Quick Hitters
YC baseball advances
The Yuma Catholic baseball team beat No. 13 Benjamin Franklin, 5-1, on the road Friday in the 3A state play-in round.
The No. 20 Shamrocks, who will be the No. 16 seed in the state tournament that begins next week, were led by starting pitcher Jonathan Duarte, who allowed just four hits and struck out seven in a complete-game effort.
Harrison Long and Audie Ethington both went 2-for-4.
Jets beat Predators
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Connor Hellebuyck loves what he’s seeing in his first NHL postseason, and the 24-year-old goalie is doing his best to make sure the Winnipeg Jets do much more than just stick around.
Hellebuyck made 47 saves and the Jets beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Friday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal between the NHL’s top teams in the regular season.
Not only did the teams top the standings, this series is the first between clubs with the most combined points ever before a conference finals after Nashville (117) edged Winnipeg (114) for the Presidents’ Trophy.
Both the Jets and Predators brought a Vezina finalist into this series. Hellebuyck outdueled veteran Pekka Rinne, who was pulled after the second period after giving up three goals on 16 shots. Hellebuyck, who finished off Minnesota with back-to-back shutouts, picked up where he left off a week ago.
Hellebuyck stretched his shutout streak to 163 minutes before Nashville finally scored.