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NorCal baseball regionals: Valley Christian edges Cardinal Newman to reach D-I final

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

SAN JOSE — When the California Interscholastic Federation voted before the pandemic to add a regional tournament for baseball, you’ve got to think the decision-makers imagined games such as the one that unfolded Thursday at Valley Christian.On the first day of June under blue skies, two section champions with four losses between them met for a spot in Saturday’s Northern California Division I final.As expected, it was nail-bitingly tense from the first pitch to the last.But only Valley Christian was celebrating at the end.The top-seeded Warriors held off fourth-seeded Cardinal Newman 2-1 to advance to play host to defending champion De La Salle in the championship game. The second-seeded Spartans beat Franklin-Elk Grove 6-5 in nine innings in the other semifinal.Valley Christian ace Michael Castaneda pitched five innings of one-run ball against a powerful-swinging team from Santa Rosa and Alec Belardes pitched the final two frames for his second save of the regiona...

Three Bay Area kids, all sponsored by the same Rotary club, make it to National Spelling Bee finals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

Three Bay Area students sponsored by the same Rotary club were among 11 finalists vying for a $50,000 cash prize in the biggest spelling bee in the country — with one student making it to the final four.Twelve-year-old Dhruv Subramanian, a 7th-grader at Windemere Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, has been watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee since he was three or four. This week, he found himself in a Washington, D.C.-area convention center as a competitor.“It’s quite a surreal experience, especially getting into the finals like this,” Dhruv said Thursday afternoon by phone after getting in some last-minute studying on his “frequently missed words list” and doing some meditation to try to calm himself.Speller 9 Dhruv Subramanian of Danville, CA, representing San Ramon Valley Rotary Club, competes in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, MD, on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 (photo by E. M. Pio Roda/Scripps ...

Why are homeowners moving to Sacramento?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

Finding the perfect location to settle down and purchase a new construction home is an exciting yet sometimes challenging decision in any homeowner’s life. While the Bay Area has long been a popular choice for some homeowners in California, the vibrant city of Sacramento has been steadily drawing attention to potential buyers over recent years. With its booming economy and a thriving cultural scene, Sacramento presents a perfect choice for those seeking a fresh start in a new construction home by our team at Elliott Homes.This is Plan 1945 at the brand-new Laurel at Elliott Springs community in Elk Grove. Pricing starts in the low $600,000s. Sacramento is the capital city of California and offers an enviable quality of life that caters to a diverse range of interests. With a perfect blend of urban excitement and a welcoming community atmosphere, the city has something for everyone to enjoy — especially new homeowners. From a thriving arts and culture scene to world-class dining...

Twins top Guardians 7-6 as Lewis hits game-tying HR in 8th, Castro wins it with SF in 9th

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and Willi Castro had a game-ending sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the ninth, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 7-6 comeback victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday night.Eli Morgan (2-1) walked Christian Vázquez to start the ninth. Jorge Polanco, who came off the injured list before the game, followed with a double. After an intentional walk, with the infield drawn in, Castro poked a perfectly placed fly ball to right field that was plenty deep enough to score Vázquez.Castro was one of three Twins reserves to enter mid-game after Byron Buxton (ribs), Carlos Correa (foot) and Max Kepler (migraine headache) were all pulled for health reasons.Guardians rookie Tanner Bibee, who finished five innings, still hasn’t won in six starts since his major league debut on April 26.Gabriel Arias and Will Brennan each had two hits as Cleveland’s lagging lineup showed more life on the heels of a...

Devers breaks tie in 6-run 8th, Red Sox beat Reds 8-2 to avoid sweep

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Rafael Devers doubled to break an eighth-inning tie and the Boston Red Sox overcame Chris Sale’s early exit because of shoulder soreness to beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-2 on Thursday night.Sale departed after manager Alex Cora and a member of the training staff visited the mound twice in the fourth inning. Sale came out with two out after walking Nick Senzel, with Boston trailing 1-0. Sale struck out five in 3 2/3 innings. The 34-year-old left-hander has struggled to stay healthy during the majority of his time in Boston, undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020. The last time he made it through an entire season without making a trip to the injured list was 2017.After the Reds tied it off Chris Martin (1-1) in the eighth, Devers doubled in Alex Verdugo after a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning. Devers hit a deep drive to straight away center that nearly went out.Boston added five more runs in the inning. Pinch-runner Ramiel Tapia scored after reliever Kevin Her...

Thomas sets franchise high with 16 assists, Sun beat Lynx 89-84

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Natisha Hiedeman scored 19 points, Alyssa Thomas had 16 points, nine rebounds and a franchise-high 16 assists and the Connecticut Sun beat the Minnesota Lynx 89-84 on Thursday night.Thomas passed Lindsay Whalen’s single-game mark of 13 for the team record before finishing two shy of Courtney Vandersloot’s WNBA record of 18. Thomas had seven assists in the first quarter and she reached 10 with 3:24 left before halftime to set a franchise record for the most assists in a half, passing Renee Montgomery’s nine in 2010. Connecticut scored the opening 12 points of the second half for a 59-47 lead as Minnesota missed its first nine field-goal attempts before Bridget Carleton’s 3-pointer with 4:25 left in the third. The Lynx started the fourth with consecutive turnovers as the Sun extended it to 74-59. But Napheesa Collier scored 10 straight Minnesota points to pull within 77-74 and Kayla McBride tied it on a three-point play with 4:02 left. The Lynx had a chance to...

Angels manager Nevin ejected in 6th against Astros after yelling at home plate umpire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Los Angeles Angels manager Phil Nevin was ejected in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros on Thursday night after screaming at home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater after Taylor Ward struck out looking with the bases loaded.The Angels were trailing 4-2 when Ward was called out on a low strike for the second out of the inning. Nevin came out of the dugout and got face to face with Scheurwater and yelled at him for a few seconds before ripping off his own cap and screaming at him some more. Second base umpire Mark Wegner came to the plate and got between the men, lightly pushing Nevin away from Scheurwater. Nevin then walked off the field before stopping at the top steps of the dugout to yell at Scheurwater some more before leaving the dugout.Mike Trout lined out to end the inning after Nevin’s ejection. ___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Dev Shah, a 14-year-old from Largo, Florida, wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee on the word ‘psammophile’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Dev Shah, a 14-year-old from Largo, Florida, wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee on the word ‘psammophile.’Source

Nuggets roll past Heat in Game 1 of NBA Finals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets were facing some questions going into their first NBA Finals, and their answers came in resounding fashion.No, a week and a half off didn’t hurt them.And no, the NBA’s biggest stage isn’t too big, either.Jokic got a triple-double in his finals debut, Jamal Murray scored 26 points and the Nuggets had little trouble with the cold-shooting Miami Heat on the way to a 104-93 win in Game 1 on Thursday night.The two-time NBA MVP finished with 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who waited 47 years to make the finals and didn’t disappoint. 6 things to know as Nuggets face Heat in NBA Finals “The most important thing is to win a game," Jokic said after his ninth triple-double of this year's playoffs — his sixth in his last seven games. “I’m trying to win a game in any possible way.”Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Michael Porter Jr. scored 14 for Denver, which trailed for all of 34 seconds and eventually led by as many as...

Senate approves bill to avert national default, sending it to Biden’s desk 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:06 GMT

The Senate on Thursday night capped four months of contentious debate and voted to send a compromise bill to President Biden’s desk that extends the government’s borrowing authority until January of 2025 and staves off a potential default next week. A large bipartisan majority of the Senate voted 63-36 to approve the bill, which passed the House on Wednesday night. The approval came after the Senate clinched an agreement to conduct a series of amendment votes on Thursday night and move directly to final passage. The normally slow-moving chamber raced through a dozen votes in just over three hours.“By passing this bill we will avoid default tonight. America can breathe a sigh of relief,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared on the Senate floor.  “From the start, avoiding default has been our north star. The consequences of default would be catastrophic,” he said. “For all the ups and downs and twists and turns it took to get here, it is so good for th...