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Bradford Softball Team Caps Historic Season with School’s First State Title

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By Greg Billing, Contributing WriterRailroaders

AKRON – The texts started coming in the fifth inning. By the sixth and seventh innings Shon Schaffer’s phone was vibrating almost non-stop with congratulations and celebratory texts.

The Bradford Railroaders’ softball team was still nine outs away from the school’s first team state championship in any sport. But with standout hurler Skipp Miller dealing her 60 mph-plus fastball and a standout defense behind her, Schaffer’s team had Bradford buzzing with confidence.

“I wanted to play more,” said Maggie Manuel. “I was like please don’t end in a run rule.”

Three Bradford teams have reached the state semifinals. The 1982 football team lost 7-6 to Fostoria St. Wendelin. The 2018 softball team lost to Jeromesville Hillsdale, the eventual state champs, 1-0 in eight innings. And now the 2021 Railroaders, who broke through with a dominating tournament run.

Bradford (30-2) outscored their seven postseason opponents 64-1. The Railroaders, ranked No. 4 in the final Ohio High School Softball Coaches poll, knocked off No. 2 New Riegel, No. 3 Mechanicsburg and No. 6 Cuyahoga Heights along the way.

“She’s definitely the best pitcher in the state,” Cuyahoga Heights coach Kyle Manfredonia said. “That rise ball is hard when it’s coming from that low to where it’s ending. It’s like the Montana Fouts girl throwing for Alabama. It’s impossible to hit when it’s coming that fast. She kept it moving and her change-up was sick. She’s good. Really good.”

Miller threw her 12th no-hitter of the season in the state semifinals on Friday in a 11-0, 5-inning victory against New Riegel.

She finished this season with 414 strikeouts, which ranks third in OHSAA single-season history behind Batavia Clermont Northeastern’s Emily Anderson (432 in 2010) and Rocky River’s Leah Black (455 in 1999). Her 12 no-hitters are No. 2 in single-season history behind Richwood North Union’s Jessica Price (15 in 2000).

“Okay, yes, now that I look back and it’s the only hit of the game (it disappointed me),” said a smiling Miller in the postgame interview session. “I should have warmed up more.”

Miller said she battled her nerves through the early innings and felt almost panicked at times with the pressure to win. After that, it was vintage Miller.

“When I got to the fourth inning I finally got my nerves down I felt great. I felt unstoppable,” she said.

Bradford’s offense was, too. New Riegel surrendered a season-high 11 runs against Bradford (and the only team to score double digits). The eight against Cuyahoga Heights was one away from the most runs the Redskins allowed in a game this season.

Nine different Railroaders had hits in the championship game and seven different players scored.

Austy Miller and Abby Fike both had four hits in the state tournament, while Emma Canan and Samantha “Buzz” Brewer each had three. Rylee Canan knocked in three runs and both Millers and E. Canan had two RBI each. E. Canan scored four runs, A. Miller three and Nylani Beireis three and Brewer two.

On defense, third baseman Maggie Manuel had a pair of standout plays in the title game. She chased down a foul ball for one out and charged a slow grounder and threw to Beireis for another.

“(Friday) I was begging just hit me the ball, please,” Manuel said. “Me and Abby (at shortstop) always talk about how we have no action ever. That’s what happens when you have a good pitcher. … I’ve been caught off guard plenty of times. I just try to tell myself the ball could be hit to me at any time. It could happen so I try to keep my head in the game.”

Bradford graduates five seniors from the state championship team with Brewer, E. Canan, Manuel, S. Miller, and Courtney Monnin.

“I’ve got 19 of them that love this game of softball. It was really fun,” said Schaffer, who completed his eighth year as coach. “They make me look like a really good coach because they’re so talented. All 19 of them, all the way through, make my job pretty easy.

“I don’t want this to end. Once we get back home you’ll always have it but not together like this. You just want to savor it.”

From Rio in 2016 to Tokyo in 2021: For PV Sindhu, it’s All About Change

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Vinayakk Mohanarangan

Sindhu’s second trip to the Olympic Games is going to be a vastly different to the one she embarked on as a starry-eyed youngster.

To say that the world is a different place in 2021 than it was in 2016, would be an understatement. The past year has turned our daily lives upside down and it is going to be no different for athletes heading to the Olympic Games, a year later than they had hoped and trained for.

And so it will be for Indian badminton star PV Sindhu. At 25 (26, by the time the Games begin) Sindhu is going to be spearheading India’s quest to complete a hat-trick of Games with at least a medal in the sport that has flourished since the turn of the century. Silver medallist at Rio 2016, and the reigning World Champion (albeit that feels like from a different era), Sindhu will be — make no mistake — an athlete that countless fans pin their hopes on once again.

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Philippine Saso Steals Show With Playoff Win at Olympic

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76th U.S. Women’s Open Home

What Happened

The Olympic Club struck again. Just as in the five U.S. Opens contested on the club’s Lake Course, the first U.S. Women’s Open Championship played over this iconic Bay Area layout wasn’t kind to the favored final-round frontrunner.

Olympic’s list of past victims includes Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Jim Furyk and Payne Stewart, and Lexi Thompson can now be added to the remarkable list of players who have come up short in championship bids here.

Thompson, the 54-hole leader, was five strokes ahead of her closest pursuers on a beautiful early June Sunday with 10 holes remaining, only to play the final eight in 5 over par, including consecutive bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 that left the 26-year-old Floridian with a final-round 75, one agonizing stroke shy of the playoff between Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka  at 4-under 280.

It took three holes to decide the outcome. Saso converted a 12-foot birdie putt on the first sudden-death playoff hole (No. 9) after both players made back-to-back pars in the two-hole aggregate playoff. At 19 years, 11 months, 17 days old, Saso joined World Golf Hall of Fame member and seven-time major winner Inbee Park as the youngest champion in U.S. Women’s Open history – to the day. She also becomes the first player from the Philippines to engrave her name on the Harton S. Semple Trophy. Princess Mary Superal (2014 U.S. Girls’ Junior) is the only other player from the Philippines to claim a USGA title.

“I don’t know what’s happening in the Philippines right now, but I’m just thankful that there’s so many people in the Philippines cheering for me,” said Saso, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour of Japan. “I don’t know how to thank them. They gave me so much energy. I want to say thank you to everyone.”

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‘Student of the Game’: Pitching Ace Paige McAllister the Heartbeat of Tremont Softball

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Adam Duvall | Peoria Journal Star

TREMONT — Here’s the situation: Tremont leads Illinois Valley Central by a run in the final inning of a Class 2A regional championship softball game. IVC has runners on second and third with no outs. The current batter has a 3-0 count. 

Not an ideal scenario with the season on the line.

But not everyone has Paige McAllister in the circle.

All the scores:2021 IHSA softball state tournament schedule, scores, pairings for the Peoria area

The Tremont senior battled back to get a strikeout for the first out, then fell behind 3-1 before sitting down the next batter. She then worked the count full before getting a swinging strike to end the game.

“It’s definitely rattling for a pitcher,” McAllister said of the near disaster, “but I mean, I have confidence in my defense. I know, in the end, I just got to trust my stuff and trust my catcher to catch it. I know my abilities. I just got to stick to that. Be confident.

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AGSA Softball Camp

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The American Gold Sports Alliance is hosting our first Summer Softball Camp July 12th-15th! Learn new skills and drills while having fun with current and former collegiate softball players! Softball camps are camps created with one purpose: Making you a better softball player. With a player-to-coach ratio of 5 to 1, there’s always someone to help you. Never played softball before? Not a problem! Been playing for years? That’s great too! No matter the skill level your athlete be challenged every day through drills, scrimmage games, and training sessions focused on your position. Campers will learn from the best coaches, work with teammates that are just as passionate about the game as they are, and have fun while doing it! Our coaches are all USA Softball Certified and are excited to work with your athlete!

Register Now: https://playpass.com/go/AyCWFiW

Learn More: https://agsa.org/softball-camp-july-2021/

? DATE: July 12th-15th

⏰ TIME: 9:00am-1:00pm

? LOCATION: Ackerman Park, Field #5, Glen Ellyn, IL

? PRICE: $29 per day or $99 for all four days

? AGE: 6-10 years

? SKILL LEVEL: Beginner-Novice

Register Now: https://playpass.com/go/AyCWFiW

Learn More: https://agsa.org/softball-camp-july-2021/#AmericanGoldSports#AGSAGold#Softball

Driving Equity Grant Program Expands Women’s Golf Coverage

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By Julia Pine, USGA

76th U.S. Women’s Open Home

The USGA has launched the Driving Equity Grant Program to invite media outlets to expand their coverage of women’s golf by offering financial support to help alleviate any associated costs.

Ahead of the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open last December, the USGA launched “Women Worth Watching” as a long-term commitment to use its championships and platforms to celebrate female athletes and role models while promoting equality and diversity in sports. After driving awareness to the disparity in women’s sports coverage in Year One, the Driving Equity Grant Program is the organization’s next actionable solution to shrink the equality gap in golf.

“Today, women’s sports, including golf, are stuck in a recurring cycle where media outlets don’t always receive significant return on investment when they cover events that lack household names. Simultaneously, it is nearly impossible for a sport to build household names without consistent and rich storytelling from the media,” said Craig Annis, the USGA’s chief brand officer. “As the governing body of golf, we feel a deep responsibility to be a leader in breaking that cycle in our sport, and we believe the Driving Equity Grant Program is an important next step in that progress. This is not a problem that will be solved overnight; however, if the entire industry works together and shines a brighter light on women in the game, we have an opportunity to change the future of golf.”

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Women’s Golf Places Three on WGCA All-America Teams

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Kaitlyn Papp and Agathe Laisne collected second-team honors while Sara Kouskova received honorable mentions.

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Women’s Golf placed three student-athletes on the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-America teams, which were unveiled this week. Agathe Laisne and Kaitlyn Papp earned second-team accolades, while Sara Kouskova received honorable mention. It was the first career honor for Kouskova, the second for Laisne and fourth for Papp from the WGCA.

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THE WOMEN OF PARETTA AUTOSPORT

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INDY 500

STORY BY ALYSSA ROENIGK, PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH RICE

Roughly 30 laps into Sunday’s 105th running of the Indianapolis 500, driver Simona De Silvestro will pull into pit lane. In the six seconds it takes to refuel her No. 16 Paretta Autosport Chevrolet, her crew will swap out four Firestones, adjust the front wing and attend to the Aeroscreen windshield on her IndyCar. Typically, teams want pits that are flawless, fast and fade into the noise of the race.

But the Paretta team expects to attract attention. Because for the first time in motorsports history, four of its seven over-the-wall pit crew members will be women. De Silvestro’s two spotters will be women. Two of her engineers, including a Data Acquisition Guy, will be women. And every front office role at Paretta Autosport — from business operations to public relations to merchandise and marketing — is filled by a woman.

“It’s important to me that the bigger message is this isn’t women at the expense of men,” says team owner Beth Paretta, whose vision to create a coed race team has been six years in the making. “I’m trying to expand the grid.”

During the team’s first outing at the Indy 500, Paretta hopes young girls see ponytails fly over the wall during pit stops and women engineers communicating from the timing stand. She also wants the novelty to wear off quickly: “My hope is that in five years, us being a team of mostly women is the least interesting thing about us.”

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