CANFILED ELIMINATES CRESTVIEW

CANFIELD — Canfield’s 50/70 intermediate Little League team won the district championship with a 12-7 win over Crestview on Tuesday at McCune Park.

Canfield will play in the state tournament starting July 5 in Wheelersburg.

PIRATES ROOKIE GETS REHAB ASSIGNMENT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin began a rehab assignment on Tuesday night with Double-A Altoona, the club said.

Griffin has been sidelined since May 31 with a right forearm strain. He made his major league debut with the Pirates on April 3 and was signed to a nine-year, $140-million contract five days later.

Griffin, 20, is hitting .270 with four home runs, 22 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 51 games this season. The Pirates do not have a timetable for when Griffin will be activated from the injured list.

“We’re going to take it day by day and just see how he’s responding to everything,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said before Tuesday night’s game against Seattle. “Sounds like yesterday and today went well with the challenging throws on relays and stuff in the hole. Just get him back into game action and see how he’s doing with the arm, rhythm and timing of the at-bats. Look to get him back up here soon, hopefully.”

Further imaging on right-hander Jared Jones’ right elbow revealed no damage. Jones left Sunday’s game in the third inning after he was hit on the elbow by a line drive from Colorado’s JT Rumfield.

If Jones gets through a bullpen session without incident on Wednesday, he will start against Cincinnati on Saturday, the team said.

HAMON STICKS TO HER STANCE

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon acknowledged Tuesday that New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson has put himself in a unique class of players, but didn’t back off her general stance that small guards generally don’t lead teams to NBA championships.

Brunson, listed at 6-foot-2, just did that in earning NBA Finals MVP after guiding the Knicks to a five-game victory over the San Antonio Spurs. He scored 45 points in the title-clinching game on June 13.

Hammon made her original comments on ESPN in December 2023, saying Brunson wasn’t a “1A dude.”

She was asked about her remarks at Tuesday’s Aces shootaround leading up to that night’s home game against the New York Liberty. The Aces have won three of the past four WNBA championships, and the Liberty won two years ago.

“Jalen, all he did was prove history wrong,” Hammon said. “He proves he’s an outlier, so you can put his name next to Steph Curry and Isiah Thomas. I thought he played brilliantly, especially down the stretch.

“I mean, he was that 1A dude. But apologize? I’m never going to apologize for having an opinion. That’s what ESPN pays me for.”

This is the second time in recent weeks she defended her original comments. Hammon also was asked her opinion after Brunson was named Eastern Conference final MVP when the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I think Jalen Brunson’s a hell of a player, a hell of a player,” Hammon said on May 26. “I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago.

“I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.”