BASEBALL

Two weeks after promoting Brayan Bello to the WooSox, the Red Sox are adding another one of their top pitching prospects to Worcester’s rotation.

Boston is promoting left-hander Brandon Walter from Double-A to Triple-A, a source confirmed to MassLive.com Monday afternoon. Walter, who is ranked by SoxProspects.com as the No. 6 overall prospect in the farm system, will join Bello, Josh Winckowski, Connor Seabold and Kutter Crawford in an impressive stable of arms in Worcester.

Walter, a 26th-round pick in 2019, has seen his stock rise quickly over the last two seasons. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delaware product turned heads with an excellent 2021 season in which he pitched to a 2.92 ERA in 25 games (14 starts) between Single-A Salem and High-A Greenville. He logged 58.2 innings in 12 starts for Greenville, then began this season at Portland. For the Sea Dogs, Walter logged a 2.88 ERA and recorded in 50 innings over nine starts. The 25-year-old has dominated from a unique arm slot with a fastball that tops out at 95 mph and two strong secondary pitches (a changeup and slider). He has posted an insane 68-to-3 walk rate so far this year.

Worcester now has eight of the Red Sox’ top 17 prospects (as ranked by SoxProspects.com) on its roster with Triston Casas, Bello and Jarren Duran leading the way. More pitching talent could also join the WooSox in the future, as lefties Chris Murphy and Jay Groome have both pitched well at Double-A this season.

HIGH SCHOOLS

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BASEBALL: Ryan Thurber went 3 for 4 with two doubles and two runs and Finn O’Connell drove in three runs with a pair of doubles as visiting South Portland beat Sanford 9-0.

Nolan Hobbs held Sanford (8-7) to three singles through six innings, with six strikeouts and one walk.

Jack Houle scored three runs and Andrew Heffernan had two RBI for the Red Riots (13-2).

• Christian Schaffer, Brayden Williams and John Rohner each had two hits and two RBI as Thornton Academy beat Portland 8-3 at Hadlock Field.

Thornton (14-1) broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the fifth, then added one in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Cody Bowker struck out 10 in five innings for the win. He allowed six hits and three runs – two earned.

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Henry Bibeau went 3 for 4 with three RBI for Portland (8-6-1).

• Brody Gullison keyed a three-run rally in the fifth inning with a two-run homer and helped preserve the lead with two outstanding defensive plays in the sixth as York edged host Wells 3-2 in a regular-season finale.

After Gullison’s home run tied the game, Joe Neal drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly for the Wildcats (11-5).

Wells (5-11) scored in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Keith Ramsey and a bunt single by Chase Trudeau.

Hayden Henriksen pitched a three-hitter for York. Wells pitchers Zach Carpenter and Devin Brown also allowed only three hits.

GIRLS’ LACROSSE: Zoe Baker scored the final three goals to lift South Portland to a 10-7 win over visiting Morse.

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Baker, who finished with four goals and four assists, broke a 7-7 tie with 10:23 left for the Red Riots (5-6).

Delaney Pascuzzo led Morse (5-6) with three goals.

BASKETBALL

NBA: New Orleans guard and NBA Players Association president CJ McCollum has added another title to his busy schedule — NBA analyst for ESPN.

The network announced Monday that they have signed the Pelicans star to a multi-platform deal. He will make his ESPN debut on Thursday during “NBA Finals: Celebrating 75”, which will be ESPN2’s alternate presentation of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics.

McCollum graduated from Lehigh University with a journalism degree and has made past appearances on ESPN as an analyst.

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SOCCER

CHELSEA SALE: The fast-tracked purchase of English soccer club Chelsea for 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) – the highest price ever paid for a sports team – was completed by a consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly.

It marked the end of the trophy-filled, 19-year tenure of Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who was forced to sell the club in March after being sanctioned by the British government for what it called his enabling of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “brutal and barbaric invasion” of Ukraine.

The government said the proceeds of the sale will be used for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.

BAYERN MUNICH: Robert Lewandowski’s time at Bayern Munich appears to be over.

The Poland striker, who has been linked with a move to Barcelona, said at a news conference ahead of his national team’s training camp that a transfer would be the best outcome for all sides.

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U.S.: Djordje Mihailovic will miss the United States’ four World Cup prep matches in June because of an ankle injury, a blow to the 23-year-old who was hoping to make his first national team appearance in two years.

Mihailovic was hurt while playing for Montreal in a Major League Soccer game on Saturday night, a day before he was to report to the U.S. team.

The U.S. team said he will not be replaced on the roster, which has 26 players remaining.

Mihailovic, a midfielder/forward, is tied for fourth in the MLS with seven goals and he has one goal in six international appearances, scoring in his debut during a January 2019 exhibition against Panama.

The Americans play exhibitions against Morocco on Wednesday in Cincinnati and against Uruguay on Sunday at Kansas City, Kansas, then have CONCACAF Nations League matches against Grenada on June 10 in Austin, Texas, and at El Salvador four days later.

The other World Cup prep matches for the U.S. are a pair of exhibitions in Europe in September.

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The Americans open the World Cup in Qatar on Nov. 21 against Wales, Scotland or Ukraine. They play England four days later and close group play against Iran on Nov. 29.

FOOTBALL

NFL: Jeff Gladney, a defensive back for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, died Monday in a car crash in Dallas. He was 25.

Gladney’s death was confirmed by the Cardinals and his agent.

The crash occurred on the service road of Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Dallas, KTVT-TV reported. Another person also died.

The Dallas County sheriff’s department said no one was available on the Memorial Day holiday to talk about the crash.

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COLLEGES

MEN’S LACROSSE: Anthony DeMaio scored four first-half goals for his fifth hat trick in his last six games, Logan McNaney made 17 saves to be named the NCAA Tournament’s most outstanding player and top-seeded Maryland completed a perfect season by holding off Cornell 9-7 to win the title at East Hartford, Connecticut.

Maryland (18-0) set an NCAA record for most wins in a season without a loss, becoming the first undefeated team since Virginia in 2006. The Terps are 33-1 in the last two seasons, with the lone loss coming in the 2021 championship against the Cavaliers.

BASEBALL: After finishing one of the most dominant runs in Southeastern Conference history, Tennessee was selected the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA baseball tournament.

The Volunteers (53-7) won 31 of their first 32 games, swept the SEC regular-season and tournament titles and have the best pitching and batting statistics in the nation.

They’ve been the consensus No. 1 team in the polls all but one week since March 28 and enter regionals having won eight straight and 12 of 13.

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The 64-team tournament opens Friday in 16 regionals. Winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha.

The top eight national seeds are assured of hosting super regionals if they win their regionals.

The top national seeds following Tennessee: Stanford (41-14), Oregon State (44-15), Virginia Tech (41-12), Texas A&M (37-18), Miami (39-18), Oklahoma State (39-20) and East Carolina (42-18).

• Baylor Coach Steve Rodriguez resigned, four days after the Bears were eliminated from the Big 12 Conference tournament and finished with a losing record.

The Bears were 26-28 this year, ending with an 11-1 loss to Oklahoma State last week. Rodriguez was 197-146 overall in his seven seasons.

MEN’S GOLF: Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent curled in a short birdie putt on the first hole of a four-man playoff to become the ninth freshman to win the NCAA individual title.

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Sargent didn’t have a birdie during a 4-over 74 at Grayhawk Golf Club at Scottsdale, Arizona, but made the playoff when Oklahoma State’s Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra three-putted for bogey on the par-4 17th. Sargent hit a huge drive on 520-yard, par-4 18th in the playoff and put his second shot six feet below the hole.

Texas senior Parker Coody chipped it close from short left of the green on his birdie try, and North Carolina senior Ryan Burnett missed a long birdie putt. After Lopez-Chacarra missed a par putt – he was well left of the green – the stage was set for Sargent.

The Haskins Award finalist from Birmingham, Alabama, slipped the putt in on the left edge, sending a roar through the crowd and his teammates rushing onto the green in celebration. He is the first freshman to win the individual title since Southern California’s Jamie Lovemark in 2007.

TENNIS

WTA: Women’s professional tennis will return to the San Diego area this fall for the first time in seven years.

The $823,000 San Diego Open will be played Oct. 8-16 at Barnes Tennis Center.

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The WTA 500 hard-court event will have a 32-player singles draw and 16 doubles teams.

The most recent WTA tournament to be played in the area was in Carlsbad in 2015.

HORSE RACING

BELMONT: Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike completed his final major workout in preparation for the Belmont Stakes on June 11.

The colt ran five furlongs in 59 seconds in between races Monday at Churchill Downs with exercise rider Gabe Lagunes aboard.

“He got away real well and worked exactly like we wanted him to do,” trainer Eric Reed said. “The track was a little quicker since it was in the afternoon but it was exactly what we wanted to do.”

Rich Strike won the Derby on May 7 at 80-1 odds, the second-biggest upset in the race’s history. The colt is scheduled to leave for New York on Tuesday.

Reed and owner Rick Dawson opted to skip the Preakness on May 21 to give Rich Strike more time between starts.


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