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HALL OF FAME TICKETS ON SALE
EAST LIVERPOOL -- Tickets for the East Liverpool High School Athletic Hall of Fame induction scheduled for Sept. 19 will be on sale starting Monday at Tri-State Supplies and Bob and Robin’s Flowers in downtown East Liverpool. Cost is $30 which includes a brunch buffet. The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the high school. Inductees include: Mallory Schell-Wines, Eric Mabbott, Maurice Brown, Anson Wiegand, Jimmy Joe Savage, Bob Kelly, Kevin Smith, Emma Ludwig, Tresean Jackson and Josh Stansbury.
STORM DAMAGE
COLUMBUS -- Lou Berliner Sports Complex along Route 71 will remain closed for some time after damage caused by an F1 tornado in the area Tuesday.
Crews started to repair damaged electric lines on Friday morning. There also were trees down and damage to fencing at the park.
It is billed as the largest baseball/softball complex in the nation with 31 fields with turf infields.
NO INDYCAR PRACTICE
MARKHAM, Ontario (AP) -- IndyCar officials called off the first day of practice and qualifying Friday at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham after the race promoter failed to complete the track.
The event is in its first year in Markham after leaving Toronto’s Exhibition Place, the race site since its inaugural running in 1986.
Once the track is completed, IndyCar will inspect the circuit to ensure it’s safe. Officials hoped to squeeze all the activities scheduled for Friday into the Saturday schedule ahead of the race Sunday.
ONE OF THE LAST 42 WEARERS DIES
NEW YORK (AP) -- Butch Huskey, who played seven major league seasons and was one of the last players to wear No. 42 before it was permanently retired, has died. He was 54.
The New York Mets said Huskey died because of a blood clot in his lung.
“We are saddened to learn about the passing of former Met Butch Huskey,” the Mets said in a statement on Friday.
Huskey, who was born and raised in Anadarko, Oklahoma, continued to wear No. 42 after Major League Baseball retired it in honor of Jackie Robinson in 1997. Players who wore the number at the time were permitted to continue wearing it until they stopped playing.
Huskey wore No. 10 during his rookie season in 1993, No. 44 in 1998 with the Boston Red Sox and No. 35 with the Colorado Rockies in 2000. Otherwise, he wore No. 42. The Mets selected Huskey in the seventh round of the 1989 amateur draft, and he played parts of five seasons in New York.
In 1997, Huskey set career highs with 24 home runs and 81 RBIs in 142 games for New York. He also played for Seattle and Minnesota.
Huskey is the penultimate Met to wear No. 42. Mo Vaughn wore the number from 2002 to 2003.
VENUS DROPS 13TH STRAIGHT
MASON (AP) -- Venus Williams’ losing streak in singles play has reached 13 matches.
The seven-time major champion was defeated 6-2, 6-2 by Emiliana Arango on Friday in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.
The 46-year-old Williams received a wild-card entry to the WTA 1000 event. She has not won a singles match since July 2025.
Arango, a 25-year-old qualifier from Colombia ranked 95th, needed 1 hour, 5 minutes to defeat Williams on the grandstand court at Lindner Tennis Center.
Williams had her serve broken in the first game of the match and faced an uphill battle the rest of the way. Arango was 4 of 5 on converting break points and won 71% of her first-serve points.
Williams was unable to convert on her lone break opportunity and was only 41% on first-serve points.
GIANTS WILL HOST ASG
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The All-Star Game is returning to San Francisco in two years.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement Friday that the 2028 Midsummer Classic will be at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The 2007 game was played in the picturesque waterfront ballpark, featuring Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki’s famous inside-the-park home run that bounced off the tricky wall in right-center field.
“With its passionate fanbase, world-class ballpark, and rich baseball history, San Francisco will be an outstanding host for All-Star Week, which culminates in one of Major League Baseball’s best traditions, the Midsummer Classic,” Manfred said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing the excitement of All-Star Week and the celebration of baseball to the Bay Area.”
BOXER DIES 11 YEARS AFTER BRAIN DAMAGE
The boxing world was in mourning Friday following the death of Puerto Rican fighter Prichard Colón at the age of 33, 11 years after he sustained brain damage in the only defeat of his professional career.
Colón’s death was confirmed in statements by the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Organization late Thursday.
In October 2015, Colón suffered a brain bleed in a light-middleweight fight against Terrel Williams in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Fairfax, Virginia.
Colón underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain and the WBC said he sustained “irreversible neurological damage” because of what the governing body described as “severe, illegal blows to the back of the head.”
He never fought again and was later pictured in a wheelchair. The WBC named him an honorary world champion.
ALABAMA BACK TO MISS TIME
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama running back AK Dear is expected to miss about six weeks because of an ankle injury sustained in a preseason scrimmage, according to reports.
Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said Thursday that Dear was injured in the first of two scrimmages and would be evaluated. Tests revealed the severity of the injury, 247Sports and On3 reported Friday.
“It was unfortunate because he was having a real nice scrimmage there with the touches he got,” DeBoer said.
Dear, a redshirt freshman from Mississippi, had been in the mix for the starting job to replace Jam Miller. The Crimson Tide will now turn to highly touted freshman Trae’shawn Brown, EJ Crowell and Daniel Hill. Hill led the team with six rushing touchdowns in 2025.
Dear had 140 yards rushing and three scores in five games.
BLANEY GETS POLE
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Ryan Blaney can’t fully explain his recent dominance in NASCAR qualifying, but he attributed Mother Nature with an assist Friday at Richmond Raceway.
The Team Penske driver captured his third pole position in the past five races and the 16th of his Cup Series career, turning a lap in 22.225 seconds (121.485 mph) around the 0.75-mile oval. Blaney was the second-to-last driver to make an attempt, and a cloud late in the session cooled the track for better grip and faster speeds.
“I appreciate the cloud,” said Blaney, who also qualified first last week at Iowa Speedway and last month at EchoPark Speedway. “I got the benefit.”
With 12 races remaining after Saturday’s 400-lap event at Richmond, Blaney already has a career-best four pole positions for a single season and is tied with points leader Denny Hamlin for the series lead in 2026.
“I wouldn’t specify myself as a very good qualifier,” Blaney said. “For a little bit I struggled in qualifying, just not really able to find the one-lap speed and kind of doing the wrong things behind the wheel. But I think (crew chief) Jonathan (Hassler) and I have just worked through how we can get better and adjust from the end of practice to the start of qualifying. It’s been fun to work through that.”