Gotkin to speak at Curbstone

Youngstown Phantoms associate head coach Brandon Gotkin will be the guest speaker at Monday’s luncheon meeting of The Curbstone Coaches at the Avion Banquet Center on Western Reserve Road in Beaver Township.

The event begins at 11:45 a.m. and the public is welcome to attend.

All sports fans are welcome and you do not need to be a current or former coach.

Girard announces 2026 HOF class

The Girard Hall of Fame announced the 2026 Class of Inductees. These inductees will be honored at a banquet on April 18 at 7 p.m. at Leo’s Ristorante in Howland.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $60 and will be available at the Girard High School Athletic Department or by calling 3306099777.

This year’s inductees are: Joe Cappuzzello, Baseball Coach; Joe Berezo, Baseball, Class of 1975; Jason Johnson, Baseball, Class of 1995; Matt Zuppo, Football, Class of 2004; Brett Cubellis, Basketball and Football, Class of 2008; Tony Cardiero, Wrestling, Class of 2009; Michael Stacchiotti, Football, Class of 2010; Brandon Martuccio, Football, Class of 2013; Evan Standohar, Basketball and Golf, Class of 2014; and Dylan O’Hara, Basketball, Class of 2015.

The Hall of Fame committee will also award its annual Girard Hall of Fame Student-Athlete Scholarship Award winners at the banquet. One female and one male senior athlete will each be awarded a $500 scholarship.

Raiders’ compete at NCAA regional

ADA — The Mount Union men’s wrestling team competed in day one of the 2026 NCAA Regionals, hosted by Ohio Northern, on Friday.

Freshman Blaine Chrisman is in the championship bracket at 184 and will battle senior Remington Bauer out of Baldwin Wallace in the semifinals tomorrow. Currently Chrisman is regionally ranked second and Bauer is third.

In the consolation bracket battling for third place for the Purple Raiders will be freshman Mason Taylor at 125, senior Nolan Frye at 133, freshman Jack DeBoe at 149, freshman Aiden Stecker (Salem) at 165 and junior Jacob Starkey (South Range) at 174.

Also competing on Friday for Mount Union were freshman Layne Armstrong at 141, freshman Giovanni Duniec at 157, junior Brayden McFetridge at 197, and senior Steven Marra (West Branch) at 285.

The top 3 in each weight class advance to the NCAA Championships. The final and second day of the 2026 NCAA Regionals starts today at 10 a.m.

Penguins rally for first win of 2026

FARMVILLE, Va. — Braden Gebhardt (Howland) had a career-high 12 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings on the mound, and the Youngstown State baseball team scored two ninth inning runs to rally for a 2-1 victory over Longwood on Friday in the series opener at Bobby Bolding Stadium.

The Lancers broke a scoreless tie with a single run in the bottom of the eighth inning before the Penguins answered with two runs on three hits in the top half of the ninth to move in front. Sloan Ulrich proceeded to retire the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure YSU’s first victory of the 2026 season.

Brady Shannon (Ursuline) reached on an error in the top of the ninth and raced home from first on Teddy Ruffner’s pinch-hit RBI double to tie the score at one run apiece. Following a base hit from Luke Rossi, Kendal Spencer plated Ruffner from second with an RBI single that gave YSU the decisive 2-1 advantage.

After being named the Horizon League’s Pitcher of the Week twice in as many starts to begin 2026, Gebhardt delivered another stellar starting pitching performance for the Penguins on Friday in Farmville. The senior left-hander scattered five hits with a new career-high 12 strikeouts while walking just two batters over seven scoreless innings of work.

Gebhardt matched the longest outing of his career for the second straight week in Friday’s series opener while recording a strikeout in six different frames. He registered multiple punchouts in four different innings, and he struck out the side in both the fourth and the seventh. Gebhardt, who has yet to give up an earned run on nine hits allowed this season, has struck out 28 batters while walking just seven in 20 innings pitched.

Brayden Kuriger finished with two of YSU’s seven hits as the Penguins edged the Lancers in the hit column, 7-6.

Luke Zmolik was responsible for one run while recording two outs in the bottom of the eighth as YSU’s first reliever out of the bullpen. Ulrich was awarded with the victory after coming on to record the final four outs for the Penguins.

After Zmolik struck out the first two batters he faced in the home half of eighth, Jae’den Carter reached with a two-out single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Mac Tufts and Tre Keels followed with back-to-back walks that prompted a YSU pitching change. After issuing a bases-loaded walk to Ben Pulliam which gave the Lancers a 1-0 lead, Ulrich responded to strike out Carter Newman and keep the deficit at a single run.

Longwood starter Jaxon Lloyd allowed three hits while fanning eight batters over 6.1 scoreless innings. Jackson Nash surrendered two runs on four hits over 2.2 innings of relief in a losing effort.

The Penguins and Lancers will continue their four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon.

Dodgers not planning on Snell

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Los Angeles Dodgers do not expect two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to be ready for opening day as he works on coming back from a shoulder injury that has lingered since last season.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Friday that the lefty has been throwing on flat ground, not the mound, and is making progress.

Snell was limited to 11 games last year in the regular season, going 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA. He was 3-2 in six postseason starts and helped the Dodgers repeat as World Series champions.

In a spring training game against San Francisco, right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up two runs and five hits while striking out five over three innings. Yamamoto will head to Japan for the World Baseball Classic with Dodgers teammate Shohei Ohtani.

From staff/wire reports