Crestview falls

RAVENNA — Crestview’s boys basketball team suffered a 62-51 setback against Ravenna Southeast on Thursday.

Crestview falls to 5-7 and 2-4 in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Gray Division.

The Pirates are 9-2 and 5-1 in the league.

Crestview is at Brookfield on Tuesday.

CR: 14- 5-12-20–51

SE: 14-15-12-21–62

Minerva topples Salem

MINERVA — Minerva’s boys wrestling team improved to 2-0 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference with a 54-24 win over Salem on Thursday.

106: Alex Wright (M) won by forfeit.

113: Tyler Phillips (M) won by forfeit.

120: Luke Bezilla (S) pin Kaidyn Miller, 3:05.

126: Tyler German (S) pin Shawn Weaver, 2:55.

132: Kolton Almasy (M) maj. dec. Jacob Dumont, 14-5.

138: Cole Sivy (M) pin Trevor Smith, 1:36.

144: Josh Mayhew (S) pin K’dyn Frazier, 1:07.

150: Colton Godsey (M) tech. fall Aldin Weber, 4:23.

157: Jason Sivy (M) pin Jacob Dumont, 1:20.

165: Lincoln Wallace (M) tech. fall Caden White, 4:00.

175: Ethan Weaver (M) major dec. Mackston Ellis, 15-4.

190: Timothy Kirkpatrick (M) pin Lucus Horan, 1:27.

215: Aiden Reagan (M) pin Lucas Mayhew, 0:17.

285: Colt Stockman (S) pin Draden Yost, 1:30.

Salem X-Tra Mile Club

SALEM — The Salem X-Tra Mile Club will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the high school cafeteria.

Wellsville bowlers win

EAST LIVERPOOL — Wellsville’s bowling team recorded a 1,946-1,594 win over Maplewood on Thursday at Walnut Lanes.

Madelyn Landess had a 207 high game and a 397 series. Madelyn Landess added a 188 high game and a 325 series. Cameron Taylor added a 177 high game and a 310 series.

Wellsville (11-1) will play Ursuline on Tuesday at Holiday Bowl in Struthers.

Warriors top Marlington

BELOIT — West Branch’s freshman boys basketball team downed Marlington, 40-29, Thursday. Logan Hawk had 16 points for the Warriors, while Michael McCartney added 11 points.

West Branch (4-8) will play at Louisville on Monday.

Benefit turkey shoot

CHESTER, W.Va. — The Chester-Newell Sportsman’s Club will hold a benefit turkey shoot at 10 a.m. Jan. 31. The shoot will benefit local veteran Tyler Rawson who was injured in a motorcyle accident on Oct. 3. Call Zach at (304) 914-0196 for more information.

Pirates make it official

PITTSBURGH (AP) — By his own admission, Ryan O’Hearn did some digging when the Pittsburgh Pirates approached the All-Star first baseman/outfielder in free agency.

The more digging O’Hearn did, the more the Pirates seemed like the right fit.

“It’s a team that can pitch and is one or two pieces away from being a legit contender,” O’Hearn said Thursday after finalizing a, $29 million, two-year deal with Pittsburgh. “That’s what I’m here to do.”

The left-handed first baseman and outfielder is coming off the best season of his big league career. O’Hearn hit .281 with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs in 2025 and made the All-Star team for the first time while playing for Baltimore and San Diego.

“When I got to Baltimore for whatever reason, it kind of clicked,” Hearn said.

He hit .277 across the last three seasons after being acquired by the Orioles in early 2023. He spent the first five seasons of his big league career in Kansas City.

“You know how it is in this game. When you’re struggling, you can just kind of feel defeated because it’s every day,” he said. “But it’s the same thing when you start to have success, you start to realize, ‘Hey, I’m a guy.’ I think that happened for me in 2023.”

The rare splurge by the Pirates is their second significant acquisition in less than a month. Pittsburgh acquired two-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe from Tampa Bay on Dec. 19 as part of a three-team deal that included sending starting pitcher Mike Burrows to Houston.

O’Hearn, who connected with Lowe during the All-Star Game last season, said the trade “moved the needle” toward signing with Pittsburgh. So did a 45-minute call with Pirates manager Don Kelly.

Immediately afterward, O’Hearn told his agent he was ready to become the first player to sign a multi-year free agent agreement with Pittsburgh since pitcher Ivan Nova agreed to a three-year pact in 2016.

Pittsburgh has vowed to build around a pitching staff that includes reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and rookie Bubba Chandler. The Pirates are coming off a 71-91 season in which the offense finished at or near the bottom of the majors in most significant statistical categories, including runs and home runs.

“To be a winning team, you have to pitch,” O’Hearn said. “You have to have a starting rotation. You have to have great bullpen guys. On that side of the ball, you got to be good. That’s one thing that really stood out to me about this team. Obviously, Paul Skenes is a generational talent. In addition to him, there’s other young guys that have great stuff that are coming into their own.”

O’Hearn is joining a lineup that includes Lowe, outfielders Bryan Reynolds and Oneal Cruz and first baseman Spencer Horwitz. O’Hearn could bounce between first and the outfield while also serving as an occasional designated hitter.

“We went into the offseason thinking, ‘We have to improve the offense. There are different ways to do that,'” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “You can score runs with some strikeouts mixed in. You can score runs with a lot of contact. I don’t think there’s absolutely one way to do it. It is nice to have a little bit more balance in terms of the style. Ryan helps with that.”