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Las Vegas ballpark pitch revives debate over public funding for sports stadiums

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Gov. Joe Lombardo wants to help build Major League Baseball’s smallest ballpark, arguing that the worst team in baseball can boost Las Vegas, a city striving to call itself a sports mecca.Debate about public funding for private sports clubs has been revived with the Oakland Athletics ballpark proposal. The issue pits Nevada’s powerful tourism industry, including trade unions, against a growing chorus of mostly progressive groups nationwide raising concerns about the use of tax dollars to finance sports stadiums that could otherwise fund government services or schools.The debate over relocating the team from California to Nevada echoes others around the country. Politicians have approved large sums of taxpayer money going to sports clubs in Buffalo, New York; Atlanta; and Nashville, Tennessee. In Tempe, Arizona, though, voters rejected a $2.3 billion proposal that would have included a new arena for the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.The Oakland A’s organi...

Earthquakes, Rapids play to scoreless draw

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Daniel de Sousa Brito saved five shots in goal for San Jose as the Earthquakes and Colorado Rapids played to a scoreless draw on Saturday night.Marko Ilic did not have to make a save to earn the clean sheet for Colorado (2-8-7), which is still in search of its first win at home this season.The Rapids entered play having gone 6-0-5 in their last 11 home matches with San Jose (6-5-5). Colorado has lost six straight matches in all competitions, including a club-record five in a row at home. The Rapids, however, have played a club-record 12 straight matches at home without a loss to San Jose.The Earthquakes snapped a 15-match winless streak on the road last week with a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders.San Jose was trying to win two straight road matches for the first time since 2019. The Earthquakes’ win over Seattle was its first clean sheet on the road since a 1-0 win over the Sounders in July of 2021.San Jose returns home to host the Phila...

Champs! Willow Glen’s McKenna Campbell hits walk-off double in NorCal D-II final

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

SAN JOSE — What a way to cap off a high school career, walking off a NorCal championship..Willow Glen senior catcher McKenna Campbell jumped on the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the seventh inning and drilled it to left field, scoring Katelynn Dilbeck from first base with the winning run in a 6-5 victory over Notre Dame-Salinas for the Northern California Division II regional softball championship.“It’s been our goal since freshman year,” an emotional Campbell said, apologizing as she struggled to regain her composure. “We worked so hard and it’s just a dream come true.”It was the second double of the game for Campbell, who will play college softball at Miami of Ohio. She also hit a double and scored the only run in a 1-0 win over Bullard-Fresno in the NorCal semifinals.“She’s come up clutch these last couple of games,” Willow Glen coach Don Spingola said. “She’s a leader on the field, a leader at practic...

NCAA baseball: Stanford in tough spot after coughing up lead to Texas A&M

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

Stanford allowed three runs in the top of the eighth inning in an 8-4 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday night at Sunken Diamond and now needs a win over Cal St. Fullerton to keep its season alive.Stanford led Texas A&M 4-2 after five innings of its own regional bracket in the NCAA tournament but allowed two runs in the sixth inning and three more in the eighth.In the eighth, the Aggies loaded the bases before Hunter Haas doubled to left to score three runs and give his team the lead for good.Hass finished with two hits and five RBI as Texas A&M advanced to Monday’s regional final at 6 p.m. Whichever team meets the Aggies in the final will need to beat them twice to advance to the Super Regionals next week.Eddie Park and Alberto Rios both had two hits for Stanford (39-17), which faces Fullerton on Sunday at noon. Braden Montgomery added a two-run homer in the first inning.Stanford and Fullerton played a three-game against each other in February to start the season, with...

NorCal regionals: St. Ignatius wins Division II baseball title; Live Oak cruises to D-V softball crown

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

BaseballDivision II finalSt. Ignatius’ pitching is young, but that clearly hasn’t been an issue for the San Francisco school.The Wildcats have a new trophy to prove it.Two days after freshman Chase Gordon allowed one run in a complete-victory victory over Bellarmine, another freshman, Archer Horn, pitched five shutout innings on Saturday to help St. Ignatius beat host Casa Grande 3-0 in the NorCal Division II championship game in Petaluma.Sophomore Beau Schaffer relieved Horn and pitched the final two innings to clinch the title.Fourth-seeded St. Ignatius scored all the runs it needed in the first inning. Leonard Beatie’s bunt single knocked in Gus Parker to make it 1-0.Niko Gomozias followed with a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Dominic Camarillo for a 2-0 advantage.An inning later, Camarillo got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to stretch the margin to three.Horn and Schaffer handled it from there, keeping Casa Grande off the scoreboard as the Wildcats imp...

Acuña hits 464-foot homer in Braves’ 5-2 win over Diamondbacks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. stole a base when no one was looking, hit a homer to the fans buying beer.Spencer Strider overpowered major league hitters by blowing fastballs past them.When the Atlanta Braves’ two young stars are in the lineup, it’s can’t-miss viewing.Acuña hit a 464-foot home run, Strider struck out seven in six effective innings and the Braves beat the streaking Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 on Saturday night.“You feel like every day — Spencer it’s every five days — you can’t ask for a better seat in the house watching that every day,” said Braves reliever Jesse Sanchez, who worked out of a big jam in the sixth inning.Scuffling at the plate lately, the Braves had 11 hits to end Arizona’s six-game winning streak.Marcell Ozuna and Eddie Rosario had run-scoring singles against Rhyne Nelson (2-4) to help the Braves go up 3-0 through five innings. Atlanta scored another run on a double play in the sixth inning and Acuña followed by hitti...

Darvish dominant, Tatis homers twice in Padres’ 6-0 win over Cubs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Yu Darvish struck out nine in seven dominant innings, Fernando Tatis Jr. homered twice and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 on Saturday night.“This is as good as stuff we have seen him have all year,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said. “He used his fastball more today, more curveball, the split, then went to kind of his cutters and sliders a little bit later, so he really kept them off-balanced.” Darvish (4-4) rebounded from a May 28 outing at the New York Yankees when he gave up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings in a 10-7 loss.Against the Cubs, Darvish was in complete command all night, giving up just two singles — Chicago’s only hits of the game — and one walk.“The two-seamer,” Darvish said through a translator when asked what was his best pitch was on the night. “All-in-all, I think it was a really good game.”Tatis hit a solo homer in the third and a three-run blast in the eighth for his 11th of the season and 10th multi-homer game in his career. Bo...

Oral Roberts rallies, beats Washington 15-12 at Stillwater Regional, wins 20th straight

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Jake McMurray had four of Oral Roberts’ 24 hits and Jonah Cox went 3 for 4 with a double, a home run and six RBIs to help the No. 4 seeded Golden Eagles rally from an eight-run deficit and beat Washington 15-12 Saturday night at the Stillwater Regional for their 20th consecutive win. Oral Roberts (48-11) awaits the winner of a loser-out game between Washington and Dallas Baptist on Sunday. The Huskies beat the Patriots 9-5 in the regional’s opening game. Johnny Tincher and Sam DeCarlo each hit a home run in Washington’s seven-run first inning and Tincher’s RBI groundout in the second made it 8-0 but Cox hit a three-run shot in the third — ORU’s second home run of the inning — and added an RBI sacrifice fly to cap a three-run fourth that made it 8-7. McMurray scored on an RBI single by Cox that gave the Golden Eagles a 12-8 lead in the fifth in and Cox drove in Blaze Brothers with a single that made it 13-10 in the top of the sev...

Vetrano drives in 5 runs, Boston College beats Nicholls 14-6 at Tuscaloosa Regional

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Joe Vetrano singled, doubled and homered twice to drove in five runs and Boston College pulled away to earn a 14-6 win over Nicholls in an elimination game at the Tuscaloosa Regional on Saturday.The second-seeded Eagles (36-19) advance to face the loser of Saturday’s late game between top-seeded Alabama and third-seeded Troy in an elimination game Sunday.Sam McNulty hit a three-run homer in the second inning to put Boston College in front, but Nicholls manufactured a run in the second on a Wes Toups sacrifice fly and scored two runs in the third on a pair of groundouts. Henry Leake came on in the third inning, relieving starter Chris Flynn, and blanked the Colonels over the next four innings while Boston College rode four home runs to take a 10-run lead. Vetrano hit his first homer in the fourth, Danel Baruch hit a solo shot and Nick Wang belted a three-run homer in the fifth and Vetrano added a three-run shot in the seventh. Leake (5-5) earned the win....

Pilchard pitches Santa Clara past Arizona , 9-3 after weather delay at Fayetteville Regional

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 07:00:42 GMT

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Cade Pilchard started and pitched six scoreless innings to earn Santa Clara a 9-3 win over Arizona in an elimination game in the Fayetteville Regional that was delayed by a lengthy bout with inclement weather Saturday.Weather postponed Saturday’s nightcap, a winner’s bracket game between host Arkansas and TCU. That game must be played Sunday before Santa Clara (36-19) will know who it plays: the loser of the game between the Razorbacks and the Horned Frogs. Pilchard (4-1) started the seventh inning with an 8-0 lead and gave up a lead-off home run by Emilio Corona and a single to Mason White before being lifted. Jared Feikes worked the final three innings.Efrain Manzo hit a solo home run in the third inning and Michael O’Hara and Eamonn Lance each hit two-run shots to stake the Broncos to the lead.White hit a ninth-inning home run for the Wildcats. Aiden May started and worked 4 ⅔ innings for Arizona, allowing just one earned run on five hi...