Jaquish leads Team Zerkle to win over Team Eberle
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Sahvanna Jaquish hit two home runs and a triple to set a league record with 11 total bases in Team Zerkle’s 9-3 victory over Team Eberle in the Athletes Unlimited Championship Series on Sunday at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex.
The win allowed Team Zerkle to close the opening weekend with a 2-1 record while handing Team Eberle its first loss in three games.
Jaquish, who went 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored and five runs batted in and earned MVP 1 honors, finished the game with 278 leaderboard points, including 118 stat points. She also led Team Zerkle to 100 win points.
Team Zerkle catcher Dejah Mulipola followed with 198 leaderboard points on the strength of a 2-for-3 effort, including a two-home run in the fourth inning, while claiming MVP 2 commendations.
Relief pitcher Alyssa Denham earned MVP 3 honors after allowing one run on two hits over 3.0 innings with a strikeout. Denham, who secured her first win in the circle this season, tallied 146 leaderboard points.
Shortstop Hannah Flippen led Team Eberle in the loss by going 3-for-3 with two runs batted in and a run scored. Pitcher Greta Cecchetti took the loss after allowing three runs, including two home runs, without retiring a batter in the third inning.
Highland graduate Rachel Garcia went 1-for-4 with a run for Team Zerkle and pitched the final three innings to earn her first save of the season. She allowed just two hits and two walks and struck out one batter.
She earned 146 points to finish fifth overall in the standings, just missing out on being a team captain for the second week of play.
Carrie Eberle (452 points), Jaquish (438), Mulipola (432) and Kelsey Harshman (366) will be the team captains for the second week, which begins on Friday.
Finau wins again on Tour
DETROIT — Tony Finau ran away with the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club to become the first PGA Tour player in three years to win consecutive regular-season events.
Finau closed with a 5-under 67 for a five-shot victory and a tournament-record 26-under 262. Taylor Pendrith (72), Patrick Cantlay (66) and Cameron Young (68) tied for second.
Finau coasted to his fourth career victory, a third title in under a year. He was the 3M Open winner last week in
Minnesota, where he rallied from five strokes back to win by three. Brendon Todd was the last to win two straight in the regular season, doing it in 2019.
Finau, the Salt Lake City native with Tongan-Samoan heritage, began his stretch of success last August at The Northern Trust, where he had his first victory in five years and 142 PGA Tour starts.
Finau stopped another drought in Detroit, winning for the first time in six attempts when he had or shared the 54-hole lead in a PGA Tour event. With his sixth birdie at No. 17 and a closing par, he broke Nate Lashley’s tournament record of 25 under set in 2019 during the inaugural PGA Tour event.
The PGA Tour will close the regular season next week at the Wyndham Championship. Players on the bubble will have one last shot to finish in the top 125 of the FedEx Cup standings to earn a spot in the playoffs and a full card next season.
Ayaka Furue wins Women’s Scottish Open for first LPGA victory
IRVINE, Scotland — Ayaka Furue of Japan ran off six straight birdies in the middle of her round and rallied from a four-shot deficit with a 10-under 62 to win the Women’s Scottish Open for her first LPGA Tour title.
A seven-time winner on the Japan LPGA — once as an amateur — Furue became the second rookie to win on the LPGA Tour this year, and she did it in style at Dundonald Links.
Starting the final round four shots behind Celine Boutier of France, the 22-year-old finished the front nine with four straight birdies and added two more to start the back nine. She never let up, playing bogey-free to win by three.
Boutier was still in good shape until making three bogeys on the back nine for a 69.
Furue finished at 21-under 267 and won $300,000, along with valuable momentum going into the final major of the year next week in the Women’s British Open at Muirfield.
AP sources: Decision in Watson discipline case coming Monday
A decision on discipline for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson following accusations of sexual misconduct is coming Monday.
Two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that retired judge Sue L. Robinson has informed the NFL and the NFL Players’ Association she’s ready to issue a ruling on Watson’s disciplinary hearing that concluded a month ago. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
Watson was accused of sexual harassment and assault by 24 massage therapists in Texas and has settled 20 of the civil lawsuits filed against him. Four lawsuits remain pending and the attorney representing the women has said he hopes to take them to trial sometime next spring.
Two separate Texas grand juries declined to indict Watson on criminal complaints stemming from the allegations.
Watson, who played for four seasons with Houston before being traded to Cleveland in March, has been practicing with the Browns while Robinson has spent weeks trying to determine whether the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy and whether to impose discipline.
The league argued for an indefinite suspension of at least one year during a three-day hearing in Delaware last month. The union pushed for no punishment, though a person familiar with Watson’s defense told the AP in June that a suspension is expected and the goal is to have Watson play this season.
Castillo to make Mariners debut Wednesday at Yankees
HOUSTON — All-Star Luis Castillo will make his debut for the Seattle Mariners when he starts against the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
The Mariners acquired the righthander from Cincinnati on Friday, hoping to bolster their rotation as they chase their first playoff berth since 2001. Their postseason drought is the longest in the four major North American professional sports.
At 55-48, Seattle is currently 12 games behind Houston in the AL West standings, but is in second place for one of three wild card playoff spots. Manager Scott Servais said Sunday that Castilli will start the series finale in New York.
Perhaps the top starter on this year’s trade market, Castillo joins a rotation with Logan Gilbert, Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen.
Castillo’s last start for the Reds came last Wednesday. The 29-yearold was 4-4 with a 2.86 ERA for lastplace Cincinnati this season. He has 90 strikeouts and just 28 walks in 85 innings.
His strong performance comes a year after he had a career-worst 8-16 record, where his losses were the most in the National League, and had a 3.98 ERA.
The Reds got infielders Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo, and righthanders Levi Stoudt and Andrew Moore in the trade. Marte was the Mariners’ top-rated prospect, Arroyo was third and Stoudt fifth.
Messi, Neymar score in 4-0 win as PSG wins Champions Trophy
TEL AVIV, Israel — Lionel Messi opened the scoring and Neymar scored twice as French champion Paris Saint-Germain beat French Cup winner Nantes 4-0 to win the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
Messi, the record seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, netted midway through the first half. Taking a deflected pass from Neymar, he went past goalkeeper Alban Lafont before scoring with a fine finish.
Neymar expertly guided a free kick into the top left corner in first-half injury time to put coach Christophe Galtier’s side 2-0 up at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, which hosted the game for the second straight year.
Veteran defender Sergio Ramos made it 3-0 in the 57th minute from close range and Neymar converted a penalty in the 82nd after being fouled by Jean-Charles Castelletto, who was sent off.
Galtier, who guided Lille to the league title against the odds in 2021, now has his first trophy at PSG. He replaced Maurico Pochettino after he was fired.
Antoine Kombouare, who once coached PSG, helped Nantes win its first trophy in 21 years when it won the cup.