CAVS PICK BEAT POTTERS

CLEVELAND — Cleveland Cavaliers draft pick Maleek Thomas honed his skills in Midland, Pa.

Thomas, a 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Arkansas, was the 34th pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday night.

He played his first three seasons of high school basketball at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, leading the Leopards to PIAA Class 4A state championships in 2023 and 2024.

He scored 1,750 points in three seasons at Lincoln Park, leaving before his senior season for Overtime Elite, a league for 16-20 years based in Atlanta.

As a Lincoln Park freshman, Thomas scored 16 points during a 96-74 win over East Liverpool in the Midland-Geneva College Tournament in Midland, Pa.

“Their freshman is unreal,” East Liverpool coach Nate Conley said after the game.

Thomas was the second-leading scorer as a freshman at Arkansas, averting 15.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 30.5 minutes per game. He also shot 42% from three-point range and 84% from the foul line.

COLUMBIANA HOF

COLUMBIANA — The Columbiana Athletic Hall of Fame is inducting eight into its 30th class this fall.

Inducted into the 2026 class will be Matt Douglas (athlete, class of 2011), Greg Fitzsimmons (athlete, class of 2001), Josh Hertel (athlete, class of 2008), Kyle Shaffer (athlete, class of 2011), Jared Work (athlete, class of 2000), Brian Yoor (athlete, class of 1987), Patricia Tingle (meritorious service, class of 1955) and Kenny Wilson (meritorious service, class of 1978).

The induction dinner will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at Columbiana High School.

Reservations can be through Sept. 1 by contacting Bonnie Wilkinson at 330-506-3588. Dinner prices  are $25 for adults, $15 for children ages 6-12 and under 6 years old are free. All attending the dinner must have made a reservation. No walk-ins will be accepted. 

Inductees will be introduced at halftime of the Columbiana-Woodmore football game on Sept. 18.

PIRATES ROUT MARINERS

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Braxton Ashcraft pitched six strong innings, batterymate Endy Roriguez drove in three runs and Ryan O’Hearn had three hits to help the Pittsburgh Pirates rout the Seattle Mariners 11-1 on Wednesday night.

Ashcraft (7-3) had 10 strikeouts without a walk while allowing one run and five hits. He became the first Pirates pitcher to have at least two starts in the same season with at least 10 strikeouts and zero walks since at least 1901.

Rodriguez’s two-run double opened the scoring in a five-run fourth inning against Bryan Woo (6-6) as the Pirates went ahead 5-1. Rodriguez also singled in a run in a four-run seventh that pushed the lead to 9-1.

Carmen Mlodzinski pitched four scoreless innings for his second save.

Tyler Callihan tripled home Rodriguez in the fourth, Jake Mangum, and Esmerlyn Valdez followed with run-scoring singles.

O’Hearn doubled twice, including one that drove in a pair in the seventh. Valdez and Nick Gonzales had two hits and Callihan had two RBIs.

Woo started the game with three hitless innings, but then fell apart in the fourth and was lifted at the end of the inning. He gave up five runs and six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

The AL West-leading Mariners got their run in the first when J.P. Crawford, Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez hit consecutive singles to begin the game. Ashcraft eventually settled in and retired the last 10 batters.

Rodriguez and Josh Naylor had two hits for the Mariners.

Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz left the game with left hamstring discomfort in the fourth inning. Valdez pinch-hit and delivered an RBI single.

Mariners RHP Bryce Miller (3-1, 1.58) is set to start against Pirates RHP Bubba Chandler (2-7, 4.62) this afternoon in the series finale.

CUBS MANAGER MIFFED

NEW YORK (AP) — After his team got rained out two days in a row, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell sounded a little miffed about the second one.

Hours later Tuesday, he was criticizing a major league rule that led to his ejection following an unusual play.

Chicago’s series opener Monday night against the Mets in New York was postponed because of poor weather and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader Wednesday at Citi Field.

Counsell and the Cubs also got washed out back home at Wrigley Field on Sunday, when they were supposed to wrap up a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. That game will be made up Aug. 6.

“Look, consecutive rainouts are, they’re troublesome for pitching, for sure. And frankly, yesterday’s game did not need to be rained out. It didn’t rain, and for some reason we didn’t play,” Counsell said in the dugout late Tuesday afternoon, with a tarp covering the infield on another drizzly day in Queens.

There were a couple of heavy thunderstorms around Citi Field on Monday, in the late afternoon and after 11 p.m. It was a wet day throughout with light showers and mist — but the rain mostly stopped between about 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

First pitch had been scheduled for 7:10 p.m., but the game was called approximately 40 minutes before that. In their news release, the Mets announced the game was “postponed due to weather.”

It was the first time the Cubs had back-to-back games postponed because of weather since April 2018 — and the first time in different cities since early October 1986.

INDY WINNER MOVING

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist will part with Meyer Shank Racing at the end of the IndyCar season.

The 34-year-old Swedish driver has been with the team for the past three seasons, but Rosenqvist scored his biggest win in May, when he drove the No. 60 car past David Malukas at the finish line to win the Indy 500 by the closest margin in history.

Rosenqvist earned a record $4.34 million along with a celebratory drink of milk for the victory.

Rosenqvist moved to IndyCar in 2019 with Chip Ganassi Racing, then left two years later for Arrow McLaren, where he spent three seasons. Where he goes next is unclear, but his Indy 500 victory coupled with the fact that Rosenqvist is currently sixth in the series standings following a strong eighth-place finish last weekend at Road America has made him a hot commodity.

The IndyCar series continues July 5 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The season ends Sept. 6 at Laguna Seca in California.