Australia’s Liam Paro is the new IBF welterweight champion with a points win over Belfast’s Lewis Crocker at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Australia on Wednesday.
Paro, who previously held the IBF’s light-welterweight title, becomes the first Australia-born boxer since Jeff Fenech to become a multi-weight world champion, earning a 115-113 nod on all three cards after a gruelling battle.
The 30-year-old produced a display of skill and heart to dethrone Crocker who was making the first defence of the title he won in Belfast last September, improving his record to 28 wins with one defeat.
Crocker, 29, appeared on the brink of a stoppage late in the fight but just couldn’t find the finishing shot with Paro reeling, suffering a first career reverse in his 23rd contest and will now seek to rebuild.
OMAHA, Neb. — The way its regular season unfolded, a national championship for Oklahoma would have seemed impossible.
The way the postseason unfolded, well, there was no stopping the Sooners.
Oklahoma completed the improbable run to its first national championship since 1994 with a 13-2 victory over North Carolina in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the College World Series finals Monday night, a performance that featured the prodigious offensive production and clutch pitching the Sooners rode through the NCAA tournament.
“I think we knew the talent was always in the room,” said Jaxon Willits, named the CWS most outstanding player. “We got hot at the right time, and now we’re national champions.”
The Sooners (43-23) won the Southeastern Conference’s seventh straight title, quite an accomplishment for a team picked 14th in the 16-team conference in the preseason, finished 11th and entered the postseason off losses in seven of nine games.
To get to Omaha, they beat No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech twice on the road in regionals and swept upstart Kansas on the road in super regionals. To get to the finals, they beat No. 3 Georgia twice in bracket play.
“They got really confident the last month,” Sooners coach Skip Johnson said. “They care about each other. They didn’t want to give in. They were selfless.”
North Carolina (54-14-1) was runner-up for the third time since 2006 and now has 13 CWS appearances without a title. Only Florida State, with 24, has more without winning it all.
The Sooners were back in top form offensively after managing only four singles in a 6-2 loss in Game 2 and handed the Tar Heels their most lopsided loss of the season.
“We ran out of gas when all is said and done,” North Carolina coach Scott Forbes said.
Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson hoists the championship trophy after his team beat North Carolina in the CWS finale Monday in Omaha.
(Rebecca S. Gratz / Ap Photo/rebecca S. Gratz)
When Jackson Cleveland struck out Jake Schaffner to end the game, he and catcher Deiten Lachance embraced and then headed to the dogpile that formed near third base. Players waving national championship towels rushed back toward their dugout to salute the celebrating Sooner faithful on the first-base line, football greats Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth among them.
Kyle Branch, the No. 9 batter who came into the game one of 16 (.063) in the CWS, drove in six runs with a pair of singles and a home run. His homer came on his last at-bat, just as brother Kolby’s did for Georgia last Wednesday.
“Pure joy. Pure joy for our team,” Branch said. “I had a teammate tell me I was going to do something special, and for him to tell me that with the way things have been going, it has to be a God thing.”
He joined Dayton Tockey as the seventh and eighth Oklahoma players to homer in Omaha. Willits had three hits, reached base five times and finished the CWS 13 of 25 (.520).
Oklahoma’s Kyle Branch celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against North Carolina in the College World Series finale Monday in Omaha.
(Rebecca S. Gratz / Ap Photo/rebecca S. Gratz)
The pitching matchup of Carolina’s Jackson Rose (5-1) and Oklahoma’s Nick Wesloski was the first between freshmen in a CWS winner-take-all game since 1993. Neither got out of the third inning.
LJ Mercurius (7-7) turned in another strong performance out of the bullpen, shutting down a threat when Oklahoma led 3-1 in the third and holding the Tar Heels to one run in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up just two runs in 12 1/3 innings over four CWS appearances.
The Tar Heels’ pitching staff, which had the best ERA in the Atlantic Coast Conference, had been good and occasionally great in the CWS. It was neither Monday, with eight pitchers combining to yield 14 hits, issue eight walks, throw three wild pitches with one hit batter.
ACC freshman of the year Caden Glauber, who had given up just one run in 10 1/3 innings in four CWS appearances, was called on for a fifth one day after he threw 65 pitches in five shutout innings. It was apparent coach Forbes went to the well one time too many.
Glauber was called for a clock violation before he even threw his first pitch. He issued a four-pitch bases-loaded walk and Willits followed with a two-run single to make it 6-1 in the fourth. That was all for Glauber, who threw seven pitches, five of them balls. The Tar Heels had won all 29 games in which Glauber had pitched before Monday.
“This group loved each other all season and took us on a ride and came up just short,” Forbes said. “I’d take that ride every day of the year. While we’re sad, the sadness will go away. We talk about joy. Joy doesn’t go away. These guys have given me, our coaching staff, our fans, administration, everybody, a ton of joy and a ton to be proud of.”
Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson told BBC Sport:
“We were outstanding throughout the season, it’s nice now to be able to put a full stop on it with a big tin cup and say ‘we were the best side in the league’.
“I think it looked like a final.
“That was a proper final where it was nip and tuck, there were opportunities, we got held up, they got held up.
“We maybe weren’t as clinical as we’d have liked to have been, and that can certainly change the pressure.
“But I thought at 60 minutes to go we felt in a good space and the messages that were coming back to the coaching group from how the players were talking to each other and connecting was very positive.
“You bring on people like Callum Chick and Fraser Dingwall, who have been there before, and the last 20 minuets we looked very strong.”
Departing Northampton captain George Furbank told BBC Sport:
“I said to the boys I don’t really know how to feel after the final whistle.
“It was a mix of relief, happiness, sadness, all merged into one.
“It was a different feeling to the last time we won it – I think we’re going to have a good few days to celebrate and it’ll all sink in.
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told BBC Sport:
“The first thing you have to do in a final is congratulate the opposition because otherwise when you just talk about yourself – it just feels like you’re critiquing and criticising yourself, and thinking these are the things we could have done.
“We had them deep into the game, under pressure, scores behind, they’ve kind of stuck with what they do.
“I’ll look back and I’ll go ‘we must have been pretty good because we forced two tries out of kicks through’, one where for whatever reason we don’t get our comms quite right and we actually just bump the ball out of our own hands into their hands for one try, and then the last try where they slide it through and it’s almost on a pinpoint.
“You look and go ‘well, we forced Northampton to score 12 points with two relatively speculative kicks through, that’s a pretty pretty good performance from us’.”
SEATTLE — Cristian Roldan and Haji Wright grew up less than three years and 30 miles apart, Roldan in Pico Rivera and Wright in Culver City. The odds that they would go on to become teammates on not one, but two, U.S. World Cup teams seem astronomical.
Yet despite starting at the same time and place and arriving together at the same destination, the two players followed completely different paths to get there.
Wright joined the Galaxy’s academy at 14 and signed with Schalke of the top tier German Bundesliga days after his 18th birthday. Roldan was still playing for El Rancho, when he was 17, making him the only member of the U.S. World Cup team to play four years at a public high school.
“I might be the last one,” Roldan said. “I hope not.”
Crescenta Valley’s Salar Hajimirsadeghi and El Rancho’s Cristian Roldan meet in unison for a header.
(Tim Berger / Glendale News Press)
High school soccer was once the foundation of the sport in the U.S. Eighteen players on the 2002 World Cup team, the only American team to reach the tournament quarterfinals, played for their high school teams. By 2022, the only man on the roster who played four years for a public school was Roldan.
“I don’t wish my story, or how I ended up here, was any different,” Roldan said. “What I will say was it made it more difficult to be here, play[ing] four years in high school. But it makes my story special.”
His story becomes even more special with this World Cup, which opened for the U.S. in Inglewood, a 45-minute drive from his boyhood home, and will continue when the Americans face Australia on Friday in Seattle, where Roldan played two years at the University of Washington and 12 seasons as an all-star midfielder with the Sounders, winning two MLS titles.
“When we talk about people’s paths, Cristian’s is not the standard right now,” said older brother Cesar, an athletic trainer with the Galaxy. “Cristian did it mostly to be around his friends. He wanted to play with his buddies.
“That is not a standard way to make it into MLS. And forget about making [it] all the way to the national team.”
“Yeah, it’s different,” Cristian said with a smile. “Being able to play in your backyard, have friends and family there. It’s a celebration.”
And it may never be repeated.
Roldan, 31, is the third-oldest player on the U.S. team, so the MLS academy system was just getting started when he enrolled at El Rancho in 2010. But as the academy system and the Elite Club National League became larger and more powerful, they began to throw their weight around.
Academy and elite club teams essentially robbed prep soccer of its best players by forcing them to choose between their high school teams and elite club programs, demanding a year-round commitment and banning participation in other sports. When top players began opting for the academies, others had no choice but to follow if they wanted to be seen and scouted.
That also robbed U.S. soccer of one of the few advantages it has over European and South American countries, most of whom have nothing to rival the high school and college sports infrastructure where kids can play and develop for free.
Cristian Roldan sprints during a training session Tuesday in Irvine ahead of the United States’ World Cup match against Australia on Friday.
(Andre Penner / Associated Press)
“That’s not available in Germany or England, or whatever,” said Brian Schmetzer, Roldan’s coach with the Sounders. “I like the fact that the United States is a big enough country where we can give kids opportunities to continue playing.”
Especially since the academy and elite club pathways aren’t open to everybody. Moving from a free neighborhood high school team to an academy can be expensive, erecting a “pay-to-play” barrier that often restricts those programs to wealthier families. Travel to games and practices can also be an issue. Since many high school-age players can’t drive, a parent has to accept the responsibility of toting them back and forth to team activities.
That leaves little time for work, which can pose an additional financial burden.
“My parents would have done whatever for us. So they would have made things happen,” Cesar Roldan said of Cristian. “But he really didn’t have any of those options. There was just not the opportunity.”
Paul Caliguiri, who played in two World Cups before retiring as the second-most-capped player in U.S. Soccer history, said the slow strangulation of high school soccer will ensure some talented players will be overlooked.
“There are a lot more qualified players that choose the path of high school soccer rather than the full-time academies,” he said. “The issue is that many of those players that don’t go to full-time academies when the opportunity presents is likely due to transportation.
“We need to have more full-time training offered to players without increasing the ‘pay to play’ cost.”
Dominic Picon, who coached all three Roldan brothers at El Rancho, agrees.
“We’re losing a ton of kids who never get seen,” he said. “There’s a lot of kids that just get lost in the shuffle simply because we have a very limited scope of how we find players. If you look at our three main sports — baseball, basketball and football — virtually all of them play high school sports. They all come through that pipeline.”
Roldan, the son of a Guatemalan immigrant father and a Salvadoran-born mother, said he never really considered any of those issues when he decided to play with the neighborhood kids in high school, just as his older brother Cesar had done.
“I looked up to my brother and I wanted to share a similar path as he did,” he said. “And I wanted to win a trophy for the city of Pico Rivera, which only has one high school.”
U.S. midfielder Cristian Roldan defends the ball from Senegal forward Habib Diarra during an international friendly match on May 31.
(Scott Kinser / Associated Press)
He made good on that last pledge in his senior season. Playing with younger brother Alex, who was a junior, Roldan scored 54 goals and had 31 assists — what Picon calls “video-game numbers” — to lead El Rancho to 29 wins and a CIF Southern Section title. Individually, he was named the Gatorade national player of the year.
Alex would go on to play alongside Cristian with the Sounders and captain the Salvadoran national team. Picon said he knew the brothers were good. But he didn’t know how good.
“When you’re coaching them, they’re in high school,” he said. “You never look at them and say, ‘You know, these guys are going to be in the World Cup someday.’”
In fact, there was some doubt both would even play in college. Alex was headed to a junior college in Arizona before receiving a last-minute offer from Seattle University. And Cristian, despite his award-winning senior season, had very few firm offers from top schools, in part because he insisted on playing high school soccer and in part because he was small at 5-foot-7.
“What hurt him is playing at a public school,” Picon said. “His rise was improbable because of where he came from, but also when he did play in front of [college] coaches, I think his size was something that dissuaded coaches.”
Contrast that with Wright, whose exposure at the academy level helped him get stamped as one of the country’s top youth players, opening up professional opportunities before he was old enough to vote.
In the end, it wasn’t Roldan’s talent that got him a scholarship as much as it was the boldness of his mother Ana. When Washington coach Jamie Clark inadvertently sat down next to her at the Surf Cup showcase in San Diego, she urged him to have a look at her son.
He did, then called Picon the next week.
“He’s a legit player,” Picon remembers telling Clark. “He’s better than 99% of the academy players out there. It’s just because of where he plays, the city that he’s from.”
Cristian Roldan speaks to reporters during a team training session in Seattle on Thursday.
(Soobum Im / Getty Images)
Picon was right. In his first season at Washington, Roldan was the Pac-12 freshman of the year and after his sophomore season he turned pro. MLS stardom and two World Cup selections were on the horizon. And there was luck in that, the coach says.
But that good fortune started at home with parents who put their faith in public schools, then saw that faith rewarded.
“It’s the quintessential American story, right?” Picon offered. “You have immigrant parents. They come here and they put a lot of trust in the public school system. At the elementary level, the teachers were tasked with making sure they have a grasp of English. They did that.
“At middle school, they were tasked with getting them prepared for high school and they did that. All three were accepted into a four-year [college], their kids.
“Where Cristian and his brothers lucked out is having the parents that they did. They were the type of parents that any coach, high school or club, would want to have.”
Getting to the World Cup, then, isn’t always determined by the path you take. Sometimes the most important factors are how and where you started.
The first match of the 2026-27 Premier League season sees the reigning top-flight champions face the second-tier Championship winners.
Published On 19 Jun 202619 Jun 2026
Arsenal will kick off their Premier League title defence against promoted Coventry City on August 21.
The Premier League fixtures for the 2026-27 campaign were released on Friday, with the Gunners’ home game against Frank Lampard’s Coventry among the highlights in the opening round of matches.
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Coventry are back in the top flight for the first time in 25 years after winning the Championship last season.
Andoni Iraola’s first Premier League game as Liverpool manager will be at Newcastle United on August 23. Former Bournemouth boss Iraola’s Anfield debut is set for the weekend of August 29 against Nottingham Forest.
City are expected to appoint former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca to replace Guardiola, who stepped down at the end of the season after a decade in charge.
Hull City, who won promotion via the Championship playoffs, begin their first Premier League season since 2017 with a home fixture against Manchester United on August 22.
Elsewhere on the first weekend, Europa League winners Aston Villa travel to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Mikel Arteta guided Arsenal to the Premier League title last season, ending a 22-year drought [Matthew Childs/Action Images via Reuters]
Arsenal, champions for the first time since 2004, face a testing period after they host Coventry.
Mikel Arteta’s side head to Villa for their first away league game of the season, then meet Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on September 5.
The weekend of September 12 brings the first Manchester derby of the post-Guardiola era, while Liverpool host Manchester United on November 21.
City and Arsenal do not face each other until November 28 at the Emirates Stadium.
The first Merseyside derby of the season between Everton and Liverpool is scheduled for November 28 at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Roberto De Zerbi will get his first taste of the north London derby on December 5 when Tottenham host Arsenal.
The pick of the Boxing Day schedule sees Coventry boss Lampard facing his old club Chelsea on December 26.
The final day of the Premier League will take place on May 30, with Arsenal at home to Brighton, while City travel to Sunderland and Liverpool host Bournemouth. Chelsea and United finish at home to Brentford and Fulham, respectively.
The start and end of the upcoming season are later than usual due to the FIFA World Cup 2026, which finishes just 34 days before the Premier League begins.
Arsenal will face FA Cup winners City in the Community Shield, which serves as the curtain raiser to the top-flight season, on August 16.
The New York Knicks celebrated their first NBA title in 53 years with a frenzied ticker-tape parade through Manhattan. The Knicks, along with finals MVP Jalen Brunson were awarded keys to the city by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in front of thousands of fans.
England won the World Cup of Darts for a record-extending sixth time as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries overcame the Netherlands 10-5 in Frankfurt.
The top seeds defeated Wales and Scotland earlier on Sunday to set up a tantalising best-of-19-legs final against second seeds Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen.
“I’m absolutely delighted – that’s the best we have played all tournament,” Littler told Sky Sports.
“That’s what we needed to do. We can’t do it every game, its hard. There have been challenges but we got the job done.
“We didn’t do anything wrong last year, we just came up against a better team. This year we had to win together, not on our own.
“I’m proud of us – we won together.”
The world’s top four players produced a tight contest early on that stayed with throw until Littler found double 10 to break just before the first interval.
England held after the break before Humphries took out 87 to break once more and establish a three-leg lead.
From that point on the Premier League champion and runner-up did not look like surrendering their lead – Littler hit tops to extend the advantage to 6-2 as England’s average crept up to 114, though Van Veen hit back with a timely maximum as the Dutch held with a 14-dart leg.
Humphries recovered from a slight wobble – his failed set-up left Littler needing and missing a bullseye to break – to hit double four to put the duo 7-3 up going into the second break.
The Dutch were handed a lifeline when Littler failed to take out 78, affording Van Veen a 64 checkout to cut the deficit before Van Gerwen showed similar composure to stick with throw.
But they knew the game was up when after hitting a remarkable 174, Van Gerwen bust on an attempted eight checkout and England broke.
That led to England needing 41 to win, and Humphries secured the world title – his second and the first of Littler’s career – with nine, 16 and double eight.
“Michael [van Gerwen] was unbelievable tonight – he is back and playing unbelievable darts,” Humphries told Sky Sports.
“We knew we needed to take our chances. You give Holland any hope and they’ll take it away from you.
“We were a bit poor against Wales but we ran with the luck we had in that game.”
NEW YORK — It was bedlam on Broadway as the New York Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years on Saturday night, with exuberant celebrations marred by mayhem and violence, including a shooting in Times Square.
Outside Madison Square Garden, a crowd watching on a big screen roared as the Knicks rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Soon after, tens of thousands of people filled the streets and the rowdiest among them were clashing with police, smashing windshields, scaling scaffolding, light poles and a statue, climbing into and atop school buses in Times Square and trying to hitch a ride on a moving fire truck.
Around 2 a.m., a 17-year-old was shot near 42nd Street and Broadway, police said. Bystander video captured the sound of at least seven shots and showed people crouching and running for cover. Police took the victim to the hospital because an ambulance could not get through the crowds, police said. A gun was recovered and three people were taken into custody.
Four people were stabbed or slashed, and one of the school buses, which was being used for World Cup transportation, was set on fire and engulfed in flames, police said. Other buses and five police cars were also damaged, police said.
In all, 63 people were arrested, with charges including assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.
Knicks owner James Dolan, speaking in San Antonio after the game, urged fans to stay calm.
“We need to tell everybody in New York that we know that they’re celebrating, we want them to have a great time,” said Dolan, interrupting guard Josh Hart’s news conference. “Please be safe. Don’t get hurt; don’t hurt anybody.”
The city will officially celebrate the Knicks on Thursday with a parade and City Hall ceremony.
As the clock ticked to the final buzzer on Saturday night, anxiety that had dominated the game’s first three quarters gave way to euphoria. An orange-and-blue-tinted fever dream that started with the Knicks’ first playoff game two months ago ended in the third title in their 80-year history.
Fireworks boomed over Brooklyn and Central Park. Fans flocked to Times Square and ran through the streets. Outside the Garden, they sang the team’s anthem: “Go New York, Go New York, Go!”
Police officers and ambulance workers shouted, “Let’s go Knicks!” over loudspeakers in Brooklyn. Strangers shook hands and hugged. In the Lincoln Tunnel, where people were riding buses back from the World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, drivers honked their horns in celebration.
“I’m so overwhelmed. I’m so happy,” said Mathieu Ogno of Long Island, who fought back tears as he soaked in the victory at a team-sanctioned watch party at Wollman Rink in Central Park.
Ogno wore the jersey of Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, whose 45 points propelled his team to victory and him to the NBA Finals MVP. Brunson’s gritty determination and chip-on-his-shoulder style have made him a fan favorite, embodying New York’s working-class ethos.
The Knicks’ championship — 19,392 days since their last — capped an extraordinary postseason for a franchise that hadn’t been to the NBA Finals since losing to the Spurs in 1999. Since April 23, the team has won 15 of 16 games, with its lone loss coming Monday in Game 3.
Their last title, in 1973, was also won on the road in a Game 5. Their first, in 1970, was won at home in a Game 7 thriller. Neither was celebrated with a parade.
“I’m happy to see my Knicks finally make it over the hump,” said Shawn Muoneke, 26. “I’ve seen them knock on the door. They were knocking on the door the past few years. But they finally made it over the hump, and I’m so happy to see it and I’m so happy I’m in the city to experience it.”
Muoneke, born a year after the Knicks’ last trip to the NBA Finals, started rooting for them when he was 10. He drove from Maryland to be in the city for Game 5 at the team’s Central Park watch party.
“I saw the ups, the downs and I watched the team come back up, and I was so happy to see them finally reach the highest echelon of stardom as a team,” Muoneke said.
After the Knicks’ win, he said, the vibes in the city “are the highest they’ve ever been.”
President Trump, a longtime Knicks fan who attended Game 3 at the Garden with Dolan, congratulated the team in a post on social media.
“What a year it has been but, even more so, what incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four — Maybe the greatest in the history of basketball,” Trump wrote.
With Brunson’s clutch performance, he added, “a superstar was born.”
After several dozen arrests throughout the playoffs and violence after Games 3 and 4 in New York that left officers injured and a teen in a coma, police girded for unrest as Saturday turned to Sunday.
“As we celebrate, be responsible, look out for one another, stay safe, be smart, and make this a night that reflects the very best of our city,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on social media. “Let’s go Knicks.”
Sisak and Lum write for the Associated Press. AP writer Emily Wang Fujiyama contributed to this report.
SAN ANTONIO — Jalen Brunson and the Comeback Knicks did it again. And now they’re the Champion Knicks.
For the first time in 53 years, New York rules the NBA. Brunson scored 45 points, including 13 straight for New York in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night.
The Knicks won the series 4-1, rallying from double-digit deficits in all four of those victories. The deficit was 16 on Saturday night. Brunson and the Knicks were never fazed.
“I have no words,” Brunson said during the on-court celebration. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of.”
New York guard Jalen Brunson drives in front of San Antonio center Luke Kornet during the second half of the Knicks’ 94-90 win Saturday.
(Darren Abate / Associated Press)
Brunson, fittingly, closed with a flourish. He set a Knicks record for points in a finals game; it had been 38 by Willis Reed against the Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 series. It now belongs to the left-handed point guard who changed the franchise’s fortunes when he arrived four years ago.
Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — the other two parts of the “Nova Knicks” trio that also includes Brunson, three players who were NCAA champions at Villanova and teamed up in New York to try to do the same — combined to score 27 points. Bridges had 14, Hart 13.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling,” Brunson said. “I’m in awe. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it.”
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, right, hugs forward Og Anunoby after defeating the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA title on Saturday.
(Darren Abate / Associated Press)
Dylan Harper scored 25 for the Spurs, who got 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots from Victor Wembanyama.
The Knicks improved to 4-0 in closeout opportunities this season, winning them all on the road. It didn’t feel like the road, though — not with thousands of New York faithful having made the trip to Texas to see a moment 53 years in the making.
New York got to the brink of this title by rallying from 29 points down in Game 4 to win 107-106 on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds left on Wednesday night. It was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and the biggest comeback in any game this season, regular season or playoffs.
By comparison, then, a 16-point rally in this one seemed easy.
The game followed the same script in the opening minutes as all the others in the series, with the Spurs taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter and then frittering most of it away in the second quarter.
The Spurs became the first team in the play-by-play era, which started in the 1996-97 season, to lead five finals games by 10 points or more in first quarters.
The Knicks simply could not make a shot, missing on 16 of their first 18 tries and each of their first 11 two-point attempts. There even was a point in the second quarter when Wembanyama had more blocked shots (five) than the Knicks had made shots (four). San Antonio’s lead was as many as 10 in the first quarter, as many as 16 in the second.
Of course, none of it mattered much. As always, the Knicks came back.
New York Knicks fans react in New York after the team’s title-clinching win over the Spurs on Saturday night.
(Heather Khalifa / Associated Press)
A 22-9 run in the second quarter got New York within three, before Devin Vassell scored just before the halftime buzzer to give San Antonio a 42-37 edge at the break.
And that capped an opening 24 minutes of either offensive ineptitude or defensive prowess, depending on perspective. The 79 combined points in the first half were the lowest in a finals game since Game 7 of Lakers-Celtics in 2010, and the combined 31.8% field goals shooting by the Knicks and Spurs was the lowest in the first half of a finals game in the play-by-play era.
Brunson won NCAA crowns twice with Villanova — both in Texas, the 2016 one in Houston and the 2018 one in San Antonio, just a few miles away from the arena that the Spurs call home.
A Texas three-step of titles, and this one was surely the sweetest of all.
PARIS — Alexander Zverev is no longer one of the best players never to win a major title.
He’s finally a Grand Slam champion.
In his fourth major final, Zverev beat Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 for the French Open title on Sunday.
It was a unique opportunity for Zverev without Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz across the net and the third-ranked German took full advantage on the red clay of Roland Garros.
When Cobolli missed an overhead on the second championship point after more than four hours of the five-set encounter, Zverev dropped on his back to the clay and covered his face with his hands as he began sobbing. When he got up, with his shirt and arms covered in clay, Zverev put his hands back on his face before he lifted both arms in celebration.
When Zverev was handed the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy, he lifted it with both hands and let out a liberating roar.
“This court is so special to me in so many ways. I’ve had the best moments of my life on this court; I had the worst moment of my life on these courts,” Zverev said, referring to when he was injured and pushed off on a wheelchair during a semifinal against Rafael Nadal in 2022.
“I was laying in that corner over there four years ago with seven broken ligaments and two fractured bones,” Zverev said. “I lost a Grand Slam final here two years ago but now finally it’s a happy end.”
Zverev has now joined an elite group of players that captured their first major in their fourth final: Eight-time major champion Andre Agassi, 2001 Wimbledon winner Goran Ivanisevic and 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
No Sinner or Alcaraz
Zverev had been an overwhelming favorite for the title ever since the top-ranked Sinner struggled in the first week’s heat wave and wasted a two set and 5-1 lead against Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round. A day later, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic was also eliminated.
Alcaraz, the two-time reigning champion, withdrew before the tournament with an injured right wrist.
It was Zverev’s second French Open final, having wasted a lead of two sets to one against Alcaraz in the 2024 championship match.
Zverev had an even bigger advantage — two sets to none — in the 2020 U.S. Open final and lost that one, too, to Thiem. He was also beaten in straight sets by Sinner in the 2025 Australian Open final.
It was the 25th title of Zverev’s career.
Cobolli’s first Slam final
The 14th-ranked Cobolli had never been past a Grand Slam quarterfinal until this week. He was attempting to become the first Italian man to raise the singles trophy at Roland Garros since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago.
Cobolli comes from the same tennis club in Rome as Panatta did and Panatta was asked by tournament organizers to present the trophy to the champion to celebrate the anniversary of his 1976 triumph.
The honors, however, went to Zverev.
Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva won the women’s singles trophy on Saturday.
Zverev took control early on
The match was played in perfect conditions and Zverev’s game was almost flawless at the start.
Zverev broke Cobolli’s serve in a long opening game when Cobolli shanked a forehand into the first row of the stands. The break came after Zverev had a bit of luck when a backhand return hit the net but dribbled over on game point for Cobolli.
A group of women in the stands held up letters to form Zverev’s nickname: “Sascha.”
Cobolli likes to stand way over near the corner of the court and hit big kick serves out wide into the ad court. Zverev knew what was coming and returned one such kick serve early in the first set with a backhand that he wrapped around the outside of the net post. Cobolli ended up winning the point, but it was a message from Zverev that he knew how to handle his opponent’s tactics.
The next time Zverev hit a wrap-around-the-net-post return, Cobolli couldn’t handle it and Zverev won the point.
Cobolli’s supporters in his box were all dressed in blue, the color of Italy’s national teams, and as Cobolli worked his way back into the match, there were chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole; Flavio, Flavio.”
After Zverev held for a 6-5 lead in the fourth, he had his upper right leg treated by a trainer. Then Zverev wasted a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker, which Cobolli concluded with a forehand winner up the line that produced a roar from the crowd.
But Cobolli appeared to run out of energy in the fifth, running down a drop shot only for Zverev to then pass him up the line for a 3-0 lead and a double break.
Abuse allegations
Moments after Zverev’s previous Grand Slam final in Australia in 2025, a person in the stadium yelled out the names of two of his ex-girlfriends who accused him of physical abuse.
One case was resolved following an agreement between German prosecutors, lawyers for Zverev and his former partner. The ATP Tour investigated another case and concluded there was insufficient evidence.
Dampf writes for the Associated Press. Samuel Petrequin and Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.
Alexander Zverev has finally secured his maiden Grand Slam title with a dramatic five-set victory over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final on Sunday.
The second seed became the first German man to win a major tournament since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 victory after four hours and 16 minutes.
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“This court is so special to me in so many ways… but now finally, it’s a happy end,” said Zverev, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the 2022 semifinal against Rafael Nadal on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where he was also edged out in five sets by Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 final.
It was Zverev’s fourth Grand Slam final and second at Roland-Garros after some heartbreaking near misses in his career.
“We’ve been through losses, we’ve been losers at times as well in the most important moments,” he said during the trophy presentation, turning to his team.
“But at the end of the day, we’re Grand Slam champions now, and that’s what counts.”
Cobolli, the 10th seed, was bidding to become the first Italian man since Adriano Panatta to win the French Open in 50 years.
The 24-year-old had never even played a Slam semifinal before, let alone a final, after his last-four opponent Matteo Arnaldi withdrew from the tournament due to illness.
“It’s not easy for me to talk right now,” said Cobolli after receiving his runner-up trophy from Panatta, before addressing Zverev.
“I’m happy for you, but I’m also sad because I was close and I feel it. So now you’ve achieved your dream, let me win the next time.”
Both players appeared to struggle with nerves at various points in the match, especially Cobolli during an error-strewn first set.
But Zverev’s greater experience showed in a deciding set that was far tenser than the scoreline suggested, as he managed to get over the line.
The 29-year-old was handed a golden opportunity to break his Grand Slam duck by the injury-enforced absence of reigning champion Alcaraz and surprise early exits for Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
The world number three was not always in control, making 54 unforced errors, but did enough to finally shed the tag of being one of the best players to have never won a major.
Zverev had previously also lost in six Slam quarterfinals and seven semifinals, alongside his three final defeats.
The most agonising miss of all was his first major final, when he blew a two-set lead and failed to serve for the championship against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.
The now-retired Thiem was watching on from the stands at Roland-Garros as Zverev belatedly put the memories of that match to bed six years later.
Alexander Zverev plays a forehand return to Italy’s Flavio Cobolli during the final [Julien de Rosa/AFP]
Cobolli’s nervy start
Cobolli made a nervy start and appeared to be struggling to deal with the occasion as the first set quickly got away from him in 39 minutes and he made 16 unforced errors.
He managed to settle into the match with three successive holds of serve in the second set, and then made his move out of nowhere to break in the seventh game.
Zverev had been completely untroubled on serve previously, but produced a scrappy game featuring two double-faults and a wild forehand on break point before turning to gesticulate angrily towards his coaching staff.
Cobolli started to grow in confidence and served out the set to breathe life into the final.
A higher-quality third set disappeared from Cobolli’s grasp in the 10th game, though, as from 30-0 up, he lost four points in a row, including a poor forehand that flew well wide on set point.
The world number 14, who will climb into the top 10 for the first time next week, hit straight back with a break in the opening game of the fourth set.
He could not pull away in the set, though, as both players ended up being broken twice, including Cobolli when he served for it at 5-4.
But the Italian rallied himself to push it into a tie-break, which he took to force a decider with a blistering forehand winner on his second set point.
Following a delay before the start of the final act after Cobolli left the court, Zverev struck first blood with a break in the first game.
Cobolli’s hopes were finally all but extinguished when he missed a break-back point and then dropped serve again to slip 3-0 down.
Zverev staved off three more break points in the fourth game and eased to victory from there, falling to the clay in celebration after Cobolli shanked an overhead on his second championship point.
Flavio Cobolli and Alexander Zverev embrace at the end of their five-set thriller [Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP]
Jared Grindlinger was right where he wanted to be Saturday afternoon at the end of his last high school baseball game — on the mound with a chance to clinch a championship for the orange and black.
Huntington Beach had a 5-0 lead with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning when the Oilers’ highly touted left-hander came in to relieve Jared Marchbank. The cushion was narrowed to two with runs scored on an error, an uncaught third strike and a wild pitch, but Grindlinger struck out the fourth batter to tie the bow on his team’s 5-3 victory over San Diego Cathedral in the Southern California Regional Division I final.
“I knew I’d be facing the top of their lineup and those guys are all great players but I was ready for it,” Grindlinger said. “To do this with my best friends who I’ve grown up with my entire life means everything to me.”
Grindlinger graduates Wednesday with plenty to be proud of and much to look forward to. The 6-1, 170-pound pitcher/outfielder reclassified in February to make himself eligible for next month’s Major League draft and is a potential first-round pick. Having just turned 17, the University of Tennessee commit has a bright future, but he wants to savor his final days on campus following in the footsteps of older siblings Bradley and Trent, who were back at their alma mater Saturday to cheer on Jared.
“I’ve known him since he was in second grade and he has two brothers who played for me too,” Oilers coach Benji Medure said upon wrapping up his 26th season. “Jared loves to compete and he fell in love with the culture and the family aspect of our program.”
In the first round of regionals on Tuesday, Grindlinger went four for four at the plate with a double, a home run, two singles and a run batted in plus he pitched three scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a 10-3 victory over Patrick Henry in San Diego. Two days later, he singled, tripled and scored two runs in an 11-3 semifinal victory at Corona.
Grindlinger blasted the fourth pitch he saw over the right-field fence to put the Oilers up 2-0 in the first inning Saturday — a lead they held until tacking on three more in the bottom of the sixth. He also patrolled left field and snared a line drive to end the top of the fourth.
“He came with two really good fastballs but then he hung a changeup and I knew I got it,” Grindlinger said of his 41st hit and second homer this season. “I’ve been working on discipline to look for my pitch.”
Medure noted Jared’s similarities to Bradley, the oldest, and Trent, whom he may soon be playing with in Knoxville.
“Bradley was a terrific pitcher and Trent was a super hitter and they’re all very close,” Medure said. “I think Jared picked Tennessee because he wants to be with his brother.”
He could be a Volunteer with his brother Trent next season.
“Jared’s got the best traits from both me and Bradley,” said Trent, who just completed his first season in Knoxville, where he made the SEC All-Freshman team as a catcher. “He has an aura about him and I’m super proud of him.”
“Jared’s a lot better than I was at his age,” admitted Bradley, a 2023 Huntington Beach alum who played at Long Beach State but is entering the transfer portal. “He’s barely 17 and getting to the upper 90s. He’s more polished, plus he’s a lefty.”
The hardest part about skipping his senior year to graduate early was not the extra classes he had to take but knowing he would be missing out on a chance to see his coach reach another milestone.
“He was a freshman and the second game that season I got my 400th win and Jared said, ‘I’m gonna be part of 400 and 500,’” added Medure, who is 28 wins away. “That year, we won 23 and 25 the next year. We had it all planned that 500 would be for the CIF title. When he decided to reclass to make millions of dollars he told him, ‘I feel bad I can’t win that 500th game for you.’ That’s the kind of kid he is.”
Grindlinger credits his mom for helping him meet all of his academic requirements and his brothers for teaching him everything he knows about the sport they all play.
“Whatever happens — whether it’s the draft or college — I’m good,” he said.
Medure is thrilled how the season ended considering he did not believe his team would even be in the regional bracket after losing early in the section playoffs. He is grateful for the three seasons he got to coach his superstar.
“Jared came in to let us know that scenario was on the table and every coach in that room said, ‘Awesome!’” Medure recalled. “He was scared to tell us because he thought we’d be upset. Usually it’s done to buy another year, not to lose one. Of course I’d like to coach one of the best players in America for four years, but ultimately I want him to do what’s best for him.”
Pitcher Violet Ascencio struck out 13 to lead Venice High to a 7-2 win over Eagle Rock in the City Section Division I softball championship game on Saturday.
Abilgail Ascencio had two doubles and finished with three hits.
Players held up a photo of the late Angelo Gasca, Venice’s football coach who also helped coach softball.
Division II
Arleta 11, Marshall 0: Naomi Tachin struck out four, walked none and led Arleta to the Division II title. Adriana Vasquez went four for four and Brenda Aguilar hit two doubles and finished with three RBIs.
Division IV
Franklin 17, Huntington Park 5: The Panthers, seeded No. 14, used their bats to become Division IV champions. Kamila Sanchez had three hits and five RBIs, including two doubles and a triple.
Southern Section
Division 4
Oxnard 3, Mission Viejo 1: Rachel Godoy hit a dramatic three-run home run in the fifth inning to lead Oxnard. Destinee Herrera threw a complete game.
Division 5
Irvine Northwood 11, Grace Brethren 1: Freshman Olivia Chen threw a two-hitter for Northwood, which went from missing the playoffs last season to Division 5 champions.
Division 3
Riverside Prep 4, Great Oak 3: Lila Morris threw a complete game, and Riverside Prep took advantage of two errors in the fifth inning to win the Division 3 title. Graclyn Necochea struck out 10 for Great Oak.
Division 8
Arroyo Valley 8, San Bernardino 5: Jaylin Casillas contributed three hits and two RBIs for Arroyo Valley. Aylssa Arredondo had four RBIs for San Bernardino.
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Winning the Champions League was so nice, Paris Saint-Germain had to do it twice.
PSG became back-to-back European champion by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties in a dramatic final in Budapest that ended 1-1 after extra time on Saturday.
“It’s incredible,” captain Marquinhos said. “From the very first day of this season, the coach said it’s hard to win, and winning twice is even more difficult. So we all had to get back to work. That was the mentality.”
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes fired the last of his team’s penalties over the bar to hand PSG the shootout win.
The French giant is only the second team to retain the trophy in the modern era after all-time king of Europe Real Madrid.
Luis Enrique became a three-time winner as a coach and has molded a team that is simply too good even for the best the continent has to offer. That includes an Arsenal team that won the Premier League last week and topped the first stage of the Champions League with a perfect winning record, finishing 10 points and 10 places ahead of PSG.
That mattered little in Puskas Arena as PSG reaffirmed its status as the dominant force in European soccer.
“It’s even more special because we knew before the match how difficult it would be,” Luis Enrique said. “I think it’s deserved over the course of the whole season, even if the final was very closely contested.”
After demolishing Inter Milan 5-0 in last year’s final, PSG endured a tougher foe as Arsenal sat deep and relied on the best defense in the competition.
PSG dominated possession but created little after going behind to a Kai Havertz goal in the sixth minute. It took an Ousmane Dembélé penalty in the 65th to level the score and take the final to extra time for the first time in 10 years.
PSG coach in elite company
By going back to back, Luis Enrique achieved what his good friend Pep Guardiola could not after winning Champions Leagues at Barcelona and Manchester City. Luis Enrique joined Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Guardiola in an elite group of coaches with at least three European Cups.
The next target will be to emulate Madrid’s three in a row under Zidane from 2016-18. And with a starting lineup in Budapest with an average age of less than 24, Luis Enrique has built a team that has the potential to dominate for years.
“It’s crazy, it’s crazy. We’re going to enjoy it first, and after we’re going to work and work again because we want more. We are really hungry. We are a young team, and we know we are really ambitious. So next season we have to go again,” Désiré Doué told broadcaster TNT Sports.
Having waited 22 years to get its hands back on the Premier League trophy, Arsenal’s wait in Europe goes on.
This was its 226th game in the European Cup or Champions League without lifting the trophy. No other team has played so many without being champion.
“First of all you have to go through that pain, digest it and then turn it into fuel and improve and reach a different level because it will demand a different level with the quality that is around Europe,” manager Mikel Arteta said.
“I want to congratulate PSG because they are, in my opinion, the best team in the world. What they are able to do with the ball, individual actions, I haven’t seen it (before).”
Designated hitter Jacob Johnson hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning off Easton Hawk to lift Saint Mary’s to a stunning 3-2 win over top-seeded UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional opener Friday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Johnson’s second solo home run of the game initially only appeared to be a pop-up near the warning track. But as the stadium fell silent, the ball kept sailing — and it eventually cleared the wall over leaping Bruins right fielder Jarrod Hocking.
Saint Mary’s reliever Cam Staton earned the win after getting UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the expected No. 1 pick in the 2026 MLB draft, to pop out with a runner on first. The right-handed Hawk took the loss.
Wow.
St. Mary’s stuns UCLA, the nation’s No. 1 seed, with a 3-2 win to open the LA Regional.
Gales fans who made the trip are going nuts in Westwood. “Beat LA” chants loud at Jackie Robinson Stadium. pic.twitter.com/sGFGChYRWS
Hawk previously had given up just three homers on the season and hadn’t surrendered one since March 1 against Mississippi State. Johnson, who went deep to start the day’s scoring in the fourth, recorded his second two-homer game of the season.
UCLA’s Jarrod Hocking strikes out to end eighth inning during a 3-2 loss to Saint Mary’s in the NCAA regionals on Friday.
(Scott Strazzante / For The Times)
Saint Mary’s (35-25) will face the winner of Virginia Tech (2) vs. Cal Poly (3) — who play Friday night — in the winner’s bracket on Saturday at 6 p.m. PDT; UCLA (51-7) will face the loser in the elimination bracket Saturday at 1 p.m.
Friday’s starters, UCLA’s Wylan Moss and Saint Mary’s John Damozonio, dueled. Moss surrendered three hits and one run through five innings, and Damozonio gave up five hits and two runs through seven.
But it was Johnson and the Gaels who survived in the end.
The Granada Hills and Carson softball programs know each other so well they might as well put on their MaxPreps schedule before the season a date for their annual game to decide the City Section Open Division championship.
It’s happening for a fourth consecutive season Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Legacy High in South Gate. Last season, Granada Hills ended a three-game losing streak to the Colts.
On Wednesday, both teams won their semifinal games. Granada Hills’ No. 1 and No. 2 batters in the lineup, Elysse Diaz and Zoe Justman, had big games in a 12-9 win over San Pedro. They combined to go five for eight with five RBIs. Justman had a home run. Gina Evangelista hit an inside-the-park grand slam.
San Pedro scored five runs in the seventh to give the Highlanders a little scare.
At Carson, the Colts came away with a 12-2 semifinal win over Birmingham. Sophomore Anaiyah Popoalii had a home run, double and three RBIs. Olivia Lomeli went three for four with three RBIs. Pitcher Isabella Campos threw a complete game.
The Southern Section finalized its championship schedule for softball this week, and the Division 1 final between La Mirada and JSerra will take place Friday at 7 p.m. at Bill Barber Park in Irvine.
La Mirada is 26-4 and will be facing JSerra pitcher Liliana Escobar, the best in the Southland. La Mirada lost to JSerra 5-2 on March 7. The Matadores have been led by Riley Hilliard, who’s hitting .577 with 10 home runs.
JSerra (24-8), which began the school year winning the Southern Section flag football championship, is trying to end the year on top behind the arm of Escobar, who has 252 strikeouts in 146 innings. The top hitter has been sophomore catcher Annabel Raftery.
The Division 2 final will match Mater Dei against Whittier Christian on Friday at 4 p.m.
The Southern Section is waiting for the baseball semifinals to be played on Tuesday before announcing dates and times. The only certainty is the Division 1 final will be played on Friday at 7 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton unless either of the finalists has a scheduling issue on that date.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
The Canadian Grand Prix was the race in which the Formula 1 title battle finally came alive this year.
It was also, however, the race in which it took a potentially decisive turn, putting a huge dent in George Russell’s hopes of beating his 19-year-old Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli to the championship.
Russell’s retirement from the race came after 30 laps of frenetic battling between the pair which lit up the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on a damp, gloomy day so cold it tempted world champions McLaren into a seemingly inexplicable decision to start the race on a dry track on wet-weather tyres.
Russell’s retirement handed the win to Antonelli, his fourth in a row, and the Italian now has a massive 43-point lead.
Doubtless there are many twists and turns to come in the remaining 17 races. Even so, that will take some recovering.
Afterwards, Russell was stoic but understandably downbeat.
“Right now it’s his to lose,” he said. “He is so many points ahead. It feels like the gods don’t want me to be in this fight, when I look at the safety-car timing in Japan, breaking down in China Q3, fighting for pole, breaking down from the lead here today.
“But, you know, the pressure’s off. Go out, enjoy every single race. Try to win every single race. And I’ve got nothing to lose.
“I don’t want to be stood here talking like that. It is, of course, frustrating, but I want to be in that fight. Hopefully, the luck will turn.”
The UCLA comeback kings are Big Ten tournament champions.
A clutch hit by Aidan Espinoza and two reviews fueled the No. 1 Bruins’ rally for a dramatic 3-2 win over Oregon in 11 innings in the Big Ten tournament title game Sunday in Omaha, Neb.
UCLA rallied for wins during all three of its Big Ten tournament games and has earned 28 comeback wins this season.
“I’m just glad we won,” UCLA junior Mulivai Levu said during a postgame interview on the Big Ten Network. “It was a team effort today. Everyone did their job. Once again, we came from behind and did it.”
The Bruins trailed Oregon 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Espinoza tied the game with a single. The Bruins could not tack on another run, and the contest moved to extra innings.
In the bottom of the 11th, UCLA loaded the bases with no outs after an official review determined that Roman Martin was narrowly safe at third base following a bunt.
Oregon closer Devin Bell got Cashel Dugger and Espinoza to strike out swinging. Then the winning run advanced after the umpire ruled Phoenix Call was hit by Bell’s pitch. After a lengthy review, the call on the field was upheld, and UCLA celebrated the program’s first Big Ten tournament title.
“Just a lot of fight,” UCLA coach John Savage said on the Big Ten Network when asked about the Bruins’ penchant for comeback wins. “They certainly believe in one another. We’ve done it all season long. Good teams keep getting better.
”… You might see a couple of Big Ten teams back here in a couple of weeks.”
Will Gasparino was ejected in the fourth inning for malicious contact after he was caught in a rundown and ran over an Oregon player ready to tag him out at third base.
Oregon challenged the on-field ruling that Gasparino was simply out on the play. After a review, Gasparino was ejected and will miss UCLA’s NCAA regional opener.
The Bruins, the top-ranked team in the country, will learn their NCAA tournament seeding and regional matchup Monday morning.
It will be JSerra taking on La Mirada for the Southern Section Division 1 softball championship next weekend in Irvine after both teams won their semifinal games on Saturday.
JSerra, behind 14 strikeouts from Liliana Escobar, defeated No. 2-seed Norco 2-0 to advance to its first championship game. Annabel Raftery hit a solo home run and Magenta De Arte added an RBI single.
Alison Ortega threw a complete game with seven strikeouts in La Mirada’s 5-1 win over La Habra. Freshman Rylee Thurmond had three hits.
Whittier Christian 11, St. Paul 8: A grand slam by Danni Lopez in the seventh powered the Heralds to victory in a Division 2 semifinal game. Whittier Christian will face Mater Dei in the final.
Mater Dei 4, San Clemente 2: Tulutululelei Salue hit a two-run home run and Aly Carrillo added a solo home run for the Monarchs in a Division 2 semifinal.
Great Oak 4, North Torrance 3: Regan Spillers delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning in a Division 3 semifinal. Isabella Paun finished with three hits. Great Oak will face Riverside Prep, a 4-2 winner over Dos Pueblos.
Oxnard 1, Monrovia 0: Sophomore Destinee Herrera threw the shutout, striking out eight with no walks, in a Division 4 semifinal. Oxnard will face Mission Viejo, a 5-3 winner over Burbank Burroughs.
Verdugo Hills, the fourth-place finisher in the Valley Mission League with a 10-18 record entering the City Section Division I playoffs, completed a remarkable turnaround on Saturday, winning its fourth consecutive playoff game to take home the Division I title with a 3-1 victory over Taft at Dodger Stadium.
No one was picking the Dons in this one. They had used their two best pitchers in a 10-inning semifinal win over top-seeded Sylmar. But coach Angel Espindola had a plan.
“I’ve got tricks up my sleeve,” he said.
Anthony Velasquez threw a complete-game one-hitter while relying on his defense to make the routine plays and deal with six walks and only one strikeout. At the plate, the hero was first baseman Cutlor Fannon. He had an RBI double in the first inning and an RBI single in the seventh.
But there was drama in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Toreadors’ Victor Jara represented the tying run at the plate with two outs. He hit probably the hardest ball of the day to deep left field.
Moises Rodriguez of Verdugo Hills caught the final out in left for 3-1 win at Dodger Stadium to win Di City title. pic.twitter.com/2UNU6Xrxs1
“The last one scared me,” Velasquez said as he watched left fielder Moises Rodriguez stick out his glove running to catch it and start a victory celebration.
Rodriguez said he “felt all my emotions running through me” as he chased down the fly ball.
“It was surreal,” he said.
Verdugo Hills pitcher Anthony Velasquez threw a complete game in 3-1 win over Taft at Dodger Stadium.
(Craig Weston / For The Times)
Espindola’s best coaching moment came in the bottom of the sixth inning. Taft drew consecutive walks from Velasquez with one out. Espindola went to the mound for a pitcher conference.
“Relax,” is what he told Velasquez.
Then Taft hit into an inning-ending double play.
Verdugo Hills’ fielders more than handled the Dodger Stadium environment. Catcher Miguel Wong threw out a runner trying to steal second. Outfielders Rodriguez, Jack Iafrate and Jessie Olmos combined to catch seven fly balls. And third baseman D’Angelo Duran and shortstop Ethan Sanchez were flawless on ground balls.
As for what happened in the playoffs, Rodriguez said, “We changed our perspective to playing baseball instead of doing baseball. It was let’s have fun.”
