Branch breaks Heartland

BELOIT — West Branch’s tennis team beat Heartland 3-2 in its regular season finale on Monday.

West Branch is 9-7 and will be in action on Wednesday at the sectional-district tournament at Boardman and Poland high schools.

West Branch 3, Heartland Christian 2

FIRST SINGLES: Cooper Grim (HC) def. Austin Hawk 6-0, 6-0

SECOND SINGLES: Jacob Vandecapele (HC) def. Damon Edwards 6-2, 6-3

THIRD SINGLES: Cameron McCartney (WB) def. Brody Conaway 6-1, 6-3

FIRST DOUBLES: Jeremy Augustine/Blake Robbins (WB) def. Keagan Pruitt/Maylee Naebo 6-1, 6-2

SECOND DOUBLES: Connor Loper/Mason Cosma (WB) def. Rachel Rosser/Ava Shoulis 6-0, 6-1

Vogt still under the weather

CLEVELAND (AP) — Guardians manager Stephen Vogt will miss his second straight game Monday night because of a viral infection.

Bench coach Tony Arnerich, who is Vogt’s housemate in Cleveland, will serve as acting manager again when the Guardians host the Los Angeles Angels in the opener of a three-game series.

He said Vogt is feeling better and should be back in the dugout on Tuesday night.

“He is on the second floor, and I’m in the basement,” Arnerich said. “If we lose again, I might be out on the lawn.”

Arnerich managed the Guardians through a 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Vogt was the AL Manager of the Year in both 2024 and 2025, his first two seasons as a major league manager.

Clippers to promote Good

COLUMBIANA — The Columbiana Board of Education is expected to promote freshman boys basketball coach Andrew Good to its varsity girls basketball coaching position at Tuesday’s meeting.

Good replaces Dave Crismon who stepped down in March after eight seasons.

Crismon was 134-50 at Columbiana including winning back-to-back Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference titles in 2024 and 2025.

Columbiana was 17-6 this past season.

West Branch falls short of state

AKRON — West Branch’s girls flag football team came up one win shy of a berth in the state tournament as it fell 14-12 to Midview in a second round contest on Monday at the Cleveland Browns championship tournament at Infocision Stadium.

The Warriors (11-1) beat St. Clairsville 34-6 in the first round.

Njoku signs with Chargers

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Veteran tight end David Njoku agreed to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday.

Njoku spent the first nine seasons of his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns, earning one Pro Bowl selection while catching 384 passes for 4,062 yards and 34 touchdowns. He is second in Browns franchise history to Ozzie Newsome for catches and TDs among tight ends, but he became a free agent in February.

Njoku missed significant parts of the past two seasons with injuries. He had 33 receptions for 293 yards and four touchdowns while appearing in 12 games last season.

Njoku could be a major contributor for the Chargers, who are rebooting Justin Herbert’s offense under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.

Three tight ends caught at least 15 passes in McDaniel’s offense with the Miami Dolphins last season. The Bolts’ only major contributor to the passing game as a tight end last season was rookie Oronde Gadsden, the fifth-round pick who had 49 catches for 664 yards and three TDs.

Veteran receiver Keenan Allen is still on the free-agent market, but starting receivers Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston are returning to a Los Angeles passing offense that ranked 18th in the NFL last season despite another strong effort from Herbert, who earned his second Pro Bowl selection.

Los Angeles went 11-6 for the second straight season under head coach Jim Harbaugh but also lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year.

Santana has injury setback

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Carlos Santana, the oldest active position player in the majors, suffered a recent setback in his rehab from a right groin strain that has sidelined him since April 5.

Santana, 40, felt a twinge in the area of the injury on Saturday while playing for Triple-A Reno, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Monday before the D-backs’ game at Texas. Santana returned to Arizona for further evaluation.

“Kind of a bummer,” Lovullo said. “I know he’s been working really, really hard to come back. He hit a home run a couple of days ago, so I think his swing was coming around.”

He left Arizona’s April 5 game at home against Atlanta in the second inning after singling. It was his second hit in 24 at-bats, leaving him with a .083 batting average with no homers or RBIs in eight games.

Santana signed with the Diamondbacks as a free agent in early February after splitting last season between Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs, hitting a combined .219 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI.

This IL stint is just the fifth in Santana’s 17-year career and likely will result in his longest absence since his rookie season with Cleveland in 2010, when he missed the final two months with a sprained left knee.

Home sweet home for Guardians

CLEVELAND (AP) — Joey Cantillo pitched six scoreless innings, rookie Travis Bazzana capped a five-run third inning with a two-run double and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Los Angeles Angels 7-2 on Monday night.

Cantillo (3-1) allowed five hits, walked one and struck out four.

Brayan Rocchio put the Guardians ahead 2-0 when he greeted reliever Jose Fermin with a single in the second inning after opener Brent Suter was lifted.

The Guardians had a five-run outburst in the third inning, taking advantage of four walks, to extend their lead to 7-0. David Fry drew a bases-loaded walk and Daniel Schneemann hit a two-run single before Bazzana capped the rally by lining his two-run double to center field. Bazzana was the first pick in the 2024 amateur draft.

The AL Central-leading Guardians improved to 28-4 against the Angels in Cleveland since the start of the 2014 season. The Angels also lost for the 16th time in their last 21 games.

Kyle Manzardo and Fry each had two hits for the Guardians, who drew a season-high 10 walks, including three by Rhys Hoskins. The Angels got a pair of hits from Nolan Schanuel and Jo Adell, who also drove in a run with an eighth-inning single.

Suter (1-2) was charged with two runs in 1 2/3 innings. Alek Manoah finished with five scoreless innings despite walking five batters.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt missed his second straight game because of a viral infection but is expected to be back in the dugout Tuesday night. Bench coach Tony Arnerich again served as acting manager.

Up next

Angels rookie RHP Walbert Urena (1-3, 3.22 ERA) faces RHP Slade Cecconi (2-4, 6.15) on Tuesday in the second of the three-game series.