St. John Bosco is one win a way from a rare Triple Crown — winning championships in the Trinity League, Southern Section Division 1 title and Southern California Division I regional.
The Braves (29-4) advanced to the regional final with a 7-4 win over Villa Park on Thursday in the semifinals. They will play host to Patrick Henry from the San Diego Section at 4 p.m. Saturday for the title.
Noah Everly had two hits and two RBIs while Jaden Jackson had two hits. Jack Champlin pitched in his sixth playoff game, getting his fourth save. He has yielded no runs in 9 1/3 playoff innings. He also had an sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth when the Braves scored two runs. Aidan Young had two hits for Villa Park.
Patrick Henry 5, Crespi 3: Tyson Bobo threw a complete game for Patrick Henry. The Celts played without several of their senior standouts.
Point Loma 6, San Dimas 4: The Pointers advanced to the Division II final. Michael Hall had a two-run home run.
Banning 3, Rancho Mirage 2: The Pilots have made it to the Division IV final, scoring three runs in the sixth inning. Angelo Duarte had the big hit in the inning.
Softball
El Modena 8, Poway 6: Parker Mayes hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in the Division I semifinal. El Modena will host Chula Vista Mater Dei at 4 p.m. Saturday. Mater Dei defeated Bonita Vista 5-4. It was Mayes’ second home run of the game.
Legacy 2, St. Bonaventure 1: Brianna Gonzalez hit a home run and Yesenia Villegas had an RBI single during a two-run fifth inning to lift Legacy into the Division III championship game. Savannah Medina threw a complete game.
At least 11 people died in a stampede outside a cricket stadium in Bengaluru as crowds gathered to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first Indian Premier League title. Footage shows fans scaling fences and swarming the stadium.
Former England bowler Stuart Broad will work with South Africa in the build-up to the World Test Championship final against Australia later this month.
Broad, 38, will work for one day as a consultant at training on 9 June – his first role in coaching since retiring at the end of the 2023 Ashes.
Broad took 604 wickets in 167 Tests, putting him second on England’s all-time list behind long-time team-mate James Anderson.
He took 153 of those wickets against Australia – the most by any player in Test history.
Since retiring he has worked as a TV pundit but will help South Africa prepare for the World Test Championship final begins at Lord’s on 11 June.
The Proteas begin a warm-up match against Zimbabwe at Arundel Castle Cricket Ground in Sussex on Tuesday.
Australia are defending champions, having beaten India at The Oval in 2023.
Marina won the Southern Section Division 3 softball championship with an 8-1 win over Westlake in Irvine on Friday.
Aviana Valbuena had three hits and four RBIs. Sister Mia Valbuena struck out 13 with one walk.
Marina improved to 19-13.
Los Alamitos won the Division 2 championship with a 3-0 win over JSerra that took 10 innings. Cienna Kowaleski hit a two-run home run in the 10th to end a great pitching duel.
JSerra’s Liliana Escobar struck out 16. Los Alamitos’ Jaliane Brooks threw all 10 innings, striking out five.
In Division 6, Irvine University defeated Rio Hondo Prep 4-1. In Division 7, Rancho Mirage defeated Culver City 7-3.
When one competition becomes your season’s lodestar, all else on offer will feel diminished.
Prop Andrew Porter made as much clear in a 2023 interview that pops up again and again on social media after Leinster’s European defeats.
“You don’t see many URC or Pro14s or whatever you have on the jersey. You see those stars that are on the jersey,” he said in 2023 before the second of those finals against La Rochelle.
Yet, there is a sense that this year the domestic bread and butter has taken on a greater significance this year.
After a run of four straight titles between 2018 and 2021, Leinster have not won any of the last three, a time period that encompasses the inclusion of South African sides Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions in the competition.
Forwards coach Robin McBryde said it would represent “a step in the right direction” and it will not have gone unnoticed that this particular piece of silverware has also proved to be elusive of late.
While plenty of their squad have enjoyed successes with Ireland, after three seasons, there would be value simply in the act of winning silverware again.
“For Ireland we have been able to do that in recent years, but we haven’t been able to transfer that with Leinster,” said Lowe.
“It doesn’t mean that because you have won with Ireland you are going to win with Leinster.
“You still have to come back here and perform on the biggest of days and under the most amount of pressure. That’s what we want to do.”
When the Bradford family walks together on a beach, at an airport, in a restaurant, eyes turn. They aren’t just tall, they’re giants. They aren’t a basketball family — they play volleyball. On Memorial Day, mom, dad, daughter and son were at the beach looking for games.
Lee Bradford was a 6-foot-7 middle blocker at Pepperdine in the 1990s. His wife, Sara, is 6-1 and played basketball at Fordham. Their oldest daughter, Carissa, was the 6-2 City Section volleyball player of the year at Granada Hills, played at Tennessee and South Alabama and is now head coach at Bates College.
Their son, Derek, is 6-8, won a CIF title with Royal and now trains with the USA beach volleyball team. Their son, Grayson, is a 6-11 senior at Mira Costa and plays for a state championship on Saturday in Fresno. He’s committed to UCLA.
Even the youngest in the family, 12-year-old daughter Brooke, is 5-10 and headed for volleyball stardom. Talk about good height genes — no giant shoes go unused in this family.
The Bradford volleyball family (left to right). Derek (6-foot-8), Lee (6-7), Sara (6-1), Brooke (5-10), Carissa (6-2), Grayson (6-11).
(Courtesy Bradford family.)
Dad gave his kids a choice growing up. “I love the sport and offered free private lessons,” he said.
They took him up and the rest is history. Lee has been a teacher at Granada Hills and used to be an assistant coach to Tom Harp. He eventually moved his family to Manhattan Beach after driving to the South Bay for years for club competition.
“We made a really good decision four years ago to go to a high level club program,” he said. “It’s been a great journey.”
At 6 feet 11, Grayson Bradford towers over everyone playing volleyball for Mira Costa. He’s headed to UCLA.
It’s a weekend for championships. The Southern Section baseball will be held Friday and Saturday at Cal State Fullerton and Blair Field in Long Beach.
The Southern Section softball finals are Friday and Saturday in Irvine.
The state track and field championships will be Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis (temperatures will hit triple digits). The state tennis championships are Saturday in Fresno.
The City Section softball finals are Saturday at Cal State Northridge.
St. John Bosco has unleashed a closer extraordinaire in junior Jack Champlin. Last week, in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied, Villa Park had the winning run on third and Champlin was brought in to get a strikeout. He threw 2 1/3 hitless relief before the Braves won 5-4 in nine innings.
He was inserted into the game with a 2-0 count, one runner on and one out in the seventh inning against Corona. He walked the first first batter, then got a strikeout and fly out to end the game.
Jack Champlin comes through as the closer. St. John Bosco beats Corona 2-0. On to the Division 1 final. All-Trinity League. pic.twitter.com/7s0Lh5dny6
He said of the situation, ““I love it,” he said. “There’s close to 1,000 people and it’s electric. I didn’t feel any pressure, didn’t feel nervous. It’s just fun to compete against all these Power 5 players.”
Jack Champlin of St. John Bosco picked up the save in 2-0 win over Corona.
(Nick Koza)
That kind of closer’s mentality and confidence should help St. John Bosco in Friday’s 7 p.m. Division final against Santa Margarita at Cal State Fullerton. Champlin will gladly take the ball whenever coach Andy Rojo offers it.
“I haven’t had a blown save,” he said.
That’s not the kiss of death. That’s a teenager who wants the ball with the game on the line.
Lando Norris wins at Monte Carlo for first time, leading home Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and current drivers’ standings leader and McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri.
Lando Norris celebrated his first Monaco Grand Prix win from pole position and slashed McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri’s Formula One drivers’ championship lead to just three points in a race more about strategy than speed.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished runner-up in the home race he won last year, with Piastri third and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth – all four finishing in the order they started.
The Sunday afternoon race featured two mandatory pit stops for the first time, but hopes of more action around the cramped harbourside circuit fell short.
Drivers through the field played a waiting game, with Verstappen holding off his final stop until the penultimate lap and those behind biding their time while keeping out of trouble. Norris ultimately lapped all but four cars.
The win was the Briton’s second in eight races and first since the Australian GP season opener in March, as well as McLaren’s first at Monaco since 2008.
“Monaco baby!” Norris shouted over the radio as the chequered flag finally fell.
“The last quarter was stressful with Leclerc behind and Max ahead, but we won in Monaco,” he said.
“This is what I dreamed of when I was a kid, so I achieved one of my dreams.”
Lando Norris, centre, locks his brakes as he leads Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, right, into the first corner at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix [Andrej Isakovic/AFP]
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was fifth, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar sixth and Haas’s Esteban Ocon seventh.
Liam Lawson scored his first points of the season for Racing Bulls in eighth place, and Williams completed the top 10 with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Mercedes had a dismal afternoon in the Mediterranean sunshine, after a nightmare in qualifying, with George Russell 11th and Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli 18th and the last car still running.
The virtual safety car was deployed on the opening lap when Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto went into the tyre wall at Portier, the turn before the tunnel, as Antonelli passed on the inside.
Bortoleto made it back to the pits and continued.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the first retirement, the Frenchman crashing into the back of Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull car at the tunnel exit on lap nine and limping back to the pits with the front left wheel hanging off.
“Is he an idiot? What is he doing?” exclaimed Tsunoda.
Gasly, who said he had no brakes, almost took out Argentine rookie teammate Franco Colapinto as he careered through the Nouvelle Chicane.
Aston Martin’s double world champion Fernando Alonso was the second retirement, pulling off on lap 38 with a smoking car to continue his scoreless run for the season.
The Spanish Grand Prix is the next race on the F1 calendar and will take place on Sunday, June 1.
Norris crosses the finish line to win the Monaco Grand Prix [Gabriel Bouys/AFP]
Football supporters travelling to and from Wembley for the Championship play-off final have been warned of delays or cancellations due to a series of train faults.
LNER said it was experiencing “major disruption” to services due to several trains requiring repairs on the East Coast Main Line.
Sheffield United and Sunderland compete for a place in the Premier League this afternoon, with the game kicking off at Wembley at 15:01 BST.
The travel problems could impact supporters of both sides, with disruption expected until the end of the day.
Rail passengers have been warned trains will be “extremely busy”, with the faults causing delays or cancellations.
Routes affected include LNER services between Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Harrogate, Leeds, Bradford Forster Square, Skipton, Hull, Lincoln and London King’s Cross.
Lumo services between Edinburgh and King’s Cross are also impacted.
Passengers on cancelled journeys can travel on any LNER service, the firm said, or use their tickets on routes operated by other rail firms.
Earlier this week, Sheffield United supporters were warned about planned bank holiday rail engineering works also impacting journeys.
World number one Scottie Scheffler outlasts a final round challenge from Jon Rahm to record a five-stroke victory in golf’s second major of the year.
Scottie Scheffler held off a spirited effort by Spain’s Jon Rahm to secure a five-shot PGA Championship victory at Quail Hollow Club for his third career major title.
The top-ranked Scheffler, who was three shots clear of Swede Alex Noren at the start of the day, struggled off the tee early on Sunday but righted the ship in time for the back nine to card an even-par 71 that left him at 11 under for the week.
“I knew it was going to be a challenging day, finishing off a major championship is always challenging,” Scheffler said on the 18th green after being presented with the Wanamaker Trophy.
“I didn’t have my best stuff … but stepped it up on the back nine.”
Ryder Cup hopeful Harris English, who began his day 11 shots adrift, shot a 65 that was the low round of the day and finished in a distant share of second place alongside fellow Americans Bryson DeChambeau (70) and Davis Riley (72).
Twice major champion Rahm (73) gave Scheffler a scare early on the back nine but came apart in stunning fashion with five dropped shots over his final three holes to slide back into a share of eighth place.
Rahm, who began the day five shots back of the lead and playing two groups ahead of Scheffler, took a while to get going in the final round but found his groove right in time to set up some back-nine drama at Quail Hollow Club.
The Spaniard joined Scheffler atop the leaderboard when, at the par-four 11th, he made his third birdie over a four-hole stretch, but Scheffler reclaimed the outright lead with a 9-foot birdie at the 10th moments later.
Rahm nearly answered right back, but his perfectly paced 19-foot birdie attempt at the par-three 13th curled around and out of the cup before going on to misread birdie putts at the next two holes, followed by his brutal closing stretch.
Jon Rahm, of Spain, reacts after missing a putt on the 16th hole during the final round of the PGA Championship [George Walker IV/AP]
Scheffler added birdies at 14 and 15 and then saw his lead suddenly grow to five over JT Poston after Rahm made double-bogey at the par-three 17th, where he blasted his tee shot into the water.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” said Rahm.
“Pretty fresh wound right now. But there’s been a lot of good happening this week and a lot of positive feelings to take for the rest of the year.”
US Open champion DeChambeau, who finished runner-up at last year’s PGA Championship, was driving the ball and giving himself chances, but struggled on the greens.
“I felt like I had the game to win this week, and the golf course suited me pretty well, missed a few putts coming down the stretch and got a little unlucky in this great game of golf,” said DeChambeau.
“It was a good fight, good battle, take a lot from it. It’s just burning a bigger fire in my belly.”
Noren, playing alongside Scheffler and alone in second place to start the day, stayed in the mix until his round unravelled with a trio of bogeys early on the back nine.
Scheffler took home a $3.42m top prize from a record $19m purse.
Scheffler plays a shot from the bunker on the 14th hole during the final round of the PGA Championship [Andrew Redington/Getty Images via AFP]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Scottie Scheffler worked harder than he imagined and got the result everyone expected Sunday in the PGA Championship: A most pleasant walk to the 18th green with another major title secure in the hands of golf’s No. 1 player.
Scheffler was flawless when he had to be on the back nine of Quail Hollow, leaving the blunders to Jon Rahm and everyone else trying to catch him on a final day that turned tense until Scheffler pulled away with a steady diet of fairways and greens.
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time,” Scheffler said. “It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front I maybe had a four- or five-shot lead, and making the turn, I think I was tied for the lead.
“So to step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while.”
He closed with a bogey he could afford for an even-par 71, giving him a five-shot victory and his third major title. Scheffler became the first player since Seve Ballesteros to win his first three majors by three shots or more.
The margin doesn’t match up with the grind. That much was clear when Scheffler raised his arms on the 18th green and then ferociously slammed his cap to the turf, a brand of emotion rarely seen by the 28-year-old Texas star.
Scheffler was five shots ahead coming to the last hole when he won his first Masters green jacket in 2022. He was four shots clear of the field when he won at Augusta National last year. And he had a six-shot lead at Quail Hollow.
But this sure didn’t feel like a walk in the park.
He had a five-shot lead standing on the sixth tee. But with a shaky swing that led to two bogeys, and with Rahm making three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn, they were tied when Scheffler got to the 10th tee.
It looked like a duel to the finish, with Bryson DeChambeau doing all he could to get in the mix. Under the most pressure he felt all day, Scheffler didn’t miss a shot off the tee or from the fairway until his lead was back to four shots.
Rahm wound up seven shots behind, but the two-time major champion was the only serious threat. His chances began to fade when he failed to birdie the 14th and 15th holes, the two easiest holes on the back nine and the last good scoring chances.
His five-wood on the reachable par-four 14th was a yard from being perfect, instead going into the bunker. He blasted out weakly and his seven-foot birdie putt never had a chance.
He drilled a 345-yard drive on the par-five 15th and his four-iron went just over the back. Rahm putted it too hard and it rolled 12 feet. He missed that birdie putt and then came unglued.
A bogey on the 16th hole went from rough to bunker. Having to take on a dangerous pin at the par-3 17th, it bounded over the sunbaked green into the water for double bogey. And his last tee shot went left off the grassy bank and into the stream for another double bogey.
All that work to make up a five-shot deficit at the start of the day and Rahm closed with a 73 to tie for eighth.
“Yeah, the last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” said Rahm, his first time seriously contending in a major since he left for the Saudi riches of LIV Golf two years ago.
“I’ll get over it. I’ll move on,” Rahm said. “Again, there’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week. I’m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the U.S. Open.”
DeChambeau birdied the 14th and 15th to get within two shots, but he never had another good look at birdie and bogeyed the 18th for a 70. He tied for second with Harris English (65) and Davis Riley, who overcame a triple bogey on No. 7 to play bogey-free the rest of the way and salvaged a 72.
“I’m baffled right now. Just felt like things just didn’t go my way this week,” DeChambeau said. “I drove it as good as I can. … I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way.”
J.T. Poston, the North Carolina native who also flirted with an outside chance, bogeyed the last two holes for a 73 to tie for fifth.
Scottie Scheffler hits from the bunker during the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)
English finished his Sunday-best score as Scheffler was making his way down the third hole. He had a flight to catch that afternoon. He also was the clubhouse leader. But he looked at Scheffler’s name atop the leaderboard and said with a smile, “I don’t see him slipping a whole lot. I see myself catching my flight.”
But then Scheffler was unable to find his swing. He hit only two fairways on the front nine. He failed to convert birdies on the par-5 seventh and the reachable par-4 eighth. On eight of his nine holes, his miss was to the left. And he was tied with the red-hot Rahm.
But part of Scheffler’s greatness is his ability to wear down a field, which he did at the Masters both times he won.
“I hit the important shots well this week, and that’s why I’m walking away with the trophy,” Scheffler said.
He finished at 11-under 273 and picked up his 15th victory in just his sixth year on the PGA Tour. Dating to 1950, Scheffler is the third-fastest player to go from one to 15 tour wins, behind only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, and even then by a matter of months.
His victory comes a month after Rory McIlroy captured the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. The PGA Championship was always going to be a tough act to follow and it didn’t come close in terms of drama. But it served as a reminder why Scheffler has been No. 1 for two straight years, and why it will take a lot to replace him.
McIlroy made the cut on the number, shot 72-72 on the weekend and tied for 47th. It was his lowest 72-hole finish in four years in the majors. McIlroy declined all four days to speak to the media.
Scheffler came into the PGA Championship off an eight-shot victory in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And then he won a major by five. It was the first time since Woods in 2000 that a player won consecutive PGA Tour starts by five shots or more in the same season.
Rahm said afterwards that his late demise was a “tough pill to swallow” but the fact he got himself in the mix on the final day will do a lot to dispel the discussion about a drop-off in his results at majors since his switch to LIV at the end of 2023.
His best finish in 2024 was a tie for seventh at The Open but, until this week, he had not been a realistic contender in any of the five majors since leaving the PGA Tour.
On Saturday, he insisted there was no correlation between his major form and LIV move, and at Quail Hollow he demonstrated why he should never be discounted as a challenger for golf’s biggest prizes.
Aiming to become the first Spaniard to win the US PGA Championship in its 107th edition, he started with seven solid pars, before exploding into life with birdies on the eighth, 10th and 11th to tie the lead.
After Scheffler pulled clear again, he narrowly missed chances to re-ascend the top of the leaderboard down the back nine, before his title bid slipped away in dramatic fashion.
“There’s been a lot of good happening this week and a lot of positive feelings to take for the rest of the year,” the 2023 Masters and 2021 US Open winner Rahm added.
“I think it’s the first time I’ve been in position to win a major that close and haven’t done it. The only times I think I’ve been in the lead in a major on a Sunday, I’ve been able to close it out.”
At the start of play, a host of players hoped to shoot low to pressurise the world number one, but their challenges never materialised.
Nowhere more so was that exemplified than on the par-four first. Of the final eight players to head out, Rahm made par but the other seven, including Scheffler, all carded a five.
Perennial major contender DeChambeau played well once again but was unable to build sustained momentum during his one-under 70.
“It’s another top five and I’m always proud to top five in a major,” DeChambeau said.
“I feel like I’m playing good when I’m doing that but it’s disappointing not to get the job done because that’s what I came here to do.”
Starting almost four hours before the final group, English had almost finished his round by the time the leaders set off and his 65 – the lowest round on Sunday – secured his best finish at a major.
Cleverley does face competition for the job from fellow Englishman Will Still.
Still has left Ligue 1 outfit RC Lens following the end of the season in order to move back to England.
Football teams that controversially changed their badge
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Will Still is in the running for the St Mary’s roleCredit: Getty
Still’s parting message to RC Lens
Here is what Will Still told RC Lens fans about his decision to leave…
He said: “I won’t be the coach of RC Lens next season.
“It was the last season at Bollaert, for multiple reasons.
“The main reason that pushed me to make this decision is the fact that I need to go home.
“Everyone is well aware of what happened in my life. That’s why.
“I had a lot of fun, I think we achieved great things despite everything. I’ve been in France for four years, four years that I’ve experienced intense moments.
“The logical choice is that I get closer to my wife for her well-being too.”
Until Scheffler’s late flourish, the top of the leaderboard was tightly contested for so long during an enthralling day in North Carolina, with the lead fluctuating wildly and at one stage, five players sharing top spot.
Overnight leader Jhonattan Vegas began the day two clear but his lead was eroded by bogeys on his first two holes and he finished the day five shots back at six under par.
He is alongside two-time major winner Rahm, who thrust himself into contention with a round of 67.
Fellow LIV golfer and perennial major contender DeChambeau celebrated when he seized the outright lead with three holes of his round to play, but carded a bogey and a double bogey on his way home to shoot a two-under 69.
At the opposite end of the leaderboard, Masters champion Rory McIlroy shot a one-over 72 to end round three 13 shots off the pace.
