Bochenek to speak at Curbstone

Sports media relations specialist Tom Bochenek 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.

Shannon leads YSU past Hoyas

TYSONS, Va. — Redshirt junior Brady Shannon (Ursuline) hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to help send the Youngstown State baseball team to a 3-2 series-opening win over Georgetown on Friday afternoon at Capital One Park.

The Hoyas scored single unearned runs in the fourth and fifth innings to build a 2-0 edge before the Penguins started the top of the sixth with back-to-back singles from Nathan Beckley and Brayden Kuriger. Shannon followed by hitting the first pitch of his third at bat deep over the wall in center field to give YSU a decisive 3-2 advantage.

Three Youngstown State pitchers combined to limit Georgetown to a total of two unearned runs and five hits. Braden Gebhardt (Howland) did not allow an earned run while scattering three hits and fanning seven batters over six innings on the mound to earn his first win of the season. Tyler Heflin worked a scoreless seventh before Sloan Ulrich came on to toss two scoreless frames and collect his first save.

Kuriger recorded a game-high three hits including a double while Nick Miscavage went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.

Georgetown broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with a single unearned run. Connor Price hit a leadoff double and raced home when Ashtin Gilio reached on an error to give the Hoyas a 1-0 lead.

Georgetown plated another unearned run in the home half of the fifth to push its advantage to 2-0. Connor Peek reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored as the result of a YSU throwing error on Jeremy Sheffield’s two-out infield single.

Youngstown State grabbed the lead with one swing of the bat in the top of the sixth inning. Beckley and Kuriger hit back-to-back singles and Shannon followed with his fourth home run of the season to put the Penguins in front 3-2.

Georgetown starter Kai Leckszas suffered the loss after surrendering three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts over six innings. Three different Hoya relievers combined to limit the Penguins to one hit over the final three frames.

Sheffield finished with two of Georgetown’s five hits as YSU bested the Hoyas in the hit column, 9-5.

The Penguins and Hoyas are scheduled to continue their three-game series today. First pitch at Capital One Park is slated for 10 a.m.

CFP can’t air during Army-Navy

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday barring College Football Playoff and other postseason games from airing during the annual Army-Navy matchup in December.

Trump directed the commerce secretary and the FCC chairman to coordinate with the playoff committee, the NCAA and media rights partners to ensure an exclusive broadcasting window for a storied rivalry played on the second Saturday each December.

Trump’s order makes reference to potential expansion of the CFP, which likely would lead to an earlier start for the playoff. In the first two years of the 12-team format, the first-round games were the weekend after Army-Navy, which moved off the first Saturday in December in 2009 because of conference championship games.

This year, Army-Navy is scheduled for Dec. 12 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the home of the NFL’s New York Giants and Jets. The CFP first-round games are set for Dec. 18-19.

If the playoff were to expand to 24 teams, a model that has been discussed, at least one more week of games would be required. Starting the postseason earlier in December would be a consideration. A smaller expansion to 16 teams wouldn’t necessarily change the number of weeks required for the playoff.

“Such scheduling conflicts weaken the national focus on our Military Service Academies and detract from a morale-building event of vital interest to the Department of War,” Trump’s executive order said. “Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that no college football game, specifically college football’s CFP or other postseason games, be broadcast in a manner that directly conflicts with the Army Navy Game.”

Army and Navy have played every year since 1930, including the pandemic-altered 2020 season and during World War II. There have been 126 meetings, and other neutral sites have included the NFL homes of the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens.