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OUTDOOR VOLLEYBALL THIS WEEKEND
GREENFORD -- South Range will host “The Battle on Turf” outdoor volleyball matches slated to start at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Rominger Athletic Complex.
The slate will open with Beaver Local and Lakeview at 10 a.m. Other two-game matches include Mineral Ridge-Hubbard (11 a.m.), Girard-Jackson-Milton (noon), Struthers-McDonald (1 p.m.), Lowellville-East Palestine (2 p.m.), Howland-Columbiana (3 p.m.), Canfield-Poland (4 p.m.), Austintown-Crestview (5 p.m.), Boardman-East Liverpool (6 p.m.) and South Range-Campbell (7 p.m.).
Admission is $8 for adults and $5 students.
If there is rain, the matches will be moved to Sunday. If it rains on Sunday, the matches will be moved into the South Range gym.
SOCCER SEASON SET TO START
The high school soccer season in Ohio gets going starting Friday. Several area teams have games slated for Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, Salem will host United in a boy-girl doubleheader starting with the girls at 4:30 p.m. The boys game will follow at 6:30 p.m.
Columbiana’s boys will be in action at Jackson-Milton with a 7 p.m. start.
On Saturday, Crestview will host East Liverpool in a boy-girl doubleheader starting with the boys at 1 p.m. on the football field.
MARLINS SLAP PIRATES AROUND
MIAMI (AP) -- Griffin Conine and Heriberto Hernández homered and Janson Junk worked six solid inning as the Miami Marlins extended their winning streak to four games with an 8-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Junk (6-7) allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and a walk in six innings. Tyler Zuber, Calvin Faucher and Victor Vodnik each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
Conine reached base five times. He doubled leading off the third against Carmen Mlodzinski (6-5) with the game tied at 1. Hernández followed with a walk before Agustín Ramírez doubled for a 2-1 lead one out later. That chased Mlodzinski, who was charged with four runs on five hits.
Evan Sisk walked pinch-hitter Javier Sanoja to load the bases and hit Leo Jiménez with a pitch before walking Joe Mack to force in two more runs. Xavier Edwards hit a sacrifice fly for a 5-1 lead. Sisk got two outs and yielded a run.
Conine hit his 13th homer off former Marlins reliever Lake Bachar for a 6-2 lead in the fourth. Bachar, acquired at the trade deadline, walked Conine before Hernández’s 17th homer for a six-run advantage in the sixth. The right-hander surrendered three runs on three hits in three innings.
Nick Gonzalez singled and scored on a two-out throwing error by shortstop Otto Lopez to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead in the second.
Up next
Pirates RHP Braxton Ashcraft (11-5, 4.08) starts Thursday against RHP Tyler Phillips (3-5, 3.47) as the Marlins go for the series sweep.
ADELL HOMERS IN GUARDIAN WIN
DETROIT (AP) -- Jo Adell homered and Angel Martínez had three hits as the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-4 on Wednesday night to snap a three-game skid.
The Guardians (59-62) are 7-1 against the Tigers this season and have won 12 of the past 14 meetings between the AL Central rivals.
The Tigers (59-61) had won three straight and eight of 10 overall. They were trying to reach .500 for the first time since they were 18-18 on May 4.
Foster Griffin (13-4) allowed three runs -- one earned -- on four hits and a walk in five innings. He improved to 1-1 in two outings with Cleveland since arriving from Washington in a trade-deadline deal. The rookie left-hander had lost his previous two starts, giving up 11 runs in 9 1/3 innings.
Cade Smith got four outs for his 31st save this season, including five against the Tigers.
Framber Valdez (7-8) took the loss, yielding four runs on six hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.
The Guardians scored twice in the first on a run-scoring double play and an RBI double by Martínez, but the Tigers tied it in the bottom half. An error by third baseman José Ramírez gave them a runner at first with two outs before Hao-Yu Lee and Spencer Torkelson hit back-to-back doubles to make it 2-all.
Detroit took a 3-2 lead on Gleyber Torres’ homer in the third, but Adell put the Guardians back in front with a two-run homer in the fifth. Adell is hitting .129 (4 for 31) against the Tigers this season with three home runs.
Up next
The teams finish the three-game series Thursday afternoon, with Cleveland LHP Parker Messick (9-6, 2.57 ERA) facing RHP Keider Montero (8-7, 3.38).
WESTBROOK RETIRES FROM NBA
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Russell Westbrook, the NBA’s career leader in triple-doubles and the 2017 MVP, announced Wednesday he’s retiring after 18 seasons during which he was selected to the league’s 75th anniversary team.
The two-time scoring champion shared his decision on social media in a post featuring a video narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan where the guard never says a word.
“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already watched the end,” Westbrook wrote. “You had to be there. And now it’s over.”
Westbrook was the No. 4 pick in 2008 out of UCLA by the Seattle SuperSonics, just before they moved to Oklahoma City. He played his first 11 seasons with the Thunder and spent this past season with the Sacramento Kings.
Westbrook led the NBA in assists three times and was a two-time MVP of the All-Star Game. He won an Olympic gold medal in the 2012 London Games.
Westbrook leaves with 209 triple-doubles, the last on March 15. Nikola Jokic ranks second in that category with 198 going into this season. Westbrook also holds the NBA mark for most triple-doubles in a season with 42 in 2016-17, when he earned his only MVP award.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti called Westbrook “the ultimate competitor.”
“His internal belief and unbridled fearlessness helped establish the foundation of our organization from day one in 2008 and he elevated the confidence and inspired our community in every year thereafter,” Presti said in a statement. “Russell will be as successful in his life after basketball as he was during his career because his qualities and gifts transfer. His impact on our community is still felt today, and he is beloved for his devotion as much as his talent.”
Westbrook averaged double figures for points and assists in five of six seasons starting in the 2015-16 season.
Westbrook also played for Houston, Washington, the Lakers and Clippers -- splitting the 2022-23 season between the Los Angeles teams and Denver.
Last season, Westbrook started 58 of the 64 games he played for Sacramento. He averaged 15.2 points and 6.7 assists.
BECKHAM TO PLAY FOR GIANTS AGAIN
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Odell Beckham Jr. is set to play a game in a New York Giants uniform for the first time in nearly six years.
While it is an exhibition game, it marks another milestone for the venerated wide receiver on his homecoming tour. Coach John Harbaugh expects Beckham to play in the team’s preseason opener against Minnesota at home on Saturday.
“I'm looking forward to seeing him play,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. "He's looked good. He's in shape. He's taking every rep he's supposed to take in practice. He's getting stronger. I feel like he's getting stronger every day. He's in a good place."
Beckham at 33 is in a very different place than he was in December 2018, when he was nearing the end of his rookie contract after surpassing 1,000 yards receiving in four of his first five NFL seasons.
Now, after serving a six-game suspension for failing a performance-enhancing drug test and not playing at all in 2025, he is attempting to show he still belongs in the league. His last game was Dec. 8, 2024, with Miami.
"I kind of had two years off," Beckham told reporters in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, earlier this month. "Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically -- whatever it was -- I got time to heal, so, I feel good."