Curbstone to honor YSU HL champions

At Monday’s luncheon meeting of The Curbstone Coaches at the Avion Banquet Center on Western Reserve Road in Beaver Township, they will honor the following Horizon League Champions:

¯ The 2024 Men’s Cross Country Champions

¯ The 2025 Women’s Indoor Track and Field Champions

¯ The 2025 Men’s Indoor Track and Field Champions

¯ The 2025 Women’s Individual Golf Medalist Neeranuch Prajunpanich

¯ The 2025 Women’s Tennis Team Champions

¯ The 2025 Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Champions

¯ The 2025 Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Champions

The event begins at noon and the public is welcome to attend. For those arriving early, the buffet lines will open at 11:45 a.m.

Penguins drop meeting with Norse

Highland Heights, Ky. — Northern Kentucky scored the first six runs of the game and went on to defeat the Youngstown State baseball team 12-4 on Friday afternoon at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.

The Norse plated three runs in the second and three more in the third to take a 6-0 lead before the Penguins scored twice in the top of the fourth. NKU went on to score four runs in the fourth to build a 10-2 advantage before YSU hit a pair of solo home runs in the fifth. The Norse added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings on their way to earning the series victory.

Youngstown State drops to 14-39 overall and 11-18 in Horizon League play while Northern Kentucky improves to 29-23 overall and 17-12 in league action.

Tommy Rover went 2-for-5 with a solo home run while Brayden Kuriger doubled, walked and hit a solo blast of his own. Nathan Beckley added a solo home run and Brady Shannon (Ursuline) delivered an RBI single for the Penguins, who were outhit by the Norse 13-8.

YSU starter Sloan Ulrich allowed 10 runs, four of which were earned, on nine hits over three innings. JJ Tylicki was responsible for two runs on three hits and five walks with five strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings while Colin Casteel came on to pitch 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

The Penguins got on the board in the top of the fourth when Beckley hit a leadoff solo home run. Garrett Cutting reached with a bunt single, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on Shannon’s RBI single to cut NKU’s lead to 6-2.

The Norse answered with four runs on two hits in the bottom of the fourth to push their lead to 10-2. Brennan Rowe and Tyler Shaneyfelt drew back-to-back walks to begin the frame, and both baserunners scored on Miranda’s single through the left side. After Tylicki replaced Ulrich on the mound for the Penguins, Sam Bond drove in a run with an RBI groundout and Miranda scored from third Williams stole second base.

Youngstown State reduced Northern Kentucky’s lead to 10-4 in the top of the fifth as Rover and Kuriger hit back-to-back solo home runs.

NKU added a single run in the bottom of the sixth as Williams walked, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on a two-out RBI single by Sparks. The Norse posted another single tally in the seventh as Shaneyfelt drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on an error and scored when Bond reached on an error.

The Penguins and Norse will conclude their three-game Horizon League series today in the regular season finale for both teams. First pitch at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Tatum out of hospital, rejoins Celtics

NEW YORK — Celtics star Jayson Tatum won’t be far from Madison Square Garden when Boston faces a must-win situation against the New York Knicks on Friday night as the defending champions attempt to force a deciding Game 7.

Tatum has been released from a New York hospital following season-ending surgery to repair the ruptured right Achilles tendon he suffered late in Boston’s 121-113 loss to the Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals matchup.

The 27-year-old All-Star had the opportunity to meet with his teammates Thursday at the team’s hotel for the first time since he was carried off the court with the injury. He had what the team said was successful surgery on Tuesday and has been recuperating in New York.

Tatum is facing around a nine-month recovery from his injury. When Kevin Durant tore his Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals, he wound up missing the entire 2019-20 season.

If the Celtics win on Friday night, Game 7 would be Monday night in Boston.

Bears focused on stadium in suburbs

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears seem to have shifted their attention for a new enclosed stadium back to the suburbs from the city’s lakefront, citing “significant progress” with local leaders to build on a tract of land they own in Arlington Heights.

Bears President Kevin Warren said six weeks ago at the NFL meetings that the team was turning at least some of its focus from the Chicago lakefront to the suburbs. The latest statement seemed to take it a step farther.

Though the Bears finalized the purchase of a 326-acre property in Arlington Heights in February 2023, their main focus the past year had been on building an enclosed stadium next to their longtime home at Soldier Field. Their plan to transform Chicago’s Museum Campus got a full endorsement from Mayor Brandon Johnson but a tepid reception from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and state legislators when it was announced in April 2024.

In September 2022, the Bears unveiled a nearly $5 billion plan for Arlington Heights that also called for restaurants, retail and more, when they were finalizing the purchase of that site 30 miles from Soldier Field. Their focus shifted toward the Chicago lakefront after Warren was hired as president two years ago to replace the retiring Ted Phillips.

There have also been talks with developers of a tract of land on the South Side about building a stadium and mixed-use development on the site of the old Michael Reese Hospital. But the team has rejected the 48.6-acre site in the past, saying it was too narrow and that commuter train tracks presented engineering challenges.

Since moving to Chicago in 1921, the Bears have never owned their stadium, whether playing at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970 or Soldier Field since then. The team hopes to start construction this year.