LOCAL SPORTS
In the AGR League, St. Joseph’s defeated the Guysborough Broadhorns 6-2.
Winning Pitcher: Jaron Kennedy (13 strikeouts), Losing Pitcher: Adam Rogers (11 Strikeouts)
Top hitters for St. Joseph’s: Logan Deyoung, 4/4 with three singles and one double – Jaron Kennedy, 3/4 with 2 singles and one double , 1 RBI
Top hitters for Guysborough: James Connolly 1/3
The second game of the doubleheader will be rescheduled.
Riverside International Speedway kicks off the facility’s 2022 season today with the R.J. Poirier Heavy Equipment 150 for the East Coast International Pro Stock Tour, the Cross Roads Legends Tour and the Passione Flooring Mini Stock Tour. It’s the beginning of Riverside’s first full season in three years. Local favourites Donald Chisholm, Austin MacDonald, Ryan VanOirschot, and Russell Smith, Jr. will be taking part in the R.J. Poirier Heavy Equipment 150. All three divisions will run qualifying heat races to set the starting order for their feature events, all are championship points races en route to the series respective 2022 titles. Racing gets underway at 4 p.m. The grandstand box office and gate opens at 1 p.m. A complete race day schedule can be found at www.riversidespeedway.ca.
Three Antigonish natives are coming home to play for the X-Men Hockey team. One is Logan Chisholm, a forward who played five seasons with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Chisholm won a Memorial Cup with Acadie-Bathurst in 2018. Chisholm was team captain this past season. Also committing to the X-Men is forward Jake Stewart, who played four years with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats and finished his junior career with the Maritime Junior Hockey League champion Summerside Western Capitals. The third local recruit coming to the X-Men is defenceman Sean Stewart, who played most the season with the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Pictou County Weeks Crushers, but also saw action with Drummondville and Rouyn-Noranda of QMJHL this season. All three players were with the Cape Breton West Islanders when they won the Telus Cup in 2017.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are picking up where they left off last season. The defending C-F-L champions opened their regular season with a 19-17 win over Ottawa. Marc Liegghio kicked a 25-yard field with six seconds remaining. Backup quarterback Dru Brown engineered the winning drive after Zach Collaros left the game late in the fourth quarter.
The Toronto Blue Jays are kicking off a weekend series in Detroit with a blowout victory. George Springer homered and scored three times in a 10-1 rout of the Tigers. Jose Berrios allowed one earned run over eight innings. Toronto has won 12 of its last 15 games.
The N-B-A final is down to a best-of-three series. Golden State defeated Boston 107-97 in Game 4 to tie the series at two games apiece. Stephen Curry scored 43 points for the visiting Warriors, who return home for Game 5 on Monday. Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics.
It appears the Charlotte Hornets have their man. Reports indicate the N-B-A team has agreed to terms on a four-year deal with Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson to become their next head coach. The Hornets haven’t been to the playoffs since 2016 and haven’t won a playoff series in more than two decades.
Wyndham Clark is the midway leader at the R-B-C Canadian Open. He shot an even-par 70 to sit at seven-under-par 133 after two rounds. Defending champion Rory McIlroy is in a group of five players at six under. Canadians Aaron Cockerill and Nick Taylor are five strokes off the lead.
The International Boxing Hall of Fame might have to build a new wing to host all the new inductees after this weekend’s ceremonies. Floyd Mayweather Junior alone makes Sunday’s event one of the most anticipated in years. Among the other inductees are Roy Jones Junior, Andre Ward, Bernard Hopkins and pioneering women Laila Ali and Christy Martin.
Friday’s Scoreboard
CFL
Winnipeg 19 Ottawa 17
NBA Playoffs – Best-of-Seven Final
Golden State 107 Boston 97 (Series tied 2-2)
MLB
American League
Toronto 10 Detroit 1
Cleveland 3 Oakland 2
Kansas City 8 Baltimore 1
Minnesota 9 Tampa Bay 4
Chicago White Sox 8 Texas 3
Miami 7 Houston 4
Boston 4 Seattle 3
National League
Washington 11 Milwaukee 5
Atlanta 4 Pittsburgh 2
Philadelphia 7 Arizona 5
St. Louis 2 Cincinnati 0
San Diego 9 Colorado 0
San Francisco 7 L.A. Dodgers 2
Interleague
N.Y. Yankees 2 Chicago Cubs 1 (13 innings)
N.Y. Mets 7 L.A. Angels 3
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
CFL
Hamilton at Saskatchewan, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at B.C., 10 p.m.
NHL Playoffs – Eastern Conference Final
New York Rangers at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m. (Tampa Bay leads series 3-2)
MLB
American League
Tampa Bay (Baz 0-0) at Minnesota (TBD), 2:10 p.m.
Texas (Perez 4-2) at Chicago White Sox (Giolito 4-2), 2:10 p.m.
Baltimore (Wells 2-4) at Kansas City (Lynch 2-5), 4:10 p.m.
Oakland (Montas 2-6) at Cleveland (Plesac 2-4), 4:10 p.m.
Toronto (Gausman 5-4) at Detroit (Brieske 0-5), 4:10 p.m.
Boston (Wacha 4-1) at Seattle (Kirby 1-1), 10:10 p.m.
National League
Cincinnati (Greene 3-7) at St. Louis (Wainwright 5-4), 2:15 p.m.
Arizona (Bumgarner 2-5) at Philadelphia (Wheeler 4-3), 4:05 p.m.
Milwaukee (Lauer 5-1) at Washington (Corbin 2-8), 4:05 p.m.
Colorado (Freeland 1-5) at San Diego (Clevinger 1-0), 4:10 p.m., 1st game
Pittsburgh (Thompson 3-4) at Atlanta (Wright 6-3), 4:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Urias 3-5) at San Francisco (TBD), 7:15 p.m.
Colorado (TBD) at San Diego (Gore 4-1), 10:10 p.m., 2nd game
Interleague
Miami (Garrett 0-1) at Houston (Valdez 6-2), 4:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Swarmer 1-0) at N.Y. Yankees (Montgomery 1-1), 7:15 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Carrasco 7-1) at L.A. Angels (Lorenzen 5-3), 10:07 p.m.
MLS
New York at Charlotte FC, 3 p.m.
San Jose at Nashville, 8 p.m.