HIGH SCHOOLS
Andrew Heffernan, a senior pitcher and third baseman at South Portland High, has been named the Gatorade Maine Baseball Player of the Year.
Heffernan, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound right-hander who has signed a letter-of-intent to play for Merrimack College, finished the regular season with a 4-2 record with one save, a 0.28 earned-run average, 72 strikeouts and only four walks in 51 innings. At the plate, he’s hitting .418 with 15 RBI and 13 runs scored.
BASEBALL
EASTERN LEAGUE: Tyler Hardman’s two-run homer highlighted a six-run first inning that propelled the Somerset Patriots to a 9-7 win Friday night against the Portland Sea Dogs at Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Sea Dogs starter Wyatt Olds retired only one batter, allowing six runs on three hits and three walks.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 3 for 4 with a two-run homer and three RBI for the Sea Dogs. He also stole home in the first inning on a double steal with Marcelo Mayer.
Portland added three runs in the eighth on a two-run double by Chase Meidroth and an RBI single by Matthew Lugo.
HORSE RACING
CHURCHILL DOWNS: Churchill Downs will suspend racing operations on Wednesday and move the remainder of its spring meet to Ellis Park in order to conduct a “top-to-bottom” review of safety and surface protocols in the wake of 12 horse fatalities the past month at the home of the Kentucky Derby.
Racing will continue at Churchill Downs through Sunday before shifting to the CDI-owned racing and gaming facility in Henderson, Kentucky.
BASKETBALL
NBA: The Phoenix Suns hired Frank Vogel to replace Monty Williams as head coach, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
Vogel, 49, has been the coach of the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers and now moves to the Suns, where he’ll try to help the franchise win its first title in its 55-year history with a roster that includes stars Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
Vogel led the Lakers to an NBA title in 2020 when the league finished its season in the Florida bubble. He has a 431-389 record over 11 seasons, and a 49-39 mark in the playoffs.
WNBA: Breanna Stewart banked in a go-ahead shot with 7.1 seconds left, and the visiting New York Liberty rallied to defeat the Chicago Sky, 77-76.
Stewart finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists as New York improved to 4-1.
TENNIS
NADAL SURGERY: Rafael Nadal had arthroscopic surgery for the injured left hip flexor that forced him to sit out the French Open for the first time since he won the first of his record 14 titles there in his 2005 tournament debut.
Nadal, who turns 37 Saturday, has been sidelined since January, when he hurt his hip during a second-round loss at the Australian Open.
BOXING
JURISPRUDENCE: A Baltimore judge has ordered World Boxing Association lightweight champion Gervonta Davis to serve the remainder of his hit-and-run crash sentence behind bars instead of in home detention after he moved to a luxury hotel and then a new home without the judge’s permission, the state’s attorney’s office confirmed.
Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Althea Handy sentenced Davis on May 5 to 90 days of home detention after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a 2020 hit-and-run crash that left four people injured.
Davis has a 29-0 record, with all but two of his victories by knockout.
SOCCER
EUROPE: José Mourinho was charged with abusing a match official by UEFA after being filmed aggressively cursing at a referee in a stadium garage after the Europa League final.
UEFA said the Roma coach is charged for “insulting/abusive language against a match official” – who was later verbally abused by Italian fans at the airport in Budapest – after Sevilla’s title victory this week.
UEFA gave no timetable for its disciplinary panel to judge the case. If found guilty, Mourinho would be suspended for at least two games.
TRACK AND FIELD
WORLD RECORD: Faith Kipyegon of Kenya broke the women’s 1,500 meters world record at the Golden Gala meet in Florence, Italy.
She became the first woman to better 3 minutes, 50 seconds, finishing in 3:49.11. The two-time Olympic and two-time world champion took almost a second off the record of 3:50.07 set by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2015.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story