YSU softball takes home HL awards

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — After winning the regular-season championship by three games, the Youngstown State softball team earned a total of nine Horizon League Softball postseason awards, the conference announced on Tuesday.

Kennedy Kimball was named the 2026 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year, and Brian Campbell was named the 2026 Horizon League Coach of the Year.

The Penguins also placed a program-record six players on the all-league teams, including four on the first team and one on both the second team and third team.

Kimball, who became the first YSU pitcher to win pitcher of the week four times in one season, is the first player in league history to win both the freshman of the year and the pitcher of the year in the same season.

She is the fourth Youngstown State pitcher to win the league’s top pitcher and the first since Elle Buffenbarger in 2021. She is also just the second YSU freshman to earn the honor and the first since Kelly Murphy in 2003. The Windham, Maine native is also the seventh Penguin to be named freshman or newcomer of the year and the first since Jillian Jakse in 2021.

Kimball leads the Horizon League with a 7-1 record, a 3.31 earned run average and a .232 opponent batting average against league foes. Overall, Kimball is tied for the league lead with 11 victories, leads the conference with a 2.97 ERA and four shutouts and ranks fourth with 81 strikeouts.

Campbell, who led the Penguins to their third conference title in the last six years, captured his fourth coach-of-the-year award and the third since 2021. Campbell won the honor in 2012, 2021, 2024 and 2026. He led the Penguins to their eighth 30-win season with 31 victories this season, which marks the seventh time YSU won at least 30 games under his tenure.

Kimball, who is the first Youngstown State freshman pitcher named All-Horizon League First Team since Murphy, is joined on the first team by seniors Kennedy Dean and Emma Gilkerson and junior Lydia Wilkerson. Junior Tai Turner earnred All-Horizon League Second-Team honors while junior Selah Moyer was named to the third team.

Dean posted a breakout senior campaign leading the Penguins with a .374 batting average, 14 doubles, 12 home runs and 65 runs batted in. Her 65 RBIs set the YSU single-season RBI record and she is two home runs shy of setting the single-season home run record. Dean boasts a slugging percentage of .741, which is the third-highest in school history, and a 1.188 OPS.

Gilkerson, a two-time All-Horizon League selection, is making her second appearance on the first team after earning the honor in 2025. She was also a second-team selection in 2024. Gilkerson finished the regular season with a .359 batting average with seven doubles, 12 home runs and 43 runs batted in. She is tied with Dean for the team lead in home runs and ranks second on the squad with a .662 slugging percentage.

Wilkerson, a two-time All-Horizon League selection 2024 and 2025, closed out the regular season with a .364 average with 11 doubles, two triples four home runs and 27 runs batted in. A career .360 hitter, Wilkerson owns a .567 slugging percentage and a 1.005 OPS this season.

Turner and Moyer are both in their first seasons with the Penguins and have made a huge impact. Turner is second on the squad with a .368 batting average and has a team-high three triples. She also has a team-high 56 runs scored and needs three more to break the YSU single-season runs scored mark of 58 set in 2016 by Miranda Castiglione.

Moyer closed out the regular season with a .336 average with 12 doubles, eight home runs and 49 RBIs, and she owns a .647 slugging percentage and a 1.112 OPS. Her 49 runs batted in are tied for second on the single-season list and match the old program record.

Youngstown State will face the winner of the No. 4 Oakland-No. 5 Green Bay game on Thursday. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m. at the Covelli Sports Complex.

Taylor is released from hospital

NEW YORK — New York Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor was discharged recently from the hospital following a stint for a stomach-related issue, his attorney said Tuesday.

Mark Eiglarsh said in an email to The Associated Press that Taylor is returning home to Florida after being hospitalized in Morristown, New Jersey, since April 20.

“He is grateful to now be on the road to recovery and hopes to be back on the golf course soon,” Eiglarsh said, adding that the 67-year-old expressed appreciation to the staff at Morristown Medical Center.

“Mr. Taylor would also like to sincerely thank everyone for the outpouring of love, support and prayers. Knowing that so many people were thinking of him and praying for his recovery gave him strength and helped carry him through a very challenging time.”

Taylor spent his entire 13-season NFL career with the Giants from 1981-93 and helped them win the Super Bowl twice while being an eight-time AP All-Pro selection and earning MVP honors in 1986. His No. 56 is retired by the organization, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in 1999.

After his football career, Taylor pleaded guilty in New York in 2011 to misdemeanor criminal charges of sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute. He was sentenced to six years of probation and ordered to register as a sex offender, and in 2021 and 2024 he was charged in Florida with failing to update his address on the state’s registry.

WNBA GMs: Wilson likely to repeat

NEW YORK — WNBA general managers voted Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson as the favorite to be named the league’s Most Valuable Player, according to an annual survey released Tuesday.

The Aces were also voted the favorites to repeat as league champions, according to the survey of all 15 general managers.

Wilson, who was last season’s MVP, received 60% of the votes, followed by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart with 27% and the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and the Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray with 7% each.

The Aces garnered 40% of the votes to win the WNBA title, followed by New York with 33% and Atlanta with 27%.

Olivia Miles, taken with the No. 2 pick in the draft by the Lynx, was voted the player most likely to win rookie of the year honors (73%) followed by top pick Azzi Fudd, who went to the Dallas Wings (20%).