Brink gets 400th win

NEW MIDDLETOWN — Former Salem High School basketball coach Jeff Brink earned his 400th career win as Springfield edged Mineral Ridge 48-35 on Tuesday night.

Brink coached five seasons at Springfield from 1998 to 2003 then moved onto Salem for three seasons before settling in Hudson for 14 years. Brink returned to Springfield in 2021.

Alberto Mendoza announces transfer from Indiana

Less than 24 hours after being crowned a national champion with Indiana, Alberto Mendoza has announced his transfer to Georgia Tech.

He announced his decision Tuesday in a joint Instagram post with the On3 transfer portal account.

Mendoza was Indiana’s primary backup under his older brother, Fernando, as a redshirt freshman in 2025. He appeared in nine games and completed 18 of 24 passes for five touchdowns and an interception. He added 190 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

Alberto played in one game as a true freshman in 2024 behind sixth-year quarterback Kurtis Rourke.

He joins the Yellow Jackets, who got off to their first 8-0 start since 1966 under coach Brent Key and quarterback Haynes King in 2025. Georgia Tech lost three of its last four regular-season games against N.C. State, Pitt and Georgia, ending the team’s shot at the ACC title game.

The Yellow Jackets earned a spot in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, where they allowed two fourth-quarter touchdowns and lost 25-21 to BYU.

It was King’s last year of eligibility after a six-year collegiate career. He was Georgia Tech’s starter for three years after transferring from Texas A&M.

Alberto Mendoza had previously spoken with coach Curt Cignetti about his intent to stay with Indiana, despite the team bringing in former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover through the transfer portal. Cignetti spoke about the younger Mendoza’s future with the team on Saturday ahead of the championship game.

“We’ll see what happens there with Alberto,” Cignetti said. “I think he’s got a good future. I like him a lot as a player. We’ll see what the future holds.”

Kent State falls to ranked opponent

KENT (AP) — Peter Suder had 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, Elan Elmer added 25 points and No. 25 Miami (Ohio) remained unbeaten, rallying past Kent State 107-101 in overtime Tuesday night before a standing-room-only crowd at Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

Ranked for the first time since 1999, the RedHawks had to rally in the final minute to force overtime. Miami is off to the best start in Mid-American Conference history at 20-0 overall and 8-0 in conference play.

It was also the 700th MAC win for the RedHawks.

Miami, top-ranked Arizona and No. 7 Nebraska are the lone unbeaten teams in Division I.

Rob Whaley Jr. had season highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds while Cian Medley scored 23 for the Golden Flashes (14-5, 5-2 MAC).

Kent State fell to 0-13 at home when facing a ranked program.

Cian Medley’s 3-pointer with 56.2 seconds remaining put Kent State up 92-88 before Miami scored the final four points of regulation. Medley committed a turnover with 11 seconds remaining and the RedHawks tied it on Luke Skaljac’s layup with 6 seconds left.

Miami scored the first six points of overtime and never trailed in the extra session. Elmer had a layup and Skaljac hit a 3-pointer to give the RedHawks a 97-92 advantage.

Miami led 48-34 at halftime and was up 52-39 early in the second half before Kent State went on a 20-7 run to tie it. The Flashes went 8 of 10 from the field during the rally, including three 3-pointers.

Whaley had nine points during the run, including a 3-pointer to tie it at 59-all with 13:21 remaining.

The Golden Flashes took their first lead when Rayvon Griffith’s fast-break dunk off Whaley’s steal and assist made it 67-66 with 9:09 remaining. That was the first of nine lead changes.

Kent State will play at Eastern Michigan on Saturday, while Miami hosts UMass on Jan. 27.

Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones elected to HOF

NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Beltr’n fielded a question about the impact of his role in the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal as deftly as he grabbed so many balls hit to him in center field.

“There’s no doubt the Astros situation has been a topic,” he said, “not positive toward my way. … There’s no doubt that in baseball you’re going to go through ups an downs and you’re going to make good decisions, so-so decisions, right, and also you’re going to make bad decisions.”

Beltran was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame Tuesday along with Andruw Jones, center fielders who excelled at the plate and with their gloves.

Making his fourth appearance of the ballot, Beltran received 358 of 425 votes for 84.2% from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, 39 above the 319 needed for the 75% threshold. Jones, in the ninth of 10 possible appearances, was picked on 333 ballots for 78.4%.

Beltran moved up steadily from 46.5% in 2023 to 57.1% the following year and 70.3% in 2025, when he fell 19 votes short as Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected.

Beltran was hired as the New York Mets’ manager on Nov. 1, 2019, then fired on Jan. 16, 2020, without having managed a game, three days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in a report by Major League Baseball regarding the team’s illicit use of electronics to steal signs during Houston’s run to the 2017 World Series championship — his final season.

He was hired by the Mets as a special assistant before the 2023 season.

“When I retired from baseball, I thought everything that I built in baseball, like relationships … I thought that was going to be lost,” he said. “Being back in baseball, I still receive love from the people, I still receive love from the players. The teammates that I had inside the clubhouse, they know the type of person that I am. But at the same time I understand that that’s also a story that I have to deal with.”

Jones received just 7.3% in his first appearance in 2018 and didn’t get half the total until receiving 58.1% in 2023. He increased to 61.6% and 66.2%, falling 35 votes short last year.

Beltran and Jones will be inducted at Cooperstown, New York, on July 26 along with second baseman Jeff Kent, voted in last month by the contemporary era committee.

BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years in the organization were eligible to vote.

Chase Utley (59.1%) was the only other candidate to get at least half the vote, improving from 39.8% last year. He was followed by Andy Pettitte at 48.5%, an increase from 27.9% last year, and FÈlix Hern’ndez at 46.1%, up from 20.6%.

Cole Hamels topped first-time candidates at 23.8%. The other first-time players were all under 5% and will be dropped from future votes.

Steroids-tainted players again were kept from the hall. Alex Rodriguez received 40% in his fifth appearance, up from 7.1%, and Manny Ramirez 38.8% in his 10th and final appearance.

David Wright increased to 14.8% from 8.1%.

There were 11 blank ballots.

A nine-time All-Star, the switch-hitting Beltran batted .279 with 435 homers and 1,587 RBIs over 20 seasons with Kansas City (1999-2004), Houston (2004, ’17), the Mets (2005-11), San Francisco (2011), St. Louis (2012-13), the New York Yankees (20014-16) and Texas (2016). He had 124 homers hitting right-handed and 311 batting left — crediting coach Kevin Long for his left-handed success.

While the hall makes the decision on the cap for his plaque, Beltran said “there’s no doubt the Mets are a big part of my identity.”

Beltran was the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year and won three Gold Gloves, also hitting .307 in the postseason with 16 homers and 42 RBIs in 65 games.

Jones batted .254 with 434 homers, 1,289 RBIs and 152 stolen bases in 17 seasons with Atlanta (1996-2007), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas (2009), the Chicago White Sox (2010) and the Yankees (2011-12). He finished his career with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League from 2013-14.

His batting average is the second-lowest for a position player voted to the Hall of Fame, just above the .253 of Ray Schalk, a superior defensive catcher, and just below the .256 of Harmon Killebrew, who hit 573 homers.

A five-time All-Star, Jones earned 10 Gold Gloves. He joins Braves teammates Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff in the hall along with manager Bobby Cox.

In the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium, Jones at 19 years, 5 months became the youngest player to homer in a Series game, beating Mickey Mantle’s old mark by 18 months. Going deep against Pettitte in the second inning and Brian Boehringer in the third of a 12-1 rout, Jones became the second player to homer in his first two Series at-bats after Gene Tenace in 1972.