CHESTER RALLIES FOR WIN

SALEM – The Chester Old-Timers scored two runs in the top of the seventh and five in the eighth to complete an 11-6 comeback win over Salem Romeo on Sunday in men’s 50+ baseball.

Chester is 6-0.

Steve Bell’s single in the eighth gave Chester the lead for good. Eric Sampson led the team with a home run and two singles. Shaw Allen had three hits and Steve Bell added two hits.

Dave Smith got the win in relief.

Chester plays United at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

CRESTVIEW INTO FINAL

CANFIELD – Crestview needed a big comeback to advance to the Ohio Little League District 2 baseball championship.

Crestview rallied from a 14-2 deficit to beat Poland, 15-14, in a third-round game Friday at McCune Park.

Crestview’s Jaxson Booth hit a double to score Devin Finch for the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Crestview plays Canfield in the district championship at 7 p.m. Monday for players ages 11-13. The game will be televised live on MyYTV.

Canfield needs to win one game to advance, while Crestview needs to beat Canfield twice to advance to the state tournament.

ROACH COMPETES WITH THE BEST

PHILADELPHIA — East Liverpool graduate Maddox Roach placed 83rd in the mile run on Sunday at the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field.

Roach had a 4:17.35 which was his personal best in the mile.

Philip Cupial of Downers Grove, Illinois won in 4:01.15.

On Saturday, Beaver Local junior Landon Wheatley was 45th in the high jump. He cleared 6 feet, 4 inches. He attempted 6-5 1/2 three times but did not move on.

The winner was Ethan Rowe of Bloomfield who cleared 6-11 3/4.

On Friday, Salem freshman Colt Stockman took seventh in the freshman discus as he tossed 153-0. Evan Grays of Avon, Indiana won with a best toss of 182-4.

Beaver Local eighth grader Samantha Williams finished eighth in the middle school 2-mile (10:56.85). Brianna Reilly of Harrisburg, South Dakota was the winner in 10:21.44.

SOUTHERN HOF TO INDUCT 5

SALINEVILLE — The Salineville-Southern Local Hall of Fame will induct five into its 2026 class during the weekend of Sept. 11-12. Inducted will be Christi Barlis Bates (Class of 1986), Tommy Rodgers (1993), Mervin (MJ) Williams (2014), Hannah Brothers Seven (2016) and contributor Sarah Grubbs.

TRANOVICH RECORDS ACE

COLUMBIANA — Julian Tranovich of Canfield aced Valley’s 145-yard No. 2 on Friday with a pitching wedge. Witnesses were Cayden Welker of North Lima and Graham Heikkinen of Canfield.

TAR HEELS FORCE THIRD GAME

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Ryan Lynch and Caden Glauber cooled off Oklahoma’s bats, Owen Hull and Cooper Nicholson homered, and North Carolina beat Oklahoma 6-2 in Game 2 of the College World Series finals Sunday.

The Tar Heels (54-13-1), who haven’t lost consecutive games since early March, bounced back from a 9-3 loss in Game 1 to force a winner-take-all game Monday night.

The Sooners (42-23) scored twice in the first inning and then had two hits and a total of five baserunners the rest of the way. Lynch injured his lower left side throwing a pitch in the fifth and gave way to Glauber (12-0), who struck out the side and fanned a total of eight over five innings. The Tar Heels improved to 29-0 when he pitches.

OU, which had been averaging 9.4 runs per game in the postseason and 8.25 in the CWS, was held to its fewest runs since a May 19 loss to LSU. The Sooners hadn’t been held scoreless over eight straight innings since a 3-0 loss to Southeastern Louisiana on March 17. Its four hits were its fewest since a March 19 loss to LSU.

OU freshman starter Xander Mercurius (1-3) struck out six of the first seven batters he faced but encountered trouble when Carolina’s first two batters reached base in the third inning. Jake Schaffner pulled a ball into the right-field corner for a two-run triple and scored on a wild pitch to put the Tar Heels up 3-2. Mercurius left after Hull’s second homer of the CWS and ninth of the season leading off the fifth.

Nicholson’s team-leading 16th homer, off Nate Smithburg in the seventh, made it 6-2.

Glauber walked consecutive batters with one out in the ninth. The game ended when Dasan Harris grounded to second and Gavin Gallaher turned an unassisted double play that was confirmed after Oklahoma challenged the call.

BROTHERS REUNITED

Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk are about to team up in Florida, after the Panthers pulled off another summertime blockbuster.

The Panthers and Ottawa were finalizing a deal where Florida would send four draft picks to the Senators for Brady Tkachuk, a person familiar with the terms said Sunday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither team had released details publicly.

The picks were Florida’s first-rounder this year, No. 9 overall, along with two picks acquired earlier Sunday in the Panthers’ move to send Mackie Samoskevich to Seattle, and another first-rounder in 2029.

Brady Tkachuk has spent the entirety of his eight-year NHL career in Ottawa, and now he joins his brother, Olympic teammate and podcast co-host in Florida — the place where Matthew Tkachuk has spent the last four seasons, winning two Stanley Cups and getting to the final three times.

The Athletic was first to report the pending trade.

WILLIAMS WILL PLAY SINGLES

It’s been talked about ever since Serena Williams announced nearly three weeks ago that she was returning to professional tennis after almost four years away from the sport.

Still, seeing the single-sentence announcement from The All England Club that the 23-time Grand Slam champion will play singles at Wimbledon was stunning nonetheless.

“Serena Williams (USA) receives the final ladies’ singles wild card,” read the key line in Sunday’s announcement, which was issued eight days before the grass-court Grand Slam begins.

At age 44, Williams will actually play both singles and doubles at Wimbledon after already accepting a wild card for the doubles competition with older sister Venus.

“This is not a drill,” Wimbledon said on its social media accounts Sunday.

Commented the WTA Tour, “Name a more iconic return…we’ll wait.”

DAD LENDS A HAND

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Miles Russell had quite a Father’s Day gift for his dad: the chance to be caddie in his son’s U.S. Open debut.

The 17-year-old amateur surprised his father, Joe, on the 18th hole Sunday when his caddie brought Russell’s clubs to him outside the ropes to carry them the rest of the way.

“It was kind of a fun Father’s Day gift,” Miles Russell said. “Kind of cool since it was my first one. Hopefully it’s something he’ll remember for a long time.”

Russell had Charlie Woods, Tiger Woods’ son and his future teammate at Florida State, carrying the bag for him when he advanced to the U.S. Open through a 36-hole qualifying tournament earlier this month.

Ramon Bescansa was on the bag for Russell at Shinnecock Hills — but only for 71 1/2 holes.

As Russell walked toward the 18th green, Bescansa turned toward the ropes and found Joe Russell. He placed the bag down just inside the ropes and removed his caddie bib and handed it to Joe, who put it on.

According to the NBC broadcast, Miles Russell asked a USGA rules official in the morning if he would be allowed to make the switch and was given permission. Joe Russell was not aware of the plan.

OHTANI FAMILY ADDS A SON

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani is a father again.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar posted the news of his latest addition on his Instagram account Saturday.

“We are again overjoyed to experience this wonderful day in our lives together. Thank you for being born safely,” read a message from Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka. They also thanked supporters.

The post showed an image of a baby’s hands and feet in a blue blanket suggesting that Ohtani has a son to go with his daughter who was born in April 2025. Tucked in the baby’s arms was a tiny stuffed version of Ohtani’s beloved dog, Decoy, who also got his own photo at the bottom of the post.

The news that Ohtani was about to have a second child came out of nowhere Friday. He wasn’t in the Dodgers’ lineup, which was posted much later than usual, after the team said he was “away from the team on paternity.”