillman’s story, and the military cover-up that followed over the circumstances of his death, became national news.
Tillman and his younger brother Kevin enlisted after digesting the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Pat walked away from a $3.6 million contract as a safety for the Arizona Cardinals after starring at Arizona State.
His legacy lives on in the Pat Tillman Foundation, which has sent 871 Tillman Scholars to graduate school at a cost of more than $34 million.
The scholarship is open to military service members, veterans and spouses and is funded in part by the annual “Pat’s Run” in Tempe, Arizona, which drew more than 28,000 participants on April 13.
In Arizona alone, there are two statues of Tillman — the Pat Tillman Military Center at Arizona State and the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge over Hoover Dam from Arizona into Las Vegas.
Tillman was born in Fremont but grew up in the Almaden Valley in San Jose. He was the first of three sons, followed by Kevin and Richard. The Leland High field now bears his name.
At 17, in 1994, Pat Tillman graduated from Leland High School.Ben Hill, a member of the Tillman Foundation board, was a friend since childhood and remembers Tillman’s daredevil side, the kid who loved hikes with his friends and was eager to take the dicey tree rope swing over a reservoir.
“As I look back on it, Pat was more adventurous as a way to keep him sharp and more of a risk-taker in different activities than the rest of us, which was always entertaining,” Hill said.
Tillman first starred in baseball. In the book, “Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman,” author Jon Krakauer cited a 2002 entry from Tillman’s diary about how the sport boosted his self-esteem.
“As odd as this sounds, a diving catch I made in the 11-12 all-stars was a take-off point,” Tillman wrote. “I excelled the rest of the tournament and gained incredible confidence. It sounds tacky but it was big.”
An undersized 13-year-old freshman at Leland, Tillman had muscular forearms and calves, according to Hill, and was extremely athletic. However, Tillman gave up baseball when told he couldn’t make varsity. Hardtke, the football coach, told him he was making a mistake.
“He said, ‘Coach, I’m going to get in the weight room, I’m going to get big and strong and play Division I football,'” Hardtke said. “I told him, ‘Pat, you have a better chance at baseball than you do at football.’ See how smart I was as a coach?”
The weight room and a growth spurt in his junior year contributed to Tillman making good on his promise. In his senior year, Tillman had 31 touchdowns rushing, receiving and returning, plus 110 tackles, three interceptions and 10 sacks on defense to lead the Chargers to the CCS title.
Raised to be respectful, keep his promises and stand up for the vulnerable, Tillman was an excellent student and had his heart set on a Stanford scholarship.
Bill Walsh, in his second stint at Stanford, told Hardtke that Tillman wasn’t big or fast enough.
“Arizona State wound up giving him their last scholarship when someone else backed out,” Hardtke recalled.
(Walsh, according to Hardtke, apologized for his mistake at Tillman’s San Jose memorial).
During his senior year, Tillman, coming to the aid of a friend at a fight in a parking lot outside a pizza parlor, beat up another student, sending him to the hospital. Prosecutors considered felony assault with jail time, which would have meant the loss of the Arizona State scholarship. He ended up being charged with misdemeanor assault and served 30 days in a youth facility and 250 hours of community service.
Although the incident was sealed because of his age, Tillman later told a Sports Illustrated writer about it and said he “learned more from jail than all the good decisions I ever made.”
At Arizona State, Tillman befriended Doug Tammaro, who was in his second year with the sports information department.
“He had long hair, he was goofy, he was loud,” Tammaro said. “He was more outgoing than most, but he wasn’t brazen. He was always respectful and got along with everybody.”
Once at football study hall, Tillman wasn’t particularly engaged and was confronted about it by an academic coach. Tillman, according to Tammaro, responded that he didn’t really need to be there since his grade point average was 3.9.
“As the story goes, she told him, ‘Well, these guys need to see you here,'” Tammaro said. “From that point on, he was fine. He knew other people were looking at him and he had an example to set.”
After a career that included a Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award and ASU’s second-ever Rose Bowl berth, Tillman faced the same skepticism about his ability in the NFL Draft as he did coming out of Leland. He lasted until the seventh round before being taken by the Arizona Cardinals.
The Pat Tillman statue in the second half during an NCAA college football game between Arizona State and New Mexico State, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)Tillman became a standout safety, playing from 1998 through 2001. His decision to enlist in the Army and join the Rangers elite fighting force along with his brother Kevin after the 9/11 attacks surprised friends and family, although they weren’t shocked.
Tillman alerted his inner circle before news broke and urged them to keep their feelings private. He gave no interviews and recoiled at the thought of personal hyperbole, resisting efforts to be used as a recruiting tool.
Alex Garwood was in college at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo when he met Tillman as a 17-year-old senior-to-be. He would become Tillman’s brother-in-law, as his spouse was the sister of Pat’s wife Marie. They went on runs together, and it was on one of those runs that Tillman told Garwood of his reasons for enlisting.
“By the time we got to the bottom of the hill,” Garwood said, “he had answered every question, and it was clear he and his wife had thought it out.”
Garwood, a Tillman Foundation board member who has spoken for the family in the past, still remembers the intersection he was at while driving two years later when his mother-in-law called him on his car phone and hysterically gave him the news.
Hill was with his wife en route to Southern California when he got word. His voice cracked at the memory of turning around and heading for Tillman’s parents’ home in the Almaden Valley.
“It still hurts. Mama T and Papa T let us gather in their front yard and hang out, making banners for when Kevin came back,” Hill said.
Hardtke came to the house with Ronnie Lott, the 49ers safety who inspired Tillman to wear No. 42 in high school and college.
Tillman has impacted the lives of people he never met. Adam Garwood, Alex’s son, was an infant when his uncle passed away, and wore No. 42 in his honor at Los Gatos High and Cal Poly.
“There’s not a family gathering that goes by when we’re together and not talking about him,” Adam Garwood said. “I think about him every day.”
Then there’s Jack Cummings, an East Coast native with no ties to Tillman or Arizona State who named his son “Tillman” because he was so impacted by the news. Cummings lived across the street in Manhattan Beach from a college friend of Tammaro, a random connection that led to Cummings and his son participating in Pat’s Run in Tempe on several occasions.
Related Articles- High School Sports | CCS Top 8: Mountain View runner sets record and Mitty, Bellarmine, Los Altos, Wilcox standouts shine
- High School Sports | Prep roundup: Granada softball hammers homers, De La Salle bats quiet for first time in weeks and more
- High School Sports | Championship bound: Bay Area natives lead Saint Mary’s rugby past BYU and into title game
- High School Sports | Prep roundup: Valley Christian rallies to beat Mitty, De La Salle wins sixth straight, Granada rolls
- High School Sports | Branham athletic director saga takes another turn at latest school board meeting
Cummings’ father was in the military, and when he learned of the news of Tillman’s death, began to ponder naming his son — due that July — after a man he’d never met.
“I hoped that when he told someone his name, maybe it would remind people of Pat,” Cummings said. “I remember saying to my wife, ‘I don’t ask for much, but this is non-negotiable.'”
Tillman Cummings is now a 20-year-old junior at Alabama. Tammaro, who along with Alex Garwood helped start Pat’s Run and the foundation, said he hears each year at the run — the “state’s greatest day” — about children named Patrick in honor of Tillman.
Tammaro may have been one of the last non-family members to talk to Tillman, at a dinner in Seattle. Pat was stationed nearby, waiting to be deployed, when he met Tammaro along with Kevin and Marie.
“There were all these windows, and one of them looked like a door, and he couldn’t get in,” Tammaro said. “I told him, ‘I’m glad to know our national security is in the hands of someone who can’t open a door.’ He started to laugh, and we talked for four hours.”
For all the good done by the Tillman Foundation, Alex Garwood thinks of how it could have been better.
“I feel Pat could have, should have, would have done more,” Garwood said. “Yes, we’re accomplishing stuff in his name, and it’s incredible. But wouldn’t it be much better to see what Pat would have done?”
Runners at the starting line of the 2024 Pat’s Run in Tempe, Arizona on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Yeung Photography/IG: @yeungphotography)Championship-minded 49ers return to NFL Draft’s first-round festivities
SANTA CLARA – Here comes the 49ers’ most dramatic first-round action in an NFL Draft since 2021.
Disclaimer: They haven’t had a first-round pick in either of the past two drafts, by virtue of their ill-fated climb in 2021 to select quarterback Trey Lance at the No. 3 overall slot.
“It’ll be more fun,” coach Kyle Shanahan said last month about Thursday’s opening night of the NFL Draft. “It’s pretty miserable not having a first-round pick, just watching and having nothing to do that first day.”
“It’s nice to be back there,” general manager John Lynch added at last month’s league meeting. “It’s boring sitting there every year, watching everybody pick.”
The 49ers are not slated to pick until No. 31 overall, their consolation prize for finishing as last season’s Super Bowl runner-up to the Kansas City Chiefs, who select No. 32 to cap the first round’s festivities.
It might be unlikely the 49ers stay at No. 31, however.
Their talent-stacked roster is viewed as the Super Bowl favorite by Vegas’ oddsmakers, so if the 49ers feel they are merely a top-notch player away from completing a championship lineup, they could move up the board.
That would take a trade, presumably with some of their 10 allotted picks or perhaps an expendable player such as a disgruntled one who would rather cash in on a contract extension elsewhere. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, by the way, is not their only starter entering his contract’s final season. So are guard Aaron Banks, safety Talanoa Hufanga, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, and cornerbacks Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir; No. 2 running back Elijah Mitchell is, too.
Perhaps the 49ers have been biding their time to make a blockbuster move. The past month’s free agency moves weren’t exactly electric, as roughly a dozen players were signed to replace the dozen who left. Their priciest and most accomplished addition: defensive end Leonard Floyd. Their most notable departure: defensive tackle Arik Armstead.
“The higher you are in the draft, the better players you get to look at,” Lynch said last month. “Being back in the first round, albeit at the end of it, that is an exciting thing for us.”
For the first time since Lynch came aboard as Shanahan’s hand-picked general manager, the 49ers will draft without Lynch’s right-hand man, Adam Peters, who is now the Washington Commanders’ general manager and tasked with presumably drafting a quarterback No. 2 overall.
“I love the draft process,” Lynch added. “Free agency is fun but free agency is crazy. It seems frenetic and very fluid. I like the process of the draft and the way we do it.”
Related Articles- San Francisco 49ers | 20 years after death, Pat Tillman still inspires those who knew him well — and many he never met
- San Francisco 49ers | NFL Draft: Identifying the 49ers’ five greatest positions of need
- San Francisco 49ers | Inman’s mock draft: 49ers add edge rusher barring trade up for offensive tackle
- San Francisco 49ers | 49ers bring back Trent Taylor to reprise his role as punt returner, receiver
- San Francisco 49ers | San Francisco 49ers to provide free license plates, ensuring specialty plate will be printed
Overall, the 49ers have done it well with this regime. Their history of first-round picks, however, has yielded more woes than winners.
In 2017: They traded out of the No. 2 spot, drafted defensive tackle Solomon Thomas at No. 3 (instead of Stanford teammate Christian McCaffrey, who went No. 8 to Carolina, or future Super Bowl nemesis Patrick Mahomes, who went 10th to Kansas City). The 49ers traded up to the No. 31 spot to select linebacker Reuben Foster, only to cut him 19 months later for off-field issues.
In 2018: The No. 9 overall pick brought in right tackle Mike McGlinchey, an entrenched starter for five seasons but one deemed expendable in 2023 free agency, where he cashed out for the Denver Broncos’ riches.
In 2019: Defensive end Nick Bosa was gifted to them at No. 2 overall, once NFC West cohort Arizona used the No. 1 selection on former Oakland A’s draft pick Kyler Murray. Bosa won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, overcame a torn ACL from the 2020 season, won NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022, and signed a massive contract before last season (five years, $170 million) en route to another Super Bowl appearance.
In 2020: After trading DeForest Buckner for the Indianapolis Colts’ first-round pick, the 49ers unsuccessfully attempted to replace him with Javon Kinlaw at pick No. 14. But that first round also brought them Aiyuk once they traded up to the No. 25 spot, just ahead of NFC rival Green Bay. That move cost them the No. 31 pick and a fourth-rounder (to the Vikings).
In 2021: They shipped first-round picks in 2021, ’22 and ’23 (plus a third-rounder) to the Miami Dolphins so they could take a cost-efficient quarterback who could replace an injury-cursed Jimmy Garoppolo. Once Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) and Zach Wilson (Jets) were taken, the 49ers spent the No. 3 pick on Lance. The North Dakota State product went 1-1 as a fill-in starter as a rookie, sustained a fractured ankle in the 2022 home opener, helped tutor Brock Purdy’s late-season emergence, then, during the 2023 preseason, Lance was dealt to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick and spent last season as their No. 3 QB.
“Before we (traded up in 2021), we felt pretty good where our team was,” Shanahan recalled last month. “We knew it was risky. Where our team was at, we didn’t feel we absolutely had to have those (2022 and ‘23) picks.”
Because they weren’t picking in the first round, the past two drafts saw the 49ers scour for later-round gems. Only Purdy, the 262nd and final pick in 2022, has emerged as a full-time starter, though guard Spencer Burford (2022 fourth round), safety Ji’Ayir Brown (2023 third round) and kicker Jake Moody (2023 third round) have played key roles.
“We knew we weren’t going to have (a first-rounder) the last two years, so we didn’t look as much at those top picks. We’ll be prepared for everybody this year,” Shanahan said. “You never know whether we stay where we’re at or if we move around, but at pick No. 31, you have to be ready for anything.”
The 49ers’ 10 picks in this year’s draft:
Round 1: No. 31 overall
Round 2: No. 63
Round 3: No. 94
Round 4: Nos. 124 (from Dallas), 132, 135
Round 5: No. 176
Round 6: Nos. 211, 215
Round 7: No. 251
Despite throwing just 65 innings last year, Jordan Hicks wants to stay in SF Giants’ rotation for good
SAN FRANCISCO — As the Friday night sun started to set at Oracle Park, Jordan Hicks looked into the outfield and thought about the two ERA leaders in the National League.
In first place was Reynaldo Lopez, a 30-year-old right-hander with the Atlanta Braves who began the season with a 0.50 ERA through his first three starts, though he spent the last two seasons as a one-inning relief pitcher.
“Another reliever turned into a starter,” Hicks said with a smirk.
In second place was Hicks (1.57 ERA), a 27-year-old right-hander on the Giants who was one of the game’s best relievers last year while handling the late innings for the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays.
“My goal isn’t to see my name on any list,” he said. “I want to do what I know I’m capable of.”
In the American League, the list looks similar.
As of Friday, the top three qualified pitchers in the A.L. ERA race were the Boston Red Sox’ Kutter Crawford, the Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco and the Kansas City Royals’ Seth Lugo. They all have this in common: They were pitching out of the bullpen at some point in the last two years.
But there’s a simple formula here: relievers who aren’t collecting saves aren’t getting paid, at least not nearly as well as their peers handling the ninth inning, and not even close to as well as those starting the game.
Look at Hicks, who in January signed a four-year, $44-million contract with the Giants. He had a career 3.65 ERA and 9.2 strikeouts per innings, about the same numbers as those posted by starters Charlie Morton, who makes $20 million annually with the Braves, Luis Castillo, who makes $24 million with the Seattle Mariners, and Aaron Nola, who makes $25 million with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hicks’ contract wasn’t a surprise in itself, but then came the kicker: the night he signed with the Giants, ESPN reported that Hicks would not be joining the Giants’ bullpen, but rather their starting rotation in a role he’s held only once, briefly, in five big league seasons.
It was a disaster. It was 2022 and he was told late in spring training he’d be starting the year in the rotation. The Cardinals gave him eight starts. He went 0-4 with a 5.47 ERA while walking 21 batters in 26-1/3 innings.
“That was my first year back after Tommy John surgery and it was tough in general,” Hicks said Friday. “It was a very frustrating year. Even after starting, when I went back to the bullpen, I was working through some different things.
“But it helped. That was my intro to what it was like to go five innings. I went five innings here against the Giants and that feeling, not having it the whole year, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That’s all I wanted to do.”
The next spring, when he was back in the Cardinals’ bullpen, he told MLB.com, “I don’t feel like I got my fair shot” in the rotation.
He wanted another chance. And the Giants are being rewarded for giving him one.
Through four starts this year, Hicks has gone 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA while striking out 18 batters and allowing just six walks in 23 innings.
San Francisco Giants pitchers Jordan Hicks (12) and Logan Webb (62) talk each other after throwing practice during the Spring Training at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)While he averaged more than 100 mph on his two-seam fastball as a starter, Hicks is averaging 95 mph on that pitch this year, a drastic drop in velocity.
As a reliever, “you just empty the tank every day,” he said. “Now I don’t empty the tank. When I get in trouble I just step on the gas a little bit more.”
His two-seamer has been his bread and butter, but he’s throwing it almost 20% less often than he did last year, and he’s throwing it slower, yet the results are even better.
“Even at 98 mph or 102 mph, it has a lot of action, but I think it’s just the way it floats through and it has the late, sharp action with slower velocities,” Hicks said. “But when I got to 98 mph the other day in the fourth inning, I saw some video and it still has the sharp action. It’s just not as big. It’s just a little shorter, quicker, but overall when I’ve gotten in trouble I’ve really stepped on the velo. When I’m cruising I just want early contact. So I want it to look really good and kind of just miss the barrel slightly.”
Pitching to contact is helping him pitch deeper into games, something a lot of relievers often struggle to do when they transition to the rotation.
“Last year I got to a point where I was like, ‘alright, I’m going to try to strike everybody out,’” he said. “I got more strikeouts (11.1 strikeouts per nine innings) than I ever did in my career, but I was always getting in a lot of deep counts. So that doesn’t really translate to going seven innings, or eight or nine, which is obviously the goal.”
Along with his two-seamer and a sweeper, he’s added a split-finger fastball that has been nearly unhittable: he’s thrown 49 of them and has allowed just one hit while batters are whiffing nearly half the time at that pitch.
“I was throwing it in 2019 and it was really effective,” he said. “Really, really effective. And it was always in the back of my mind, but I wanted to wait until I got my contract until I started throwing it again just to make sure. It’s one of those pitches. Now I’m just happy to throw everything I have and not really think about injury at all.”
Related Articles- San Francisco Giants | SF Giants settle for split with Diamondbacks after bats go quiet in finale
- San Francisco Giants | Former Stanford player who spent time with A’s, SF Giants dies in Oakland
- San Francisco Giants | When can SF Giants expect Alex Cobb back after latest setback?
- San Francisco Giants | With Alex Cobb in question, SF Giants add San Jose-born pitcher in trade with Blue Jays
- San Francisco Giants | Patrick Bailey’s big bobblehead day helps SF Giants over D’backs
Pitching every five days has been an adjustment, but he said it’s made pitching more fun. The strategy in going through the order multiple times has been an enjoyable challenge, “instead of just going out there and obliterating my arm and trying to throw as hard as I can,” he said.
But how long can he keep this up?
He threw only 65-2/3 innings last year and has never thrown more than 77-2/3 innings in a big league season. Surely the Giants won’t let him stay in the rotation all year, would they?
“I mean, 150 innings sounds like a lot, but it also sounds very attainable for me,” he said. “But there’s a lot of conversations to be had” with folks in the front office.
He said he’d prefer to start skipping starts if he has to rest his arm later in the year instead of cutting down on his pitch counts or moving to the bullpen.
He hopes to stay in the rotation during his four years with the Giants, then he’ll hit free agency again at 31. His career goal: spend the next decade as a reliable starting pitcher.
“I’m just excited to see what I can do for myself, and prove that I can do it,” he said. “I’ve never had the opportunity. I just want to make the most of it.”
Bay FC loses to KC Current after rough start
Bay FC fell behind early and never caught up Saturday in Kansas City as they lost to the Current, 5-2.
The expansion team gave up two goals in the game’s first six minutes: First, KC forward Bia scored after an ugly Bay FC turnover in the defensive half, then Bayley Feist doubled the Current’s lead with a header assisted by Alex Spaanstra on a secondary action from a corner kick.
Bay FC (2-3-0, 6 points) answered in the 17th minute when Kayla Sharples scored on a cross from Deyna Castellanos off a short corner, but the rest of the half was scoreless and Kansas City (4-0-1, 13 points) again scored twice in quick succession early in the second half, both by Temwa Chawinga on the counter to make it 4-1 in the 62nd minute. The second was a chip from well outside the box as Bay FC keeper Lysianne Proulx was caught in between after a long ball.
Related Articles- Bay FC | Through four games, what we’ve learned from Bay FC
- Bay FC | Bay FC continue magical start to inaugural season with 3-2 comeback win over Seattle
- Bay FC | Four questions as Bay FC hosts Seattle Reign FC at PayPal Park on Sunday
- Bay FC | Racheal Kundananji set the world record for a transfer fee for a women’s soccer player; Sunday, she’ll make her first Bay FC start
- Bay FC | Photos: Ex-NBA stars Andre Iguodala, Pau Gasol attend soldout Bay FC home game
Bia earned her own brace in the 73rd minute, and Tess Boade beat several Current defenders on an impressive individual run to score her first goal of the season for Bay FC in the 78th, well after the game was decided.
Bay FC will return to the field next Saturday with another road game, visiting San Diego Wave FC for a 7 p.m. match at Snapdragon Stadium.
CCS Top 8: Mountain View runner sets record and Mitty, Bellarmine, Los Altos, Wilcox standouts shine
LOS GATOS — Mountain View junior Hannah Rutherford set two meet records Saturday at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet at Los Gatos High.
Rutherford won the 400 meters in a sizzling 53.77 seconds, shattering the previous meet record of 55.29, set by Leigh’s Hawa Kamara in 2018. Rutherford came back to win the 200 in 23.88, breaking a 35-year-old meet record of 24.17, set by Carlmont’s Annette Coleman in 1989.
Both winning times were personal bests by a significant margin for the Mountain View standout.
Her 400 time is the fourth-fastest in CCS history
“I never could have imagined this,” Rutherford said after the 400. “My fastest time this year was 55.05, so I just wanted to maybe PR and get under 55. The weight training I’ve started doing has really helped.”
Her 200 time ranks No. 8 on the all-time CCS list.
Hannah Rutherford of Mountain View sets a meet record of 53.77 seconds in the 400 meter at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)Archbishop Mitty’s Laniah Simpson was the top points earner in the meet, winning both hurdles races as well as placing second in the 100, to lead the Monarchs to the girls team title.
She won the 100 hurdles in 14.50. Los Altos sophomore Daniela Hughes took second (14.68), followed by Mitty’s Taylor Oden and Tiana Osuna.
“My goal this year is to run 14.0.maybe 13.9,” Simpson said. “I’ve been training real hard. It’s nice having both my teammates right next to me because they push me to run faster.”
Hughes nosed out Simpson in the 100 with a winning time of 12.31.
Prospect’s Kylie Hoorvaert is the lone girl from the CCS to crack 2:10 in the 800 this season, clocking a time of 2:09.91 at Arcadia. She ran the 1,600 Saturday and pushed the pace, leading until the final straightaway when Palo Alto’s Kinga Czajkowska kicked past her to win in 4:51.03. Hoornaert’s time was 4:51.43. A terrific race by both runners.
Czajkowska was asked if she felt she could run faster.
“I really hope I do,” she said. “I’ve been ramping up my training, my cross training, and have set really big goals for myself . And I hope I can hit them.”
Monta Vista sophomore Lelani Laruelle won the high jump at 5-8, which equals the best mark in the state thus far this season. Not bad for a girl in just her third year of high jumping. Her best as a freshman was 5-2.
“I want to get better and improve my form and maybe reach 5-10,” she said. “My coaches and my friends have been a big help.”
St. Ignatius sophomore Ellie McCuskey-Hay won the long jump (18-8 ¾) and anchored the winning 4×100 relay team, but scratched from the 100 and 200.
Other winners in the girls meet included Los Gatos’ Taylor Chesarek in the 3,200 (11:03.30), Suraya Newman of St. Ignatius in the triple jump (36-6), Savannah Filios of St. Francis in the shot put (36-2 ¼) and Silver Creek’s Brielle Mosley in the discus (136-2). Los Gatos won the 4×400 relay (3:57.1) and St. Francis took the 4×800 relay (9:52.72)).
Kinga Czajkowska of Palo Alto beats Kylie Hoornaert of Prospect to the finish line in the 1600 meter at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)In the boys portion of the meet, Bellarmine’s James Buellesbach won the 110 high hurdles in a personal best and CCS-leading 14.09, helping the Bells to the boys team title. Buellesbach took second in the high hurdles last year as a junior at the CCS finals.
“The school record at my school is 13.91, I’ve had my sights set on that all year,” he said.
Pioneer junior Carson Hedlund opened some eyes earlier this season, running the 1,600 in 4:07.36 at Arcadia. He won the 800 Saturday in a thrilling battle down the home stretch with Carmel’s Mack Aldi. Hedlund ran 1:54.14 to Aldi’s 1:54.16.
“Like every race I tried to stay calm, focused in the moment,” Hedlund said. “I knew he was going to try to slingshot me on the outside, which is what I would’ve tried to do. He ran a great race. With 50 or 60 left he pulled up on my shoulder. I was lucky I had that extra gear.”
Los Altos’ Nathaniel Guillory was a double winner in the 100 (10.64) and 200 (21.30).
“I’ve been lifting every day and it’s just a matter of executing at that point,” Guillory said. “The work has been put in, now it’s just a matter of staying positive.”
Tyson Bonilla, better known as the quarterback of the Wilcox football team, won the long jump at 22-5 ½. He has a CCS-best of 23-6 this year.
“End of the season I’m hoping to break the 24-foot mark,” Bonilla said. “If I can do 24 I might get some interest from D-I, D-II schools. If not I’ll play football at (College of) San Mateo.”
Tyson Bonilla of Wilcox wins the long jump at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)Benjamin Bouie of Crystal Springs Uplands won the boys 1,600 (4:11.16). He had a small lead heading into the final lap and then turned it on, pulling away.
“Being able to find the gears, to kick off a fast pace when you’re hurting, that’s what I’ve been working on, and it came together in this race,” Bouie said.
Other winning performances in the boys meet were turned in by Monta Vista’s Denny Dong, who leaned at the finish to win the 400 in 48.82, just ahead of St. Francis’ Sean Walsh (48.85), Thomas Zang of St. Ignatius in the 300 hurdles (38.53), Tarik Baker of Crystal Springs Uplands in the 3,200 (9:28.99), Bellarmine’s Kenneth Tucker in the triple jump (45-7 ¾), Serra’s Luke Lewis in the shot put (55-5 ¼), Branham’s Kazu Kimura, in the high jump at 6-6, as well as placing third in the long jump, and Gunn’s Owen Koehler in the discus (159-6). Mitty won the 4×100 relay (41.92) and Bellarmine took the 4×400 (3:24.82).
Denny Dong of Monta Vista, right, smiles after hearing he beat out Sean Walsh of St. Francis, left by three-hundredth of a second in the 400 meter at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Denny Dong of Monta Vista, left, edges out Sean Walsh of St. Francis by three-hundredth of a second in the 400 meter at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Kylie Hoornaert of Prospect sets the pace in the 1600 meter ahead of Anna Salter of Crystal and eventual race winner Kinga Czajkowska of Palo Alto at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Kinga Czajkowska of Palo Alto wins the 1600 meter at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Jeovanni Henley of Serra cruises to victory in his seeded 400 meter race at the Central Coast Section Top 8 meet, Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)Prep roundup: Granada softball hammers homers, De La Salle bats quiet for first time in weeks and more
Delaney Aumua’s two-out home run over the center field wall gave Granada the lead in the top of the seventh inning, a lead Granada would not relinquish after pitcher Ella VonBergen closed out the game with a pop up, lineout and groundout.
Aumua wasn’t the only Matador that showed off some serious power. Saskia Raab, Alecsis Phillips and Hannah Temple also hit home runs for Granada, which improved to 7-9 on the season.
Avery Rodriguez had three hits and two RBIs for College Park, which dropped to 8-5.
Granada has played better as of late after a wretched start to the season. It has won 5 of its last 7, with the two losses coming in extra-innings and by one run respectively.
No. 7 Willow Glen 5, No. 8 Hillsdale 4Two of the hottest teams in the Bay Area met up on Saturday, with Willow Glen winners of eight in a row and Hillsdale victors in 10 of its previous 11.
In a five-inning game, Willow Glen scored five in the first two innings and then held on at the end, staving off a comeback as Hillsdale put up four in the top of the fifth. Willow Glen’s superb pitcher Alanna Clincy struck out 11 while also going 2 for 3 with two RBI at the plate.
Claire Shelton was 2 for 3 with three RBIs while Hillsdale ended the day 18-2. Willow Glen finished Saturday 14-4. Both teams won their other game, Willow Glen beat Notre Dame Salinas 5-1 and Hillsdale taking down Santa Teresa 7-4.
Granada 8, No. 11 Liberty 3Granada inched closer to .500 after taking down ranked Liberty on Saturday afternoon. Sarah Deplitch was 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs, and Madison Hom, Lauren Melton, Delaney Aumua and Alecsis Phillips each had an RBI.
Kamryn Brannon and Ella VonBergen combined for five strikeouts for Granada, which improved to 8-9 in the non-league game. Jewel Cooper was 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs for Liberty, which dropped to 12-3.
No. 10 Benicia 4, No. 5 California 3Benicia went seven innings between runs scored, but that didn’t matter to the Panthers, who put up three in the first inning and then scored the deciding run on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch in the top of the ninth inning.
Aryanna Banks-Lockhart pushed the winning run home when she was plunked by a pitch, her second RBI of the game. Ava Rojas and Kyra Mason had three hits each for Benicia, and Ava Pannell had an RBI.
California’s Amanda Dilsaver was 1 for 3 with an RBIs, and Reese Stiner was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. The Grizzlies dropped to 9-7.Benicia also defeated Amador Valley 4-0 to improve to 13-1.
Westmont 8, Menlo-Atherton 5Westmont got a rare victory in what has been an otherwise dismal year following the program’s trip to the Central Coast Section Division I title game last season.
The Warriors improved to 3-18 in the five-inning game. Eleanor Rodhouse hit a home run, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs, and teammate Lily Ortiz hit two doubles and had three RBIs too. Westmont junior Maddie Crowley had three hits. Menlo-Atherton fell to 6-8 after the nonleague loss.
Baseball De La Salle’s Jamie Mullin (20 leans back from a tight pitch during their game against San Ramon Valley at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, Calif., on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Jesuit-Carmichael 5, No. 5 De La Salle 2Things started well for De La Salle’s torrid offense.
The bats picked up where they left off over the past week or so, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Ethan Sullivan and Hank Tripaldi both had RBIs.
But for the first time since March 28 against St. Francis, Jesuit figured out the DLS hitters and held the Spartans to single digit runs. It was De La Salle’s first loss since Dougherty Valley upset the Concord powerhouse 6-5 on March 27.
De La Salle had scored 101 runs in those six straight victories.
Jesuit’s Eric Jensen and Max Wiesner had three and two RBIs respectively, and pitcher Garrett Valdez went five innings and did not give up another run after the first inning while also not striking out a single batter.
De La Salle fell to 12-4.
No. 13 Burlingame 5, Palo Alto 4Burlingame senior Dylan Kall walked off the Panthers with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning, with help from some iffy Palo Alto fielding, Will Robbins got from first to home amid the mayhem.
Burlingame fought back from a 4-0 deficit entering the bottom of the sixth, with both Eric Gee and Kall having two hits, and left fielder Dylan Philibosian also having an RBI. Gee drove in teammate Rodrigo Beltranena to tie the game in the seventh inning.
Jonathan Nguyen and KangHee Cho had RBIs for Palo Alto, which dropped to 10-11. Burlingame improved to 12-5.
Sharks’ Grier not ruling out coaching change after rock bottom season
SAN JOSE – The 2023-2024 San Jose Sharks reconvened for one last time Saturday, hoping they would never have to experience another season like the one they just endured.
“If this isn’t (rock bottom),” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said, “I don’t know what is.”
After missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season, minor and possibly major changes will be in store for a Sharks team that won less than 20 games and finished last in the NHL standings with a paltry 47 points.
Along with the expected adjustments in personnel, with a handful of unrestricted free agents allowed to walk, Grier would not completely rule out a coaching change, saying he and owner Hasso Plattner would review everything after the Sharks finished the season at 19-54-9.
Asked if Sharks coach David Quinn will be back for a third season, Grier said, “I’m still kind of getting all the information I can and we’ll kind of go from there.”
Expectations were modest for the Sharks this season as they were not believed to be anywhere near a playoff team, especially after they traded high-scoring winger Timo Meier and three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson in 2023.
Compounding the issue for the Sharks were injuries to key players, particularly captain Logan Couture and defenseman Matt Benning. The Sharks also traded Tomas Hertl on March 8, and after the deal, finished the final few weeks with a 4-14-3 record.
For the season, the Sharks allowed a league-worst 326 goals.
Asked specifically about Quinn and his assistants, Grier said, “I think they did a good job communicating and motivating the players throughout the year. (It) would have been easy to throw your hands up and not put in the effort and go through extra video sessions and talk with the players and try and get the players better.
“So I think they did a really good job with that in this situation. It was something that was needed and that they should be proud of.”
Quinn, hired by Grier in July 2022, has a 41-98-25 record with the Sharks as the organization fully committed to a rebuild.
Since Grier was named GM, just weeks before he hired Quinn, the Sharks have turned over most of their roster, and besides trading Meier, Karlsson and Hertl, also dealt Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns in 2022.
Throughout the season, the Sharks were never able to dress centermen Couture, Hertl, Mikael Granlund, and Nico Sturm in the same game. With three of those players in the lineup simultaneously, the Sharks were 11-8-2 this season.
Quinn said this was his most challenging year as a coach at any level. Asked to evaluate his own performance this season, Quinn said, “It was really morale, managing the morale when you’re in the situation we’re in. You’ve got to coach the team you have, you’ve got to coach the situation you have, and It was morale-driven.
“In the meetings we’ve had, the guys felt good about coming here every day, regardless of the circumstances. That was that was our job.”
Asked about the circumstances he dealt with, including the injuries, Quinn said, “I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, but I do know what our record is when we only had three of our centers. It was a decent sample size so I do wonder what it would have been like if our centers had stayed healthy.
“Not saying we’d be in the Stanley Cup Finals, but I think the pain would have been a lot less severe. .,. I feel good about the job we’ve done.”
Grier said pending UFAs Alexander Barabanov, Mike Hoffman, and Kevin Labanc will not return.
Labanc’s nameplate had actually been removed from his locker – the only one that was removed — and as interviews with players were going on inside the Sharks’ dressing room, Labanc came in and grabbed his equipment, which had already been packed, and abruptly left, ending his Sharks tenure after eight years with 225 points in 478 games.
Other changes are likely forthcoming as the Sharks hope to take a step forward next season. The Sharks have close to $38 million in cap space right now, per CapFriendly, but Grier said he will likely not sign anyone to pricey, long-term contracts this summer.
Instead, with the Sharks wanting to become a harder team to play against, he wants to add certain types of players that fit that identity.
Related Articles- San Jose Sharks | Sharks’ Couture on what makes his injury so tough, and his future in San Jose
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks’ GM Mike Grier gives update on top prospect’s status
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks get clarity on Penguins’ draft pick; Brent Burns trade revisited
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks’ season ends with a whimper as NHL draft lottery awaits
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks update: A check on leadership; NHL history will be made vs. Flames
“We definitely need to get faster and be harder to play against,” Grier said. “On my side, that’s through free agency or trades, looking at adding players that fit the bill.
“We have roster space and cap flexibility to be able to try and add and target some guys. So hopefully, whether that’s through free agency or a trade, we’ll be able to add some guys that fit that profile.”
Whatever happens, the Sharks hope they’ll never have another season like this for a long time.
“I mean, we need a lot of change,” Sturm said. “If you come back with 90% the same constellation, I don’t see how you would expect much different results.”
Cal quarterbacks battle in spring showcase event
BERKELEY — The Cal football spring showcase turned out to be a showcase for the Bears’ top two quarterbacks and a handful of starters mixed in with lesser-known players.
Cal held out 25 players, including star running back Jadyn Ott, from its spring game on a sunny Saturday afternoon in front of an estimated crowd of 2,500 fans at Memorial Stadium. Others kept on the sidelines for cautionary reasons included defensive starters Cade Uluave, Craig Woodson, Marcus Harris, David Reese and Xavier Carlton.
The two-hour event, televised by Pac-12 Network, was a fan experience as much as anything. Cal accepted children’s book donations to its summer reading program and players signed autographs afterward.
Recruits, including those in the transfer portal, watched from the sidelines.
The Bears, headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference next fall after more than a century in the Pac-12, expect to add several more players, including perhaps help at outside linebacker and offensive line. A third scholarship quarterback may also be on the transfer portal shopping list.
The quarterback competition this spring has involved redshirt sophomore incumbent Fernando Mendoza dueling newcomer Chandler Rogers. Mendoza is listed as the starter and nothing that happened in 15 spring practices changed that.
“Both of those guys have done a really good job this spring,” said Cal coach Justin Wilcox, who declined to provide a timetable for firming up the pecking order. “Fernando is a better player now than he was and that’s exactly what we’re looking for. Chandler’s done a really good job as well. They’re different styles of player but both of those guys can play. We just want to continue to grow those guys.”
On Saturday, Mendoza was 6-for-9 for 92 yards, including a 60-yard completion to Trond Grizzell on the first snap of the scrimmage and a 15-yard touchdown pass to Notre Dame transfer Tobias Merriweather.
Rogers, who passed for 3,382 yards with 29 touchdowns last fall at North Texas, was 4-for-10 for 29 yards with an interception.
Mendoza, who took over as Cal’s starter at midseason last year, said he’s a different player since spring ball began. “You watch the Day 1 tape for myself and then today’s tape, my footwork was a lot better, my accuracy is a lot better, I’m bigger and stronger so I feel really confident going into the summer.
“The competition has been great for me. I think it’s always good to have someone to push you. But I want to play to my ceiling, to my potential.”
Rogers said he believes both quarterbacks have made progress, especially digesting new offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch’s scheme.
Asked if he anticipates being here in the fall, regardless of how the competition shakes out, Rogers said, “I plan to be here. I plan to be the guy.”
MORE CHANGE COMING
Related Articles- College Sports | Cal Bears cap most successful gymnastics season in program history with runner-up finish at NCAA Championships
- College Sports | Championship bound: Bay Area natives lead Saint Mary’s rugby past BYU and into title game
- College Sports | Mailbag: Next steps for the ‘Pac-2’ schools and a possible reverse merger with the Mountain West
- College Sports | Oregon preps for Big Ten with stout balance sheet, no campus support
- College Sports | Jaden Rashada on the move again: Former Pittsburg star enters transfer portal
Spring football is over but there’s no rest for the coaching staff, thanks to the transfer portal.
“There will be activity, both ways. That’s just the era we live in in college football,” said Wilcox, who will hold meetings with players next week to conduct post-spring evaluations. “Then we evaluate our roster, the needs we have and the areas we can improve in the transfer portal.”
Wilcox said other than placekicker, there isn’t an area on the team where the Bears wouldn’t explore a potential newcomer. “I don’t think there’s a position that’s off limits,” he said.
EXTRA POINTS
Redshirt junior and East Bay native Nate Rutchena, a linebacker his first three seasons, has been moved to tight end and he caught a touchdown pass Saturday from reserve quarterback Belay Brummel . . . Coaches praised redshirt freshman Nick Morrow, who has taken over the starting left tackle job. Bloesch called the 6-foot-8, 305-pounder biggest surprise among offensive players this spring . . . The Bears open their season on Aug. 31 at home vs. UC Davis. Their ACC debut is Sept. 21 at Florida State.
Josh Naylor hits a two-run HR and himself with his bat, helping the Guardians beat the Athletics 6-3
By BRIAN DULIK (Associated Press)
CLEVELAND (AP) — Josh Naylor hit a two-run homer and celebrated by striking himself on the helmet with his bat, providing the Cleveland Guardians with the go-ahead run in a 6-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night.
Naylor’s drive in the fifth off Alex Wood drove in Steven Kwan, giving Cleveland a 4-2 lead. The animated slugger delivered a two-handed smack to his head as the ball cleared the fence in right-center, then spiked the lumber onto the grass.
“I always just try to be your best self in any situation,” a much calmer Naylor said after the game. “It was a cool moment, but it was for the boys and that’s all I really play for. When we get punched, we punch back.”
Two innings later, Naylor again drove in Kwan, with an RBI single off Austin Adams. He is hitting .429 with five homers, 11 RBIs and eight runs in eight home games this season.
“In moments like that, he becomes Josh Naylor,” Kwan said. “That’s the inner competitor. And off the field, he’s the stereotypical Canadian, the nicest guy ever who takes care of his people.”
Kwan doubled twice and had two singles — his MLB-high sixth three-hit game — and José Ramírez and Ramón Laureano had RBI doubles for the Guardians, who have the best record in the American League at 15-6.
Cleveland and rookie manager Stephen Vogt have won six of their last seven and are off to their best start through 21 games since 1999.
“That’s Josh Naylor, man, he’s emotional and charismatic,” Vogt said. “As long as he didn’t concuss himself, I’m all right with the celebration.”
Guardians starter Logan Allen (3-0) pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances.
Max Schuemann tied the score at 2-2 in the fifth with his first big league hit, a homer, prompting an emotional celebration by his family in the stands. Schuemann, a 26-year-old who made his debut on April 12, also stole a base.
Ryan Noda had a solo homer in the fifth and Shea Langeliers added a sixth-inning sacrifice fly for Oakland.
Wood (0-2) gave up four runs in five innings, lowering his ERA to 7.89 through five starts.
Ramírez and Laureano opened the scoring in the first with sharp RBI doubles just inside the third base line. Laureano spent 5 1/2 years with the Athletics before being claimed off waivers by Cleveland last Aug. 7.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: 3B J.D. Davis (right groin strain) has not resumed baseball activities, but was cleared to walk on a treadmill Friday. Davis is eligible to come off the 10-day IL on April 25.
Guardians: LHP Sam Hentges (left middle finger inflammation) worked one scoreless inning, throwing 10 strikes in 14 pitches, in his initial rehab outing for Double-A Akron on Friday.
UP NEXT
Athletics RHP Ross Stripling (0-4, 5.32 ERA) takes on Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (1-0, 4.82 ERA) in the three-game series finale. Stripling is tied for the major league lead in losses, while Bibee has averaged 4.7 innings and 4.5 strikeouts in his first four starts.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
With Alex Cobb in question, SF Giants add starting pitcher in trade with Blue Jays
SAN FRANCISCO — With Alex Cobb suffering a second setback in his recovery from offseason surgery, the Giants began shifting the eggs in their starting rotation to another basket. On Saturday, they struck a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays to acquire Mitch White and transferred Cobb to the 60-day injured list.
White, 29, gives the Giants additional depth in their bullpen and rotation. He has appeared in 62 career games between the Blue Jays and Dodgers, starting 22 of them, with a 4.99 ERA, but was designated for assignment by Toronto this week when the Blue Jays activated two pitchers from the IL.
Related Articles- San Francisco Giants | Patrick Bailey’s big bobblehead day helps SF Giants over D’backs
- San Francisco Giants | Watch: Jung Hoo Lee slugs first home run at Oracle Park
- San Francisco Giants | Kai-Wei Teng to return to starting rotation in Triple-A; Sean Hjelle takes his spot in SF Giants bullpen
- San Francisco Giants | What’s happening with Blake Snell? Reigning Cy Young winner clobbered again as Giants lose, 17-1, to Arizona
- San Francisco Giants | Investigation underway after former SF Giants coach posts video showing him in inflight cockpit
Cobb, 36, is now no longer eligible to return any sooner than May 27.
After breezing through the first stages of his return from hip surgery, Cobb has been slowed by ailments in his throwing arm as he attempts to build up his workload for the season. He felt tightness in his shoulder once he was cleared to resume throwing following a flexor strain in his elbow.
There was some hope he could join the Giants rotation around the start of May but now will be delayed at least an extra few weeks.
White, the 65th overall selection in the 2016 draft, starred for Bellarmine Prep before going on to play collegiately at Santa Clara.
Cal Bears cap most successful gymnastics season in program history with runner-up finish at NCAA Championships
The Cal women’s gymnastics team capped the best season in program history with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Second-ranked LSU edged the No. 3 Bears 198.225-197.8500. Top-ranked and two-time defending champion Oklahoma was eliminated in the semifinals on Thursday.
Utah was third with a 197.800 and Florida was fourth at 197.4375.
“Our expectation now is to certainly compete with the very best on the final night of the national championships,” co-head coach Justin Howell said. “This experience will be invaluable to everyone returning on the team. They know what it takes and what it feels like. I think as a program we have learned a lot. This is the expectation moving forward.”
Sophomore eMjae Frazier helped lead the Bears by scoring at least 9.9 on each of the four rotations. Cal junior Mya Lauzon tied for first in the vault with a 9.95.
The Bears began the meet with a strong balance beam score of 49.4750, led by Frazier’s 9.95. After a 49.3750 on the floor exercise dropped them to third, the Bears began to fight their way back with team scores of 49.500 on the vault and the uneven bars. Frazier (9.9375) and freshman Kyen Mayhew (9.9) led the way on vault while Frazier (9.9125), senior Gabby Perea (9.9125) and junior Maddie Williams (9.90).
Cal moved past Utah and into second place with its final bars scores.
LSU, which finished fourth last year, trailed Utah by 0.037 points and led Cal by 0.113 after three rotations but senior Sierra Ballard kicked off the fourth and final rotation with a career-high 9.950 — her only routine of the day. Savannah Schoenherr followed with a 9.3875 before Konnor McClain posted the best score of the day on the beam (9.9624). Kiya Johnson, Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan each scored 9.950 to help the Tigers to a program record on the beam with a with a 49.7625 and seal the Tigers’ first NCAA title in program history.
Bryant, who won the individual all-around title on Thursday with a score of 39.7125, and Cal’s eMjae Frazier matched that total on Saturday to tie for best individual score in the team finals.
Bryant posting a team-leading 9.9375 on the floor as LSU finished with 49.6125 to take the lead after Rotation 1. The Golden Bears were 0.1375 behind, led by Frazier’s 9.9500 on the beam.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related Articles- College Sports | Cal quarterbacks battle in spring showcase event
- College Sports | Championship bound: Bay Area natives lead Saint Mary’s rugby past BYU and into title game
- College Sports | Mailbag: Next steps for the ‘Pac-2’ schools and a possible reverse merger with the Mountain West
- College Sports | Oregon preps for Big Ten with stout balance sheet, no campus support
- College Sports | Jaden Rashada on the move again: Former Pittsburg star enters transfer portal
Championship bound: Bay Area natives lead Saint Mary’s rugby past BYU and into title game
MORAGA – Mario Storti easily handled BYU’s drop kick, something akin to a punt, and began to glide along the grass at Saint Mary’s College.
Instead of trying to make four or five opponents miss, he offloaded the ball to playmaking fly-half Inoke Waqavesi, who faked one pass as he hopped in the air, and then accelerated through a gap.
The Gael senior deked one more time to unsettle BYU’s already shaky defense, and then finally popped a quick pass to Mario’s older brother Erich on his left, who motored into the try zone for another Saint Mary’s five-pointer.
In a game that was closer than the final score indicated, the Gaels took down BYU 48-31. SMC will travel to Houston to play against defending national champion Navy for the Division I title on May 4.
“When stuff doesn’t go our way, we stick to our game plan and don’t play as individuals,” Erich Storti said. “We did a good job of persevering today.”
De La Salle alumni Dom Besag and Erich Storti each scored two tries, and Iosefa Toiaivao, Kaipono Kayoshi, Hunter Modlin and Sosaia Pongi each scored once as the Gaels pulled away from the Cougars late.
“We know that Navy is going to give us everything we can handle.” said SMC coach Tim O’Brien, who has won three 15-man national titles and also guided the Gaels to the 2022 final, a loss to Army.
Saint Mary’s beat BYU 38-21 in Provo a month ago, and an even bigger rout seemed to be in the cards early on. The Gaels showcased the same quick-hitting passing attack that befuddled Cal the week before, carving up the Cougars in every area of the pitch.
Besag started the scoring 10 minutes into the game when he shrugged off a tackler and scored on the left flank.
Menlo-Atherton’s own Pongi made it 10-0 when he used his speed to race in from the right wing, and then Toiaivao helped make it 17-0 at the 20-minute mark when he used a couple of nasty jukes to get into the try zone up the middle.
MORAGA – Saint Mary’s fly-half Inoke Waqavesi (holding gatorade bottle) leads the team in postgame celebration. Saint Mary’s College rugby team defeated BYU 48-31 in the 2024 College Rugby Division I-A national semifinal playoff game at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. on April 20, 2024 (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group)Down by three scores, BYU finally showed why it was in the national semifinal. Using its brawn, plus a few unforced SMC errors and turnovers that had O’Brien fuming under the trees on the Gael sideline, the Cougars rolled off 17 straight points of their own.
“We really hurt ourselves massively, and we didn’t take advantage of some of the gaps in their defense we could have,” O’Brien said. “We tried to move some balls to places they shouldn’t be, and we’re lucky they didn’t pick off a few of our passes.”
BYU scored the first 10 points after halftime to tie the game at 17. Storti then responded with a quick try off a scrum that had Besag raising his hands in celebration before his teammate had even touched down with 27 minutes left to play.
Related Articles- College Sports | Cal quarterbacks battle in spring showcase event
- College Sports | Cal Bears cap most successful gymnastics season in program history with runner-up finish at NCAA Championships
- College Sports | Mailbag: Next steps for the ‘Pac-2’ schools and a possible reverse merger with the Mountain West
- College Sports | Oregon preps for Big Ten with stout balance sheet, no campus support
- College Sports | Jaden Rashada on the move again: Former Pittsburg star enters transfer portal
Three minutes later, Kayoshi’s long run saw him dragging a couple of BYU defenders into the try zone to give the Gaels some breathing room and provide the 3,000 or so fans a reason to breathe easy.
The backs got to score the tries and bask in the adulation of the Moraga crowd, but the Saint Mary’s forwards also held their own against BYU’s big and burly players.
Hunter Chuhlantseff, Nate Deegan, John Wilson, San Francisco’s Cathal Coakley, Lleyton Delzell and Matthew Abbes were stalwarts as tacklers and in scrums. The versatile King Matu, who went to Deer Valley High in Antioch, also set the tone not just as a bruising ball-carrier, but as a willing tackler who pushed runners back.
BYU cut the lead to 29-24 with 17 minutes left, but Saint Mary’s scored three of the final four tries to salt the game away. Besag put a bow on SMC’s 18th victory of the season when he broke through a demoralized Cougar line and jumped into the zone for the final five points.
“We were far from perfect today,” Besag said. “But we’re super-pumped (to go to Houston), because it’s everything we’ve ever been working for.”
MORAGA – Saint Mary’s College openside flanker Kaipono Kayoshi (7) scores a try with 24 minutes left in the second half. Saint Mary’s College rugby team defeated BYU 48-31 in the 2024 College Rugby Division I-A national semifinal playoff game at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. on April 20, 2024 (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group)Sharks’ Couture on what makes his injury so tough, and his future in San Jose
SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is hopeful he’ll be able to play again this fall but admitted he still has some lingering concerns that his nagging groin injury will never completely go away.
“With injuries, that’s the way it always goes,” said Couture, who played in just six of 82 games this season. “The mind is always going to doubt that things are going to be back to normal or feel good. But myself, the doctors, we all believe that I can get back to playing and not being in pain, which is where I’m at right now.
“My day-to-day life has been back to normal, so I’m thankful for that. But we’ll see.”
Couture missed all of training camp and the first 45 games of the regular season with an often painful and debilitating condition called osteitis pubis, described as inflammation in the joint between a person’s left and right pubic bones.
After some setbacks earlier in the season, Couture began working with a San Francisco-based physiotherapist in December and started to see some improvement. He rejoined the Sharks’ lineup on Jan. 20, but his symptoms soon returned, and he was able to play just six games before he was shelved again in February.
Couture said after his last game of the season, on Jan. 31 in Anaheim against the Ducks, it was about another seven to eight weeks “to not be in pain every day.”
Getting past the injury is so difficult, Couture said, because the inflammation in that joint is “so tough for it to go away because you’re continuously using that joint.
“When you take a step or get out of bed, you’re using that joint,” Couture said, “so I think it’s just because it lingers for so long and the impact that it can have on your life. If you broke a bone, you know it’s going to be better in six weeks or whatever.
“But this thing is so unknown and the pain and what happens to your body is so severe. it’s just a tough injury.”
Couture said he’s spoken with a few NHL players who have had osteitis pubis about getting past the injury.
“Guys are going through it right now around the league,” Couture said. “Some guys are doing a little bit better. Some guys (symptoms) aren’t as severe as mine (were) and they’re a little bit younger.
“Another guy who’s a little bit older than me was able to get through it and he told me, ‘The hardest thing you’re going to do is get over this injury.’ He had an injury where he broke his fibula, and he said, ‘I’d take that 100 times over osteitis pubis.’ So it’s tough. But it can be done.”
With his offseason, Couture said his routine might not change that much. He’ll train a bit differently with his rehabilitation in mind and continue to do the exercises he was doing in San Francisco.
He wants to begin skating in July and after visiting with friends and family in Canada, Couture will return to San Jose in August and resume skating and training with the Sharks strength and conditioning coaches.
As of now, Couture feels he can start training camp in September as a full participant.
“That’s my plan right now,” Couture said. “I met with the doctor just 20 minutes ago, and that’s their belief. That’s what I’m hoping for. I miss playing hockey so much, so I hope so.”
The Sharks this season were 4-1-1 with Couture in the lineup. But they never had a game in which all four of their centermen — Couture, Tomas Hertl, Mikael Granlund, and Nico Sturm — all dressed on the same night and were 19-54-9 for the season.
“Losing sucks,” Couture said. “Losing sucks for the players, it sucks for the coaches, it sucks for the fans, people that spend their money to come watch us play. I was fortunate to be here through many, many great years when that building was full every night, continuously. The team was good.
“I hope that we can get back there and I hope I’m around this team when we get back to that point.”
“It would be everything,” to get Couture back, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “He’s our captain and he’s the biggest part of this team, really. I feel really bad for him with how the year went for him. He’s a competitor he wants to be out there. I know he’s dying to be out there.”
Couture has three years to go after this season on an eight-year, $64 million contract. He’s seen Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, and Erik Karlsson all move onto teams that are in a more competitive window, although Karlsson and the Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs by three points.
Trading Couture at this point would be next to impossible for Sharks general manager Mike Grier. Besides Couture’s uncertain future considering his injury, the Sharks have used up their three salary retention spots through the 2024-2025 season in the Burns, Karlsson and Hertl deals.
Not many teams would be able to absorb Couture’s $8 million cap hit — or would want to considering his age. Any Couture deal would have to wait until the summer of 2025 when Burns’ salary comes off the Sharks’ books and after the Guelph, Ontario native shows he can still be a productive player.
Related Articles- San Jose Sharks | Sharks’ Grier not ruling out coaching change after rock bottom season
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks’ GM Mike Grier gives update on top prospect’s status
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks get clarity on Penguins’ draft pick; Brent Burns trade revisited
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks’ season ends with a whimper as NHL draft lottery awaits
- San Jose Sharks | Sharks update: A check on leadership; NHL history will be made vs. Flames
Couture has 701 points in 933 career regular-season NHL games, all with the Sharks. When San Jose regularly made the playoffs, Couture was one of the team’s most valuable players, with 101 points in 116 postseason games.
“I have a history of being a productive player in this league,” Couture said, “but I’m going to have to come back and show it for teams to have interest in me and that’s just the way it is.
“I love San Jose, I believe in what they’re doing here. Obviously a terrible, terrible season, but I think this is rock bottom. They’re growing this organization in the proper way, even though you may not see it right now with how tough this season was.
“But we’ll see. I just turned 35, so the clock for me playing in this league is probably on the back nine. But I want to win. I miss playing in the playoffs. I’m going to try and get back playing. Obviously, I see guys that were here the last couple of years have gone on. Some are in the playoffs and some aren’t.”