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Pirates top Reds to complete sweep

PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz hit a tie-breaking single in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a sweep of Cincinnati with a 1-0 win on Sunday. Pirates rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin doubled off the centerfield wall against Reds reliever Tony Santillan (1-1) with two outs in the eighth. Pinch hitter Jake Mangum worked a full count walk and Cruz followed by lacing a single to center. Griffin beat TJ Friedl’s throw home with ease as Pittsburgh responded to getting swept at home by St. Louis by taking three straight from the Reds. Gregory Soto (3-0) got ...

Raiders ready to make push for NE8

Two weeks into the high school softball season, South Range, annually among the Mahoning Valley’s best teams, had won just three of its first seven games. A little over three weeks in, the Raiders were still sitting at 6-6 on the year. But head coach Jeff DeRose knew that the record did ...

Record-breaking Dean helping lead YSU softball’s resurgence

YOUNGSTOWN — During her freshman season at Youngstown State in 2023, there was a time when Kennedy Dean thought she might not be cut out to play Division I softball. A Winfield, W.Va., native, Dean first arrived in Youngstown as a well-regarded hitting prospect from the Mountain State after ...

Bubon returns to Harding as head coach

Sometimes the timing just works out. Dan Bubon felt as if his time was winding down at Howland. Holding the head coach position with the Tigers for the last decade, he thought things had probably run their course. Around the same time, the same position for his hometown team opened up. For the 1991 Harding graduate, the timing was too perfect. In April, Bubon was named the next head coach at Warren G. Harding High School, taking over a program he had once both played and coached for. “It was like a perfect storm at Howland,” Bubon said. “My son’s graduating this year, our ...

High School Sports Roundup from May 1

FROM THURSDAY BOYS LACROSSE Boardman 12, Cardinal Mooney 2 — Boardman honored its seniors by outscoring Mooney 8-0 in the second half. Mikey Montgomery had five ground balls and won 13 of 17 faceoffs for Boardman. Lane Schubert made six saves in goal for the Spartans. Luke DeJoseph and Kyle Congson combined for five goals, with DeJoseph putting three in the net. Tanner Dracecky and Daniel Ramovs added two goals each and the trio of Toby Sofran, Ryan Smith and Chase Zelesnak had a goal each. SOFTBALL Maplewood 23, Bristol 1 (5 inn.) — Lexi Yannucci struck out 13 in a no-hitter ...

Plastic worms have changed, they but are still a go-to lure

Plastic worms have evolved over the years from the basic nightcrawler-shaped wigglers crafted by inventor Nick Creme in his kitchen in Akron to an array of lures engineered to fit a variety of tactics. Whether fished Texas-style with a small bullet weight; weightless on a wacky rig or any of a dozen other presentations, plastic worms are perhaps the fish-catchingest artificial lures in anglers’ arsenals. They likely have accounted for more bass catches than any other class of lures. We are hard into worm season here in northeastern Ohio. My boat is loaded with an assortment of ...